This soft, yeasty bread is good and simple to make. It has a slight, not overwhelming, coconut taste and includes little flecks of unsweetened coconut. The bread isn't sweet, although a little orange juice softens the sourdough tang a bit, as does a touch of date puree. With a combination of white whole-wheat flour and chia seeds, the bread has plenty of fiber and nutrition. In moderation, diabetics and anyone wanting to "eat healthy" can enjoy the bread. I make the medium-sized loaf in my air fryer, and you can also bake it in a regular oven. The bread makes a great breakfast bread, toasted, with butter. Or try it with almond butter for extra protein. My husband also likes the bread spread with no-sugar added raspberry jam. Enjoy!
Sourdough Orange Chia Coconut Bread -- Makes 1 Loaf
2 tablespoons of chia seeds
1/2 cup of orange juice
1 cup of sourdough starter/discard
1/4 cup of canola oil
1 teaspoon of coconut extract
1/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of unsweetened coconut
2 tablespoons of date puree (for the date puree, cover pitted dates with hot water and
mash them with a fork, or you can substitute brown sugar if you're not diabetic)
3/4 cup of white whole-wheat flour
In a large bowl mix the chia seeds and orange juice and let them sit for 10-15 minutes or until the mixture thickens. Stir in the starter/discard, oil, extract, milk, coconut, date puree, and flour and mix everything well. Loosely cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least an hour. I usually leave the mixture on the counter for 3-5 hours, and it's fine. When you're ready, add:
1 cup of white whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
Mix, then knead in the flour and salt, then knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, adding in an additional 1/4 cup or so of flour to prevent the dough from being too sticky to knead. Shape the dough into a loaf. Spritz a medium-sized loaf pan--I use an 8- X 4-inch pan--with non-stick cooking spray and place the loaf in it. Spritz the top of the loaf with canola oil or non-stick cooking spray and loosely cover it with plastic wrap. Let the loaf rise until it increases in volume by about one-third.
Air Fryer: Air fry the loaf at 320 degrees for about 45 minutes or until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the loaf reads 190-200 degrees.
Oven: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the loaf for 50-60 minutes or until brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the middle of the loaf reads 190-200 degrees.
Let the bread cool in its pan for at least 10 minutes before turning it out to cool completely. The bread will slice easily after it has cooled completely.
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