There’s no denying it: I love bread. I love sandwiches with bread. I love soup with a side of bread. I love bread drizzled with honey. I love bread.
Non-Paleo eaters chide me all the time: “don’t you miss bread?” But what they don’t know is that I can still love my bread and eat Paleo. In fact, I love my bread even more now, knowing that it is wholesome and good for me. So this seed and nut bread is one of my all-time favorite recipes.
In most breads, we’ve become used to wheat flour being the main ingredient. But for centuries, people have made bread out of other ground grains, nuts, and seeds. So this recipe takes a cue from the past and relies on only ground up nuts and seeds to provide the flour for our bread. The result is a gluten-free, Paleo-friendly, protein and fiber-rich, hearty, tasty loaf of goodness.
Almond meal and coconut flour form the basis of the flour-like ingredients. But then, we grind up sunflower, pumpkin, chia, and flax seeds to go along with the almond meal and coconut flour. This variety of seeds added to the nut flours adds a great texture to the final result, and also enhances the taste, as each of these seeds has their own subtle flavor. And they all go well together.
Most people are probably familiar with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, but maybe less so with chia and flax seeds. Chia seeds are tiny black seeds that are astoundingly high in fiber for their size and they can be used in a lot of different ways. If you soak chia seeds overnight in water, they puff up and make a great thickener for smoothies or puddings.
Flax is one of the “ancient grains” and its seeds are flat, dark brown little things. They too have tons of fiber. So you can see how this bread is so good for you!
You may be curious about the addition of vinegar to this recipe. Don’t worry – you won’t even taste it in the final product. But it’s there for the same reason your junior high science teacher used it to help make the fake volcano explode: when vinegar meets baking soda, it makes bubbles. And these bubbles will move throughout your bread dough, making the final result light and fluffy. Skip the vinegar and you’ll be left with a pretty flat, solid rock of a loaf of bread. So make sure you add it in!
One reason I love this bread is that it brings so much to the party. Traditional bread is often kind of flavorless and almost always devoid of any substantial texture. This bread is wonderfully rich and nutty and is firm and chewy. You really feel like you’re eating something when you nibble on this bread – it’s not just a vessel for whatever you put on it – it’s part of the meal!
So load slices of this up with your favorite sandwich stuffings (I like roast beef, avocado, and tomato) or serve up a thick slice of it next to a hearty soup or stew. It will not only satiate any of your cravings for bread, but will make you happy and healthy at the same time.
(Make this next: Simple Paleo Sandwich Bread)
Ingredients
- 1½ cup almond meal
- 6 tbsp sunflower seeds
- 6 tbsp pumpkin seeds
- 4 tbsp chia seeds
- 3 tbsp flax seeds
- 1/3 cup almonds
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup almond milk
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- ½ teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Mix the pumpkin, sunflower, flax and chia seeds in a bowl, set aside 3 tablespoons.
- Place the almonds in a food processor and pulse a few times.
- Add the remaining seeds and pulse until coarsely ground.
- Add the almond meal, coconut flour and baking soda and pulse
- until combined.
- Add the eggs, almond milk, olive oil, honey, vinegar and ½ teaspoon of salt and process until well combined.
- Allow the batter to rest for about 5 minutes to ensure the moisture is absorbed by the coconut flour.
- Line an 8'' x 4'' loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth it out with a spatula, then sprinkle with the reserved mixed seeds.
- Bake for 45 – 50 minutes, or until the bread is golden-brown and a metal skewer or knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely.
- Remove the bread from pan.
- Wrap the cooled bread in foil or plastic wrap, or place it in a plastic bag and store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Finally!!!!!!!!!! I’m so excited to try this. I recently and accidentally found myself submerged in the paleo lifestyle during my quest for healthy eating and healthy living. The one thing I miss the most and struggle with the most with is bread. I love bread but my body does not love bread. I have searched and searched for a great loaf recipe and I am so excited to try this.
Can I substitute coconut milk for the almond milk? I have coconut milk on hand!
I really like your Paleo nut bread recipe.
Thanks Tom 🙂
Hi Jess or Harper,
I just read the recipe for the Paelo seeded bread & would love to try, I have all the ingredients ready to go. Just wondering the temp for oven would it be the same for fan forced oven.
