Since I started working with Chestnut flour I was curious how it would perform in a bread recipe. I decided to go all out and also pull out the eggs and yeast. It only took 11 tries, but eventually I cracked the code. This bread is DELICIOUS. I’m crazy about the crust, it reminds me of the cinnamon raisin bagels that I used to devour. Make sure to try a slice toasted!
My co-author Iris Higgins of our Essential Gluten Free Baking Guides is the master of baking with psyllium. She created what we call an everything free bread recipe for our books that inspired me to tackle this one. Psyllium is a dream machine when it comes to making bread, it helps create a beautiful crust, and provides structural support that the eggs would normally offer. It also helps hold bread together, as gums used in gluten free baking are often needed for. (You’ll notice I left them out of this recipe too.) Chestnut flour, being starchier than the other nut flours is very light and rises well without the use of eggs. As I suspected combining these different ingredients worked like a dream, it was just a matter of honing how much of each I needed to use.
I’m including the gram measurements with this recipe- as when it comes to bread accuracy is important and will make a big difference in your results. If you don’t have a scale, fill your measuring cups heavily with flour. I tend to scoop into my bags of flour and then just level off the top. Which is technically not how one is supposed to measure, but I could care less. I like to move quickly..
You might have noticed that there are not many raisins in my photos. I ran out just as I figured out the recipe. Using a full cup as I suggest is the perfect amount and the raisins will be quite visible throughout the loaf.
I purchase my chestnut flour from Nuts.com. They have great prices and crazy fast shipping! Check out their online store!
Grain Free Cinnamon Raisin Bread
2 Cups Water (446 grams)
5 Tsp Whole Psyllium Husks
1/2 Cup (82 grams) Coconut Palm Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
4 Tsp Cinnamon
2 3/4 Cup (286 grams) Chestnut Flour
1/4 cup + 2 Tbs (59 grams) Tapioca Flour
1 Tbs Baking Powder (I use double acting)
2 Tsp. Vinegar (any variety 0r lemon juice)
1 cup Raisins.
- Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 9×5 bread pan.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using a hand mixer beat the water and psyllium husk together. Add the Palm Sugar, Cinnamon and Salt. Add in the flour and remaining ingredients continuing to beat. Stir in the raisins last.
- Quickly pour the bread batter into the greased pan, and smooth out the top. Place into hot oven and bake for 70 minutes.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool 1 full hour before slicing. (The psyllium in the bread must cool down, or else you may find your loaf just a little gummy or crumbly. As it cool it will gain the perfect texture and be extremely easy to slice).
Store once cooled in an airtight bag on your counter for a few days, or freeze for another day.
-Brittany-
{ 32 comments… read them below or add one }
out of curiosity, why does the bread have tapioca flour in it? What function does it have in the recipe? We have to avoid such starches right now with my son
You could try using 100% chestnut. I’m not completely sure what will happen, but the results may be close.
Thanks!
Looks and sounds delicious Brittany!
Heather – If it doesn’t work with the 100% chestnut, try a little coconut flour! Maybe half the amount of the tapioca.
I’m not sure if that will work?? I feel like it might weight down the bread quite a bit..
I’m allergic to coconut. What can I use as a substitute please?
oh wow, that sounds so delicious! I love the combo of cinnamon and raisin…especially for breakfast! thanks for sharing!
What a beautiful loaf! I’d like to try using chestnut flour after seeing this.
Thank you Pat!!
I love this! Cinnamon raisin toast used to be my fave
Brittany thank you so much to work so hard to help us!! I have a question, my son with autism has a yeast problem. Is nuts OK to eat?
I will love to try this bread.
It all depends how bad his yeast is. Nuts typically are one of the safer foods, but chestnuts are quite a bit starchier than the other varieties. Your safest bet with him would probably be using coconut or almond flour. (though not in this recipe..I’m working on separate bread recipes using them). He might be fine with this bread in small amounts. But again, it all depends on the extremity of his yeast overgrowth.
Brittany, what is the purpose of the psyllium husks and can if be replaced with
something else????????????
Thanks,
This recipe looks delicious can’t wait to try it.
Molly
If I want to use eggs instead of the psyllium husks do you know how many I should use?
I have this bread in the oven and apple butter in the crock pot – I don’t think my kitchen has ever smelled so good!! Thanks so much for this fabulous recipe!!!
