Whole grain rosemary-olive bread

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions. When I decide I want to do something, I just do it, whether it’s January or July. That said, I do think it can be healthy to look ahead at the coming year as a whole and think of some things you’d like to accomplish. A goal I loosely decided upon this year is to conquer my "fear" of yeast breads. It’s not that I’m literally scared to make them; in fact, I’m not even really afraid that I’ll mess them up. It’s just the time factor. It feels like they take for.ev.er, and when it comes to baked goods, I’m more of an instant gratification type of girl (many a burned finger or tongue can attest to this). I did make pizza dough at home once, but other than that, I’ve avoided anything yeasted.

The time had come for that to change. As I already mentioned, I love the Urban Vegan’s still-newish cookbook, and I chose one of Dynise’s recipes to get me on the yeast-bread-bandwagon. With the necessary advanced planning, it was just as easy as she promised, and even more delicious than I could have imagined.

3 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 small onion, minced
3-4 cups whole grain flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup pitted black olives
3 Tbsp dried rosemary, crushed
2 tsp yeast
1-1 1/2 cups warm water

In a small pan, heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat. Sauté the garlic and onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Let cool.



Finely chop the olives and set aside with the onion and garlic mixture.



In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 3 cups flour (I used 1 cup spelt flour and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour) with the salt, olives, sautéed onion and garlic, and rosemary.



Stir in the yeast, then add the water (I used just over a cup to start with; you may need more). Add more flour as needed, in 1/4 cup increments (I only needed just over 1/4 cup, but this can vary greatly). Knead until smooth, using the mixer’s bread hook. Spray the dough lightly with cooking spray and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.



Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.



Punch down the dough, then knead on a Silpat or a floured surface for about 5 minutes. Form into a boule (a round loaf) and place on a greased cookie sheet.



Let rise for half an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the loaf with the remaining 2 Tbsp olive oil. I tried slicing an X in the top of my bread, like those fancy artisan loaves in the store, and it sort-of worked.



Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the loaf is browned and sounds hollow when tapped. Cool completely (seriously, don’t skimp) on a wire rack before slicing.



I am not kidding, this stuff is unbelievable! The savory duet of onion and garlic provides a beautiful accompaniment to the depth and heartiness of the yeast and rosemary. There are lots of olives in there, yet the bread has no briny or overly salty taste—just great olive flavor. In fact, I sneakily fed pieces to two avowed olive-haters, and both of them LOVED it (one even called it the best bread he’s ever tasted!). If I, a yeast bread novice, can turn out something as stupendous as this, I can only dream of what mouthwatering breads I’ll bake in the future.



Yield: 1 loaf, 16 large slices. Per slice: 130 calories, 3.7g fat (trace sat), 22.2g carbs, 4g fiber, 3.3g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Tuscan white bean dip
Whole wheat beer bread
Indian spice hummus

Chocolate banana bread

No wordy intro for this one, folks. This sweet bread is another holdover from before Europe, and its entire raison d'être was simply that I was craving chocolate + bananas at the time. I modified the recipe from Veganomicon to produce this lighter, lower-fat loaf that’s perfect for breakfast, snacktime, or dessert.

2 large ripe bananas, well mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sugar
2T molasses
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp instant coffee granules
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the mashed bananas, applesauce, oil, sugar, and molasses.



Sift in the flour, cocoa, coffee, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.



Use a wooden spoon to fold the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined (do not overmix), then gently fold in the chocolate chips. You can use semisweet, milk, white, swirled, or just about any type of chip you please.



Transfer the batter to the prepared pan...



...and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.



Invert onto a cooling rack, then flip the bread right side up and let cool completely before slicing. I like to cut it into bite-size pieces for easy snacking. I must say, I still like my peanut butter banana bread better, but if you’re seeking the classic combo of chocolate + banana, this quick bread hits the spot.



Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices). Per slice: 205 calories, 7.3g fat (2g sat), 35g carbs, 3g fiber, 2.7g protein.

If you like this, you might also like…
PB–banana "Elvis" cupcakes
Choc-oat banana walnut cookies
Peanut butter banana bread

Whole wheat beer bread

To celebrate the birthday I mentioned in the last entry, my friends and I rented a party bus the Saturday before last. After feasting on the cake (it was a hit!), 20+ people set out and spent the night riding around town in a big old school bus with half a liquor store’s worth of alcohol. We all know what happens when folks get intoxicated (well, one thing)—they get hungry. I planned ahead for this. I wanted something that was portable and carby. Bread requires no utensils and can be eaten out-of-hand with little mess, and it’s about as carby as it gets. But I wasn’t going to make just any bread—I was going to make the bread most fitting for the occasion and setting.

