January 18, 2012
(last updated January 27, 2020) 
Thanks for the intelligent commentary on yesterday’s post. I look forward to more discussions about vegan attire!
Switching gears today, I’m here with a new raw bread recipe—carrot oat bread, to be precise. You may be thinking that I’ve started to repeat myself: I already have two recipes for raw bread (here and here) that features carrots and/or dried fruit. So what am I doing making another one?
Well, I’ll be honest: I have a lot of carrot pulp to use up. That’s one reason. And since I’m not in the mood for carrot cupcakes again, bread it is. I am not, however, repeating the same flatbread/cracker like concoctions I’ve already made—promise! Instead, I’m bringing you a soft, dense, and thick bread, that’s a lot more like the real thing than my thinner, crispier breads have been.
The trick here was substituting oat flour for the usual mix of ground nuts/seeds and flax that I typically use. How did I make raw oat flour? By simply grinding up raw oat groats in my coffee grinder (which I don’t actually use for coffee; I use it for flax, chia, and grains that I want to make powdery for my recipes). If you have a Vitamix or a grinder, you too can make the homemade raw oat flour; if you don’t, you can grind up rolled oats in a food processor, or you can simply use store bought oat flour (Bob’s Red Mill makes one that is gluten free, no less).
Raw, Vegan Carrot Oat Bread (gluten free if you use GF oats, soy free)
Makes about 10 slices
2 heaping cups carrot pulp or grated carrot that has been squeezed thoroughly to remove excess moisture
1 cup oat flour
12 prunes, soaked in hot water for 30 min or more and drained
1/4 cup water + extra for blending
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup flax
1) Place pulp and prunes in a food processor fitted with the S blade. Process with the 1/4 cup water till the mixture is smooth.
2) Add oat flour, flax, sea salt. Process mixture into a “dough” that forms a ball. You may need more water, but don’t assume you will: drizzle it in only if your dough is much too pasty.
3) Shape your “dough” into a cute mini-loaf. Score the top into thick slices, about ten.
4) Dehydrate at 115 degrees for about 4 hours. Flip it so that the bottom is exposed, and dehydrate for another 3. Slice dough along score marks, and dehydrate the slices for another hour or so. If it’s still moist, keep dehydrating, but remember that the bread should be chewy, not crunchy. Don’t overdo it!
Alternately, you can bake the bread at 300 for about 40 minutes. However, I urge you to check it often, since I haven’t tried this method myself, and I don’t want to give you instructions that will ruin it!! It’s too cute to ruin:
Of all the raw breads I’ve made, this is by far the most “bready.” The slices are quite small, you’ll find—they kind of resemble biscotti—but for a loaf that is 100% raw and vegan, they’re not bad at all.
Along with some almond butter and apple? An incredible raw breakfast.
A few other cool things about this recipe: first, since we’ve all been discussing student-friendly food, note that the ingredients are fairly inexpensive. Prunes are less costly by far than dates, and oats are infinitely less pricey than nuts! Carrots are usually budget-friendly, and flax is cheaper than, say, chia. To say nothing of the fact that the recipe is a chance to reuse juicing leftovers.
Second, this recipe is friendly to my readers who find the volume of nuts/seeds in the raw diet a little intimidating. Though I do think that nuts and seeds have an important purpose in all vegan diets, I totally understand that they’re overused in many raw recipes. Oat groats, though unconventional, are a fun alternative.
And the taste? Well, I love it. This bread isn’t very sweet; don’t expect it to taste like a cupcake in spite of the prunes. I think they give it just enough sweet flavor. It tastes a little “bready” from the oats, and I think the salt lends it a lot of flavor, too. It’s a very mild, very basic bread upon which you can stack all sorts of toppings, dips, fruits, and veggies.
Before I go, have you picked up the January issue of VegNews yet?
In addition to featuring great articles by Jasmin and Corinne, it also features my regular column, “Raw Done Right.” This month’s recipe? A wonderful raw pad thai, which was made all the more appealing in Hannah Kaminsky’s amazing photography:
Hannah, will you always make my food look that good?
