Four ingredient homemade bread
The easiest vegan bread you will ever make. Only four ingredients! Takes five minutes of prep time. The rest is just rising and baking time. Easy to modify to make healthier. Super affordable, artisan quality bread with a perfect, crunchy crust.
Run out of bread at the grocery store because of panic shoppers hoarding all the essentials? No problem. This recipe is so easy, it got naked before dessert was even served.
My mom and brother showed me this recipe a few months ago and I haven’t attempted to make it until the lockdowns. I’m kicking myself for not trying it sooner!
Want to know how easy? This homemade bread only uses four ingredients. FOUR INGREDIENTS!!! How many foods can say that?
And it only takes five prepping minutes. The rest of the time is used to let it rise (8 hours)
You can mix the dough up in the morning and then have fresh bread by dinner. Well, if you’re not a late riser like me, you could probably have fresh bread by lunch time. What can I say, I get my best reading or Netflix watching done at midnight.
You can also make this dough at night and let it rise over night.
Ingredients
Are you ready for how damn easy this bread is? The ingredients for this bread are:
- flour
- salt
- dry yeast
- water
Tips for making this easy vegan homemade bread
- Use lukewarm water to activate the dry yeast. This makes the dough rise faster so you can have bread the same day you make the dough.
- To make this bread a little healthier, substitute one cup of bread flour with either whole wheat flour or oat flour (the consistency will change a bit but it’s still delicious)
- No need to go out and buy expensive oat flour. To make homemade oat flour, just blend up oatmeal in a blender
- If you want a more light and airy bread, only knead it for 30 seconds to a minute
- If you’d like a denser bread, like for sandwiches, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes
- Cover the dough with a towel to let it rise and set it out on the counter. Covering it prevents the dough from drying out
- Cover the dough with another bread pan, turned upside down, when baking. This gets the dough surrounded by steam and forms an amazing, crunchy crust.
- Store your yeast in the freezer! It will keep in there forever
FAQ
Can vegans eat bread?
Absolutely, since most bread is made with just flour, water and yeast. The only breads vegans can’t eat are the few breads made with eggs or milk like Indian naan bread, or Jewish challah.
Can I use whole wheat flour? What if I don’t have bread flour?
Yes! Absolutely! There are a few different flour combinations you can try to make this bread a bit healthier and wholesome. My brother tested out different combinations and gave me some tips.
Instead of 3 cups of bread flour try:
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of bread flour
- OR 1 cup of oat flour (just blend oatmeal in a blender to make flour) 2 cups of bread flour
- OR 1 cup of oat flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour
- For all of the above combinations bake them a little longer: 40 minutes covered then 20 minutes uncovered
Just remember that the healthier versions will be a little more dense, which isn’t a bad thing.
Why is my bread dough not rising?
- The #1 reason your dough isn’t rising is probably due to using old, or inactive yeast. Buy a new packet, and store it in the freezer. Make sure you buy dry, active yeast. I haven’t tried this recipe with any other type of yeast. I had this problem when I used yeast that was about a year old. Once I bought new yeast, it rose right up.
- Make sure that your water is lukewarm. If it’s too hot it can kill the yeast. Stick your finger in the water to test, and if it’s comfortable, but warm, it’s good to go
- When letting the dough rise, it must be covered with a towel, saran wrap, or a dutch oven lid.
- Don’t let the dough rise in a drafty or cold room. Yeast does best in a 75-90 degree room. If the room is too cold, the yeast will take a really long time to activate and rise.
- Let the dough rise in the microwave or in the oven. MAKE SURE THEY ARE TURNED OFF. These places are good to let it rise because there is no draft.
- Give it enough time. This dough needs at least 8 hours and it needs more time if the room is cold.
Not only is this the easiest homemade vegan bread recipe you will find, it’s also insanely tasty.
This bread is so light and airy and has the perfect crunchy crust. I would and have easily paid $5 a loaf for a high quality bread like this at stores.
It feels so good to make this bread at home for a fraction of the cost.
How to serve
My favorite way to eat this bread is to dip it in some lightly salted, high quality olive oil when it’s still warm.
There are few things better in life than warm homemade bread, fresh out of the oven.
When you knead the dough for at least 5 minutes, the bread becomes a bit more dense and it makes for amazing sandwiches and toast.
Try it out with my easy vegan chickpea salad sandwich!
This vegan bread also makes amazing toast, or vegan grilled cheese sandwiches.
More recipes to try
Easiest vegan bread
Ingredients
- 3 cups bread flour (adjustments on how to make healthier, whole wheat or oat bread in the notes section below)
- 1 and ¾ cup of lukewarm water
- ¼ tsp dry active yeast (store this in the freezer after. It will last forever)
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine the bread flour, salt and yeast and stir
- Stir in the lukewarm water
- Mix gently with a spoon until all of the flour is incorporated
- Cover with a towel, saran wrap or a dutch oven lid and let it rise for 8 hours – it will puff up and look crazy
- Pre heat the oven to 450 degrees after the 8 hours of rising
- Flour a clean surface and place the dough on the floured surface. It helps to get it out with a plain butter knife so it won’t stick to your hands
- Sprinkle the top of the dough with a little bread flour so it’s not as sticky
- Knead the dough for 30 seconds. Knead it longer if you’d like the dough to be more dense. The less you knead the dough, the more spongy and fluffy the bread is.
- Oil a bread pan and place the dough in the pan
- Cover the bread pan with another bread pan turned upside down (covering the bread while baking allows it to steam and form a crust). You can also bake this bread in a small dutch oven with the lid.
- Bake, covered for 30 minutes
- After 30 minutes, remove the bread pan lid and bake uncovered for another 20 minutes
- Once it’s done baking, take it out of the bread pan and let it cool on a rack
Video
Notes
– 1 cup whole wheat flour and 2 cups of bread flour
– 1 cup of oat flour (just grind up oatmeal in a blender to make flour) and 2 cups of bread flour
– 1 cup of oat flour and 2 cups of whole wheat flour (this will just make the bread a little more dense When making any of these healthier versions, you may have to bake it an extra 10 minutes covered. So instead of 30 minutes covered, 20 minutes uncovered, cook it 40 minutes covered and 20 minutes uncovered. Make this dough before going to bed and pop it in the oven in the morning so you have less waiting time and you can have fresh bread the next day. After letting the dough rise, it’s easier to take the dough out of the bowl with a butter knife, rather than your hands. It will stick to your hands more. After opening the yeast, store the packets in the freezer. The yeast will last forever in there. Just make sure to put them in a freezer friendly, sealed bag or container if opened.
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed. It should not be used as a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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