I’m in Australia & love trying ur recipes. Thank you so much. I must look at ur you tube as well.
Thank you.
Hi Dora, you should lower the temperature by 20 C ( so instead 350F/180C you should bake it on 160C) And thanks for your kind words 🙂
I bought a bread machine specifically for paleo bread….can you please add any different instructions for bread machines when you list bread recipes? Thanks
Sorry, I don’t have experience in using bread machines.
I’m sensitive to almonds. Can I substitute sunflour for the almond flour, and more sunflower and pumpkin seeds for the 1/3 cup almonds? Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried it.Let me know how it goes. 🙂
Hi
I wish I could find a recipe without almonds as I have an allergy. Do you know of any substitutions for almond meal? I know I could use cashew milk for the milk.
blessings,
Janis
To rplace almond meal/flour, a 50/50 mix of walnuts and pecans has always worked for me.
Jody,
That’s a great replacement for almond flour. Thanks for sharing!
Janis,
Did you see Jodi’s post, she recommends a 50/50 blend of walnuts and pecans, which I think would work well and taste amazing.
Janis, you could use any ground nut or seed replacement. Try hazelnut meal.
Fantastic recipe. Turned out even better than I’d hoped! Thank you.
I just made this bread and came out really delicious. Thanks
Question:, are the seeds and nuts all supposed to be raw? Specifically asking about the almonds, but in general as well as this could affect results
Yes, seeds and nuts are raw.
I wondered if you could tell me why the bread appeared green. I used cashew milk instead of almond milk, ground the seeds and flax perhaps more than in your photos but no other changes. Could it be some sort of chemical reaction with the vinegar? I would like to know what happened! Thanks
Sunflower seeds turn green when baked.
Sunflower seeds turn green when they get mixed together with baking soda!
I can’t answer with total confidence, but will tell you that when I’ve used sunflower butter when a bread recipe calls for almond butter, my bread was FABULOUS … AND the inside was deep GREEN. It was pretty funny 😉 I’d suspect some chemical reaction with the sunflower seeds … celebrate and make it for St. Paddy’s Day … 🙂
Hi Susie,
Green color appears if you grind to much sunflower seeds. Noting to worry. Bread will look strange but still be delicious.
A squeeze of lemon will counteract the chlorophyll from the sunflower seeds that’s making it turn green.
Can’t wait to try this!
Going to make this today
Sounds YUM
How did it turn out?
Hi! Just made your bread and it’s delicious! Mine didn’t rise as much as the pictures look, though. Not big enough of a slice to use as sandwich bread. Any ideas what I could’ve done wrong?
I’m glad you like the bread. Give me more details and maybe we can figure out what went wrong. 🙂
Just tried this recipe tonight and the bread tastes great. Thanks, Harper!
Thanks Mark 🙂
This looks a lot like the Dakota bread I used to buy in Colorado. It was awesome and have been looking for a similar recipe. Can’t wait to try it without the flour.
Love this bread! One question though – do you know why it would have a bluish/green speckled on the top (almost reminds me of mold)? I made it last night, let it cool completely and then wrapped it. This morning it has bluish/green speckled along the top. It has me concerned and not sure I should eat it – but what could it be?
Don’t worry, bluish/green speckled on the top are from sunflower seeds. Chlorophyll from sunflower seeds reacts with baking soda when heated and once the bread cools, it has green spots.
Can I use flax eggs instead?
Hi Carol has anyone replied whether you can use flax instead of eggs. I cannot have eggs so I find it difficult to follow the receipes.
Thank you
Pam
Pam,
You can replace the eggs with flax eggs, or any non-egg replacement of choice. Just measure and replace like quantity to ensure the same result (in this and most if not all recipes).
You can use flax eggs, just make to measure correctly.
Wow! I made this bread today. It’s my new favorite. Smelled great in the oven & tasted even better. I did find I needed to bake it longer. This happens with most Paleo bread & I think it’s due to the low elevation here in Corpus Christi,Texas. Thanks for the great recipes and support.