Check out the latest issue of the magazine for the recipe, and many other mouth-watering delights!
xo
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This looks really really nice.
How high do you shape your loaf approximately?
You have some gorgeous recipes. I will be making the oat and apple loaf tomorrow.
Many thanks
Helen
hi im just starting to look in top raw food recipes and i thought for it the be still considered raw you can only cook it to 45 degrees. Is that different with dehydrating? thanks tash
I tried this and added a little nutritional yeast, it just gives a more traditional bread flavour for all those that are dearly missing a good crusty loaf!
Gena, this bread looks really good! I’m on a low-starch (but not low-sugar) diet, and often wonder, when I see recipes calling for oat flour, if sprouted oats would be a good low-starch substitute. I can’t figure out–I’ve looked and looked–how much sprouting grains reduces their starch content. Everything I read says it converts some of the starch to sugar, but I’m not able to find any hard numbers. What do you think?
Mmm carrot “biscotti” sounds good to me 🙂
Is it flax meal or flax seeds? I’m assuming flax meal….
So sorry for the slow response!!! Flax meal.
Hi Gena:
I love your site. Would dates work instead of prunes? Or figs?
Thanks so much. You are very attentive to your readers and it is much much appreciated. On a side note, my kids LOVE your spelt muffin recipes.
Warmly,
Stacey
Hey Gena,
Been meaning to inquire: In many of your previous recipes you mention that as an alternative to dehydrating you can bake at 175 degrees with the door “ajar”. This may sound stupid but could you be more specific? Are we talking cracked or full on open? I’m desperate to start attempting some recipes that utilize the massive amount of juice pulp I produce but will never invest in a dehydrator.
As an aside, yours is my absolute favorite diet/recipe/lifestyle website and I’m so grateful for all the good information you share!
Thank you!
You know I’m always thrilled you shoot your recipes, Gena! They’re always so colorful and vibrant. Thanks for providing all the inspiration I need to make those photos come to life. 🙂 And thank you for the kind shout-out!
I’m loving the juice pulp recipies. Hubs just bought me a dehydrator to boot so I’m having all kinds of juice pulp fun between that and putting into my worm compost bin.
I’m not a student but I also love the cost friendly ideas. You are very talented my friend!
This recipe is enticing. The focus on budget-friendly recipes is much appreciated, too. If people wanted to have wider pieces of bread, making several mini loaves would probably do the trick. You could make them a little taller and they wouldn’t take forever to dehydrate.
Can’t wait to try it. Great to see a recipe with prunes. I can’t get dates here so I’m looking for ways to use other dried fruits as a substitute.
As with all of your recipes, this one looks amazing!
And so does your raw pad thai! I can’t wait to give it a try!
This looks delicious! I’m allergic to nuts so I very much appreciate the nut-free recipes you post. 🙂
This looks great! Kinda like a carrot-y, less sticky, raw vegan malt loaf? Maybe it’s just the way it’s sliced. Well, I’m wishing I’d bought carrots this week now!
I wish I could buy that magazine! Perhaps just because I love vegetable rainbow photos so much and I’d cut it out of the cover and stick it on my wall, haha!
Finally something to do with my Carrot pulp from juicing! I was beginning to feel so guilty 🙂
This looks great! I froze some carrot pulp last week thinking of your carrot cupcakes, but now, hmmmm. I’m torn! Which do you like better?
Are oats raw? I’ve always heard that the groats they sell in the stores (like Bob’s or McCanns) are ‘heat stabilized’ at 200 for 4-5 hours to prevent them from going rancid, which is why they don’t have to be refrigerated and won’t sprout. And are not raw. Has anyone else heard this? Is there a brand of raw oats out there that is really raw?
no they are not raw
Carla, I’ve always gotten Shiloh Farms, though in truth I can’t vouch for the 100% rawness!
Hi Gena,
Quick question for you…what kind of dehydrator are you using? In the market to buy one right now.
Excalibur 5 tray.
