Easy Crusty Vegan Bread Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret of crusty bread? ›

The best way to brown and crisp your bread's bottom crust – as well as enhance its rise – is to bake it on a preheated pizza stone or baking steel. The stone or steel, super-hot from your oven's heat, delivers a jolt of that heat to the loaf, causing it to rise quickly.

Before you start baking the bread, make sure that your oven and the form/stone on which you'll bake the bread are well heated. Bake the bread at high temperature, around 260/270°C, for the first 15 minutes of the baking process so that the crust and its beautiful golden color start developing quickly on the surface.

Most typical bread you'll buy in the supermarket or bakery will be vegan, but you should always check the ingredients list to make sure. Sliced bread brands like Warburtons and Hovis are generally safe, as are white, brown, and crusty loaves you'll find in a typical bakery.

Ingredients:Flour: Different types of flour have varying protein contents. Bread flour, which has a higher protein content, typically produces a chewier texture due to the formation of more gluten during kneading. All-purpose flour or cake flour, with lower protein content, tends to result in softer bread.

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.

While there are many types of French bread, some of the most popular kinds—like baguettes and boules—have an extremely crusty exterior and a chewy crumb, making them perfect for tearing, dipping or slathering with butter. It's not uncommon for these breads to require a lengthy preparation process.

Steam helps gelatinize sugars on the exterior of the loaf, resulting in better browning, and a shinier (and also thinner and crispier) crust.

In Paris, the baguette is an indispensable part of everyday life. Here's how to recognize it and where to find it in the French capital. With its lovely caramel colour, crusty exterior and soft crumb interior, the baguette is one of the emblems of France, and especially Paris.

Plant-Based Margarine: Vegan margarine is a common butter substitute. It's made from vegetable oils and doesn't have any animal products. You can use it for spreading on bread, cooking, and baking.

You can easily distinguish vegan from non-vegan bread by looking at the ingredient list. Bread containing eggs, honey, royal jelly, gelatin, or dairy-based ingredients like milk, butter, buttermilk, whey, or casein isn't considered vegan.

Why is butter not vegan? ›

Traditional butter is made with churned milk or cream, which usually comes from cows (but it can also come from other animals like goats), and that's why it's not vegan. Many people also use margarine, which is similar to butter in texture and color, but it's usually made with plant-based fat instead of animal fat.

Baking quick breads at too high temperatures can cause a hard outside crust. Most quick breads bake in a moderate oven (350°F to 375°F). Double check your recipe to see the temperature they recommend. Oven thermostats can vary over time, requiring adjustments by the baker or calibration by a professional.

If your crust is becoming soft too quickly and not staying crispy you simply need to bake the bread longer. The best way to do this is to lower the temperature of your oven slightly and bake a few more minutes to achieve the same color you would have at the higher temperature.

Here's How To Make Soft And Fluffy Bread:

Bread Flour Over All Purpose Flour. Do The Windowpane Test. Proofing At The Right Temperature. Use Weights Instead Of Measuring Cups.

There are many who like the crunchy crust as it gives a different experience for the teeth and the palette. The inside which is too soft may not taste as good as the crust when mixing with gravy, butter or jam for example. Even without any additional stuff, a hot bread crust is yummy!

Scientific studies have investigated whether the crusts of bread contain more nutrients than the moist, springy interior. The short answer is: yes, bread crusts do contain more nutrients. The reason for this is that the baking process causes the exterior of the bread to become firmer and more browned.

Usually it's gluten (a product of the protein in flour) that determines bread's texture. Bread where gluten plays a prominent role will be chewier. When the gluten level is lower, or when gluten is tamed by the addition of “softeners” like milk, butter, eggs, or oil, the bread will be more tender.

Salt—Salt adds flavor to breads and helps produce bread with a fine texture and grain. When too much is used, it can slow down the action of yeast. Fat—Often called "shortening" because it lubricates the strands of gluten and makes them break easily. The more fat, the more tender or "shorter" the bread.