Sesame and Flax Seed Double Yeast Vegan Bread
The first time I learned about double yeast was when I took a cooking class from the incomparable Chef Nancy Silverton.
She makes, hands down, the best pizza dough I have ever tasted and she uses a double yeast technique.
The double yeast creates a dough that is soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. This is not a hard dough to make and the best part is, you can be assured you are enjoying a true loaf of vegan bread with all natural ingredients.
I served one of the vegan bread loafs with some vegan ricotta cheese, fresh basil and peperonata which is just sauteed bell peppers, garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar. It was a big hit.
If you don't have a pizza peel I recommend buying one. It makes it so much easier and safer to get the loafs into the hot oven. You can also use it for your fresh pizzas and vegan bread. Hope you enjoy this delicious vegan bread recipe as much as I did.
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- ½ cup warm water
- ½ teaspoon active dried yeast
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1¼ cups warm water (divided)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon active dried yeast
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- 3½ cups bread flour
- 1½ tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons cornmeal
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (or poppy seeds)
- 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed
- 3 tablespoons of water
- In a medium bowl, dissolve a ½ teaspoon of yeast with ½ cup warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add the 1 cup of flour and mix well. Cover the dough loosely and let stand overnight.
- In a large bowl, dissolve 1 teaspoon of yeast, sugar and salt with ¼ cup of warm water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add the yeast mixture, 1 cup of water, maple syrup, olive oil and flour. Combine until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into a ball. Using your hands, knead the dough for about 5-8 minutes. It will become stretchy, pliable and smooth. Shape it into a ball and place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let stand until doubled in bulk, about 2-3 hours.
- Whisk together the ground flax seed and 3 tablespoons of water. Refrigerate.
- Meanwhile, place a baking stone in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Make sure you do this about 20 minutes or more ahead so that the pizza stone gets super hot.
- When the dough is doubled, place the dough on a floured work surface. Flour your hands and cut the dough into four portions. Shape the dough into rounds or oblongs and flatten each round a little. Don't use a rolling pin. You need to keep the air and bubbles in the dough. Try to flatten it the same size all over so it will rise evenly. Re-cover the rounds loosely with plastic and let rest for 15-25 minutes.
- Sprinkle a pizza peel with cornmeal. Place two rounds on the pizza peel. Dent the tops of the dough all over with your fingertips. Brush with the flax seed mixture. Scatter sesame seeds over each round. Slide the rounds onto the hot cooking stone. They should slide easily because of the cornmeal. Cover the remaining round with a loose, damp cloth until ready to bake. Bake the bread until it rises and turns golden brown, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool and eat while still warm. Makes 3 loaves.
I don’t agree that all purpose white flour & bromolated bread flour is vegan. Would anyone care to enlighten me?
Just to be safe, I like to use Bob’s Red Mill organic white whole wheat flour for baking. You can buy it online. There is a debate about white flour epecially enriched which uses animal derived vitamins. Thanks for bringing up an important question LyNel. You never know where animal products are hiding.
Does Bob’s Red Mill have bread flour?
No I don’t think so but King Arthur makes one – you can buy it on Amazon – By the way I don’t always use bread flour for my bread – just organic white whole wheat flour which works well. Thanks LyNel and thanks for being part of our community.
can you make bread with out flour?
Hi Bita – You can use almond flour which is completely made with almonds to make bread. I don’t specifically have a recipe for almond bread but I noticed there were quite a few on the Internet. Thanks for stopping by!
It says in step two to mix in the sugar, but I do not see sugar in the ingredients list. How much sugar should I be mixing in? Thank you.
Hi Mariah – I haven’t made this in so long and thanks for the heads up. Add 1 tablespoon of brown or white sugar to the yeast mixture (preferably brown) Hope that helps and sorry for that. I fixed the recipe.
Do you refrigerate the bread mixture overnight in refrigerator or in warm place or on counter?
Hi Laura – thanks for stopping by. I let the dough double on the counter. If I wasn’t going to use it right away – I would refrigerate the dough overnight.