Dairy-Free Beet & Walnut Red Velvet Loaf

Hey Friends! How’s it goin?

Can you believe it’s already Christmas Eve? I feel like I was just here this time last year – waking up early to get the ham and turkey ready for baking before going last minute gift shopping with my mummy. This year, there’ll be no shopping for me, since I’m going the edible gift route. But, I will be spending most of the day with the turkey in the kitchen while noshing on this Dairy-Free Beet & Walnut Red Velvet Loaf.

The first thing I did when I got back to Trinidad was try to source most of my usual baking ingredients. I’m going to be here for 3 weeks so I need to create at least 3 recipes during that time. For this recipe, I needed beets, which I found pretty easily. They were like half the size of the ones I get in Canada but still usable. Maple syrup on the other hand, was almost impossible to find. And then, when I did find it, it was insanely expensive. Seriously, I’m never going to complain about the cost of maple syrup in Canada again.

Once I’d gotten everything I needed, it was time to get started on baking. I’d originally planned to make red velvet cookies with the beets but I had some issues and ended up making a red velvet loaf instead.

My biggest problem was that the whole wheat flour I bought was way heavier than the one I’m used to using. Not so great in the cookie recipe I attempted, but pretty damn awesome in this red velvet loaf. Ever since I made my first sweet loaf, I’ve been a huge fan of flavoured breads. They’re customizable, easy to make and super forgiving – which I seriously appreciated when I was attempting to determine the correct flour/beet ratio.

So, in the end, I was actually pretty glad that the cookies didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to, because this loaf was the bomb. First off, I loved the deep burgundy colour thanks to the beets. It’s really festive and will be great for breakfast on Christmas morning while waiting for brunch to officially begin. And, according to my sister, the loaf doesn’t ‘taste healthy’, plus, it’s cakey, flavourful and has no added refined sugars. Definitely something the entire family can enjoy.

Anyway, this’ll probably be the last you see of me for a while. Not totally sure if I’ll be able to post something on Friday what with all the holiday festivities going on here but I’ll be popping in on social media every now and then and I’ll be back next week for sure.

So, Merry Christmas friends! Hope you have an amazing holiday and enjoy the time with your friends and family 😀

Diary-Free Beet & Walnut Red Velvet Loaf

 

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Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

This beet & walnut red velvet loaf is cakey with no-refined sugars added and has a crunchy granola-like topping. Perfect for breakfast or a post workout snack.

Author: GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth

Ingredients

• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup beet puree
• ¾ cups maple syrup
• 2 tsp vanilla
• ⅓ cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup walnut pieces

For the Topping:

• 2 - 3 tsp chopped walnuts
• 1 tbsp quick cooking oats
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp maple syrup

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Grease a loaf pan and set aside
3. If you haven't already done so, roast or boil the beets until tender and puree in a food processor or blender until you have 1 cup of beet puree
4. In a medium bowl. whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and cinnamon
5. In another bowl, whisk together the beets, coconut oil, vanilla, maple syrup and eggs until well blended
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix gently until the batter is smooth
7. Fold in the nuts
8. In a small bowl, mix together topping ingredients
9. Pour batter into greased pan and top with oatmeal mixture
10. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean
11. Allow the loaf to cool for 5 minutes then remove from the pan and place on a wire rack
12. Cool completely before slicing

3.5.3208

More Christmas things:

Follow GiselleR @ Diary of an ExSloth’s board :: Christmas :: on Pinterest.

More bread recipes:

What about you?

What does your Christmas breakfast look like? Red velvet cookies, cupcakes or loaves? Are you a fan of beets or no?

Share in the comments below!

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