Now that we’ve reached our goal weight and exercise regularly, DH and I have added some treats back into our diet. It has been fun getting back into the kitchen, and one of the things I’ve wanted to explore is bread baking. I feel like sometimes the recipes just don’t turn out right and I’m not sure if it’s me or the recipe. So I’ve decided to join Bread Bakers, a group that has a monthly theme. This month’s theme was Ancient Grains, and I looked through my cookbooks and stumbled upon Quinoa Banana Bread.

A few notes about the ingredients:

• This can be made gluten-free.
• I searched high and low for quinoa flour, and only after trying at three different stores did it dawn on me to make my own. Duh. So I simply took some uncooked quinoa and ran it through my spice grinder.
• The recipe calls for melted virgin coconut oil, but I substituted olive oil.
• I tried a new way of cooking quinoa that worked great. It’s called the pasta method. Basically you cook it as if it were pasta–fill a pot halfway with water, bring to a boil, add quinoa, and cook for 10-13 minutes. Then strain it and let set for a few minutes. Fluff with a fork.
• The recipe suggested adding 2/3 cup of chocolate chips, but I was feeling healthy  and added 2/3 cup of chopped walnuts instead.

The Verdict: DH and I LOVED this! The texture and flavor were excellent. It made a quick breakfast, and I felt good about getting in some protein from the quinoa.

More great ancient grains bread recipes!

This month’s BreadBakers’ theme is Ancient Grains, hosted by Robin at A Shaggy Dough Story. Ancient grains are generally accepted to mean grains that have remained largely unchanged/un-hybridized over the last several hundred years, which means NO MODERN WHEAT. Here’s what our creative bakers came up with.

• Ancient 4 Grain Breakfast Bread from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• Ancient Grain Carrot Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Barley Flour Donut Muffins from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Blueberry Peach Quinoa Oatmeal Muffins from Magnolia Days
• Buckwheat Savoury Pancakes from Mayuri’s Jikoni
• Dimbleby’s Breastfeeding Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Eggless Sorghum and Pearl Millet Banana Muffins (Eggless Jowar and Bajra Banana Muffins) from G’Gina’s Kitchenette
• Foxtail Millet Bagels from Cooking Club
• Garlic Cheesy Einkorn Crackers from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Injera Bread from Spiceroots
• Little Millet Banana Bread from Sara’s Tasty Buds
• Millet Idli from Gayathri’s Cook Spot
• Multigrain Seeded Loaf from What Smells So Good?
• Quinoa Banana Bread from Wholistic Woman
• Seeded Spelt Boules from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Spelt and Buckwheat Soda Bread from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Spelt and Einkorn Sourdough with Caramelized Onions from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Spelt Bread from Hostess at Heart
• Spelt Sweet Potato Paratha from Cook’s Hideout
• Teff Crepes with Spinach and Mushrooms from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Yeasted Jowar Naan from Sneha’s Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated after each event on the #BreadBakers home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send Stacy an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

This post also shared at Tasty Tuesdays and Works for Me Wednesday