Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crusty bread? ›

To make crusty bread, create steam in the oven.

They have a professional secret: the steam-injected oven. Nothing offers the baker quite as nice a crust as an oven filled with steam for the first part of the baking process.

So introducing steam actually helps slow crust formation while your dough finishes rising. Then, towards the end of your baking time, open up the oven to release the steam and finish baking to dry out and crisp your bread's crust.

Higher protein flours tend to produce chewier breads than lower protein flours. Some additions, like fats or pre-gelatinized starches, tend to make breads softer. Lean breads, which have no fats or sugars added, tend to be chewier. Lean breads are usually baked at a higher temperature, producing chewier crusts.

The most common vegan bread types are sourdough, Ezekiel bread, ciabatta, focaccia and baguettes.

If you let the bread cool in room temperature, that moisture will set on the surface turning the bread "less crusty".

Large crusty loaves can be stored unwrapped (to preserve their crispy crust) at room temperature for a day or so, cut side down on the counter. For optimum long-term storage (longer than a couple of days), wrap bread in single-day portions and freeze.

Adding butter (unsalted) in small quantities to bread dough results in a higher rise, a crisper crust, and a longer shelf life. If butter is added to the dough, it is called “butter bread.” If melted butter is brushed on before baking, with or with butter in the dough, It is called “butter crust bread.”

If your dough is highly hydrated, and you have a good seal on your dutch oven, you generally should not need to add ice cubes. The purpose of adding ice cubes is to create steam during the first 15-20 minutes of baking with the lid on, to ensure the dough can fully spring before the crust hardens.

A baking steel helps the underside of your pizza brown and crisp to perfection. The recommended option is a baking steel, which most home pizza bakers prefer. A baking steel has significant thermal mass, plus it excels in an extra category: thermal conductivity.

What do vegans use instead of butter on bread? ›

What are good vegan butter substitutes? In baking, you can use vegan butter, applesauce, dairy-free yogurt, coconut oil, coconut butter, olive oil, nut butter, mashed banana and mashed avocado. In cooking, you can use olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable stock, or avocado oil to replace butter.

Wholemeal and brown bread is generally lactose-free.

Each of these components make Food For Life Ezekiel bread an amazing vegan protein source. Ezekiel bread is the most recommended vegan bread available because it is truly 100% vegan, organic, contains sprouted grains, has more nutrients, holds less sodium, and is better for your health than any other bread.

Because there's no butter, the crust needs some help to keep from becoming chewy and tough. The help is a tea towel. Wrapped around the bread as soon as it comes out the oven, it keeps in the steam given off by the bread as it cools and softens the crust.

Egg wash is a mix of beaten whole egg and water (or milk or cream), which is used to brush onto the top of baked goods before baking. The purpose of egg wash is to provide a nice golden brown, shiny finish on your baking. I use this egg wash for pie crust, or this also makes a great egg wash for bread recipes.

Over-kneading has a tendency to result in chewy bread. Here's how to tell if you've kneaded enough. Another possibility—you used bread flour when all-purpose flour would do. If a recipe with bread flour turned out chewier than you like, try it with all-purpose and knead only as much as the recipe directs.

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

Vegans can eat bread that does not contain animal products or byproducts. This includes breads that only use some variation on flour, water, yeast, and salt including ciabatta, baguette, focaccia, sourdough, pita, and ezekiel breads.

What makes crust crispy? ›

In-home ovens do not get as hot as the ovens at pizza restaurants, and the stone or steel underneath the crust while baking helps make the best use of temperature. Always bake your pizza pie on the lowest rack in the oven. This allows your pizza crust to get closer to the heat source, allowing it to become more crispy.