BEER BREAD! I fell in love with this stuff at the various holiday fairs my mom and I attend in the winter, where you go around to different booths with people selling their wares. The food booths are the best, of course, and at almost all of the dip booths, they have cubed beer bread sitting out to dip with. I was rather shocked to like it so much, since I detest beer. What’s great about it, though, is that the alcohol and beeriness (not a word, I know) cooks out and what’s left behind is the magnificent flavor and aroma of yeast—and in a quick bread! It’s so simple to make, and it makes your house smell superb. Although you can technically use any kind of beer you like (a lot of people like it with Guinness), I think that wheat beers are the tastiest choice.

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3T sugar
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
12-oz. bottle of beer
2T Earth Balance, melted, or olive oil



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan. Combine the flours, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Slowly pour in the beer...



...because it’ll bubble up and fizz like crazy.



Fold the mixture together with a spatula until just combined.



Plop the dough into the loaf pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown.



Brush the melted Earth Balance or olive oil all over the top of the loaf. This is probably the only time you will ever hear me say this, but I’d recommend EB over olive oil. There’s just something about this bread that cries out for a sweet, buttery finish. You could also mix together 1T EB with 1T olive oil; that’s actually what I did this time and it worked great.



Transfer to a wire rack after a few minutes, and allow to cool completely. Use a bread knife to slice it up. The top will have a great crunch, and the inside will be crumbly and soft.



The slices are wonderful toasted and slathered with Earth Balance or peanut butter, or just eaten as-is. Since I was feeding a crowd, I cut the slices into bite-size pieces. This is also great if you plan to serve it with a dip of some sort. I’m thinking it would make a killer stuffing or savory bread pudding, too. I bet you could even make croutons out of it, or a very unique panzanella salad. Sandwich people could probably also come up with some great uses. Let me know if you try it, and how you ate it!



Yield: 12 slices. Per slice: 145 calories, 3g fat (1g sat), 26g carbs, 4g fiber, 4g protein.

Peanut butter banana bread

This recipe comes courtesy of the Peanut Butter Boy, Nick. I’ve bookmarked a number of recipes in his archives, but this one really jumped out at me this week. And since tomorrow is National Peanut Butter day, what better way to celebrate?

I did alter the recipe quite a bit. First, and most obviously, I halved it. As a result, some measurements ended up funny, so I decreased the sugar just a tad, and added a touch of macadamia nut oil to replace the missing smidge of peanut butter. Since banana can actually be used as an egg replacer, I took out the egg and upped the amount of banana just slightly (which also made up for the small decrease in sugar). Vanilla soymilk stood in for milk, and finally, I used just a handful of peanut-butter-and-chocolate swirled chips instead of chopped dark chocolate. You can use those, or peanut butter chips, or chocolate chips, or a mixture, or chopped walnuts, or nothing at all...really, you can’t go wrong.

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3T white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, loosely packed
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cinnamon
2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup soymilk
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tsp nut oil (optional)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup chocolate or peanut butter chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine the mashed bananas, soymilk, peanut butter, oil, and vanilla.



This recipe is not only customizable, as demonstrated above, but forgivable as well. I only had one large banana instead of two medium, so I added about 1/4 cup of canned pumpkin puree to make up for it. Since I lost out on a little banana flavor that way, I also used my PB Loco Jungle Banana for half the peanut butter. I’m telling you, you really can’t go wrong with this.

Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir just until combined.



Gently mix in the chocolate/peanut butter chips.



Pour the batter into the pan...



...and bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.



It’s not at all unusual for veganized baked goods like this not to rise very much (at least in my experience), so don’t worry that it’s rather flat. Allow it to cool for awhile before slicing it. I lasted about 10 minutes.



Once you taste this baby, you won’t care one bit how squat or stodgy the loaf is. Its texture is dense, chewy, and rich (not unlike that of my peanut butter bliss cake), with a moist peanut butter backdrop and the fragrant flavor of banana woven throughout. Positively heavenly.



Yield: 1 loaf (12 slices). Per slice: 175 calories, 6.6g fat (2.2g sat), 25.3g carbs, 2.9g fiber, 4.5g protein.

If you like this, you might also like...
Peanut butter bliss cake