Breads

Makes one lovely loaf of rustic white bread | A classic no-knead recipe. Best baked in a cast-iron dutch oven | Known by friends as "Henny Bread"

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose white flour (Variation: replace with up to 1/3 whole wheat or spelt flour)

• 1 ¼ tsp salt

• ¼ tsp dry active yeast

•  1 1/3 cups warm water*

*You may eventually want to use more or less water depending on your humidity. First try the recipe as is. Take note of whether the bread turns out too wet/doughy, or if it is excessively hard to get a uniform dough after the rises (it is normal to have some dry bits that aren’t incorporated after step 2, but these are ideally incorporated at step 4.

Equipment

• Large bowl with a cover (Or plastic/wax wrap. I use one with a tight fitting plastic lid)

• Cast-iron dutch oven http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Pro-Logic-P10D3-Dutch-4-Quart/dp/B0001DJVGK

• Smooth untextured kitchen towel

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, and yeast. Mix well.

2. Add water and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. It will look pretty dry, but keep working at it until almost all of the flour is moistened (up to 5 min).

3. Cover bowl (with tight fitting cover or plastic wrap) and allow to rise 12-24 hours. I usually do 24. The longer the rise, the better flavour. If doing a short rise, a somewhat warm rise is better, like in a sunny window, or on top of the fridge. If doing a long rise a somewhat cold room temp is actually better for flavour.

4. If you are doing a long rise (>16 hr), gently deflate the dough about halfway-3/4 of the way through the rise time. I do this by scooping the dough from the sides and bottom of the bowl and turning the entire dough mass over.

5. Scoop the dough from the sides of the bowl with your hands, loosely shape into a ball in the centre of the bowl and turn out onto a floured surface. Fold or shape gently into a round loaf shape that will fit your dutch oven. Cover the dough with a floured towel and allow to rise in a warm place (not super warm) for 1.5-2 hours.  

   1. • Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BMFRf15cKh6T7dU78

      • The dough will be sticky. Use a light touch and do not let it scare you.

6. After 1 hour - 1.25 hours, preheat oven to 450-500º F with dutch oven and lid on the bottom rack. If you have an enamel coated dutch oven, opt for a lower temp 425º F and bake the bread for a bit longer to prevent the enamel from cracking.

7. After the oven has preheated for at least 45 min, transfer the bread to dutch the oven. Bake covered 30 minutes.

Recommended: Add a salt water wash just before placing in oven for a salty crispy crust. You can then add sesame or other seeds and the water helps them stick. Simply prepare an almost saturated salt solution with cold water. I usually prepare approximately 1/4 cup but I don’t use the whole thing.

8. Bake uncovered 0-10 min more. Just until top is well browned.

9. Remove loaf from Dutch oven, cool on rack at least 15 min before cutting (ideally 1 hour).

Notes

For it's simplicity, this recipe must be about as old as bread itself. There are many delicious recipes out there. I've made a few modifications, but first baked something similar using Smitten Kitchen's No Knead Bread, by Deb Perlman.

Makes one lovely loaf of rustic white bread | A classic no-knead recipe. Best baked in a cast-iron dutch oven | Known by friends as "Henny Bread"

Ingredients

• 3 cups all purpose white flour (Variation: replace with up to 1/3 whole wheat or spelt flour)

• 1 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp dry active yeast

•  1 cups warm water*

• 1 tsp maple syrup (or other sweetener)

• 1/3 cup of wet oat pulp (leftover from making oat milk, fermented at room temperature 1/2 day or in the fridge overnight.)

*You may eventually want to use more or less water depending on your humidity. First try the recipe as is. Take note of whether the bread turns out too wet/doughy, or if it is excessively hard to get a uniform dough after the rises (it is normal to have some dry bits that aren’t incorporated after step 2, but these are ideally incorporated at step 4.

Equipment

• Large bowl with a cover (Or plastic/wax wrap. I use one with a tight fitting plastic lid)

• Cast-iron dutch oven http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-Pro-Logic-P10D3-Dutch-4-Quart/dp/B0001DJVGK

• Smooth untextured kitchen towel

Instructions

1. In a large bowl combine oat pulp, salt, yeast, syrup, and water. Mix well with a whisk.

2. Add flour and stir to combine with a wooden spoon. It will look pretty dry, but keep working at it until almost all of the flour is moistened (up to 5 min).

