Great responses yesterday! Talking about skincare turned out to be not a snoozefest at all. We all agree on one thing: it’s important to care for skin “from the inside out,” to quote Bitt. Nourishing foods, avoiding synthetics and toxins, and having healthy habits: this is all a big part of the skincare picture.
A few weeks ago, I created a very bad habit when I went on a raw picnic dinner with my friend Nelly. That day, I had discovered some raw flatbreads from Chocolatree, and I made a couple of open faced raw sammies with them:
The problem is that I’m now totally addicted to raw flatbread sandwiches! I’ve been on a kick for the last two weeks, loading them up with all sorts of toppings (like my dilly sunflower cheese, hummus, nut butter, etc.) and veggies. I’ve also made some “deconstructed” flatbread sandwiches with Lydia’s crackers when I didn’t actually have a full piece of flatbread on hand. Like so:
Is this basically the same as raw crackers and dip? Yes. But it’s fun to say “deconstructed flatbread sandwich.”
Naturally, this isn’t a bad habit for my tastebuds or belly. But it is a very bad habit for my wallet, since I’ve been purchasing all of the crackers and flatbreads. About a year ago, I started getting adept at making dehydrator food (like my lucky hemp bread or my carrot raisin bread), and found that it can be easy, fun, and economical to make one’s own raw breads and crackers, rather than relying on store bought. I’ve simply fallen out of the good habit, and allowed the stresses of work to prevent me from staying organized with my kitchen prep and planning.
Well, no more ‘scuses, Lucy. It’s a new season, and I’ve sworn that this will be a carefully budgeted autumn. And that means getting friendly once again with the ‘ole Excalibur. This week, I kicked off what I hope will be a nice little marathon of homemade raw flatbread making, starting with a sweet, rather than a savory, recipe.
Ages ago, HEAB posted this recipe for raw cinnamon raisin bread. Cinnamon and raisin lover that I am, I’ve had it bookmarked ever since. A few nights ago, I decided to put my own spin on the bread, following Heather’s instructions pretty closely. The result is a crispy, tasty, bread/cracker hybrid. It’s sweet, so it works nicely with fruit or as a breakfast bread, but it’s definitely not too sweet, so you could also very easily eat this with lunch or dinner. Versatile, tasty, and simple to make? My kind of recipe.
Raw Cinnamon Raisin Bread (Inspired by HEAB)
Yields about 22 slices
2 cups almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 tsp salt
2 heaping tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup flax meal
1 zucchini
2 carrot
1 apple
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp agave nectar
1 cup raisins
1) Grind almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor fitted with the S blade. Dump the contents into a large mixing bowl, add the flax meal, and set aside.
2) Using the shredder attachment of your food processor, process the carrot, ‘zuke, and apple. Alternately, you could grind the nuts/seeds with a Vitamix, and then use a box grater for the veggies, but this recipe will work best with a food processor.
3) Add all the shredded veggies to the mixing bowl with the spices and the ground nuts/seeds. Add the 1/2 cup water and agave, and mix well with your hands. It should be pretty moist. Add carrots and mix again.
4) Return everything to your food processor, and pulse it till the veggies are a little more broken down and the raisins are all chopped up. You certainly don’t have to do this last step–you could leave the mix much coarser–but I liked the relative smoothness and even texture that re-processing gave the bread.
5) Spread the mix onto two dehydrator sheets fitted with Teflex sheets. It should be just shy of 1/4 inch thick, and very even.
6) Dehydrate at 115 degrees Farenheit for about 4-5 hours or so. Flip the dough, score it into squares or rectangles, and dehydrate on the other side for another 4-5 hours. Depending on the temperature of your home and the moistness of your dough, this may take more or less time. I pulled mine out of the dehydrator when it was nice and crispy, but you can also easily choose to leave it a little more flexible.
7) Break into pieces, and enjoy!
So far, I’ve most enjoyed this bread topped with some crispy slices of my favorite fall apples!
Or today, at work, topped with some fresh farmer’s market apple butter and Fuji slices:
Delicious! A light, crispy, and nicely autumnal breakfast.
From this moment on, I want you all to hold me to my promise to get better about using my dehydrator for breads and snacks. I certainly don’t want to deny myself the occasional fun raw foods purchase: I love Lydia’s foods and other raw brands, and on top of that I think that raw food companies deserve my support. But there’s a reason I have a dehydrator, and it’s so that I can save money when I do crave these kinds of goodies.
On that note, I wish you all a lovely start to the weekend. What kind of food do you plan on prepping–and eating?
xo
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After reading this post, it’s definitely time for lunch. Everything looks beautiful. I love the raw cinnamon bread recipe. My dehydrator has been neglected for the past few months–it’s time to use it more and this is perfect!
Zomg! I am inn love with cinnamon-raisin ANYthing. So that pretty much sounds like heaven in raw form. You can bet I’ve taken the recipe down :).
P.S. I’m way behind, but I wanted to tell you how much I thoroughly enjoyed your Cali posts! I only wish you’d brought me along in your suitcase :).