Thank you south for your hard work and delicious recipes!!! You are a treasure
I am curious too how many eggs I could add to this recipe if I chose to not use the psyllium husks?
I have a vague kind of nut allergy (walnuts are OK, almonds and hazelnuts test as allergens, everything else unknown). Do you think I could use peanut flour, or coconut flour, or walnut flour, instead of the chestnut flour?
Thank you!
This bread looks yummy, but daughter can’t have lemon or vinegar.
No milk products, no gluten, no yeast. She can’t have almonds either.
Also no apples or bananas.
She can have egg and soy and chestnut. (She uses chestnut milk sometimes.)
She is eating a lot of gf bisquick biscuits as her bread these days.
Thanks for sharing all your hard work and great recipes.
After talking about your bread our daughter thinks she should be ok with that small amount of vinegar.
Can we substitute coconut flour instead of hazelnut?
I have a lot of flours, but hazelnut isn’t one of them.
Thank you.
Do you mean coconut for the chestnut?
If that’s your question then sadly I have to say no as the coconut and chestnut do not work anything alike in baked goods.
I recommend ordering chestnut flour from nuts.com
Another thought: In my first cookbook ( the essential gluten free baking guide part 1) in the coconut chapter there is a yeast free cinnamon raisin loaf that should work for you!
It uses coconut, flax and eggs..
A great place to find substitutions for things also is google.. i find if there is something i cannot have in a recipe i type into the search engine.. “substitute for…..” and then insert whatever it is.. i normally find some really good results that way. I hope that helps some of you!!
this bread is awesome! i just made it.. i changed the flour though because i didn’t have chestnut.. i thought i did when i started making the recipe.. but then realized quickly after starting it that i didn’t so i changed the flour like so.. instead of2 3/4 of chestnut i did 2 cups almond 1/2 flax and 1/4 coconut and it worked great!! i also added some maple syrup.. and i used arrowroot starch instead of tapioca.. it turned out really well except it was a little gooey.. its been sitting for over an hour and i’m not sure if it needs to rest longer because of the psyllium (i have never worked with this before) or if its because i cut the cooking time.. but the top was getting dark so i took it out. the taste is AMAZING THOUGH!!! i was toying with the idea of putting it back in but i don’t want to put it back in and then it gets so dry that it falls apart.. so i think i will leave it at that.. oh and also i had some left over dough that i put into a muffin tin and the muffins are INCREDIBLE!!! perfect moistness.
oh so maybe i do need to put the loaf back in.. hmmm.. well enjoy guys!
I made the cinnamon bread recipe this morning. It is still cooling. It smells wonderful. Mine didn’t quite rise like your picture, so I hope it doesn’t end up being a dense brick. Wish me luck! I’ll report back after we’ve eaten a slice! Thanks.
Oh, Brittany! We just took a bite of the bread, and it is delicious. And no, even though it didn’t rise as much as yours, it is definitely not a dense brick! It’s lovely. My husband is devouring his second “huge” slice as I type! Thanks again.
Hi, just wanted to ask if you ever tested the recipe with ground psyllium instead of whole husks? I read about psyllium and how it is sometimes ground up to be used with baking. Any thoughts on that idea? I have all of the ingrdients, just wondering before I start baking? Thanks.
Whole psyllium husks are ground up! The name is confusing I know. But it’s super important to only use the whole husks or the recipe won’t turn out the same.
I live in Germany, and at my local natural food store they have psyllium husks or ground up powder to take as a fiber supplement. I am glad I asked which one to buy! The bread culture here is a very old tradition and there is a bakery on every corner! I can get all the ancient grains ground, whole, or in gorgeous bread. Too bad I can’t eat it….Now I have your amazing reipes to work with. My son has severe food allergies, ( no milk, eggs, grains, soy, peanuts or sugar) but he can have almonds. Score! He loves your brownies, chestnut flour banana bread, and sugar cookies! /Thanks for all your recipes!
Thanks for the awesome recipe! Excited for an egg/grain free bread! Question- do you cool in the pan or on a rack? Thanks!!
Usually I cool in the pan!
could you substitute xyllitol or a sugar free alternative for the coconut sugar?
Thanks!!
Sure that should work great!