This 5-ingredient homemade bread recipe (Broke Bank Vegan) is a good starter recipe, if you fancy making your own bread. All you need is a good flour, rapeseed or sunflower oil, lukewarm water, a little cane sugar and instant yeast. Let dough rise in a low-temperature oven (or InstantPot). Use a serrated knife to carve and serve with palm-oil-free vegan butter.
Keep fresh dough away from children & pets, as it can expand in the stomach (read more on keeping people & pets safe in the kitchen). Never feed stale/mouldy/crusty bread to garden birds or wildfowl (nor buttered leftovers as fat smears on feathers, affecting waterproofing & insulation).
The Handmade Bakery (Yorkshire) is a good example of community agriculture. It offered ‘bread bonds’ to investors who got fresh bread each week (it’s now thriving, with all bonds aid off).
a seeded loaf for bread machines
This simple seeded loaf for bread machines uses a super-easy recipe for a bread machine, and only needs a few ingredients. You can then enjoy fresh baked bread each day for all the family. The Russian/Ukrainian war has caused bread prices to soar, so buying local organic flour and making your own bread not only tastes better (and avoids plastic packaging) but saves money too.
All you need for this recipe is a pack of Doves Farm organic seedhouse bread flour (a blend of high-protein sunflower, pumpkin, golden linseed, millet and poppy seeds) and Doves Farm quick yeast. Just measure flour and yeast into the bread machine pan, then pour over tepid water and a little salt and vegetable oil. Lock the pan into position, and bake your bread. Leave your fresh loaf to cool on a wire rack, then serve sliced with palm-oil-free vegan butter (Flora is free from palm oil).
Lakeland compact breadmaker costs around £60, has great reviews and makes a 1lb loaf (it also has settings to make pizza dough and homemade rolls). It even has a delay start feature, so bread is ready just at the right time. If buying any small electrical appliance, the law says the store that sells it has to legally take back old appliances for recycling (at no cost to you).
If buying bread, locate a proper baker who gets up early morning to bake fresh loaves from scratch. Real Bread Campaign says that most supermarkets are ‘loaf tanning salons’ where part-baked loaves are delivered to stores, then ‘warmed in the oven’ to make them look freshly-baked. It has recently launched a complaint to Trading Standards, as such loaves are not ‘freshly baked in store’. Most commercial bread contains palm oil, and is sold in plastic bags (which reduces shelf life, as bread cannot breathe). And are sold in portions bigger than can be used up by small households (leading to bread being one of the top food waste items).
a beautiful book of (vegan) bread recipes
Baking Vegan Bread at Home offers an amazing aroma and flavour book of recipes that are very easy to make. Find 70 recipes from rustic to artisan, from everyday sandwich loaves to French and Italian breads.
You’ll also find cheesy and sweet breads, quick breads and family loaves (wholewheat, white, rye, pumpernickel) and artisan sourdough breads plus focaccia, ciabatta, challah, baguettes and even chocolate bread. There are also recipes for muffins, scones, pancakes, waffles and donuts, along with biscuits, buns, rolls, crackers, pitas, pizza dough and cornbread.
Shane Martin is an undiscovered gem! Unlike many influencer food bloggers who use oodles of hard-to-find ingredients and have more photos of themselves than the food, this nice young American chap offers a lovely recipe blog with all the plant-based recipes super-simple with easy-to-find ingredients. This is a man who cooks for you, not to show off on social media.
He doesn’t use fancy equipment and everything he makes he also cooks for his wife and five children. He doesn’t have time for ‘chocolate balsamic-glazed beets with wild shiitake mushrooms in rhubarb and strawberry glaze’. His latest recipe is for ‘easy cinnamon-baked pears with walnuts!’
pretty (breathable) reusable bread bags
Storing bread in plastic bags is never a good idea, as it just causes bread to sweat and go mouldy. Far better is to use a natural bread bin (say wood) or a cotton or linen reusable bread bag. Helen Round Linen Bread Bag (Cornwall) is printed with eco inks. It allows the bread to breathe, yet keeps the crust crisp. Also in other designs. Ideal for artisan sourdough and rye breads, you can also turn the top down and use as a basket to sell bread, rolls or pastries.
Battle Green organic cotton bread bag can easily handle a large loaf and is wrapped in a recycled card ‘belly band’. The GOTS organic cotton license number appears on the inside label, and the bag uses eco dyes and is made by workers who receive a living wage and fair hours, working in safe conditions.
Helen Round striped linen bread bag will blend into most kitchens, a more breathable alternative to plastic bags (or a big cumbersome bread bin). Linen is from the flax plant, a more local alternative to cotton that lasts for years and gets softer the more you wash it. Simply roll down the hem, to slice your bread.
striped linen baguette bag
This striped linen baguette bag is ideal if you prefer French bread, to cycle back from the baker (beret not included!)