(As long as you hid some chocolate in there, I think I could’ve handled being cooped up.)
I’ve heard such great things about Millennium (and California’s vegan-ness in general).
But then again, you live in NYC. Not too shabby either, in terms of vegan-friendliness!
Sure beats Texas ;).
i’m definitely making bran muffins…i’ve had a huge craving for them lately! topped with honey, and it doesn’t get much better!
This is why I love your blog… you make even the non-rawest of foodies (me!) want to eat raw food!
Yum! I am totally making it this weekend! Thanks, Gena!
Looks AMAZING!! Could sunflower seeds and almonds be substituted for other nuts/seeds though? Or would that compromise the texture/consistency…
Hmm, I guess you could! I’d do another hard nut for the almonds (macadamias?) and pumpkin seeds for sunflower.
Nice! My favorite make-ahead is split pea soup (sans ham)in the slow cooker. I always make it extra thick so that I can either use it as a spread on crackers and breads, or just add a bit more water for soup when I need to. Makes a ton, so I can eat it all week for lunch!
I certainly know what a drain purchasing specialty raw foods items can be on the wallet, so it’s great that you came up with this recipe. I sounds absolutely delicious, and I certainly do see some “deconstructed flatbread sandwiches” in my future!
OMG can’t wait to try this. <3 Cinnamon (one of my favourite spices) and i love rasin breads too. Esp. around autmn /winter time.
Oh wow, this looks amazing Gena! 🙂
Looks absolutely divine!
looks so delicious! i love love love raisins.
Looks phenomenal!! I am such a massive cinnamon-raisin fan, this recipe sounds pretty amazing.
Also – I’m just catching up on your SF posts (a la Katie) and the trip looked so wonderful. I love San Francisco, but have never had the chance to really explore the vegan/raw places (my extended family who lives there are more the “lamb roast tonight! burgers tomorrow!” type). I absolutely want (NEED) to!
deconstructed open faced sammies it is! im partial to livin spoonfuls crackers. if you havent tried them, do so asap. they totally blew my mind. however, until i get a job, i think your recipe will get bookmarked, as it is a wayyy less $$$ option.
ps your comment on the wedding post was SO sweet. dont worry – i wont tell chloe 😉 its hard to not gush when i talk about the wedding, and yet, i cant even put into words what the day meant. i just feel so blessed.
Gena,
So glad you liked the raisin cinnamon bread – your version sounds and looks delicious as do all of your open faced sandwiches. Thank goodness I can’t find many raw breads and crackers here in Nashville. Otherwise, I’d be in BIG trouble…as I’d be totally broke. I really need to experiment more with making my own. Thanks for the inspiration. 🙂
Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
I am good about making my own salads and smoothies and wraps, but I still haven’t made my own energy bars and I rarely make my own veggie burgers- I have favorite brands of both that I buy. I would like to try making big batches of energy bars to freeze and weekly batches of veggie burgers to put on salads, sandwiches, wraps, etc. I haven’t gotten in to raw breads at all and I think I might as well not seeing as they’re expensive and I don’t have a dehydrator….
PS looks like you’re tuned in to Rosh Hashannah food whether you know it or not! 🙂
i.need.to.make.this.asap. I love apples and cinnamon raisin and with fresh almond or cashew butter..sounds to die for!! Need to put my dehydrator to good use. I know I’m the same bout prep. I just made some raw red pepper almond meal/chia crackers..gotta perfect my bread/cracker making ahha
Thank you for inspiring my creative engines running again. So excited to try new things again.
I saw this post pop up on Twitter a few hours ago, just as I was heading out the door, and I made a mental note to read about that tasty-sounding cinnamon raisin bread. Love the idea of this recipe! Perhaps someday I will own a dehydrator so I can try this out for myself:)
I’m at my folk’s place, transitioning them into a healthier diet (both have serious medical conditions, so the bacon is (finally) out). Looking forward to cooking veggie-based, whole foods meals to help nourish them and create a better mindset about healthy foods. Sprouted rye sourdough, pumpkin soup, blue corn baked tempeh…gonna be cooking all weekend long!
Yum, this bread looks wonderful and I can’t wait to try it. Hmm, maybe I’ll get some dehydrating time this weekend. 🙂
I have been majorly slacking on the raw cracker/bread dehydrating too. I might have to give these a try. I love cinnamon raisin anything.
Looks great Gena!! You know we are big fans of flat bread sandwiches too, LOL We love our dehydrators and love it when others do too! 🙂
this bread looks so yummy. i am very addicted to my flax crackers so i am excited to try a different type of bread; i would love to add some more non-flour things into my diet, especially with fresh veggies- and this looks perfect.
btw, i love your site; and i am always impressed with how much writing you do! makes me inspired to post more!
aloha from maui 🙂
that looks really good! I plan on prepping dough for some garlic bread twists I need to make on Monday!
Wow, that looks so good!
