Almond Milk & Loaf

By foodiva

Ingredients

• to 180C oven to 180C (350F).
• to two medium to large baking sheets with silicone paper or a silpat sheet and set aside.
• Weigh and measure out all your ingredients and set them out on the work bench.
• to browning the butter, let it cool and set again (in the refrigerator if required) and bring back to room temperature. It should be the consistency of room temperature butter and not in liquid form.
• Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat again until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, as needed.
• to to 30 salt, and bicarbonate of soda, and beat on low speed until smooth. Increase to medium to high speed, for about 30 seconds.
• Add the chopped chocolate couverture, and the honeycomb.
• If using a stand mixer, mix in on low speed until the chocolate is evenly incorporated. Otherwise, fold in the chocolate and honeycomb using a spatula.
• to Scoop out a heaped tablespoons of cookie dough and place on the trays. Allow space for them to spread because they will spread out and flatten as they bake.
• If you like, sprinkle a little flaked sea salt on each cookie before baking.
• 10-12 12 to 10-12 minutes. I leave them for 12 minutes in my oven but it can vary from oven to oven.
• 5 to to trays for 5 minutes before removing gently to a wire rack to cool completely.
• to to to move them off the tray and on to a wire rack with the baking paper. It is faster, and helps prevent you accidentally breaking cookies if they are still too warm.
• Store in an airtight container for several days.
• Alternatively, have a night in and eat them all!
• Notes
• I used Valrhona Guanaja P125 because I love it. One of my favourites for intensity and flavour. Use your favourite, but make it a great chocolate, because the flavour of the chocolate will make or break these cookies. It always does.

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from chocolatechillimango.com

Preparation

Step 1

Remember I mentioned making my own almond milk?  Oh mamma, how good is homemade almond milk, chilled, on a hot summer’s day?  There are no words sufficient to describe its fabulousness.   Even better than having a fresh bottle of delicious almond milk is knowing you can bake something awesome with the leftover almond meal.  All of this and you have the added benefit of knowing precisely what’s in your almond milk, it is fresh, and you haven’t wasted food or precious dinero (aka money).

I like to keep it simple, especially as I’ve just made a mess from all the almond milk production, and I like to keep it healthy ?  My favourite thing to make is a quick and easy almond loaf.  It takes only a few minutes to put together, it’s very healthy, and importantly, it’s totally delicious.

The texture of the batter is mousse-like because of the moisture in the almonds.  This results in a loaf that is so soft it practically falls apart.  You need a fork to eat it.  It’s soft, light and has a slight caramel flavour as it’s sweetened with dates.  No flour, no added sugars, gluten and dairy free.  OK, it’s also kinda paleo ?

, but it also matches beautifully with stone fruit, figs or citrus.  It would even be lovely with a sharp cheese as part of a cheese board … I mean, there are nuts, dates … just add cheese ?

One serve provides good quality protein, is low in carbs and saturated fats, and provides a decent contribution to your daily fibre intact.

Makes

1 standard sized loaf (23cm x 10cm loaf tin) that serves 12

*This quantity is based on starting with 375 grams of almonds.  If not making almond milk, soak 375 grams of unblanched almonds for 8 – 12 hours in fresh water, covered.  The almonds will swell.  Drain well, and process in a food processor until a semi-fine meal.

Note:  This loaf is lovely if you add the finely grated zest of a lemon, lime, or orange.  Alternatively, replace the almond extract with a few teaspoons orange flower water or rose-water, or cinnamon, or a mixture of all three.  They really go really well with the almonds for a middle-eastern flavour combo.

Preheat the oven to 180℃.

Place the dates in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth.  Add all the ingredients and process until you get a lovely mousse-like batter.  The sweetener is optional.  I don’t believe it’s required as the dates give the loaf a lovely natural sweetness already but it’s up to you.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for about 50 – 60 minutes until the loaf has risen, is golden and cooked through.  It will still be extremely soft but a skewer should come out clean when inserted into the centre (with only crumbs attached).  Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.

When cool, remove carefully from the tin and place on to a serving dish.

Store the loaf, covered, in the refrigerator.

To make one litre of fresh almond milk, you will need

Place the almonds in a container and cover with fresh water.  Make sure the almonds are totally covered by the water as they will swell as they soak.  Cover and allow to soak for 8 – 12 hours or overnight.  Drain the almonds and place in a blender with the filtered (or spring) water and blend until the almonds are finely ground.  Pulse a few more times, then allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Use a large piece of fine muslin or extra fine linen/cotton to line a fine sieve.  Place over a bowl and pour in the almond mixture.  Make sure to extract as much of the liquid as possible into the bowl.  When only the almond meal remains, wrap up the muslin and squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible.

At this point you can sweeten the almond milk or add a dash of vanilla or cacao or cinnamon to flavour it.  I prefer to keep it plain so I can flavour it, as needed, if required.  Pour the almond milk into a glass bottle, seal, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 to 4 days.

Buy good quality fresh raw almonds to make sure your almond milk has a fresh, clean almond flavour, with no bitterness.

Macros are provided for the loaf only (sans toppings etc).  For the almond milk, I have used average values for unsweetened almond milk.  The macros depend on the ratio of almonds to water but the variations won’t be too significant.

If you add any sweeteners to the loaf or vary it, this will impact the macros, of course.

Per serve macros are based on 12 serves per loaf.

Jams & Preserves

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