In recent years, one of the hottest “new” ingredients is carob. I say “new” despite it being an ancient ingredient.
Pods grow on a this flowering evergreen tree, native to the Mediterranean and you can thank the Cretans or bringing light to this wonderful product.
It is often used as a chocolate substitute, used to make molasses and in this case, an additive to make this deep brown, nutty tasting bread.
You can find carob flour at health food stores/sections and the carob molasses at Greek and Middle Eastern stores. In Greek, carob is called Haroupi.
Reasons to use carob?
- a lot of fiber
- antioxidants
- low amounts of fat and sugar
- no caffeine
- no gluten
- has twice the amount of calcium compared to cocoa
- is free of a migraine-triggering compound
- is caffeine- and fat-free
- known as poorman’s cocoa, great substitute to those with cacao allergies
The final and most important reason? Carob bread takes great!
Carob Bread
Course: Appetizer3
loaves30
minutes40
minutesIngredients
6 cups unbleached strong bread flour
1/3 cup carob flour
2 Tbsp. instant yeast
2 1/2 tsp. petimezi (carob molasses) or honey
1/4 cup olive oil
3 1/4 cups warm water
2 1/2 tsp. sea salt
Directions
- Into the bowl of a stand mixer, add your dry ingredients (flour, carob, yeast) and attach the hook and turn on at a low speed.
- Add the petimezi, olive oil and slowly add your water and salt. You may turn up the speed a couple of notches. The dough will be ready when it no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl. If dough is too dry, add small increments of water and if too wet, a small amounts of flout.
- Transfer to a greased bowl, cover and allow to rise until it has doubled in size.
- Invert dough onto a floured work surface, divide into three equal pieces of dough. Form into the bread shape you desire and dust the tops with flour, transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Allow the dough to proof until doubled in size (usually a couple of hours).
- Preheat your oven to 450F, middle rack. Using a sharp knife, make slashes into the top of the bread and place in your preheated oven for 30-35 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
4 Responses
When I search for petimezi the first thing that comes up is grape molasses. After some searching I found carob molasses. Would either work in this recipe?
Grape molasses is petimezi and carob petimezi is good as well.Enjoy!
How can it be gluten free when the first ingredient is bread flour. All wheat flour has gluten.
Cindy, I speak of carob flour bring gluten free, not the bread recipe.