Thank you, I’m glad you like it 🙂
I made your bread last night before I went to bed. It took 35 minutes to bake at 350 and it smelled so yummy, I removed it from the pan and set it on a rack to cool on the counter ready to slice in the morning. In the morning I sliced it and the texture is amazing but 1/2 of the bread was bright green from the top down. I thought maybe t’s from the pumpkin seeds, they were raw and green ? I tasted it thinking it could not possibly be mold? It tasted delicious but I am a little concerned. And should through it out. I followed the recipe to the the only thing was I had ground flax seed. The seeds on the top were just Sunflower, Pumpkin and Chia seeds.
No need to be concerned. It’s not mold. As I said before, it’s reaction between chlorophyll from the seeds and baking soda. Bread maybe looks strange, but it’s totally fine and safe for consumption.
I did a quick nutrition calculation to see the carbs – looks good!
Based it on 1 loaf yielding 15 slices. 3.5 Net carbs per slice – less if you slice it thinner.
4.8 gr protein per slice – fantastic!
Nutrition Facts
15 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories 152.5
Total Fat 12.7 g
Saturated Fat 1.5 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g
Monounsaturated Fat 4.4 g
Cholesterol 0.0 mg
Sodium 137.2 mg
Potassium 40.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 7.2 g
Dietary Fiber 3.7 g
Sugars 1.7 g
Protein 4.8 g
*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Great info Sue, thanks for sharing.
Is there anything in the recipe that could be increased to replace the flax seeds? My kids don’t do well with flax seeds. Thanks!
Jody,
You could replace the flax seeds simply by increasing the other seeds.
I am excited to give this bread a try….all the paleo breads I have tried are heavy on the eggs and I feel like the majority of them come out tasting like egg bread….even when using almond and coconut flour…any suggestions to get around that? have you ever made your paleo bread in a bread maker vs oven?
Katy,
This bread tastes amazing and I think you’ll really like the flavor. If you don’t like the egg flavor, you can replace part or all of the eggs with ‘flax eggs’ (equal parts of ground flax & water 1T:1T), or use another type of egg replacer.
This reminds me of a bread I made when I was first married….40 years ago!
Now that I eat low carb, this will do the trick, and with all of the nuts and
seeds, I can’t wait to taste it!
Has anyone tried an egg substitute? I usually use ground flax meal and water but have tried that in other paleo recipes and it was horrible.
This recipe looks awesome! Could I use hemp hearts instead of sunflower seeds? I have all of the other ingredients.
I used hemp hearts and it turned out great!
Yes, you can 🙂
Can the almond meal be substituted for another flour?
The bread is so yummy. I substituted olive oil for coconut oil and almond milk for flax milk. Do you recommend cooling the bread in the refrigerator first before cutting it? Also, is the shelf life five days, or is it longer?
I’m so glad that you enjoyed this bread. For storage longer than five days, I recommend freezing individual slices. Individually wrap them in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 2 months.
This is very tasty bread, but something in mine turned green. Not a week later, but the day I made it. The pepitas? Please advise. It looks a little unappetizing.
It’s reaction between chlorophyll from the seeds and baking soda.
So I guess there’s nothing you can do about it then. Too bad. It tastes great, but makes it more of a difficult sell to others less inclined to eat things that are good for them. Thanks.
Maybe you can make it for yourself, slice it, then freeze individual slices.
why olive unsteady coconut oil? Will make this today and will wait for your reply, Thanks
Sure, you can use coconut oil if you want.
The bread was just delicious. It did have a green color that you’ve already explained about that. Will certainly make this again.
Thank you so much for your feedback. I’m glad you like it. 🙂
Amazing!!!!!! I made 2 loaves right away. I used hemp hearts instead of sunflower seeds (don’t care for sunflower seeds). It is hard not to eat it all! Thank you Harper!
I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you for your comment 🙂
I baked your recipe today and is the best paleo bread recipe I have eaten. And I have tried a lot. This rates head and shoulders above any other bread recipe. Could you possibly use this as a cracker recipe? Thanks for the recipe and your help.
Thank you so much for your feedback. 🙂 I’m glad to hear that you love this bread as much as I do. I didn’t try it as a cracker recipe, but you can find my favorite cracker recipe here https://paleogrubs.com/baba-ganoush-recipe
This recipe is exceptionally good!
