(Vegan, Bread Machine) Oatmeal Maple Pecan Bread & Apple Nut-Butter Sandwich

This recipe is straight from my West Bend Bread Machine Instructional Manual.  I adapted it to make it dairy-free.  I was in the mood for a sweet bread and thought I'd give it a shot. The only ingredient I left out was 2 tbsp's of dry milk.  I confess....I'm famous for leaving out ingredients and hoping for the best when I don't have them on hand or in this case, wouldn't use them and don't know how to substitute for it! :-)  I did a quick Google search and determined that leaving it out should not detrimentally effect the outcome, and it didn't!   (The only use I could find for adding the dry milk was to make the crust crispier, but it turned out plenty crisp without it).

Oatmeal Maple Pecan Bread

(Yields 1.5lb loaf)

Ingredients

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp warm water

1/3 cup Organic, Grade B maple syrup

2 tbsp coconut oil (use in its solid form to replace butter)

2 1/2 cups bread flour

3/4 cup quick oats

1 1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Place ingredients in bread machine in order recommended by manufacturer.   Set to "sweet" cycle and light crust.   

This bread turned out hearty, very moist and really, really good!

I wasn't sure what to have for lunch so I threw together this quick and nutritious sandwich using some slices of this bread.   It's easy and shouldn't even be called a "recipe", but I'll include it anyway as a suggestion!  

Apple Nut-Butter Sandwich

Ingredients

1 apple, sliced thin

1-2tbsp almond butter, or nut butter of choice

2 slices bread

Directions:

Spread nut butter over bread.  Thinly slice 1/2 an apple and place slices on top of nut butter.  Enjoy as a sandwich with the other half of your apple on the side!

The apple and nut butter was the perfect combination of flavors to combine with the Oatmeal Maple Pecan bread!  (You can make this sandwich with any bread you like though.) 

(Vegan) Basic Bread Machine Bread

I think I mentioned in a previous post that this is my "go to" recipe when I want to make a loaf of bread.  I thought I'd post my adaptation of this recipe since it's Vegan, low-fat and I happened to be making a fresh loaf today!  

Basic Bread Machine Bread

(Yields 1.5lb loaf)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups water

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 1/2 cups bread flour

2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:  Place ingredients in bread machine in the order listed.  Select the basic cycle and light crust.  (I'm sure bread machines vary, but my West Bend takes 2hr & 53 min to make this loaf).  Cool on a wire rack.

I pretty much can't go wrong with this recipe.  It makes a good sized loaf that's nice and crispy on the outside and soft/airy on the inside.  It makes a great sandwich bread.   As for storage, I've done some trial and error and have found that wrapping the bread lightly in cling wrap keeps it fresh for several days.  It doesn't usually last long anyway! ;)

(Vegan) Bread Machine Hard Rolls

I love making homemade bread.  There's nothing quite like the smell of it baking in the air!  A while back I found a recipe for homemade, dairy-free bread here and have been using that to make almost all of my loaves (I just omit the sugar with no ill effects to the finished product).  Occasionally I try other types of bread recipes, but there's really nothing like that "go-to" recipe for me (if it ain't broke, don't fix it?).  Since, for some reason, I'm shy about trying out the other eleven functions on my bread machine besides the "basic" cycle, I usually end up just using sliced bread for meals that would typically be eaten on a roll.  Maybe I just hate reading directions. ;)  Starting this blog has inspired me though to branch out and actually try to make hard rolls!   I have made *bagels* once or twice before and they came out really good, so I don't know why I don't try different things more often! 

This recipe is loosely adapted from Vegan Start's Bread Machine Bagels.

Bread Machine Hard Rolls

(Makes 6 small rolls)

Ingredients 

3/4 cup of very warm water

1 tsp salt

2 cups bread flour

1 1/2 tsp of yeast

Put all ingredients in bread machine in the order listed and set on "dough" cycle. (My bread machine takes 1 hour 30 minutes to make the dough). Once ready, separate the dough into 6 chunks, roll into balls and pat down to 3/4-1 inch thickness (you can use a cookie cutter if you want an exact circle, but it's not necessary). Place dough rounds in boiling water for 2 minutes. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

The rolls actually turned out a tad on the small side for what I had in mind.  I was hoping for more sandwich type rolls, but these would be perfect dinner rolls.  Next time I will just break the dough into 4 chunks and make 4 rolls so they turn out bigger.   They tasted really good though.  They have a nice crunch when you bite into them, yet they're light and airy on the inside like you might expect a roll to be.  I ate my veggie burger from my previous post on one of these rolls, so they can be used for sandwiches despite their size.  

Here are some pictures of the process:

My West Bend bread machine & bread basket

The dough after the bread machine finished its cycle

Boiling the dough rounds in water

This recipe pretty much makes itself if you have a bread machine.  There really is minimal effort and it's worth it if you want wholesome, homemade bread!  I can still smell it in the air!  :)