Tomorrow, I’ll be flying from Toronto to Vancouver and then from Vancouver to Portland, on my merry way to the Vida Vegan Conference! I seriously can’t wait. In my typical fashion, I’ve been dealing with a lot of anxiety about this trip, but I’m sure I’ll be having too much fun to even notice it. I mean, come on – it’s Portland – only one of the most vegan friendly cities in the world! I’m looking forward to meeting the wonderful people behind many of the blogs I read each day.
Of course, before all the fun happens the traveling has to take place. If I’m going to be traveling for 9-10 hours, I want to have something exciting to look forward to (and of course I mean healthy, great-tasting food). What is it about being trapped on a plane that makes me so hungry? With just a little preparation, I’ll be feasting like a queen. A good book, music, and in-flight TV never hurts either!
This week I racked my brain to think of a new food to bring on the flights. At first, I thought of my Endurance Crackers, but then I decided they were slightly too delicate for travel. I played around with the recipe and this is what I came up with. I’m happy to say this power bread turned out exactly as I hoped. It’s bursting with chia seeds (1 tablespoon per slice!) and it also happens to be gluten and nut-free, making it friendly for many travelers. Best of all, it’s perfectly sturdy for travel.
Plus, it’s only 5 minutes to prep which is a huge bonus, especially when getting ready for a flight. Just like my Endurance Crackers, you simply dump the ingredients into a bowl and stir in water. After that, I spread it into a 9-inch baking dish and baked it for 25 minutes.
Now this is some quick and easy bread – ready in 30 minutes flat! It disappears just as quickly. Try it with all kinds of toppings. I personally love hummus, avocado, and Herbamare as well as almond butter and strawberry jam.
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Super Power Chia Bread
Yield
4 slices
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Thick, hearty, and dense – this isn’t your average slice of bread! Packed with 9 grams of protein and over 7 grams of fibre per slice, this bread will keep you going for hours. Inspired by Endurance Crackers.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chia seeds
- 1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds*
- 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup gluten-free rolled oats, ground into a flour
- 1/4 cup raw buckwheat groats, ground into a flour (or more oat flour)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp onion powder
- 1 cup water
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325°F and line a 9-inch square pan with two pieces of parchment paper, one going each way.
- Add rolled oats and buckwheat into a high-speed blender. Blend on highest speed until a fine flour forms.
- Add all dry ingredients into a large bowl and stir well until combined. Stir in the water and quickly scoop this mixture into your prepared pan. Spread it out with a spatula as evenly as possible. You can use lightly wet hands to smooth it down if necessary. Sprinkle the bread with Herbamare or fine grain sea salt before going into the oven.
- Bake at 325°F for about 25 minutes, or until firm to the touch. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then lift it out and transfer it to a cooling rack for another 5-10 minutes. Slice and enjoy!
- This bread keeps for 2-3 days max – any longer and it gets gummy in texture. I suggest freezing it for enduring freshness. I like to toast it straight from the freezer!
Tip:
1) I made a batch without sunflower seeds and it still turned out great. I’m sure you can play around with the seeds (or even add nuts!) and reduce them if desired.
2) A reader successfully made a batch using brown rice flour and quinoa flour- I’m sure you can play around with the flours too.
3) I’m not yet sure how long this stays fresh for – my guess is a couple days. However, I expect it should freeze well, but I have yet to try it. I’ll update this when I do and be sure to leave your own tips in the comments section!
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)
I hope this bread brightens up your own travels or busts you out of a lunch or breakfast rut. I’d love your feedback on this recipe if you try it out or make other variations.
If you’d like to check out what I’m up to at the conference, you will most likely find me on Instagram documenting my journey. If you are attending the conference, I hope to meet you soon! Please come say hello!
What are your favourite foods to pack on a flight?
3 stars, max. It’s really not that good eaten alone. . . .it was too gummy and not that tasty. Would not make again.
I had just about given up making anything vegan / raw / GF etc that actually tasted nice. This was going to be my last attempt and so I wasn’t expecting much. As I spread it in the tray my doubts grew as the mixture stuck to the spoon, however a change of spoons and it spreqad easily. I still didn’t expect it to taste nice however to my surprise it tastes awesome! I can’t stop eating it! I will definitely be making it again. Thank you so much for this recipe you have made my day
Hi Angela. I just wanted to thank you very much for such a wonderful site! I found your site after looking for something healthy to cook after being diagnosed with diabetes this year. I love how many of your = recipes are low-carb, low sugar, and yet super tasty! I made the quinoa patties, and this chia seed bread many times over. Thanks again for sharing all this. Best of luck with your new baby! xx Asako
I love the chia power bread. I like to use ground oregano for a more powerful taste.
I just eat it plain.
