Easy Vegan Wheat Bread
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 tablespoons active yeast
1/2 cup molasses, divided
3 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup nondairy milk (I use soy)
1 teaspoon salt
3 to 4 cups unbleached white flour, divided
1. Mix water, yeast and 1 tablespoon of the molasses together in a large bowl. Pour in the 3 cups wheat flour and mix well. Cover the bowl with a towel and place in a dry place. Let it sit for a minimum of 20 minutes, up to a day!
2. Pour in the rest of the molasses, oil, milk and salt. Mix together. Begin adding white flour 1/2 cup at a time. Begin kneading the vegan bread in the bowl when it becomes dense, and it is still a bit sticky.
3. Add another 1/2 to 1 cup flour as you knead the vegan bread. Knead it for 5 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Cut the dough into 2 equal parts.
4. Grease 2 (8 1/2x4 1/2") bread pans, shape the bread pieces into loaves, and place them in prepared pans. You can also make 24 rolls, or 1 loaf, and 12 rolls. Cover pans with a towel in a warm place and let the dough double in size. This will take 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for loaves or 375 degrees F for rolls.. Bake loaves 35-40 minutes, and rolls for 20 minutes.
This is super easy to make. Most of the time is spent letting the dough rise and bake. You don't spend much time in the kitchen, I swear!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I love this bread! I'm making it as often as I can, my whole family adores it too. I put the tablespoon of molasses in with the water but then use malt for the remainder of the 1/2 cup of sweetener, and I add extra wheat germ when I'm kneading it for extra goodness and texture. Turns out great every time.
The only thing to watch out for is the dough...I swear it's the stickiest dough I've ever made! Be careful when covering it to let it rise the first time, because if it touches a tea towel or even plastic wrap you will not get it off. I've also had to work out a careful kneading technique because the first time I just plunged my hands in there and it was so sticky and thick I wasn't able to move my fingers enough to knead, and had to waste half the dough by washing it off!
But this bread is worth the sticky dough process, and now I've got the technique down it's easy and definitely scrumptious :D
By the way- I mentioned that I used instant yeast instead of active dry above. I reduced the amount called for in the recipe from 2 tablespoons to 2 1/4 teaspoons. There are a lot more living cells in instant yeast than in active dry. I got plenty of rising activity with this amount.
I made this recipe and it came out quite well. Big, hearty loaves that taste good. I did change a couple of things.
I used instant yeast instead of active dry. With instant you just add it to your dry ingredients, no need to hydrate or proof. Very reliable and robust. Just don't let it come into direct contact with salt in the bowl if using a recipe where they are both added at the same time.
I added 1/4 cup sunflower seeds to dough.
I added a rise cycle to this recipe. I did the preliminary ferment (sponge) as indicated in the recipe with part of the ingredients, then added the rest and kneaded. After that I placed the whole lump of dough in a greased bowl, covered with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour. Then I divided the lump, gently de-gassed the dough by pressing it into rectangle shapes, formed loaves, placed in greased loaf pans, covered and let proof for another hour.
It is very helpful to add this step. By doing so you "wake" the yeast up after the first rise so it will eat another meal. You can also knock out some possible "off" tastes by de-gassing or "punching down" the dough.
By and large this is a good, tasty bread recipe.
Oh, this bread is so lovely. I used flax oil instead of vegetable, replaced maple syrup for half the molasses and halved the recipe. My loaf came out beautifully. It's crusty on the outside and nice and soft and yummy on the inside. :)
;)b I make this bread every few weeks. Or every week if I have time. It uses few ingredients and is easy to make. I dont own molasses so I use honey.I use slightly more than a cup of honey. : ) Peace!
I only made half a batch, used agave necter instead of molasses, used an extra 1/2 T. yeast because I wasn't sure how active it was anymore, and subbed 1 c. brown rice flour for one of the cups of white flour. I think the taste is a little bland because rice flour has kind of a bland taste, but the texture and taste after putting some EB on is great! Definitely make this again.
this bread is the easiest bread I've ever made and super delicious. I love it soooo much. :)>>>
I made this using 100% multigrain bread flour. I added 1/4 c. vital wheat gluten so that it wouldn't be too dense. I also subbed applesauce for the oil and it turned out super moist.
Biggest bread ever, really. I love it!! ;D
mmm I made this recipe into rolls for thanksgiving and they went over quite well! I got 24 out of the recipe but some were a little small, most likely could have gotten 20 good sized ones. and vicky_veggie most wheat breads ARE vegan, but some have honey as sweeteners and, depending on the company and how processed it is, there are other things that end up in breads like HFCS that some people try to avoid for mere health reasons, not necessarily vegan reasons :)
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