Category Archives: bread

soft, fluffy, flaky or crunchy

white pizza with roasted garlic coconut cream and sun dried tomatoes

By jacqueline | Published: February 21, 2010

i love pizza in all it’s forms. sure it’s traditionally topped with red sauce and gooey strands of cheezy goodness, but also layered with pesto instead, or no sauce at all. with this recipe i had the idea that rather than worrying about not only making a sauce but also a cheese substitute, i could make a combination of the two.

the sauce is made creamy by a little coconut milk, while all the flavor explodes from the roasted garlic, which permeates the soft chewiness of the crust. complimented nicely by hints of tangy sweetness from sun dried tomatoes and little bursts of freshness added by thyme.

if you’ve never taken a crack at making your own pizza, what better time than now?

Also posted in entree, sauce | Tagged bread making, coconut milk, milk substitute, pizza, pizza dough, sun dried tomatoes, thyme | 24 Comments

maple glazed shallot rolls

By jacqueline | Published: May 22, 2009

i’ve been getting really into baking my own bread lately. why buy loaves for sandwiches or buns for burgers at the grocery store when i can just bake them fresh myself!? in the past few weeks this recipe has become a fast favorite of mine – it is a completely whole wheat roll that is soft, has a nice toasty crust and is filled with sweet shallots, accented with hints of pepper, cinnamon and cumin.

the secret is slow rising the bread, which takes a bit longer but is well worth the increase in quality. just be aware that this recipe should be started the day before you want to serve the rolls, since i used 2 slow rises and one quicker one at the end so there are several hours of letting the yeast do its thing before they even go in the oven.

Posted in bread | Tagged bread making, rolls, shallots, whole wheat | 3 Comments

cinnamon swirl bread

By jacqueline | Published: March 2, 2009

i first learned how to make my own bread when i worked in an italian restaurant in portland. i would make pizza dough fresh every morning so it had plenty of time to rise before we topped it with sauce, cheese, and toppings and popped it in the oven for lunch time.

sure it takes hours to let the yeast do its thing, but i was surprised by the simplicity of the recipe. it’s really just a little warm water, sugar, salt, yeast, oil and flour. variations of that simple combination create most every type of bread.

you can add herbs and bake it flat for a crispy foccacia bread, divide the dough into small pieces to make rolls or bread knots, or sweeten it with extra sugar to make something sweet like i have here. by just mixing up a cinnamon and brown sugar concoction and spreading it over the dough before i rolled it up, i created a cool cinnamon swirl in the middle of my loaf, reminiscent of a cinnamon bun.

Also posted in sweet | Tagged bread making, brown sugar, cinnamon, swirl | 21 Comments

gooey pumpkin cranberry bread

By jacqueline | Published: December 15, 2008

when i think of pumpkin cranberry bread i think of a christmas party i threw 3 years ago – it involved a chirstmas tree, christmas music and a full spread of seasonal treats. probably one of the most popular items on the menu was pumpkin cranberry bread. 3 years on, i’m going back to that successful recipe and making it vegan friendly – the result is a gooey, delicious loaf that goes well with all types of holiday treats.

Also posted in sweet | Tagged baked goods, cranberries, gooey, pumpkin | 1 Comment

whole roasted garlic clove focaccia bread

By jacqueline | Published: December 8, 2008

i love making my own bread. there really isn’t any comparison between a fresh, out of the oven, loaf and store bought varieties. but bread can be tricky to get right - either it is too dense, the crust isn’t thick enough, or it comes out lopsided. focaccia is a simple bread to make that’s always soft on the inside with a crunchy crust.

adding italian herbs to focaccia is fairly normal, but i stepped it up a notch by adding whole cloves of roasted garlic to the bread, and lots of it. i used 3 heads of garlic in one batch, but you can use more or less according to your taste. keep in mind when you roast garlic the taste mellows out significantly to a savory and almost sweet caramelized flavor that isn’t pungent in the least. for most, this means you can eat a lot more of it.

Posted in bread | Tagged basil, bread making, focaccia, garlic, oregano, rosemary, thyme | 12 Comments

vegan thanksgiving: cornbread muffins

By jacqueline | Published: November 21, 2008

i didn’t grow up eating corn bread at thanksgiving, but the past few years i’ve tried to make it a habit. it has a wonderfully hardy taste and texture that pairs nicely with the other (heavy) foods we stuff ourselves with on the holiday. and as i discovered, just like everything else on the thanksgiving table, it goes well with gravy. keep an eye out for my recipe for super simple vegan gravy coming up early next week.

Posted in bread | Tagged banana, corn, thanksgiving | Leave a comment

peanut butter banana bread

By jacqueline | Published: October 13, 2008

with most fruits and vegetables, it’s a sad time when they start to get too brown or soft to eat. but when that happens to bananas it means i get to make banana bread!

Also posted in sweet | Tagged baked goods, banana, cinnamon, cloves, peanut butter, peanuts | 5 Comments

garlic knots

By jacqueline | Published: September 30, 2008

ever since my bout with a chest cold earlier this week i have been majorly craving garlic, and there’s a good reason why.

garlic is a natural antibiotic. after a few days of having whatever bug i caught floating around in my system, my body told my brain that i needed something to kill it off. i quickly responded by eating lots and lots of garlic, sometimes 2 or 3 heads a day. i’m feeling much better, but i probably don’t smell too great.

Also posted in snack | Tagged antibiotic, bread making, garlic, rolls | 3 Comments

maple coriander rolls

By jacqueline | Published: August 15, 2008

i love making things from scratch, especially you have to put as much physical energy into someone as kneading bread dough, you can really let your energy become part of the food.

for just that reasons i have been making my own bread lately. it’s relaxing, fun and really makes the taste difference. i would highly suggest playing around with your own recipes to see what you can cook up.

Posted in bread | Tagged maple, rolls, whole wheat | 2 Comments