3. Cover bowl (with tight fitting cover or plastic wrap) and allow to rise 12-18 hours at room temperature, or overnight in the fridge followed by 12 hr at room temperature. The longer the rise, the better flavour. If doing a short rise, a somewhat warm rise is better, like in a sunny window, or on top of the fridge. If doing a long rise a somewhat cold room temp is actually better for flavour.

4. If you are doing a long rise (>16 hr), gently deflate the dough about halfway-3/4 of the way through the rise time. I do this by scooping the dough from the sides and bottom of the bowl and turning the entire dough mass over.

5. Scoop the dough from the sides of the bowl with your hands, loosely shape into a ball in the centre of the bowl and turn out onto a floured surface. Fold or shape gently into a round loaf shape that will fit your dutch oven. Cover the dough with a floured towel and allow to rise in a warm place (not super warm) for 1.5-2 hours.  

   1. • Video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BMFRf15cKh6T7dU78

      • The dough will be sticky. Use a light touch and do not let it scare you.

6. After 1 hour - 1.25 hours, preheat oven to 450-500º F with dutch oven and lid on the bottom rack. If you have an enamel coated dutch oven, opt for a lower temp 425º F and bake the bread for a bit longer to prevent the enamel from cracking.

7. After the oven has preheated for at least 45 min, transfer the bread to dutch the oven. Bake covered 30 minutes.

Recommended: Add a salt water wash just before placing in oven for a salty crispy crust. You can then add sesame or other seeds and the water helps them stick. Simply prepare an almost saturated salt solution with cold water. I usually prepare approximately 1/4 cup but I don’t use the whole thing.

8. Bake uncovered 0-10 min more. Just until top is well browned.

9. Remove loaf from Dutch oven, cool on rack at least 15 min before cutting (ideally 1 hour).

Or is it corn cake? Mom told me she chose her favourite corn bread recipe - from the Fanny Farmer cookbook - by finding the one with the most sugar. I followed her example and looked for a vegan version with the same amount of sugar. It's sweet but yummy with chilli or on its own. Makes one loaf.

Ingredients

• Coconut oil for greasing the pan

• 1 1/4 Cups all purpose flour

• 1 Cup yellow cornmeal

• 2/3 Cups granulated sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 Tbs baking powder

• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk. (I like oat or almond)

• 1/3 cup canola oil. A mildly flavoured olive oil is also fine.

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400º F

2. Grease an 8x8 square pan with coconut oil. 

3. Combine flour, corm meal, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.

4. Stir in milk and oil. 

5. Spread batter evenly in the pan. 

6. Bake for 25 min until browned on the top, and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

7. Cool on a wire rack before slicing in the pan or turning out onto a cutting board.

Recipe credit: https://www.noracooks.com/the-best-vegan-cornbread/

Makes eight breads | Only takes about one hour!

Ingredients

• 1 Tsp active dry yeast

• 3/4 Cup warm water (should be warm but lower than body temperature or you'll risk killing the yeast)

• 2 Cups all purpose flour (plus extra for rolling dough)

• 1 Tsp sugar (or maple syrup)

• 3/4 Tsp finely ground salt

• 3/4 Tsp baking powder

• 3 Tbs vegan yoghurt (plain unflavoured, I like Kite Hill Almond, or Riviera Coconut)

• 1 Tbs olive oil (plus extra for frying)

Instructions

1. Combine water yeast, and on tablespoon (Tbs) of the flour in a large mixing bowl. Whisk contents together to begin to dissolve the yeast. Let rest for 10 min to proof the yeast (preferably in a warm place, like on top of the fridge or next to an active stove or oven). After resting for 10 min there should be some bubbles on the surface of the mixture. 

2. Add the rest of the flour (2 cups minus 1 Tbs), the sugar, salt, baking powder, yoghurt, and olive oil to the bowl containing the yeasty water. Stir contents with a strong wooden spoon until combined into a sticky dough. Continue to stir for 5-10 min more. This provides a good arm workout and effectively kneads the dough without getting it stuck on your hands and counter. 

3. Shape the dough into a single round mass. Cover the bowl with a plastic cover or a cloth towel. Rise for 30-60 min (again preferably in a warm place).

