Daily Bread (Vegan, No Oil, No Knead)

Easy Italian or French Bread

You might think that producing a nice, warm, loaf of French Bread at a moments notice is something that only Martha Stewart could manage, but it's not! Try this easy make-ahead recipe that I revised from the original found in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois.

I keep the dough in a plastic container (I chose the shoebox size, so I can stack different types of bread dough in the fridge easily) in my refrigerator until I'm ready to bake it. This size of container will make four 1lb loaves of bread.

Recipe for Daily (French or Italian) Bread: 

3 cups water (warm to the touch - not hot!)
1½ Tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
1 Tablespoon Sea Salt (Coarse)
6 cups Bread Flour
**add 1 Tablespoon sugar and a splash of soy milk to make it Italian Bread**

Mix the ingredients completely with your hands, a spoon, or a butter knife (I use the knife that I leveled the cups of flour with to save on dirty dishes). Dough will be rather slack - but that's how it's supposed to be. Cover container and set on the counter to rise for 3-4 hours. When dough has risen nearly to the top of the container, it's ready to bake or stick in the fridge to bake later. The dough should be used within 7-10 days.

When you're ready to bake a loaf, spread a handful of flour on the counter, tear off about ¼ of the dough and use the flour to help you shape the dough into a round or oblong shape. Set dough on a baking sheet that's either non-stick or been sprayed with non-stick spray and let it rest on the counter for about 20-30 minutes while you preheat your oven to 450°.

Once the dough has relaxed (it doesn't really "rise" very much), put the bread in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.

That's IT! I usually make a batch of bread on Sunday or Monday that lasts my family at least a week. If I know I'm going to be giving some away (we send care packages to our parents and share with our neighbors), I'll make more than one batch and stack them in the fridge.

Other Uses

You don't have to only make little rustic loaves of bread – get creative! We've made...

Breadsticks: 

Roll the dough into breadstick sized "loafs" and bake on greased cookie sheet at 450° for 10-12 minutes.

Thin Crust Pizza: 

Roll out a loaf-sized ball to about ½ inch thick, place on greased cookie sheet and lay on the sauce and toppings! Cook for about 15 minutes at 450° to 475° (to give it that "brick oven" look and taste)

Thick Crust Pizza: 

Roll out 1/3 of the dough – instead of the 1/4 you usually use – to about 3/4 to 1 inch thick. Place in a greased cast-iron pan. Top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings, cook for 20-22 minutes at 450°.

Crescent Rolls: 

Roll out a loaf-sized ball as you would for the thin-crust pizza, but cut into pizza-shaped "slices" and roll from the large end down to the point. Give the roll a bit of a curve when you place it on the greased cookie sheet to give it that crescent shape and baste it with a bit of milk or egg-white to give it that shiny finish. Bake at 450° for 10-12 minutes.

Cinnamon Rolls: 

Mix together in a bowl, 1/2 stick of butter (softened), 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Layer the bottom of a cake pan with this mixture. Roll out 1/3 of the dough to about a 1/2 inch thick rectangle (use as much flour as needed to roll it out, but take care to not dry out the dough). Sprinkle liberally with brown sugar and cinnamon (raisins and nuts too if you'd like!), lay down a few thin pats of butter and roll it up. Slice into about 8 pieces and place into your cake pan that you prepared earlier. Set it on the counter, covered with a bit of plastic wrap to rise for 40 minutes. Cook at 350° for 40 minutes. When they come out of the oven, place a dinner plate over the top of the cake pan, then flip it upside down, so the nice gooey stuff in the pan is now on top of the cinnamon rolls!

Get Crazy With Flavor!

I like trying new flavors, by adding ingredients to the basic recipe, such as...

Wheat Bread: 

Substitute one or two cups of bread flour with whole wheat flour.

Pumpernickel Bread: 

Substitute one cup of bread flour with rye flour and add 2 teaspoons instant coffee (or use brewed coffee instead of your warm water), 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder, 2 Tablespoons molasses.

Rye Bread: 

Substitute one or two cups of bread flour with rye flour and add a couple of tablespoons of caraway seeds. (For dark rye bread, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder and 2/3 cup Molasses as well)

Herb Bread: 

I grow a lot of fresh herbs and just love the flavor of a nice loaf of basil or rosemary bread! Add about 1/2 cup of chopped basil, or 1/4 cup rosemary - try different combinations to see what your family likes.

Sourdough Bread: 

In order to create sourdough bread, simply leave the bits of dough in the container from the last batch when you make the next – It's so easy to do!