Breakfast · Desserts

Paleo Raspberry Lemon Loaf

grain free raspberry lemon loaf.JPG

I like my weekend mornings cozy and a tad lazy. Not in the sense nothing gets accomplished, but in the sense nothing gets rushed. Often times, I’ll bake the night before so I can wake up to a freshly-baked loaf of fruity bread & my favorite monogram “A” mug filled to the brim with warm, strong coffee. For the record, am a bit of a coffee snob. Yep, I said it. I grew up on the good stuff; I can’t stand the watered-down cups. But, may I also add that aside from coffee (and maybe chocolate) I don’t snob food or drink. At all.

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Once upon a time, I used to eat lemon loaf and banana bread by the pound.  And because I staunchly refuse to quit or give up on these little life pleasures, I bake them in an entirely different fashion these days. The truth is; I enjoy cake far too much to give it up entirely. So everything I bake is mostly gluten-free, sometimes grain-free, always refined sugar-free and dairy free. Why the “mostly” gluten-free? Because I often bake with ancient grains like spelt flour which has gluten; but I tolerate spelt extremely well. But for the purposes of this recipe, this one has NO gluten & NO grains in the flour which makes it entirely paleo. It is not vegan because there’s plenty of eggs involved but I’ve nearly halved the amount of eggs by adding my now trusty unsweetened apple sauce to the mix. And- you can substitute the eggs by making a flax egg replacer, which I’ll add notes for, too.

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I have a little confession… I was about to bake a Blueberry Lemon Loaf, until a fresh pint of organic raspberries on sale for $3.99 led to a last minute impulse buy. Which often happens when you cook and eat based on what’s available, what’s in season now and what’s on sale. It’s a great way to eat, friends. There’s things I always need; my so-called fixed staples. But a great way to save money is to design your weekly dinner menu around what’s on sale this week at your local grocery store. It’s served me well. I walk around and see canned organic beans or brussels sprouts or mango on sale and I know my quinoa will have beans, my eggs a side of brussels, and my chia pudding will be loaded with mango this week. It’s that simple, sales decide my toppings.

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Anywho, back to cake. Because it’s very late at night as am writing this narrative and the pictures of this loaf are making me HAN-GRY. [Read hungry + angry]. I’m also getting ready to head south for my little sister’s wedding, and I just can’t wait! Maybe I’ll bake this loaf for the plane. Heck yes, perfect plane food. For me and for little hands alike; easy to carry around and it’s so moist and filling and packed with ALL the good things. P.S. Never drink plane coffee! Just saying… So here’s the recipe I promised. Hint: it’s super easy. You need one bowl, a whisk and an oven. Oh and the ingredients, of course. But you get the idea, pretty sure my Ethan could pull this one off like a champ!

Check out how pretty the lemony/unrefined sweetener simple glaze makes the loaf look! I was going to add nut milk or tofutti vegan sour cream to make the glaze a bit white, but I didn’t want to hide this beautiful, golden color the loaf came out with!

Gluten free raspberry lemon loaf

Paleo Raspberry Lemon Loaf

  • Servings: 8
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Ingredients

  • 4 eggs (always at room temperature)
  • 1/3 cup of organic, unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 tbsp of pure vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 2/3 cup of coconut flour (no substitutes- they won’t work with this measurement)
  • 1/3 cup of raw agave, raw honey or pure maple syrup (For sweeter palates, try 1/2 cup)
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • zest from 2 lemons
  • 1/3 cup of nut milk of your choice
  • 1/4 cup of melted coconut oil or grass-fed butter
  • 1/4 tsp of sea salt
  • 1 cup of fresh, sweet raspberries (I like to leave a few aside for garnish)

Lemon Glaze

  • 2 tbsp of coconut oil
  • 2 tbsp of unrefined sweetener of your choice: the glaze has been tested on coconut nectar & raw honey, both work great!
  • the zest and juice from 1 large lemon

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350F and line up one medium-large sized loaf pan with parchment paper. Parchment paper keeps this bread from sticking to the pan and it comes out beautifully. I sometimes spray avocado oil or a smear a bit of coconut oil on the bottom of the parchment paper before the batter comes along.
  2. In a large bowl, combine ALL loaf ingredients (except for the raspberries) and give them a good whisk. You may opt to do dry ones first (coconut flour, baking soda, pinch of sea salt) & then incorporate the wet ingredient batter.
  3. Lastly, fold the raspberries gently into the batter. Don’t squeeze them or mash them or your lemony bread will be pink. It’s happened to yours truly. If you use frozen raspberries, the bread also turns pink. Nothing wrong with this; I just enjoy seeing that golden beige lemony loaf color with deep raspberry pockets.
  4. Bake for about 35 to 45 minutes. Mine takes about 40-42 mins to be nice and golden and with a fully cooked middle. I always insert a large wooden skewer or toothpick right at the center to check for doneness.
  5. While the loaf bakes, in a small sauce pan combine all glaze ingredients on low heat until you get a gentle simmer. Remove from the heat & allow it to cool.
  6. When the loaf has also fully cooled down I like to get a sharp knife and gently pierce pockets into the loaf. I then let the glaze fall over, and sink deep into the bread. This makes it tastes divine! Cover & refrigerate for 1 hour to allow everything to settle & firm up. I always keep this loaf in the refrigerator and it takes me through a whole week!

Notes: for vegan options, try this easy flax egg replacer: 1 tbsp of flax seed meal to 2.5 tbsp of water for each egg the recipe calls for. Give it a good whisk to integrate and let them thicken fro 5-10 minutes in the fridge. 

3 thoughts on “Paleo Raspberry Lemon Loaf

  1. Hi Aleyda! I have been attempting paleo loaves lately and I was so excited to try this fluffy looking cake like loaf! However, the loaf came out like all my loaves have so far 🙁 completely soggy and wet. I followed your recipe to a T. Any ideas on why this might be happening?? I’m hoping you can help me! Thank you in advance!!

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