4. Prepare to roll out the dough: Flour a clean, flat surface for rolling out the dough, flour your hands, and divide the dough into eight sections.

5. Working one naan at a time, shape the section of dough into a ball then roll out into a thin sheet. 

   • Freeze point: at this point naan balls can be frozen for future use. Freeze on a baking sheet overnight then transfer to a ziploc bag. Remove from the freezer and thaw at room temperature for 8 hr before rolling out. 

   • When ready to cook: Heat a non-stick pan containing 1-2 Tbs olive oil on your stovetop using a medium heat setting. The pan should not get so hot that the oil smokes. The pan can heat up while you roll-out the first naan. 

   • Place the ball on the floured work surface, and flatten into a disc with the palm of your hand. Sprinkle a little flour on top of the disc and use a rolling pin to roll the disc out into a 6-9 inch (15-23 cm) diameter circular sheet. The sheet should be about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thick, but will likely be thicker on the edges. While rolling out the sheet it helps to flip the dough occasionally to make sure it is not sticking to the surface or the rolling pin. If you find the dough sticking, sprinkle it with a little more flour.

6. Transfer the rolled out naan to the heated pan and cook ~60 sec on each side or until the bubbles are golden to dark brown but not blackened. While one naan is cooking, you can roll out the next one. Add a little more oil to the skillet between each naan.

7. Serve the naan warm with whatever sauce, spread, filling, or side you like. 

   • Serving suggestion: Heat up some minced garlic in olive oil until the garlic is golden. Spread the mixture over the naan and add a little salt. You can also spread the naan with the garlic oil before adding to the hot pan.

Credit for this wonderful recipe: https://www.noracooks.com/vegan-naan/

Recipe credit Julia Reed: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2015/01/05/best-pizza-youll-ever-make

Makes 8 personal pizzas | Overnight recipe | The secret to success is using lots of olive oil.

Ingredients (not including toppings)

• 4 Cups + 2 Tbs All purpose flour (+ more for dusting)

• 1/4 tsp Dry Active Yeast

• 1 tsp Sugar

• 2 1/2 tsp Salt

• 1 1/2 C + 2 Tbs Lukewarm water (should be warm but lower than body temperature or you'll risk killing the yeast)

• 2 Tbs olive oil (+ more for coating the bowl)

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl with lid

• Untextured towel

• Rolling pin

• Pizza Stone

• Pizza Peel

• Parchment paper

Instructions

Day 1 - Make the dough: 30 min, followed by 18-30 hr rise.

1. Proof the yeast by whisking yeast, sugar, and 1 Tbs flour with the water. Let stand for 10 min at room temp. Bubbles should form at the surface indicating that the yeast are alive active.

2. Add 2 cups of the remaining flour, salt, and olive oil. Stir with a heavy spoon. 

3. Stir in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until well incorporated.

4. Coat the bowl in olive oil and let the dough rise overnight. Gently deflate it in the morning. If the rise is going to be over 18 hr, let it rise in the fridge until the next morning.

Day 2 - Shaping and baking (2-3 hr)

5. In the morning: Gently deflate the dough. If the overnight rise was in the fridge, move the dough to room temperature.

6. Divide the dough: Two hours before preparing the pizza, gently deflate the dough. divide it into 8 pieces. 

7. Shape the dough: Oil your hands. Shape each piece of dough by stretching into somewhat rectangular shape (< 1 cm thick), then letter folding (fold in thirds), fold this in half, then repeat the same stretching and folding pattern 2 more times. After the final fold, shape the dough into a ball by loosely molded the dough around a balled fist then tucking the edges up into the middle of the ball. 

8. Arrange the dough balls on a floured surface and cover with an untextured towel for ~1-2 hr.

9. 1 hr before baking the pizza, preheat the oven with the pizza stone on the bottom shelf to 450-500º F. 

10. Working one pizza at a time, place a piece of parchment paper on the pizza peel. Flour a surface, and roll out the dough into a roughly circular shape: start by flattening the ball into a thick disk with your hand, then roll the dough thin (3 mm or 1/8th inch) with a rolling pin. Flip the dough often as you roll, and add more flour to the surface if the dough is sticking. 

