Vegan

Vegan White Bread

This loaf is honestly one of the easiest breads to make. You only need a handful of ingredients, some time and a loaf tin… That’s all you need.

I don’t know where you are in the world but here in the UK we are in the third national lockdown and much like during the other lockdowns, there isn’t a lot to do. So why don’t you make a loaf of bread? It’s the perfect way to make a few hours pass and enjoy freshly baked homemade bread – it’s really a win-win!

I’ll be honest, this is probably the easiest bread recipe I’ll share. This was actually the exact same recipe I made in my first bread practice class at college back in 2013… It’s a trusted recipe that works without fail.

This is the final bread recipe I’ll be sharing during veganuary and for the foreseeable.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Strong white bread flour.

8g Salt.

10g Fresh yeast.

10g Vegan Butter/White shortening (Trex or Crisco works well).

300ml Water, warmed (blood temperature).

Methods:

Before you get into making this loaf of bread, you’ll want to do some simple preparation. Start by weighing up all your ingredients, grabbing your load tin and getting any other bits of equipment you may need, such as a stand mixer.

Into your mixing bowl, place the flour and salt and give them a brief mix, just to incorporate them.

Then you can go ahead and add in the fresh yeast, white shortening and water and start the mixer on a low speed to start and mix for approx 2 minutes, then crank the speed up to a medium-low and mix for a further 6 minutes and by this point the dough should be smooth and leave the bowl almost perfectly clean.

Give the dough a brief knead on a lightly floured surface, just bring the dough into a smooth ball.

You can then transfer the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and then cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave somewhere warm to proof for around an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.

Once the dough has finished its first proofing period, you can lightly flour a work surface and place the dough directly onto it. Push the dough to remove the gasses that have built up during the first proof.

Next, you’ll want to bring the dough back into a ball shape, then you can roll it out slightly into a fat sausage shape (only roll it out to the size of your loaf pan). Once you’ve done that, you can go ahead and loosely cover the dough with some clingfilm and leave to proof for about 30-45 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

While the dough is proofing for the second time, you can go ahead and preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once the dough has finished its second proof, you can go ahead and remove the clingfilm from the top of the dough. Place it in the preheated oven and bake for 30-35 minutes or until the bread has become well coloured.

To check if the bread is fully baked, turn it out of the loaf pan and tap the bottom. When you tap the bottom, it should sound hollow. If it doesn’t, place it back in the oven to bake for a little longer.

Otherwise, you’re done! If you can resist cutting into the bread while its warm, wait until its fully cooled down and then enjoy it as if it were a loaf of normal bread.

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.

Vegan Brownies

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

It’s almost the end of Veganuary 2020, can you believe that?

Today I’m sharing my recipe for a batch of perfect vegan brownies! They’re dense, fudgy and studded with chocolate – what more could you ask for?

A lot of people think vegan baked goods are bland and boring but they aren’t. That may apply for the treats you can buy in the supermarket but you can expect so much more when you make the treats from scratch – honestly.

Due to the rise in popularity of veganism in the last few years, there are plenty of vegan ingredients readily available at most supermarkets – which is ideal if you’re looking to enjoy a plant based diet.

These brownies aren’t as thick as my traditional version but they are just as chocolatey, rich and decadent. If you were to make them for someone and not tell them they were vegan, they wouldn’t even notice!

Want the best tasting brownies? I have used a selection of products from the lovely people over Cocoarunners – I used the cocoa powder and unsweetened chocolate.

Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?

Ingredients:

140g vegan spread.

225g granulated white sugar.

4 tbsp ground flaxseeds + 12 tbsp water.

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract.

90g cocoa powder.

200g plain flour.

100g unsweetened chocolate.

Method:

Before you start making anything, you’ll want to do some prep work. Start by weighing up your ingredients, preheating your oven to 180˚c/350˚f and getting any equipment you need ready such as a mixing bowl and a whisk. Don’t forget to line your 9×13 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

To start on the brownies, you’ll want to sort the egg replacement. Start by grabbing a small mixing bowl and place in the ground flaxseeds and the water, then mix together until they are well combined – set aside (it will become a little more gelatinous, the same consistency as standard eggs).

Into a large mixing bowl, add in your butter until its melted, then go ahead and add the cocoa powder and whisk the two together until well combined.

Then go ahead and add in the granulated sugar and mix it in until it’s fully incorporated.

Give the bowl a good scrape down, this is just to incorporate any bits that may not have been fully worked in.

Add your flaxseed egg replacement all in one go and incorporate until everything has been fully incorporated. As the flaxseed eggs are incorporated, the mixture will become smoother and glossier – this is normal.

After that you can add in the plain flour and chocolate, fold those in using a spatula (this will lower the chances of over mixing the brownie batter. Once your brownie batter is ‘clear’ from any single ingredient, stop mixing).

Go ahead and grab your lined cake pan and transfer the brownie batter directly into it. Spread and level it out as you need – then place into the preheated oven on the middle level and bake for around 30-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean or with only a few crumbs on.

Once the brownies are baked, leave them in the tin and let them cool fully. Then place in the fridge for a couple of hours or overnight, this helps to make the brownies extra fudgy and easier to cut up – perfect, honestly.