Hi there! I tried this last night, great recipe and super tasty! The only issue I had is that it didn’t rise as high as I wanted it to. Especially to use as sandwich bread. I followed all the instructions and ingredients. Wondering if I maybe need to put more vinegar and baking soda?
Make sure everything is at room temperature and that you’ve measured everything correctly before making adjustments.
Made this bread. It was delicious! Seriously! It was devoured in 2 days. It was a tiny bit on the crumbling side, is that normal for grain free breads? Your bread pic does not show crumbling bread. Thanks for a great bread recipe.
Crumbly used to be normal for grain free breads, but not anymore. If your dough was too dry or wasn’t mixed enough that can lead to crumbly bread, also make sure your loaf has cooled completely and use a serrated bread knife to slice the loaf.
Hi,
I have baked this bread and love it. Just want to know if it’s suitable for freezing? Thanks in advance.
Made this today and wow! Delicious, nutty bread with a great texture! So much more flavour than any other gf, Paleo bread I’ve tried! Thankyou xxxxx
Fantastic bread. Is it possible to tell me the weight if the almond meal in grams as our cup sizes are different. Many thanks
I make something very similar with amasi, a local (South African) cultured dairy product. Delicious!
This bread was good the first day but the second day it looks green. Is this a chemical reaction? I wonder if it’s safe to eat.
I made this bread today and it was delicious!!! My daughter who is very picky with foods that I make which are Paleo, said she loved it as well! I actually made some Basil Pesto and put it on top. I posted your recipe on Facebook and passed it along to all my friends! This is definitely a keeper. I will be making it over and over again. Thank you so much for creating it.
I am a keto person and really like dairy. Also have been eating gluten-free for years. What would happen if I used butter instead of oil? Can’t wait to try this! Thanks for sharing it. Most gluten-free breads I’ve come across are sorry efforts at being WHITE. Glad to try something different.
I just went ahead and made it, but adapted it to be even fewer carbs. I wanted to lower the almond flour since it has some carbs and subbed in flaxseed meal for half the flour which has basically 0 net carbs. I used coconut milk with a splash of heavy cream (as I always do to get a very rich milk with fewer carbs.) I subbed pecans for the almonds since there was already so much almond in it. And subbed liquid Stevia for the honey, again for 0 zero carbs. Everything else was the same. It just came out of the oven and I slathered some butter on it. OMG it is SO good. I could eat the whole loaf. It was light and fluffy and was more like a muffin than bread. In fact, I will be making ginger muffins with it next! A little sweeter and adding ginger powder and I think it will be incredible. It’s everything I can do to not go down there and polish off the rest of the loaf! Thank you for such a great recipe. I wonder if you have ever made it leaving bigger chunks? I would think that having some separation of flavors might be nice, where you might bite into a little piece of nut or seed. Might not be as fluffy but would probably be terrific, especially as toast. YUM YUM! Nice recipe!
Just made this and like it a lot. I had no chia seeds, so put in a little extra flax and sunflower and it came out very good. This will be a regular. Also, I have had some difficulty judging when paleo breads are done by piercing; took it out at 45 minutes and after cutting, decided I will leave it in for 50 min. next time. Thanks for a good recipe. My non-paleo housemate also liked it.
Hi, May I use an egg replacement in this recipe? This looks amazing! Thanks.
I LOVETHIS!!!!! By far the very best Paleo/Keto bread I’ve tried thus far. I have tried many recipes, but never quite satisified until now. Plus, it is so easy to put together and then bake.
When you bite into this, it actually tastes like bread!
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Havee you ever tried to put blueberries in this and make muffins?
This bread looks fantastic!! Do you think a could get away with using roasted, salted pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds, or do they have to be raw? I want to make this, but they are all I currently have in my pantry.
excellent. ate over half a loaf in two days. having not eaten bread in over 5 years, this recipe has changed my life. thank you so much. scott
A+ and down right best paleo bread I’ve ever had. This is my second time making it. I slice mine really thin and than freeze it. So perfect for sandwiches as it does not fall apart. It’s not too heavy but still really filling ?