This bread is pretty much an excuse to eat carrot cake for breakfast! Super-moist and tender, loaded with tart cranberries you won’t believe that it’s good for you. Take a slice with you on the way to work, and pack an extra one in your lunch box for good measure. Your four-o’clock tummy rumbles will thank you.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon chia seeds
- ½ cup / 125 ml milk of your choice (nut, seed, rice … )
- ¼ cup / 60 ml coconut oil, plus extra for oiling the pan
- 2 teaspoons grated organic orange zest
- ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out and reserved, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1½ loosely packed cups / 140 g grated carrots (about 2 medium carrots)
- ½ cup / 125 ml pure maple syrup
- 1½ cups / 180 g whole spelt flour
- ½ cup / 50 g rolled oats
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ¾ cup / 80 g cranberries, fresh or frozen
How to Make It
- In a small bowl, combine the chia seeds and milk. Stir, and let sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes to gel.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F / 180°C. Lightly grease a standard loaf pan with coconut oil.
- Melt the coconut oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, and then stir in the orange zest and vanilla seeds. Remove from the heat.
- Put the carrots in a medium bowl. Add the maple syrup, the milk-chia gel, and the coconut oil mixture.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the spelt flour, oats, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Fold in the cranberries.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then transfer the loaf to a wire rack to cool completely. The bread will keep wrapped at room temperature for 5 days. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
