Lentil Bread

Who could believe lentils could be used to make bread? Vegan (if you wish to), gluten-free,yeast-free, and addictively delicious.

My mom used to make us eat a whole lot of lentils as children. Lentil pancakes, in salads, steamed or even in desserts like moong dal halwa.

I mean, come on. How cool is she?

I remember learning that and thinking my mom was the most awesome mom ever and I wanted to do the same if I was ever a mama.

My lentil connection makes me use lentils heavily in my cooking for proteins, fiber, vitamins, and so many other nutrients.

This lentils bread is my unconditional love for lentils!

Well, the good news is it is literally a dump, mix, rise, and bake kind of bread! If you love lentils, trust me, and let’s get baking!!

Ingredients for Lentil Sandwich Bread

To make this bread, you will need the following:

1. Uncooked lentils (I used the commonly sprouted moong beans, which are easy to digest ) and taste amazing when baked. You will be pleasantly surprised!!
2. Tapioca starch (cornflour works fine, too)
3. Asafoetida (Helps to digest the lentils and gives an amazing flavour to the bread, skip it if you wish)
4. Good Fats (e.g., olive, coconut, or avocado oil. Only 2 tablespoon is needed )
5. Baking powder (be sure to use a grain-free variety if you need this to be 100% grain-free)

Let’s Make Some Bread!

This bread is super-simple to make, but it does require some advance planning to soak the beans and sprout.

Step 1: Rinse the uncooked lentils under cold water and then place in a large bowl.Cover the lentils with water (enough so that there is about 1 inch/2.5 cm above the lentils) and let soak for at least 12 hours or up to 24 hours.

Step 2: Drain the plumped-up lentils and give them another rinse under cold water. Wrap the drained lentil in a muslin cloth and allow it to sprout. Sprouting is optional and skips this step if you are pressed for time.

Step 3: Place the beans in a processor and both the oil and salt, in a processor.

Process away, stopping several times (especially at the start) to scrape the sides of the blender. Blending until the result is a coarse batter.

Step 4: Transfer the batter to a bowl.

You can add the remaining ingredients to the processor, but I prefer to scrape the lentil mixture into a bowl before adding the tapioca starch, and baking powder.

Why dirty an extra bowl? Because the final batter is quite thick and sticky; I find it more manageable to add the final ingredients in a bowl.

Step 5: Scrape and spread the batter into a 9×5-inch (22.5 x 12.5 cm)  that has been lined with parchment paper.

Can you bake without the parchment? Yes, but the sides will get darker than in a parchment-lined pan. It’s good either way!

Spread the batter evenly and give the pan a hard bang on the counter to remove any big bubbles.

Step 6: Slide the pan into the middle of a preheated 360F (180C) oven and bake. Pretty simple, right?

Cool and Slice

Let the bread cool completely on a wire rack. Your only remaining tasks are slicing and eating!

Things to know before jumping into this recipe,

1.This bread is going to taste like lentils.

2.This bread is denser than a usual sandwich bread but the bread is also very moist and delicious

3.So if you slice it before it has cooled, it will feel like it has not cooked through, but it has.

4.You can slice the bread very thin, or go thick and rustic. It’s very filling, so I prefer thin slices for open sandwiches and medium slices for toast.

I’m loving this bread but I am excited to know what you think if you give it a try.

Happy baking, everyone!