11. Transfer the rolled out dough to the parchment paper, add toppings (how to top a vegan pizza), and use the peel to slide the parchment paper and pizza on to the pizza stone in the oven. Bake for ~5 min. Remove the pizza when it is a deep brown on the edges. Use the peel to remove the pizza and paper from the oven. Cool slightly, slice and serve.

Notes

The folding process during the shaping  should make thin yet fluffy/flakey crust.

Follow this link for "cheese" and tomato sauce recipes 

Recipe Credit: https://makeitdairyfree.com/vegan-pretzel-buns/

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons of active dry yeast

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1/2 cup warm water

• 1 cup oat milk

• 3 1/2 - 4 Cup flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, melted. + 2 extra Tablespoons for brushing

• 1 teaspoon honey (or maple syrup)

Pretzel Bath

• 8 cups of water

• 2 Tablespoons sugar

• 4 Tablespoons food grade lye {HAZARD!!! WEAR EYE AND SKIN PROTECTION. USE WITH STAINLESS STEEL. BE VERY CAREFUL HANDLING AND STORING LYE. KEEP PETS AND OTHERS INFORMED AND AWAY}

Instructions

1. Whisk yeast, sugar, and warm water togther. Let stand for 10 minutes to proof. 

2. Add oat milk, flour, salt, and melted butter to the bowl and stir to combine into a smooth ball. Add more flour if needed to keep the ball from sticking to the sides. 

3. Grease the mixing bowl, cover and let rise 90 minutes in a warm space. 

4. Deflate the dough, divide into 8 pieces. Fold and shape each piece into a ball then roll to lengthen to 6-8 inches long. 

5. Place shaped rolls on a parchement-lined baking sheet. Cover with a cloth and let rise one hour. 

6. Preheat oven to 400 F. 

7. Add water to a large stainless steel pot, then CAREFULLY and SAFELY add the lye and sugar. Stir to dissolve and bring pot to a boil. 

8. Melt 2 Tablespoons of butter with 1 teaspoon honey in a small saucepan. This is for brushing the tops of the rolls.

9. Boil the rolls 30 seconds, then move to a rack with a towel below to drain. Transfer back to the backing sheet with the parchement paper. Score the tops of the rolls with a sharp knife. Brush with melted butter and honey. Sprinkle with salt. 

10. Bake for 20-25 minutes until tops are well browned. 

11. Cool on a rack. 

Notes

Makes 1 loaf | Spelt contains gluten

In the COVID times, white flour was sometimes scarce. This recipe using 100% spelt was a way we made do. Of course some people struggled to find yeast. I buy my yeast by the jar which tends to last a year or more, so this was not a problem. It's a very crumbly bread (not good for sandwiches), but rich and delicious. I particularly enjoy it with a bit of coconut oil, a sprinkle of salt, and homemade raspberry jam.

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup of Warm water  (should be warm but lower than body temperature or you'll risk killing the yeast)

• 2 1/4 tsp of Active dry yeast

• 1 Tbs Maple syrup

• 1 Cup oat milk

• 3 Tbs olive oil

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 - 3 1/2 Cup Whole sprouted spelt flour

Equipment

• Large mixing bowl with lid

• Cast-Iron Dutch Oven

Instructions

1. Proof the yeast by combining water, yeast, maple syrup and 1 Tbs of the spelt in a large mixing bowl. Let sit for 10 min. The mixture should be bubbly indicating the yeast are alive and active.

2. Add the oat milk, olive oil, salt and 2 Cups of the spelt flour. Stir to combine.

3. Add 1/2 cup of spelt flour. Stir to combine. Add another 1/2 cup spelt flour and stir to combine. 

4. Knead the dough for 10 min. I knead the dough in the mixing bowl. While kneading, if the dough seems wet and sticks to the bowl, slowly add up to 1/2 cup of spelt flour. You may use none or all of this last 1/2 cup. 

5. Allow the dough to rise for 1 hr in the mixing bowl. 

6. Gently deflate the dough. Shape the dough into a round loaf. Then rise for another hour.

7. 45 min before the end of the last rise, place the Dutch oven in the oven and start preheating the oven to 350º  F. 

8. Transfer the dough to the Dutch oven and bake uncovered for 45 min until the top of the bread is browned.

9. Cool the bread on a wire rack before serving.

Recipe credit: https://www.occasionallyeggs.com/simple-spelt-bread-vegan/