Jacquie Broadway's Freefrom Amaranth and Almond Bread

Corn, gluten, nightshade & wheat free; can be dairy, lactose and soya free

Update 02/04/11
So inspired was I both by Jacquie's recipe and by the wonderful flours on offer at Pure Nature that I have now done several other variations on the recipe. See below.

Readers who have been following Micki Rose's researches into total gluten intolerance (see Gluten: no grain, no pain and Michelle's blog post) could be very interested in Jacquie Broadway's amaranth flour bread recipe.

Jacquie is an old friend of Foods Matter and has lived with a multiplicity of allergies all her life, kept only partially under control with neutralisation drops and rigid adherence to a very restricted diet. Having read Micki's article she called us to offer us the recipe for her amaranth and almond bread – totally gluten free!

For those who have not met it before, amaranth is an extremely nutritious seed grown mainly in South America – particularly high in calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc. Amaranth flour is not easy to get hold of.... Jacquie imports hers from Canada but we have just found a source in Germany – a company called Pure Nature who also sell a wide range of other allergy products. Click here to go to the amaranth flour page – a 500g bag costs £3.20 and there is a flat rate £4.25 postage charge – so it would be worth buying several bags at a time.

Jacquie uses butter and milk in her recipe as one of the few foods to which she is not intolerant is dairy! However, for the benefit of our dairy intolerant visitors, I made it with the PURE olive spread and soya milk. You could also use coconut milk which might give an added layer of flavour.

We also used the Barkat gluten free baking powder which is made from disodium diphosphate, sodium hydrogen carbonate and calcium sulphate only as most of the other gluten/wheat-free baking powders contain rice flour.

Ingredientsfreefrom amaranth almond bread

  • 225g / 8 oz amaranth flour
  • 50g / 2 oz ground almonds
  • 3 generous tsp gluten-free baking powder
  • 50g / 2 oz butter or dairy-free spread
  • 4 eggs
  • approx 120ml / 4floz cow's milk, soya milk, almond or coconut milk

Alternative flour combinations – the rest of the recipe remains the same.

Option 1

  • 225g / 8oz gram (chickpea) flour
  • 50g / 2oz ground almonds

    This makes a quite 'beany' but more 'bready' tasting loaf - texture pretty much as good although tastes rather dry on first bite.
    However, Jacquie warns, anyone allergic to soya should take care with gram flour and chickpeas and soya beans are closely related.

Option 2

  • 100g / 4oz gram flour
  • 100g / 4oz amaranth flour
  • 75g / 3oz ground almonds

    Very good flavour but the warning re the chickpea/soya relationship holds.

Option 3

  • 100g/4oz amaranth flour
  • 125g/5oz chestnut flour
  • 50g/2oz almond flour

    Slighter sweeter than the original and very pleasant.

Option 4

  • 225/8oz chestnut flour
  • 50g/2oz almond flour
  • optional extra: 1tbsp cocoa powder or 25g / 1oz dairy-free chocolate chips/shavings

    This one is really a cake...
    Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 5.
    Whizz the flour, almonds and baking powder in a food processor.
    Add the butter or spread and eggs, whizz quickly, then add the milk and whizz again.
    It should be well mixed and have a soft dropping consistency.
    Line a small loaf tin with greased greaseproof paper then spoon in the mixture – smooth the top with a spatula.
    Bake in the centre of the oven for 30–40 minutes until firm to the touch and a skewer comes out clean.
    The amount of time will depend on the flour.
    Turn onto a rack to cool.
    When cold, wrap in clingfilm and store in the fridge.

We have over 800 delicious freefrom recipes on this site all of which are gluten free, most of which are dairy and lactose free and many of which are free of most other allergens. Please go to the following sections to try them out: