This is a really simple bread recipe, great for making delicious crusty bread without a bread-maker. We found the original recipe here, and created the vegan version below. Leave the loaf to cool for as long as you can bear it before slicing the bread, the longer you leave it the crunchier the crust will be, but I won’t blame you if you can’t wait long, who can resist the smell of freshly baked bread? Not I!

Homemade Crusty Italian Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup hot water
1/2 cup soy milk
2 tbs agave nectar
2-1/4 tsp. active dry yeast
3 cups bread flour
1 cup semolina flour
1 tsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Cooking oil spray

Method:

In a large mixing bowl, combine water, milk, and agave nectar. Sprinkle yeast over top – do not stir. Allow to stand 10-15 minutes until foamy. Add 2 cups of flour. Using electric mixer, beat on low for 4 minutes. Cover bowl with a towel. Place in an unheated oven and allow to stand 1-2 hours.

Remove bowl from oven and add remaining cup of bread flour, semolina flour, salt and olive oil. Using your electric mixer with a dough hook, beat for 5 minutes. Spray another large mixing bowl with cooking spray. Pour dough into that bowl. Turn over until dough is covered with oil. Cover and let rest 15 minutes.

Sprinkle a cookie sheet with several teaspoons of flour to stop the dough from sticking. Divide dough in half. Shape each half into an oval mound. Flatten slightly until each half is about 6 inches across. Spray tops of dough loaves with nonstick spray. Put cookie sheet into unheated oven to rise another 30 minutes to 1 hour, until doubled. Remove dough from oven. Preheat oven to 230 degrees.

Using a sharp knife, make 3 slits across top of bread about 1/4 inch deep. Fill a small round cake pan with 1/2 inch of water. Place on cake pan on bottom rack in oven. Place cookie sheet with bread dough on it on the middle rack of the oven. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. If bread browns too quickly, cover it with foil for the last 5-10 minutes of baking.







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