This was delicious, thanks so much for the inspiration! I added some baking powder, 1/4 cup almond flour, and subbed Herbs de Provence for oregano. No onion powder, double pumpkin seeds (no sunflower). It baked to a nice fluffy/creamy texture . Maybe not tough enough for travel, but perfectly suited to the Kalamata olive tapenade it met shortly after leaving the oven :)
Thanks for the baking powder tip. I’ll try that next time :-)
Does the oat flavour comes out strongly in this recipe?
I always eat oatmeal in the mornings and just recently made a buckwheat/oat bread (which unfortunately didn’t turn out that well) and realized I really don’t like the typical oat taste in a savoury bread. This recipe looks very good though, so I’m willing to try if the oat flavour is masked by the other ingredients…
Thanks!
Hi, I used your recipe for Super Power Chia Bread for a slightly altered version and added a link to your recipe to your post, I hope that’s okay! I absolutely adore your blog, you were part of my inspiration in starting a blog in the first place.
Heaven, so good to get a bread replacement, just cannot be doing with making gf loaf and I have never found one to buy I could stand!
This is a great recipe! Being on a Candida diet I substituted the sugar for stevia. I kept it at 1tsp, and it was just right. I also substituted the oats for 1/4 cup oat bran, 1/4 cup quinoa flour, and 1/8 cup golden flax meal. I did not have any sesame seeds on hand,so I substituted hemp seeds. I did add a little bit more water,not much maybe a couple of table spoons, until I felt the consistency seemed right. So delicious and by far the best “bread” I have had being on this diet. It will be a go to for me from now on. Thank you so much!
Angela, Hubby and I LOVE this bread! It was one of the first recipes I made after becoming a whole-plant vegan last March. I make it every time we take a road trip, and pack hummus and crudités to go with it. That way we are set no matter what kind of food situation we encounter. The only change I make is that I substitute quinoa for the buckwheat, and finish it off with a generous sprinkle of Mrs. Dash Original Salt-Free Seasoning. Thank you so much!
Just made this bread. Delicious! Toasted it & topped with almond butter, very satisfying!
I just made that recipe and its really good! The result is even better than i thought. The texture is perfect, i will do it again and again…
I love this recipe, I have made it several times and served it with different meals and snacks. Most recently, last night :), I served it with “10 spice vegetable soup with vegetable cream”. INCREDIBLE! I also love it with almond butter or avocado.
Your book is really changing the way i do business in the kitchen. The recipes are flavourful, packed with delicious ingredients, and kid friendly. I especially love that “green leafies” are usually on the ingredient list. Have you created any dessert recipes made with kale or spinach?
Just got your book and made these for hubby as he needs to pay more attention to his diet. We are not vegan but I make a lot of vegan and or raw vegan dishes since we are dairy and gluten free… Anyhow point is my kids LOVE these too :-) awesome fast recipes and I had all the ingredients lol thanks so much your book is awesome
I make this recipe ALL THE TIME! Anytime we travel, by car or by air, I have to have this with us. My husband loves to share it with colleagues, and it always gets rave reviews. Thank you for being the BEST!!
Made it this weekend and my 7 year old LOVED it!!! Thank you!!!
Amazing bread! I just made some and it’s fantastic! Thank you so much for this idea, I will make this time and time again. You’re right, it’s perfect for travel! I added Avocado to mine, but the ideas are endless.
Hi! Bought your book recently and LOVE it! Even my husband is amazed at how much he has enjoyed some of the recipes – I think our favourite so far is the sweet potato and black bean Tortillas – they are still yummy even cold the next day too!
Ok – so back to topic ;-) I just made the chia bread and sadly the parchment paper is totally stuck to the underside – the bread tasted like it still needed cooking a little longer so I gave it another 10 mins. I let it cool down but its still stick like glue. I can’t work out what I’m doing wrong as I followed the recipe exactly as instructed. The mixture did sit in the pan for about 15 mins before I put it in the oven – I don’t know if that could have made a difference?
I would welcome any advice – thanks :-)
Thank you for your kind words!
mm that is strange – I have never had that happen before! Are you sure it wasn’t WAX paper instead of parchment? Wax sticks like a mofo…lol. If that isn’t the case, then perhaps it was the “sitting” period…I’m not really sure! I hope it works better if you try it again. :)
Haha… Yes it must be mofo wax paper I guess! Not giving up so will try again :-)
Is the sugar necessary to the success of the recipe? Suggestions for the pumpkin seeds? And flours to make the recipe grain-free? I’m thinking chickpea flour? Thank you!!
I’ve made this bread often and love it! I’m just wondering how I can make this a sweeter bread. I’m going to try two tsp maple syrup and some cinnamon in lieu of the garlic/onion combo. Any other ideas?