Grain-free    &&    Very low fat    &&    Slightly and naturally sweetened

This quick loaf coffee cake is perfect with a cup of tea or coffee. But, parsnips in a coffee cake you may ask? To which I’d reply, sure, it’s no stranger than putting carrots in a cake, which many would argue is much more delicious than strange. Parsnips are just another root vegetable, and they’re even carrot shaped, if that helps to put you more at ease. While maybe not be quite as sweet as carrots, they have a little more of an earthy, and almost creamy, flavor that’s hard to describe; well worth a try. Parsnips really have their heyday in fall when everyone starts to get excited about root vegetables, but like carrots, they seem to be available and delicious year round.

Made with 100% chickpea flour, it’s totally grain-free, and the only fat comes from the chickpea flour. It’s also sweetened only with a little bit of date syrup, making it pretty guilt-free for breakfast, brunch, lunch, tea, or dessert… you might even be able to pass it off as a dinner item; after all, chickpea flour is high in protein and parsnips are a vegetable. I say go for it!

For this loaf I recommend using a store-bought date syrup like The Date Lady‘s, which seems to be have a somewhat greater concentration of sweetness than the home-made stuff I’ve posted about (see my recipe for 110010 Birthday Cake for how to make your own date syrup. As the store-bought kind seems to be darker and a little sweeter, I have my suspicion that after blending the dates and water to make syrup, it’s probably cooked down a little to concentrate it; I need to do an experiment to check my hypothesis, and will be sure to  report back when I do. But unless you have time to do the experiment yourself, try to go with store-bought.)

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Parsnip Date Hazelnut Chickpea Flour Loaf

30 minutes prep time, 45-55 minutes bake time

Makes 1 9″x5″ standard-sized loaf

Bits:

    Dry:

• 150 g chickpea flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 ½ tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp ground fenugreek seed

    Wet:

• 200 g grated parsnips (start with about 300 g / 2 large parsnips, then peel and grate to get 200 g)
• ¼ cup (70g) roasted mashed garnet yam (or butternut squash)
• 3 Tbsp (50 g) egg whites
• ½ cup (125 g) nonfat greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp nonfat milk
• 2 Tbsp (40 g) date syrup
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• ¼ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp hazelnut extract (or omit and increase vanilla extract to ½ tsp)
• ¼ tsp almond extract

Algorithm:

• Line a 9”x5” standard size loaf pan with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
• Combine dry ingredients in medium mixing bowl (sift chickpea flour as it tends to clump).
• Grate parsnips, if not already grated, and measure out 200 g. Set aside.
• Add wet ingredients except the parsnips in small mixing bowl and stir until pretty much smooth.
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Fold with rubber spatula until almost combined.
• Add the parsnips to the batter and fold until combined.
• Bake 45-55 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out *almost* clean. Check after 20 minutes and put a foil hat over the top to prevent dark spots.
• Be a boring grown-up and clean up your mess while the loaf bakes.
• Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the pan, unstick the parchment, and let cool completely on a wire rack (best if you can leave it for at least 45 minutes to an hour, if not longer) before wrapping it up and putting it away).

Keeps for 2 weeks tightly wrapped in plastic in the fridge. Also freezes fairly well, but texture may suffer a little.