A vegan, gluten-free and, oil-free Lemon and Mint Breakfast Loaf with a good touch of vanilla! All of these flavors combined have such a delicious flavor and aroma and makes for a high protein, hearty and filling breakfast!
This is not your typical doughy white loaf. It is pronounced in texture and simply amazing in flavor. It is SO filling, that one slice makes your tummy happy. I made it gluten-free as well. I’m in love with gluten-free baking and it doesn’t bloat me up either.
I don’t use commercially bought gluten-free blends because they have so many different flours in them, as well as gums, which I try to avoid. This loaf is a shorter, denser loaf with a perfectly flat top. It turned out wonderfully moist and full of awesome texture, due to the almonds.
I use almond flour and applesauce instead of oil or butter and that takes care of the “fat” needed to give them their taste, as well as moisture. Typically, I’m not a fan of applesauce in baked goods when used with regular flours, but since the almonds contain the majority of the fat and moisture, the applesauce works brilliantly in this. It is a thick, filling, moist loaf….similar to banana bread.
Garnished with lemon zest over the gorgeous golden exterior makes it lovely to serve to guests as well.
Look at that amazing texture…..hard to believe that there is no traditional flour in this!
It’s a perfectly hearty breakfast because it’s incredibly thick, dense and filling…yet the lemon and mint make it feel refreshing and light.
Let me know what you think of this Vanilla, Lemon & Mint Breakfast Loaf (Vegan, Gluten-Free). Drop me feedback below after you make it!
*This post contains affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
If you make this recipe, be sure to leave feedback below and share your pic on Instagram or Facebook and tag me @thevegan8 #thevegan8!
Vanilla, Lemon & Mint Breakfast Loaf
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups (160g) superfine blanched almond flour or almond meal
- 3/4 cup (96g) superfine oat flour
- 1/4 cup (32g) tapioca starch
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup packed mint leaves, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons (30g) fresh lemon juice + zest of 1 lemon
- 2 teaspoons (10g) vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- I have also just made these into muffins and they are delicious! This will only make about 9 muffins, just fill your muffin liners basically to the top of the edge of the liners and bake for 28-30 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with dry crumbs on it and slowly springs back when touched in the center.
- Preheat an oven to 350°F (177°C) and lightly grease a 9 x 5 glass loaf dish, or line a metal loaf pan with parchment paper, otherwise it will cook the outside too quickly.
- In a large bowl, combine the almond flour, oat flour, tapioca, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and whisk very well. Stir in the chopped mint. Add the syrup, lemon juice, vanilla and applesauce and stir until combined well.
- Pour the batter into the greased/floured glass dish. Zest 1 lemon and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until very golden brown and a toothpick comes out with a few dry crumbs (not wet batter) on it and slowly springs back when touched in the center. It will have a crispy exterior but will soften up overnight. It is not a tall loaf, but a short, denser type of hearty loaf, so it doesn't rise extremely high.
- Let cool at least an hour before removing from the dish and cool completely before slicing, or it could fall apart. Garnish with additional lemon zest. Keep stored in the fridge and it becomes amazingly moist the next day!
Thank you for the suggestions! I will give this a shot. In the meantime I just made two more loaves! Might as well stock up the freezer while mint is in season!
I found your site a few months ago and this is the first recipe that I had made. I’ve made it at least a handful of times since! It’s the perfect recipe for the orange and chocolate mint that has taken over much of our garden. My son especially loves this loaf and has a slice every day! I’m trying my best to keep up with him and I have two more loaves currently baking in the oven. I do have a question. I’d also like to try baking the loaf solely with oat flour (and eliminating the almond flour) just because my husband and I are trying to limit our fat intake. Do you think this would work out? Maybe with some additional applesauce?
Hi Amy! I’m so happy to hear how much you enjoy making this loaf! Unfortunately, if you were to eliminate all the almond flour, it would be extremely dry. Using all oat flour makes things really gummy and dry (unless oil or something is used with it). Using just oat flour and applesauce would be very gummy here. I would suggest playing with the recipe a bit and start out reducing the almond flour, but you don’t want to eliminate it completely, and see how you like it. I would suggest trying 1 1/4 cups (160g) oat flour and 1 cup almond flour and see how you like the texture. It will likely yield a more bread type of texture and should still be plenty moist with the full 1 cup almond flour. If you like those results, you could try to further reduce the almond flour to just 1/2 cup (and 1 3/4 cup oat flour) (I wouldn’t suggest any lower than than though or it’ll be quite dry and gummy). Maybe in that case, up the applesauce to 1/2 cup. These are my best suggestions, let me know how you try it! If you are looking for a low-fat muffin, I have these Zucchini and also these Orange muffins that are fairly low-fat!