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.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
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?
I just tried making these and they are really good. I found the taste of thyme a little bit too strong, so I am going to try them without next time. It was my first time baking with chia seeds and the first time trying something on your site. I’m looking forward to more good recipes!
Love. Love. Love this stuff. I cut it into bread sticks (with a pizza wheel) lay out on a tray and freeze. After they’re frozen I throw them in a ziplock and thaw individually as needed. I put them in the toaster oven and crisp them up making them more cracker-like than bread-like. O.M.G…… This stuff is soooo good. Always spread with hummus but I think I’ll try guac next time I make these. You have absolutely the best vegan/GR recipes, Angela! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Lavonne, Oh I’m so glad you enjoy it! Thank you so much for letting me know :)
I have been making this for a long time, I recently added some dried fruit to it (Mango, Apricot & Blueberries), I omitted the seasonings except for Salt & Sugar, OMG, mind blowing! It is a massive hit. Thanks so much for all your great recipes
I loved this “bread” recipy! It is super delicious and filling! Thank you so much for this..
I have been wanting to try this recipe for a while, but I am trying to cut back on grains. I decided to try a grain free version and I am pleased to say it worked! I used almond flour in place of oat and coconut flour in place of buckwheat. Then I added dried goji berries and some flaked coconut. I increased the water by about 1/4 cup (since the coconut flour sucks up so much water). And I used blackstrap molasses instead of sugar and spiced it with ginger, cinnamon, and a little turmeric. The bread turned out delicious and holds together pretty nicely. I am taking some on my travels so I will have a healthy and filling gluten and grain free breakfast. What a great recipe Angela!
Thanks for adding this on about grain free its exactly what i was looking for!
Great recipe! Thanks so much for this delightful idea for breakfast, so filling and light at the same time. From a Venezuelan girl in Perth, Western Australia :)
I make this bread every Monday, and snack on it all week! I love the taste, and the texture, especially with homemade almond butter. Am looking forward to receiving my pre-ordered cookbook next month and ditching all my computer print off copies, now spattered with food! Take care, Angela!
I am allergic to buckwheat what can I use as a substitute? Love your website.
Super yummy!
I added 1/2 teaspoon baking soda and doubled the garlic and onion powders and used dried sage for the herbs. I also added a dash of white pepper and substituted 1/6 cup of the water with 1/6 cup of olive oil.
Next time I am going to try it with zata’ar as a seasoning and add some sesame seeds.
Thanks for the great recipes and inspiration!
I just spread some cold, leftover cauliflower Alfredo sauce (from your recipe) on this bread and sprinkled it with zata’ar and called it lunch – and it is amazing!
Super chia inspired bread version 2 (sans chia)
I doubled ingredients so that I could spread this out in a jelly roll pan. I lined the pan with foil and greased it with olive oil.
2cups flax seed meal
1cup super grains (red, white quinoa, millet and buckwheat, comes mixed – from whole foods)
1cup spelt flour
1/2cup garbanzo flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon each of onion and garlic powders
1/2 t white pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 2/3 cup water
I let the dough sit for 15 minutes while I negotiated a treaty between my lego obsessed boys. I think the resting time did the dough good because the water was absorbed even though I didn’t have chia in there.
Sprinkled with more salt before baking. Baked for 25 minutes.
This turned out really nicely – reminiscent of seeded wheat bread!
Hi Angela, just a quick question…
When you say “1/4 cup raw buckwheat groats, ground into a flour “, is it different from buckwheat flour?
Why not just buckwheat flour? (Is it ground too much?)
Thank you :)
Isa
Hi!! I would LOVE to try and make this recipe!! What size pan do you use to make it? Is it just a loaf pan? Thanks so much!!
Never mind! I definitely missed it in the beginning! :-)
Hey Ashley, I used a square pan (8-inch I think, but check the directions as it should indicate). Enjoy!
These look amazing!! I can’t have sugar- would stevia work???
How long will these keep when frozen? Thanks for your response and this great recipe!
OMG, just made these and I LOVE this recipe! I substituted the chias with flax seeds, left out the pumpkin seeds (didn’t have any) and cut back the water just a bit, and they turned out perfect! Just enjoyed some with banana slices and cinnamon, which may sound a bit weird for a savoury bread but I actually liked the combo! Thank you for a great recipe :)
I made this using lentil flour in place of the oat and buckwheat flours and it came out just as beautifully as the original recipe (which I’ve made many times).
Finally got around to making these this morning for breakfast. Dear god they are filling! I really overestimated how much I would need.
They taste amazing with hummus and sundried tomatoes.
Hungry again several hours after an early dinner, I looked to this book for something healthy/nutritious and quick to pull together and power me through an evening at my desk.
Enter Super Power Chia Bread: OMG. It is DIVINE. Fabulous flavor, nutty texture, tender, not at all crumbly – and heavenly with a generous smear of homemade butter and a sprinkling of nooch. Omni-turned-vegan-2-weeks-ago husband is marveling at this bread, even on its own/no butter, and I’m positively swooning over it in all its buttered/nooched glory.
I kept re-checking the recipe to see if I were forgetting an ingredient, because there are so few – and how could these nuts and seeds and water turn into anything bread-like?! But it really did come together quickly, and was firm after the 25-min bake, as specified. Need someone to hide the rest from me…. Addictive!
Loving the book! And really enjoying the nutrient-dense recipes, and how fabulously spectacular they can be (oil-free, processed sugar-free, gluten-free).
I made this for the first time last night, and followed the recipe to the letter, except I split the dough in two and I mixed some nutritional yeast in half of it. Both breads turned out really good, but the nutritional yeast one was AWESOME – the ‘cheesiness’ went really well with the savoury herbs in the recipe. I wished I’d made the entire batch with nutritional yeast. Overall the bread turned out really good – it’s incredibly dense and filling but feels super healthy. So far I’ve tried it topped with avocado, coconut oil, and butter (I mean individually, not all at the same time) and all three were delicious. I’m going to try a sweet batch next time, with cinnamon and dried fruit of some sort.