Namesake bread / loaf / cake … here we go
Actually, before we get there, small rant. This is not a protein bread. Now if we go by standards of what others believe you need to call something a “protein bar”, or a “protein ball”, we absolutely could have could have called it that. BUT. Adding nuts or a scoop of protein powder does not make a recipe “high protein”. So why do we see so much of this? Hmmm. It might be…
- you’re being led to believe it’s healthier than it’s non-protein powder counterpart
- you’re being led to believe it fits with weight loss or training recovery goals
- you’re being enticed to buy a product (i.e the protein powder from the supplement website where you’re viewing the recipe)
- you’re being given a sense that adding the protein powder makes it a superior choice to real food for recovery / nutrients
But it’s not. And nuts are NOT a source of protein. They are healthy for sure, and we would recommend (for those with no allergies) that you could happily not let a day go past without eating them in some shape or form. They are a tasty source of anti-inflammatory fats, and they will contribute a small amount of low biological value source of protein, but – UNLESS YOU’RE VEGAN – it’s not your best source for protein in recovery nutrition. Instead? Look to high-biological value proteins from dairy, eggs, and classic main meal choices such as fish and lean meats.
This recipe is going to be a tasty way to scale up nutritious carbs; which is helpful in times of high training load, or as a pre-training snack. Or you can have it as an everyday snack with some natural yoghurt. YUM.
INGREDIENTS
DRY
1 cup oat flour (100g)*- 3/4 cup wholemeal spelt flour (85g)
- 1/4 cup almond meal (30g)*
- 2+ tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp baking powder^
WET
- 2 Tbsp maple syrup
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 large zucchini (170-200g)
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar
VARIATIONS…
If you want to make it sweeter – knock back one of the flours by 1/4 cup and add in the same amount of vanilla protein powder. CAVEAT – read the intro above! In a nutshell – this is a flavour variation, it will NOT make it a PROTEIN bread. Equally you could use 1 Tbsp extra of maple syrup to achieve a similar effect.
If you like texture / crunch – in step 4, a handful of any of the following (to the mixture, or sprinkle on top)
- cacao nibs
- sunflower seeds / pepitas
- walnuts
- chopped dried apricots / dates
*these can be made from the whole version – i.e. oats –> blitz them to a flour. Almonds – same thing. The benefit with doing your own almond meal is you get the additional nutrients + fibre from the skins of the almonds; commercial almond-meal is from almonds that have been blanched (i.e. skins removed) which is why it is white by comparison to your MYO version
^if you are out of baking powder, you can use bicarb soda – but it will give you a slightly bitter aftertaste
METHOD
- Switch oven on to 180 degrees, fan-forced. Line a loaf tin with baking paper
- If you don’t have oat flour / almond meal on hand – blitz the gram amount above in the food processor. Otherwise / once done; add all dry ingredients to your food processor, and stir to combine
- Next add all the wet ingredients, give it a solid blitz, ensuring no big lumps of zucchini remain
- Additional texture / crunch step: add any of the suggested ingredients at this step, stir to combine.
- Pour your mixture into your lined tin, add some apple slices for the top, and bake for ~25-30mins. You can also make muffins, just reduce baking time accordingly
This recipe is a tasty way to scale up nutritious carbs; which is helpful in times of high training load, or as a pre-training snack. Or you can have it as an everyday snack with some natural yoghurt. YUM. Train hard people
