It has been a little bit of fig mania here at our house and at my neighbor Beth's house lately! You see, Beth has a HUGE fig tree in her yard and a couple of weeks ago she gifted me with more figs than I knew what to do with. To add to the fig craze in our house the same week there were dozen black mission figs in my CSA box too! It has been a fun few weeks experimenting with all of the yumminess that figs have to offer. I made a fig and vanilla infused pisco, and I have now made this Fig Chai Tea Bread twice. This bread is so simple to make and does double duty as dessert or breakfast!
Over the last few months' I have been experimenting with "new to me" gluten-free flours and making my own custom blends. I have been throwing myself into cookbooks and researching online to learn everything I can about blending flours, nutritional benefits, and flavor profiles. Let me tell you it is hard, but tasty work. This fall I will be sharing more with you here on B & B about different types of gluten free flours, but for now I want to focus on Teff flour. This was my first time baking with teff flour and I have to say that it was such a wonderful experience for me that I couldn't wait to share it here with you. Quite often in this learning process I have worked extremely hard with high expectations of the final outcome of a recipe only to be disappointed and left hungry, but working with Teff was different.
Teff has a very mild, nutty flavor, and it packs a serious nutritional punch! A single cup of cooked teff offers 123 mg of calcium, about the same as in a half-cup of cooked spinach. *Bonus: It will be easier to get your kids to eat teff than spinach! It’s also an excellent source of vitamin C, which is a nutrient that is not often found in grains. Teff flour isn't just good for you though, it is extremely easy to work with. Have you baked with Teff flour before?
Fig Chai Tea Bread
Fresh figs and chai tea come together in a beautiful quick bread that is simple to make and delicious!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups teff flour
- ¾ cups tapioca flour
- 1 ½ tsp. baking soda
- ¾ tsp. kosher salt
- *1 cup brewed chai tea
- ½ cup coconut oil
- ½ cup evaporated cane juice, *you can use brown sugar in a pinch
- 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- ¾ cup black mission figs, chopped
- 2 black mission figs, halved
- coconut oil spray
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease an 8x4x4-inch loaf pan with coconut oil spray and dust with teff flour.
- *2. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the teff flour, tapioca flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well with a whisk to combine.
- 3. In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the chai tea, coconut oil, evaporated cane juice, and vanilla extract. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with the whisk until no lumps remain and the batter is smooth. Gently fold in the chopped figs.
- 4. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and gently tap the pan on the counter to ensure that any air bubbles escape. Place the 4 fig halves upside down on to of the batter and gently press them into the batter so that they stay where you want them. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The loaf should be golden brown and slightly firm to the touch when it is done. Allow the loaf to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes then remove the loaf and allow it to cool the rest of the way before slicing.
Notes
- *I use 2 tea bags per cup and allow the tea to brew for 15 minutes because I like a strong chai flavor.
- *If using brown sugar add it to the dry ingredients in step 2.
- This bread is best eaten the day it's made, but can be kept in the refrigerator wrapped tightly for a day or two. Allow the loaf to come to room temperature before serving.
Meghan says
I have sooooo many figs and i really want to use them to make this bread, but I'm having a hard time finding the recipe....it might be my technology deficient brain, but maybe you can help! I can't wait to try this. Thank you
Meghan
Meg says
Hey Meghan, I am so sorry! We moved our site over to a new server last week and some of the recipes were lost along the way - we are working to alleviate this issue and should be able to have them recovered by this weekend. So sorry for the inconvenience!
Daria says
I can't find/see the recipe! its killing me. Is there an alternate link where the recipe is posted??
Meg says
Hi Daria, I apologize! We moved our site over to a new server last week and some of the recipes were lost along the way - we are working diligently to alleviate this issue and should be able to have them recovered by this weekend. So sorry for the inconvenience!
Kristin J. says
In the oven rights now for a mother's day brunch with four generations (: ty!
Meg says
Wow Kristin!! I hope that everyone loved it. Four generations, that is amazing!
rebecca says
I used brown rice flour instead of teff and it was great! my spin class loved it : )
Meg says
Yay Rebecca!! I am so glad:)
Caro says
This is such a tasty bread! I made it with a regular store bought gluten free flour mix, though the texture is not too great. It took way less time to bake and when out of the oven it turns really really crumbly. Would you have any suggestions on how I could avoid this? I love the taste of the bread so much, I just have trouble eating it since it doesn't hold together.
Meg says
Caroline,
I think th eproblem is that you are working with a gluten free flour mix instead of Teff flour. It is a huge difference. I would try it with the Teff and see what you think.
shay says
I'm allergic to coconut oil so if I make this what can I put instead of the coconut oil? And can I use the gluten free flour mix that they sale in stores? Thanks
Meg says
Hi Shay, I have bever tried this bread without the coconut oil so I would be hesitant to recommend another option. Maybe palm oil or I know people substitute butter for it sometimes although that would make it no longer vegan. The Teff flour in this recipe has a wonderful nutty flavor and also lends the bread its beautiful color. I wouldn't suggest substituting a gluten free flour mix for it.
shay says
Thanks for the feed back
Re says
Hi! Just found this site. I was wondering what I should do about tapioca flour. I have yet to locate tapioca in Norway. I realize corn starch might work, but it seems a shame to buy a whole box when I never use it. Maybe ground flax seed? Thanks! Re
Meg says
You can simply substitute it with another starch like cornstarch, arrowroot, or potato starch. In baking they are- for the most part- interchangeable. So if a recipe calls for tapioca starch and you cant find tapioca, try cornstarch or potato starch. I dont think that ground flax would work because it is much heavier than a starch although I would love to know the results if you give it a try.
gretchen says
wow... this looks amazing. the flavor combination is just perfect (lurve teff, chai & figs!) and your photos are lovely. what a beautiful loaf!
Meg says
Thank you so much Gretchen!! Teff, chai, and figs are among some of my favorite flavors too.:)
Kiran @ KiranTarun.com says
Brewed chai in this bread sounds yummy!! And the figs? Oh my 🙂
Meg says
Thanks so much Kiran!
Beth @ Tasty Yummies says
Oh my word this is beautiful!! Fig mania for sure in our neighborhood. I will have to try this bread asap! I am with you, I adore teff flour, such a lovely texture and taste, I use it often in my multi-grain blends! So glad you got such great use out of the figs 😉
Meg says
Thanks Beth! It has been a fig-a-palooza around here and I have loved it. Thank you so much for sharing your figs with us!
Gina @ So Lets Hang Out says
Oh yesssss! I've been waiting for this recipe ever since you posted that pic on instagram. Looks soooo gorg!
Meg says
Thanks Gina!
Maria Tadic says
This looks great! I love the chai in there! Now, if I wanted to use regular flour, would I just sub in the same amount of regular flour or would there be any differences?
Meg says
Hey Maria, thank you so much! The teff gives this loaf such a wonderful nutty flavor that I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you how it would taste without it. If you try it without the teff please let me know how it works out so that I can have that information for other people who may be interested in trying it that way.
Pure Ella says
One word : Stunning! <3
Meg says
Thanks Ella!!!