Sunshine Breakfast Loaf from Naturally Sweet and Gluten-free Vegan Desserts and book Giveaway

I am very excited to be a party of Ricki’s new book blog tour! Ricki’s book Naturally Sweet & Gluten-Free- Allergy Friendly Vegan Desserts is full or gorgeous photographs and amazing recipes with no refined sugar. Ricki has taken great care to deliver great tasting recipes for many audiences with or without allergies. Ricki is an author of several books and has been blogging about eating Gluten-free, Vegan and sugar-free and anti-candida diet on her website Rickiheller.com.

I dont bake gluten-free much or seek out natural sweeteners. But every once in a while I do experiment with gf baking ranging from requests by readers to my own curiosity about making a without gluten something taste like regular with gluten food. It is a similar endeavor when I try to veganize recipes, trying to get to a taste and texture we know, by using new and unknown ingredients. This book is like opening up to a new world and method of baking/making desserts. 

My problem with gluten-free baking has been that it has a good probability of turning out dry. But look at these bean brownies! I have seen quite a few bean brownie recipes on the interwebz, but never got around to trying them. I always thought that if I made any, I would have to eat the whole lot. But look at these bean brownies. So fudgy, so chocolatey, and believe you me, you cannot tell that they are made with just white beans. Hubbs couldn’t tell either. Score!
Pick up Rickis book today or enter the book Giveaway below to get the recipe. 🙂 There are many bean brownie recipes on Ricki’s blog.


The book starts off with information about flours, binders, egg and milk substitutes, about so many natural sweeteners, and how to substitute them with each other or other options in the recipes. There are also tips on how to measure ingredients, a pantry list, and other helpful things to get the best result from the recipes. If you are new to Sugar-free baking, this book will definitely be a great primer. All the different natural sweeteners, some of which I haven’t heard of. You can find a list and information on sweeteners used in the book here. Have you heard of Yacon syrup!
There are Gorgeous photos in the book by Celine Saki for most of the recipes which make you feel that gf desserts do not need to look dry or tough.

The other thing to like about the recipes is that they hold up beautifully to changes. I scaled the bean brownies down to a quarter of the recipe and they turned out beautifully. 
Something like chickpea flour in a baked dessert is always detected by my tongue quite instantaneously and not liked. I have tried bean flour in yeast breads and baked desserts before and I know which way I like it or not. And this inspite of me eating Indian sweets made entirely of chickpea flour(besan laddoo!). So to just give it a go again, I reduced the garfava flour in Ricki’s all purpose gf mix to like a Tablespoon and added more of teff. We loved the loaf fresh that day with some butter and maple. The next day however hubbs made a face about the bean after taste:). I should have substituted all of it out. I love chickpea flour in savory food any which way. 

I think it is just about getting used to the taste, like any taste and texture transition from white flours to whole grain flours, or getting to like Tempeh, experimenting with new grains and so on. If I keep baking with it, I might just get used to it.  

Next in line is the Caramel Ice cream, because I am so intrigued by the use of sweet potato to get the caramel flavor and some raw truffles to keep ready for halloween!

To find out more about the book and pick up recipes tried by other bloggers, see the book’s blog tour here.

Sunshine Loaf recipe re-published by permission from Ricki Heller and Seller’s Publishing. 



Sunshine Breakfast Loaf by Ricki Heller
Yield: Makes 1 loaf (about 8 to 10 slices)

The prunes in this delightful loaf add sweetness, and the hints of orange and cinnamon are a lovely combination. For best results, be sure to choose prunes that are still soft and moist, rather than ones that have dried out.
Free of gluten, yeast, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, refined sugar.

Ingredients:
3 1/4 oz (90 g) prunes (dried plums) (about 7 to 8 large prunes or 12 – 15 small prunes)
3/4 cup (180 ml) canned or homemade unsweetened pumpkin puree (see page 23)
1/2 cup (40 g) coconut sugar
1/8 tsp (.5 ml) pure stevia powder or 25 to 30 drops pure plain or vanilla stevia liquid, or to taste
2 tsp (10 ml) finely grated orange zest, preferably organic (about 1 medium orange)
1 cup (240 ml) pure unsweetened orange juice (from 3–4 medium oranges)
1/4 cup (60 ml) sunflower or other light-tasting oil, preferably organic
2 tsp (10 ml) ground chia seeds (from about 1 tsp or 5 ml whole seeds)
1 tsp (5 ml) pure vanilla extract
1 tsp (5 ml) apple cider vinegar
5 Tbsp (25 g) whole psyllium husks
1/4 cup (35 g) unsalted pumpkin seeds, raw or lightly toasted
1/2 cup (50 g) walnut pieces, raw or lightly toasted
1 1/4 cups (165 g) Ricki’s All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour Mix
1/2 cup (80 g) teff flour
2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder
1 tsp (5 ml) baking soda
1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) fine sea salt
1 Tbsp (15 ml) ground cinnamon

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Line a 4.5 x 8.5-inch (11 x 22-cm) loaf pan with parchment paper, or spray with nonstick spray.
In the bowl of a food processor, process the prunes until they are almost smooth. Add the pumpkin, coconut sugar, stevia, orange juice, oil, chia, vanilla, vinegar, and orange zest and blend again until smooth. Add the psyllium last and pulse just to blend. By hand, gently stir in the pumpkin seeds and walnut pieces; do not process again.
In a large bowl, sift the all-purpose gf flour, teff flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; whisk to combine. Pour the wet mixture over the dry and stir just until blended (do not overmix). The batter will be thick (more of a spoonable consistency than a pourable one).
Turn the batter into the pan and smooth the top. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, rotating the pan about halfway through baking, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before removing to a cooling rack. See page 37, storing baked goods. May be frozen.



Ricki and her Publisher Seller’s Publishing are offering a book for a giveaway on the blog! 

The Giveaway is open to anywhere in North America and ends on Monday Oct 21st. 

To Enter the Giveaway, use the Rafflecopter Giveaway box below. 


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