Vegan Pumpkin Spice Loaf

I have been working on perfecting this pumpkin spice bread for literal years now. I debated keeping it to myself, but I think everyone needs this deliciousness in their lives - especially when the leaves start changing color and the cool weather rolls in. Every year, I make a bunch of loaves and share them with friends, family, and even neighbors and it is always a hit.

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By now, I’ve experimented with packaging them and baking them all sorts of ways. I’ve tried the cardboard loaf pans you bake them in, I’ve tried mini loaves, I’ve tried tin foil. I’ve tried with a streusel on top, plain, and settled on these pumpkin seeds.

After much trial and error, my favorite way to bake and share is baking them in a 4-cavity mini loaf pan (get one from Amazon here). The packaging is hard to find for this size, but I find that wrapping them up in some parchment or brown paper with twine makes for a seriously adorable way to present. One can even add a tag with a note to personalize them!

The chocolate, nuts, and pumpkin seeds are totally optional. I like to add just a little bit to the bread since I’m the kind of person who takes the chocolate chips out of chocolate chip cookies. Walnuts are a great addition, however, as is some chocolate. You could even put pumpkin seeds in the batter as well as use them for topping if you like! Totally up to you!

Vegan Pumpkin Spiced Loaf

what you need:

Dry Ingredients

• 1 ½ cup flour

• ¼ cup powdered sugar

• 2 ½ tsp baking powder

• ½ tsp baking soda

• ½ tsp salt

• 1 ¾  tsp ground cinnamon

• ¾  tsp ground ginger

• ½ tsp nutmeg

• ¼ tsp cloves (optional)

• 4 TBSP - ¼ cup vegan chocolate chips or chunks (optional)

• 4 TBSP  - ¼ cup walnuts (optional)

• 4 TBSP  - ¼ cup pumpkin seeds (optional)

Wet ingredients

• ¼ cup brown sugar, packed

• 1 ½ cup pumpkin puree (or 1-15 oz. can pumpkin if using canned)

• ½ cup non-dairy milk

• 4 TBSP vegetable oil 

• 1 TBSP maple syrup

• 1 ¼ tsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

• Pumpkin seeds and chocolate chips (or chunks) to top (optional)*

what to do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix the wet ingredients and brown sugar together (brown sugar, pumpkin puree, non-dairy milk, vegetable oil, maple syrup).

3. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients, EXCLUDING the seeds and chocolate together.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well.

5. Fold in the nuts and chocolate, if using.

6. Spoon mixture into lightly greased loaf pan.

7. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the loaf passes the toothpick test.

*Note: if using pumpkin seeds/chocolate on top, press them down in the batter a bit before baking
**Note: To make enough mini loaves using a 4-cavity pan (as pictured), double the recipe

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What is your favorite seasonal sweet bread?

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Honey Oat Chia Bread

There are plenty of opinions on using honey as plant-based eaters. We are rebels, though. Bees are crazy amazing and honey is called a superfood - full of nutrients and thought to be immunity-boosting and antibacterial. I love that it can be produced locally as opposed to some of the other natural sweeteners that are imported. On that note, we love local maple syrup as well! 

Someone recently gave us a bottle of honey from their own beehive. How can you say no to a gift like that? Well, you can't. And before you get on me for using [local, gifted] honey and how horrid and unethical it is, just know that you can use agave or maple syrup instead :)  

Since we like to eat our own homemade bread, I decided to try honey oat chia bread, and I love what came out! Here is the recipe for our honey oat chia bread!

I had not had much luck with baking bread in a loaf pan, so that is why I stuck with the super easy artisan bread that I made in my dutch oven, but last week I was inspired to try something new. I hadn't made bread for a bit and my husband really wanted some. The only problem with the bread I usually make was that I prep them the night before to be ready to bake the next day. Of course, I kept forgetting to do that, and when we finally ran out of bread, I knew I needed one to be done that day. So I tried and after a few tries, I finally got it just how I liked it, and am pleased to say that we have a new favourite quick-loaf. 

I also have a loaf pan with 4 cavities, so I am going to try to make mini loaves for neighbours!

It's a perfectly sweet-ish bread that is great for sandwiches and your morning toast fix. 

Related: Tomato Roasted Almond Spread

Honey Oat Chia Loaf

What You Need:

• 2 cups warm water

• 2 teaspoons yeast

• 1/4 cup honey (or agave or maple syrup)

• 1/4 cup olive oil

• 1 cup old fashioned oats

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 TBSP ground flax

• 1 TBSP chia seeds

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

What to Do:

1. In a large bowl, mix water, yeast and honey. Let stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.

2. Mix in olive oil, oats, ground flax and salt

3. Mix in all-purpose flour.

4. Mix in whole wheat flour 1/2 cup at a time. You might not need all the flour.

5. Knead dough for 5 minutes. Dough should be tacky, but too sticky.

6. Put dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let sit for at least one hour, until doubled.

7. After it has doubled, gently deflate the dough by pressing your fist into the center of it.

8. Divide the dough into two and shape into two loaves. Place loaves into greased bread pans. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees about 20 minutes in.