When you’re ready to slice the brownies up, you can cut them into squares/rectangles or whatever else you’d like to, whichever suits you best.

Vegan Brown Bread

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

Well… I’m back!

I’ve taken a short break but I’m back and better than ever. I will be partaking in the remaining weeks of Veganuary – this is where you consume a plant based diet for the entire month.

Keeping things super simple to start, with this vegan friendly brown bread. I know that brown bread can be known for being heavy and stodgy but not anymore. When you keep a recipe super simple and straightforward, you will have the best end result. No more heavy and stodgy bread, just light and fluffy bread with a far superior taste and texture over the store bought version.

Like with most baking, once you master the basics – you’re pretty set to go and work your way up to more advance stuff. The best thing about this loaf is the fact its 100% vegan – a majority of breads can be made vegan pretty easily, which is ideal.

Anyway, let’s get stated, shall we?

Ingredients:

500g Brown bread flour.

40g Fresh yeast.

8g Salt.

10g White shortening.

310ml Water, warmed.

Method:

Start by doing some prep work. Weigh up all the ingredients, prepare your loaf tin (if needed) and get any equipment you may need ready. When the time comes, preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f

Into your mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer bowl) place the brown bread flour and salt and mix the two together using a whisk.

Now you can add the white shortening, granulated sugar, fresh yeast and water. Mix on a low speed to start with for 2 minutes and then a low-medium speed for 6 minutes, so it will be mixing for 8 minutes in total.

Once it’s fully mixed, the dough should be clear (you see no traces of any other ingredients), it shouldn’t be sticky and should be well formed and hold its shape.

Give the dough a brief knead on a floured surface Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and then cover with cling film and leave to complete its first proof (roughly about an hour or) until its doubled in size. Ideally, you’ll leave this somewhere warm, it will help the yeast work.

Now that the dough has doubled in size, you’ll want to remove the dough from the bowl and place onto a floured surface and knock the dough back. This is the process of removing the gasses that have built up during the proof.

Bring the dough back into a ball shape, then bring it back into a ball and roll it out into a fat sausage shape (just big enough to fit into your loaf tin, no bigger). You can then place the sausage shape into a prepared loaf tin and cover loosely with cling film and leave somewhere warm to proof for a second time, roughly 30-45 (or until roughly doubled in size).

Now is the ideal time to preheat your oven to 230˚c/445˚f.

Once the second proof is done, remove the cling film from the top and place the loaf into the preheated oven and baked for 30-35 minutes or until baked and well coloured.

A good tip for testing if a loaf of bread is baked, is to turn up upside down and tap the bottom, if it sounds hollow, its fully baked!

Vegan Oreo Chocolate Cake

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

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Vegan Flapjacks

by bakingwithelliott Leave a Comment

I’m baaaack!

We are starting the New Year with a whole month of vegan baking. January has become known as ‘Veganuary’, where you take on a vegan diet and lifestyle for the month of January. If you’re interested in more information on Veganuary, check out the Veganuary website.

When it comes to vegan baking, things can get a little complicated. You will notice that you’ll have to check a product before you consider it, this is just to rule out any products that may not be suitable. Most supermarkets here in the UK stock a pretty decent selection of suitable ingredients, which are priced decently.

I have chosen to start with something easy and that’s a batch of plain flapjacks. A sweet and sticky confection, which is super easy and has minimal ingredients – cheap, quick and easy to make, what more do you want?

Anyway, let’s get into the first bake of the year, shall we?

Ingredients:

175g Vegan spread (I use Free, found in Heron frozen foods. It’s also gluten free).

175g Light brown sugar (I recommend Tate & Lyle).

175g Golden syrup (I recommend Tate & Lyle).

350g Oats.

Methods:

Start by doing some prep work. I recommend taking your 8×8 inch square cake tin and lining it with greaseproof/parchment paper, weighing up the ingredients, preheating your oven to 160˚c/320˚f and getting any other equipment you may need, such as a medium saucepan and a heat proof silicon spatula.

Take a medium saucepan and into it, place the vegan spread, light brown sugar and golden syrup. Place the saucepan on the hob over a medium heat, stirring constantly once it starts to melt.

While the ingredients are melting on the hob, get yourself a large mixing bowl and pour in all the oats. Set aside until they’re needed later.

Once the ingredients in the saucepan are melted and combined, take it off the heat and pour it straight over the oats. Then give it all a very good mix until all the oats have been coated in the liquid mixture. Take your time and do it properly.

Transfer the mixture into your lined 8×8 inch cake tin, spreading out the mixture and getting it as level as possible. Then place it in the oven and back for 30-35 minutes (or until the edges have turned golden brown).

After they have baked, remove from the oven and allow to cool fully before you cut them up. Once they have cooled down fully, you can place them in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Depending how big of a portion you want to offer will decide how you cut them up. I went with 8 generous rectangles but you could cut these in half and get 16 bite size portions.

These are a really quick and easy recipe to make, so if you get the chance to make a batch, go ahead and do it!

That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my Instagram and Twitter. The YouTube video will be linked down below.

Vegan

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