The Vegan Basics
Basic Bread & Pizza DoughMaking homemade bread that no one can resist is quick and easy if you have all the right ingredients and tools. I don't knead and pound the bread and I don't use a bread machine... too big and bulky! But I do use a Cuisinart Food Processor to make my vegan breads in a FLASH! With this basic vegan bread and pizza recipe, you can create an endless variety of sweet or savory breads or pizza doughs.

The secret of my Basic Vegan Bread Recipe is Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten Flour. A mere 1/4 cup of this precious flour turns every vegan bread loaf and pizza crust into a delectable mouthful! The flour tends to create a loft and chewiness to the bread that does not occur without it. So if you backed bread in the past and felt that it was too heavy, hard or tough, this is solve those problems when baking this recipe. You can purchase all the Bob's Red Mill products from iHerb.com and receive a $5 discount for first time buyers if you use the code: BET563.

Ingredients
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 cups Bob's Red Mill Unbleached Flour
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten
2 teaspoons Saf-Instant Yeast (French Lesaffre Yeast) or Bob's Red Mill Yeast
2 teaspoons French Sea Salt or Hawaiian Sea Salt
1/4 cup Unsulphured Molasses, 100% Real Maple Syrup, Honey or Agave Nectar (I suggest that you try each sweetener in different batches to see how it changes the texture and taste of the dough)
16 ounces warm water
Non-Stick Oil Spray


Individual Saf-Instant Yeast (French Lesaffre Yeast) found at Trader Joe's.

HINT: If you run out of wheat pastry flour, try regular wheat flour. I have even used all wheat flour... the texture of the bread will be heavier... 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup of unbleached flour is a good combination too.

I also like to use chapatti India flour. It is fine milled and used by India chefs to create flat breads... naan. Experiment with different flours to create your own favorites.

Tools
Cuisinart Food Processor
measuring spoons
measuring cup
large bowl
plastic wrap
insulated cookie sheet or pizza pan

Preparation
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cuisinart Food Processor Method
Add the dry ingredients and pulse to combine.
Add the sweetener... molasses or maple syrup or honey.
Pulse to combine.
With the machine running, add the warm water SLOWLY.

A ball will form and once it pulls all the ingredients together and leaves the sides of the work bowl clean, you are finished.
Carefully remove the work bowl and dump the dough into a large bowl... careful not to cut yourself on the blade.

Let The Dough Rise
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm place... I turn the oven light on in my oven and place the bowl in the oven with the door shut.

Clean The Equipment
Clean your Cuisinart NOW... otherwise, it will be very hard to get the gluten flour to release without some real scrubbing.

Using hot water, rinse the Cuisinart work bowl and blade. With your fingers you should be able to get all the leftover dough released. Then you can use dish detergent and a sponge to finish the job. I use a special tool that came with my machine to twirl inside the blade base to make sure that no dough remains lodged inside the stem. If you'll rinse most of the dough off with your fingers, it will save picking out the dough bits that will become lodged in the sponge or wash cloth.

Form The Pizza Crust
After an hour, pull the risen dough out of the bowl, cut into two equal parts. I use this pastry scraper to cut the dough and to scrape the leftover flour caked onto my countertop.

On a floured work surface, roll the dough into a pizza shape... square or round and top with your favorite pizza ingredients... see my recipe for a Cheeseless Sausage Pizza.

Form The Bread Loaf
If you want to create a loaf of vegan bread, spray the loaf pans or pan with the non-stick oil spray and depending on the loaf sizes you want to make, divide the dough and knead it again by hand and cut into the appropriate size. Place kneaded dough into the loaf pan or pans and spray the tops with the non-stick oil spray or brush with olive oil.

Set the pans in a warm draft free area and let rise again till the dough doubles in size. This tale be at least an hour or more depending on the temperature of the room.

Preheat the Oven
Before baking, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the risen vegan bread loaves for 30 minutes. Bread is done when the interior reaches 190 degrees F, so you may want to use an instant read thermometer to test the loaf when you decide to remove it from the oven.

Tops Too Brown?
If your vegan bread loaf top browns too fast, try gently draping a piece of aluminum foil over the top, half way through the baking process. Remember, all ovens cook differently, so be patient, take notes about what worked and start creating your very own homemade vegan breads.