10. Optional: Just before baking brush loaves with water, and sprinkle with oats and chia seeds.

11. Place in oven and bake for 40 minutes.

12. Once baked, allow the bread to rest and cool for about 5 minutes before removing it from the pan and cooling on wire rack.

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Do you make your own bread? What's your favourite kind?
Let me know below - I always want to try something new!

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Whole Wheat Artisan Bread with Seeds

With the new year well under way, it seemed a natural thing to go through old blog posts and figure out how I could improve them or what could be changed. I came across the original post for this recipe and decided that it needed a new home and a bit of a facelift. Speaking of new homes, we are loving our new area despite the cold rain that has been drizzling from the skies this last week. Somehow, I imagined January to bring us snow, and instead, the temperatures have been mild and the rainy weather makes me a little sleepy. The forecast says snow next week, but I'm not holding my breath. 

As with every new year, I got the urge to purge (that is kind of catchy, though I imagine I am not the first one to say it...). If you follow along on Instagram, you may have caught wind that I'm streamlining my life; getting rid of unnecessary clutter that has accumulated over the past few months, and creating a better daily routine. I'm also striving toward a more homemade vegan pantry. Every year is more successful than years past, and I'm reminded that intentionality in every area of life is extremely important. I almost feel that I have a hang of it.

But enough about that, and enough rambling. Let's talk bread! 

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You already know why I choose to make bread rather than buy it. I've recently added a few new recipes to my repertoire, but I'm re-sharing this tried and true bread that I go back to here and there when I'm feeling too lazy to make our favourite bread. Yes, I get lazy. It only requires one bowl, 5 minutes of my time, and does the rest of the work itself. Can't complain about that! You know I looooove adding all sorts of fun things to my bread, so of course it has all kinds of seeds in it. I'm thinking I should try nuts sometime...Speaking of nuts, this is also delicious with a tomato roasted almond spread. Oh man, I'm getting hungry!

Whole Wheat Artisan Bread with Seeds

What you need:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour

• 2 cups all-purpose flour*

• 1 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 tsp sea salt

• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds**

• 1/4 cup flax seeds**

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds**

• 2 1/2 cups warm water

*note: you can substitute all-purpose flour for whole wheat. It works perfectly fine!

**note: I've added three different types of seeds here, but you could really add anything at all! Ground flax is a favourite of mine.

What to do:

1) Mix all the dry ingredients into a large bowl.

2) Add water slowly and mix well. The dough will be quite shaggy (rough-looking dough) when all together - you may not need all the water depending on what kind of flour you use.

3) Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and let it sit on the counter for 12-18 hours.

4) Preheat your oven to 450 F (not for 12 hours, please!). Put a cast iron pot** into the oven (with lid ON) to heat as the temperature rises. Once heated, remove the pot, as well as the lid.***

5) Flour a workspace and your hands and gently remove the dough from the bowl. Roughly shape the dough into a ball and place it inside of the pot. Place the lid on the pot and put it inside the oven.

5) Bake for 30 minutes with the lid on and another 15-20 minutes with the lid removed - until a perfect golden brown.

6) Carefully remove from oven and place on rack to cool completely.

**note: you do not have to use a cast iron pot (dutch oven). ANY oven-safe covered vessel will do, I’ve even read people use a crock pot insert with foil over the top instead of the lid!

***note: if the pot is not hot enough, your dough will stick to the bottom! To avoid this, do not skip this step!

Freezer Friendly: Once cooled, wrap well and freeze right away for a few weeks. To thaw, place on counter overnight.

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What intentional choices are you making this new year? Let me know in the comments below!

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Homemade Seedy Bread

Since it's been a while since I've talked about my everyday staples, I decided to share another bread recipe. 

You may have been around when I talked about why I don't buy bread anymore, and if not, that's okay. You can check it out here. 

If you follow along on Instagram, you might know that we've slowly been making the transition to a homemade pantry. Over the past year, it's been so satisfying to add things that I used to never think twice about buying. Things that were staples, but never knew how easy and how much healthier (and cheaper!!) they were to make. Bread is one of those things, and since we eat it so often, it was only natural to make the switch. This year, I hope to share more of the things we learned, but back to this deliciousness that is this bread!

I like to rotate the bread recipes I make, but this one is so far my favourite. The texture is perfect, and I love the crispy outside. Sure, it takes a while to get everything done, but it's worth every long rise it goes through. That being said, it's very easy, just time consuming. 

We love eating this plain, or with homemade spread!

Easy Homemade Seedy Bread
Makes 2 Small Loaves

what you need:

Bread Dough:
2 tsp active dry yeast
3 tbsp liquid honey (or agave if vegan)
1 1/2 cups warm water, divided
1 cup large flake oats
3 tbsp ground flax seeds
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (I have also used whole wheat pastry flour with great success)
1 1/4 cups bread flour, plus more for kneading
1 tsp sea salt
1 TBSP of each and mixed: pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, flax seeds 

Preferment:
1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp active dry yeast

what to do:

1) The night before baking the bread make the preferment. In a large bowl, mix together the bread flour, water and yeast until a smooth small dough forms. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit at room temperature overnight. The preferment will double in size by morning.