I’m about to bake up some portabella mushrooms with spaghetti sauce. NOM. They get so roasty and umami-ish. Though I have to be the only person who adds soy sauce to pasta sauce (no-salt added sauce, haha). It really does give it a kick.
Oooh Gena, great job on the bread! I love sweeter rather than savory items (surprise, surprise..ha!) so it’s no wonder I would love this one! Rawmazing has done a sweet raisin bread that I have thought about making but never have. Great job on this and way to use that dehyd to save some moooola!!! yay!
I plan to make…raw veggies ? haha! Not really “making” anything but fall is great to just nibble on this and that at the farmer’s markets and see what I can find. Nothing pre-determined yet.
Anyway, have a great weekend!!!! 🙂
I too have been “slacking off” lately and the dehydrator has been in use only to dehydrate tomatoes, and peppers! Time to make some crackers and this sounds really good! I also have had some request for my banana brittle aka banana “crack” because my friends say it is so addicting!
This will sound scandalous…but them raw cinnamon raisin bread will be SO good spread with rich ricotta cheese, maybe a drizzle of good honey…and fresh cracked black pepper!
Oooh – this looks really good. I’ve made a zucchini flatbread a couple of times but haven’t been all that thrilled with it. This recipe looks more up my ally. As for my weekend food, I got a Vita Mix for my birthday yesterday (YAY!!!!!) so will be blending every meal for the next few days. 🙂
Looks delicious, but is there a way I can bake these in the oven? I know that that will make them non-raw and the whole point of this is to have them raw, but I don’t own a dehydrator.
Thanks and keep up the yummy recipes!
Actually, I don’t at all think that cooking it “misses the point.” You’ll need to experiment, though, with temperatures. I’d suggest 300 or 350, and leave it in (checking often) till crispy.
I love love love the way you embrace food to nourish your body. Your ideas are fabulous and you are so adorable !!!
I really want a dehydrator. My husband has celiac and I really think he would like dehydrated crackers. I remember HEAB posting those recipes before and I just have not done them yet. I need to get on with it. Your eats all look delicious.
That looks great!
I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer. My first question is about oats. Are steel-cut oats better than rolled oats? Which type do you recommend?
Also, I have a question about fasting. What do you think about one day weekly water or juice fasts? Do you think those are beneficial or harmful in some way? I would like to do a longer fast but I don’t think I could handle that. I also thought fasting this often might be bad for my metabolism. If weekly is too often, what about doing a one to two day water/juice fast monthly? Is that too often too?
Thanks so much for reading my comment/questions!
Hi Christianne:
Steel cut oats are a bit healthier in that they’re less processed and lower on the glycemic index, but rolled oats are healthy as well, and they cook more quickly. I personally use both, depending on the time I’m working with.
And I’m not a supporter of fasting–juice or water–unless you have been instructed to do so by a medical doctor (for example, pre-op or before a colonoscopy). You’re quite right to say that it will lower your metabolism, among other problems.
Gena
You make the healthiest foods look irresistable! The cabbage salad looks amazing!
Thanks honey! I live to make healthy look tasty!
Those flatbread sandwiches and the cinnamon raisin bread def. look like something I’d be addicted too–food twin! 🙂 YUM!
Gena, first time responder! Love your site and especially your relaxed philosophy of also eating some cooked foods – I find it very challenging to eat 100% raw with also having to feed non-raw DH and children! I am going to make these flatbreads today if I can! No dehydrator yet, but my oven has a 100 degree bread proofing setting and I’ve used that fairly successfully to dehydrate the few things I’ve tried so far. Also tried vegan pumpkin scones this weekend–love fall-y food!
Thank you so much, Barb! Your comments are always very welcome here 🙂
Oh, yum! Thinking of topping this with some nut butter and grated apple. Thanks Gena!
Commenting again with a question – should the nuts and seeds be soaked/dehyrdated? Or just straight out of the bag? Thanks!
I made a batch of raw cinnamon raisin bread a few nights — it is SO good! My husband and I were eating it straight from the dehydrator trays. It took a little longer to dehydrate for me (nearly 24 hrs) but this might because my batter was pretty moist and it’s humid right now. Thank you for this and many other great recipes! I love reading your blog!
I love your blog, and your recipes but this agave amount is disturbing and making my liver hurt! it’s just so processed (though gena i’m sure you use a purer form). to everyone, please don’t buy from a grocery store! at least make sure they haven’t added HFCS to them, because now that agave is trendy retailers are trying to make it cheaper. scary.
I made this today with 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds (all i had), 2 cups almonds, and 1.5 cups macadamia nuts. Followed the rest of the recipe but forgot to put in the apple. Still sso super yummy! And my 4 year old son gobbled up the batter! That in itself is a miracle!
I love your recipes!! I’m new to veganism and raw food, and I’m really interested in experimenting with it. However, you didn’t post the time and temperature for making this in the oven (I don’t have the funds to invest in a dehydrator at the moment). If you could possibly post that, that’d be great. This recipe looks delicious and I’d love to make it 🙂