Gena, I would love to see a post with your thoughts on this article from VegNews:
http://vegnews.com/articles/page.do?pageId=4102&catId=7
Wendy, the link didn’t work, but is that the article on the “new raw foods diet?” I read and liked, and am so grateful that three raw leaders are finally coming forward with the premise that 100% raw foodism isn’t right for most people. Hurrah! That said, I think that the article sadly demonstrated a flip from one form of extremism to another; it would seem that there’s always a persistent need, among raw foodies, to vilify something, to have a culprit. So now, because of one small arm of nutrition findings, the culprit is all nuts and oils. Le sigh — there are many other studies showing the health benefits of these foods, so I find it too bad that they’re not entirely off limits to the authors. But the basic idea of expanding the raw “palate,” as it were, is great.
Yes, that is the article I was referring to, and why I have always been drawn to your blog–the emphasis on raw but not the exclusion of cooked.
Thanks so much, Wendy. Raw foods are supremely important, but of course, they’re not the whole story!
YUM!
Would almond flour work here too? I’m a nut-nut what can I say? (and of course the whole concept of “gluten-free” oats in Paris is très crazy! Or any other gluten-free “flour” ideas?) I so want to read VegNews – pad thai is my favorite and I’d love to see your take on it! Do they have a digital or web version of the magazine do you know? Congrats – you’re everywhere in the print media, bravo!
No digital, alas! Thanks for the support!!!
I’m not gluten free myself, but I did find it hard to find 100% vegan bread in Paris (I did find some). Almond flour is fine!
I think we’d all like Hannah on hand to make our food look good. And also because she’s so lovely and wonderful. Just like you.
Yes, I would like for you both to appear in my apartment right now, with this bread and the noodle dish and, what the hey, the carrot cupcakes too.. I can offer you in return…. um…. summer?
I used to make similar raw bread with pumpkin instead of carrot. Haven’t made it in ages though 🙂 Looking forward to try your recipe and thank you for reminding!
Mmm – this looks so pretty and delicious! All of my raw pastries and treats have an oat and seed base, but I adjust the amounts according to what I’m making. I have to make this bread for the family the next time I juice a bunch of carrots!
Thank you for not saying that all raw oats are gluten-free, or all oats are natural gluten-free because it’s not true. It seems that there are finally raw GF oat groats on the market. For a long while there weren’t. There also is a certain percentage of gluten-free folks (maybe just some celiacs?) who can’t do any oats at all. Not sure why. I am curious if this recipe would work with buckwheat, because it does make a nice soft bread. I just made some with carrots and buckwheat.
Saw your recipe in VegNews, eager to try it!
I’ve heard that, too, Bitt. I have learned so much more about GF living this year, and love offering my GF readers safe options!
Ahh… once again, we’re on the same wavelength! (Although it’s hard to miss me when you invoke my beloved carrots…) I’m currently brewing something involving carrots and apricot paste, not far off from prunes, and you know I’m all about keeping the nut content down!
This looks seriously wonderful. I’m so envious of your carrot pulp supply…
love
Ela
This looks so yum. Just like mana bread! I love to use ground up oats in all my raw desserts too, it adds a more authentic baked mouth-feel, as well as cutting down on the cost, and the fat. Awesome.
Hannah is the best and that Pad thai looks great! and love this carrot oat bread! we need to get back to doing some juicing so we can have carrot pulp to make yummy goodies like this!
xoxo
L&M
We made the Raw Pad Thai for dinner last night and loved it! Loving this months VegNews.
Congrats again on your VegNews features..that is fabulous you have your column.
And this bread looks pretty fabulous too! Carrots in bread is great b/c it keeps it moist and gives so much flavor.
I just made something with avocado in it and thought of you.
I wish they sold VegNews in the UK! This bread sounds delicious and looks so hearty – I can’t WAIT to try it when my dehydrator gets delivered, I went for the plunge yesterday and ordered one. Although I’m pretty sure the first thing I make will be your raw buckwheat granola – I haven’t had it since the summer when I could sun dehydrate and I’ve missed it terribly!
Thanks for this recipe lady, it’s exactly what I feel like!
This bread looks wonderful, thanks for another use for juice pulp. And very interesting with the prunes, can’t wait to try it! And pick up that copy of VegNews!