2) Measure out 1/4 cup of warm water in a glass measuring cup. Add the yeast and honey. Mix to combine and then allow the mixture to sit, undisturbed for 5 minutes or until the mixture is foamy on top.

3) Add 1 1/4 cups of warm water to a bowl. Add the oats and flax and allow this mixture to sit for 5 minutes.

4) After 5 minutes, add both the yeast mixture and the oat mixture to the bowl with the preferment from the night before. Add the flours and salt.  

5) Mix and start kneading on the counter. You will have to knead for about 5 minutes (unless you have a stand mixer, but it's a great work out!). If the dough seems sticky, add extra flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it looks the way you would like. Add 3 tablespoons of the mixed seeds and mix until combined.

6) Grease the bowl you mixed the dough in and place the dough back in the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place for at least 2 hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

7) Preheat oven 450 degrees F. Place a large dutch oven with the lid on in the oven on the centre rack. You may also use a pizza stone (or baking sheet) if that's all you have.

6) Punch the dough down and place it onto a floured work surface. Knead the dough a few times with your hands and then form the dough into a rough oval shape (if needed, you can divide the dough in half and make two loaves). Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Allow the dough to rise for 20 minutes.

8) After 20 minutes, use a sharp knife to gently make a small slit down the center of the loaf. 

9) Carefully remove the hot dutch oven from the oven and remove the lid. Very carefully, pick the dough up by the parchment paper and lift it into the hot dutch oven (parchment and all). Place the hot lid back on the pot and return to the oven.

10) Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Using oven mitts, remove the hot lid and continue baking until the bread is a deep, golden brown, about 15-20 minutes more. Remove from the oven. Carefully lift the bread out of the pot and place it on a wire rack to cool completely.

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Have you tried making your own homemade bread? I wish I could start it from the ground and grow the grain myself too!

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The Most Delicious Vegan Soft Pretzel

The past few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about the time I spent abroad. Let's face it, I'm still abroad, and I still experience things I haven't before, but I was specifically thinking about my time in Europe. It was a grand time. Food-wise, a highlight of mine was the amazing soft pretzels I could get pretty much everywhere. They were as big as my head, and delicious. When I got home, I made some for myself, but a few days ago, I really hit the jackpot when I decided to play around with the recipe some more. 

I had some Earth Balance left over from my cupcake making days, so I figured, why not? 

The result was the softest, buttery, delicious pretzel to come out of my oven to date. I decided to share with the rest of you - because I'm really nice like that. 

I always thought making pretzels would be a lot more complicated, but such is not the case! I remember the first time I tried a soft pretzel. I also remember that there were none left the next day. Seriously, every time I've made them in the past, those lucky enough to nab one, scarf it down pretty quickly. Imagine my surprise then when these turned out better that the former attempts. These are not as big as my head, but the flavour sure is!

The secret to that beautiful brown pretzel is baking soda - baked on a baking sheet and then added to the bubbly pot of boiling pretzels. Mhm. Without it, it is just not the same. 

Anyway, enough from me. I bet you are drooling as much as I am ... ;-)

The Most Delicious Vegan Soft Pretzel

What You Need:

• 4 cups All Purpose Flour

• 1 ½  cups Warm Water

• 2 ¼  tsp Active Dry Yeast

• 1 TBSP Organic Cane Sugar

• 2 tsp Sea Salt

• 4 TBSP Earth Balance

• Olive Oil  

• 2/3 cups Baking Soda

• 10 cups water

• Coarse Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

What to Do:

1) Mix warm water, yeast, sugar and salt in large bowl. Let sit 5 minutes till foamy

2) Add melted vegan butter. Stir in flour one cup at a time.
 
3) Knead on counter until elastic dough forms. 

4) Grease bowl and let rise 1 hour.

5) (Baking Totally Optional) Twenty minutes before dough is done rising, spread baking soda on baking pan lined with parchment. Bake in oven at 300 degrees F until ready to boil pretzels.

6) Once dough has risen, divide it into 8 equal parts. To twist pretzel into shape, roll the dough into long ropes. Hold at each end making a U shape, create a twist, and press ends down. 

7) Boil water. Carefully add the baking soda. 

8) Gently put pretzels in boiling water and let them "bathe" for 30 seconds. Put pretzels on parchment lined pan. Sprinkle with coarse pink himalayan sea salt.

9) Bake in oven at 450 degrees F for 10-12 minutes, until perfectly golden brown!

10) Allow to cool and enjoy either plain, or with some dipping sauce!

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Do you love soft pretzels as much as I do?

Going to be trying these out? I want to know how it turns out! I will always find you when you use #MapleAlps!

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