Raw Sauerkraut and Caraway Bread

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked and dehydrated
• 1 cup rolled, gluten-free oats, soaked and dehydrated
• 3/4 cup ground  flax seeds
• 3 Tbsp psyllium husks
• 3 Tbsp caraway seeds, ground
• 1 tsp caraway seeds
• 1 tsp Himalayan pink salt

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 cup packed, moist almond pulp
• 1 1/2 cups raw sauerkraut
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup sauerkraut juice
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp raw honey
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Hand mix in:

• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked and dehydrated

Preparation:

1. In the food processor fitted with the “S” blade, place the following ingredients: sunflower seeds and oats.  Process until they break down into a powdery form.
2. Add the flax, psyllium, ground caraway, caraway seeds and salt.  Pulse together.  Set aside.
3. In a large-sized bowl combine almond pulp, sauerkraut, water, sauerkraut juice, maple syrup, honey and vanilla.  Mix together with your hands.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl and hand mix until well incorporated.  Depending on how moist your almond pulp is, you may need to add water so the dough sticks together nicely.  If you do, do this by adding 1 Tbsp at a time.
5. Shape the loaf and coat the top with extra sunflower seeds.
6. Pop the dough out of the container and place flat-side down on the mesh sheet that comes with the dehydrator.
7. Dehydrate at 145 degrees (F) for 1 hour.  This will create a crust on the outside.
8. Remove the bread and on a cutting board, cut the bread into 1/2 – 1″ thick slices.  I cleaned the knife in between cuts so to make the cuts nice and clean.   Don’t saw back and forth, this will cause the edges to crumble.  Lay each slice back onto the mesh sheet.
9. Decrease the temperature to 115 degrees (F) and continue to dehydrate for about 10 hours.
10. Shelf life and storage:  My personal recommendation would be to store this bread in an air-tight container, in the fridge, for 3-5 days.  The more moisture that is left in your bread, the shorter the shelf life.  Therefore, shelf life will vary with your drying technique.  Whenever I make this bread, it never lasts very long enough to spoil.   Keep in mind, the whole purpose of eating a raw diet is to eat foods at their peak of freshness, so don’t expect this bread to have a long expiration date.  This bread also freezes well.

Substitutions:

• Do not use wet seeds and oats in this recipe.  Make sure they are dehydrated first, otherwise the bread will be to soggy.
• If you are unable to consume oats, you could replace it with ground buckwheat or add more sunflower seeds to the recipe.
• If you don’t enjoy the flavor of flax, you can use the same measurement of ground chia seeds.
• I don’t have a replacement for the psyllium husks, it helps to give the bread that spongy feeling.  You can opt to leave it out but it will change the texture.
• Almond pulp… I use almond pulp in most of breads because it helps lighten the texture.  You can use whole nuts ground to a small meal but the bread will be much heavier.
• Sweetener is up to you but I don’t suggest omitting it.  It adds a balance to the overall flavor of the bread.   You can use just about any sweetener that you desire.