Vegan Baking Demo at Carrots on Saturday, 20th July 2013

About ten days ago, I had a vegan baking demo at Carrots, The Healthy Kitchen and Store. I've mentioned Carrots, the first vegan restaurant in Bangalore, in my blog posts many times this year.



A few weeks ago, Krishna, the co-founder of Carrots, invited me to teach baking/cooking classes to his staff. Many people who follow my blog and facebook page have asked me to conduct vegan baking classes, so I figured that since I was going to teach some recipes to Chef Ram (Carrots' new Bakery Chef), we could extend that into an interesting demo event. We decided on a Monsoon Afternoon Chai and Baked Goodies theme.

About 11 people signed up to attend the event but we had a bunch of walk-ins and ended up with a total of 15 participants. A couple of them were my good friends who attended to support me but most others were people I met for the first time. I was very happy that I got to meet and speak with all these new, interesting people. It was also nice to hear that some of them have been following my blog and trying out the recipes here for a while now. :)

The event went well for the most part and despite certain imperfections, many participants said that they enjoyed the demo and would be trying out the recipes at home once I posted them here.

My darling hubby, Milesh, patiently recorded the demo. It has taken me some time to edit the videos. I wanted to do this last week but I was travelling. As soon as I got back this week, I started working on the videos so I could share them here along with the recipes. I've divided them into multiple parts for the purpose of organisation.

I apologize in advance for the annoying background noises in the videos. The screaming toddler, creaking buffet vessels, clanking cutlery, the buzz of customers and staff talking in the background - we hadn't anticipated any of these disturbances. The expectation was that the buffet would be closed and the crowd cleared out by 3:30 or so, leaving us with a fairly silent space to do the demo. The participants themselves were watching the demo with rapt attention and were NOT the ones responsible for the ruckus. :p

Now without further ado, let's move on to the recipes you've all been waiting for.

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Basic Vegan Chocolate Cake



Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour or Maida
3 T Good Quality Cocoa
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Powder (or 1/2 tsp Baking Powder and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda)

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 to 1 C White or Brown Sugar
5 T Coconut or Olive Oil
1 T White or Apple Cider Vinegar
1 tsp Coffee Powder - or Vanilla/Orange/Almond/Mint Extracts
1 C Cool or Cold Water

* Preheat oven to 180°C / 350°F.
* Lightly grease an 8 or 9 inch, round or square cake pan (no greasing required if using a non-stick pan).

* Sieve the dry ingredients together a few times.
* Whisk all the wet ingredients (except oil) together until at least half the sugar has dissolved.
* Add the oil and whisk some more.

* To make the cake batter, pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and quickly mix until there are no large lumps.
* Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan and immediately pop it into the preheated oven.
* Bake for 40-45 minutes, until a few cracks have formed on the cake's surface.
* Cool completely in the pan.
* Slice and Serve.
* Enjoy! :)

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Whole Wheat Buns



For the yeast proofing:
1/2 C Warm Water
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 T Sugar

Dry ingredients for the dough:
3-4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C Sugar - can be less
2 tsp Salt
2 T Flax Seed Powder

Wet ingredients for the dough:
1 C Vegan Mylk or Water
3 T Coconut Oil or Olive Oil

* Add 2 T sugar and yeast to 1/2 C warm water.
* Stir and keep aside for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast has dissolved and is frothing a bit.

* Mix 3 C of the whole wheat flour with the remaining dry ingredients in a large bowl.
* Add the oil and mix.
* Add the yeast mixture and 1 C vegan mylk or water and whisk.

* Gradually add whole wheat flour and mix until the dough comes together into a rough ball.
* Transfer to a floured surface and knead very well until you get a soft, elastic ball of dough.
* Pour some oil in the large mixing bowl, place the ball of dough in it and twirl to coat with oil.
* Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

* Press down on the risen dough and shape into buns.
* Optionally stuff the buns with your favourite vegetable mixture (a potato palya filling tastes yum).
* Place the buns on a tray, cover and keep aside for 1 hour, until the buns have risen well.

* Preheat oven to 190°C / 375°F.
* Bake the buns for about 40 minutes.
* Cool in the tray for 10 minutes.
* Transfer to cooling rack and cool well.
* Enjoy! :)

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Quick and Easy, Gluten Free Almond Coconut Cookies



1 C Almond-Sesame Flour (grind almonds and sesame seeds in a ratio of 3:1 to get this flour)
1 C Desiccated Coconut Powder
1/2 C Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flour
1/2 C Sugar
1/4 tsp Salt
Water

* Preheat oven to 250°C / 480°F.
* Lightly grease a baking tray or line it with aluminium foil.

* Mix all the dry ingredients.
* Add a little water at a time to form a stiff dough.
* Pinch off small balls of the dough and flatten into 1 1/2 inch cookies that are about 1/4 inch thick.

* Bake for 10 minutes.
* Allow to cool slightly and transfer to wire rack.
* You can have it warm or at room temperature.
* Enjoy! :)

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Vegan Mylk and Masala Chai



For the Nut and Seed Mylk:
1/4 C Cashews
1/4 C Sesame Seeds
1/4 C Flax Seeds
Water

* Grind the nuts and seeds together into a fine powder.
* Add a little water at a time and blend to get a smooth, creamy paste.
* Add more water and blend until you reach the desired consistency.

For the Masala Chai:
3/4 C Water
3 Cloves
1 Cardamom Pod
1/2 inch Cinnamon Stick
1/2 inch Fresh Ginger - crushed
5 Black Pepper Corns - crushed
1/2 to 1 tsp Sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp Tea Powder
1/2 to 3/4 C Nut and Seed Mylk (should not be too thick)

* Boil the spices in the water for a couple of minutes.
* Add sugar at this point and boil.
* Add the tea powder and boil for a few seconds.
* Reduce the heat to low, quickly pour in the mylk and stir.
* Bring to a short boil and turn off the heat.
* Strain and serve hot.
* Enjoy! :)

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If you attended the demo, I'd love to hear your thoughts about how you liked it and how we can make future events a better experience for you.

Thanks for reading and watching all the videos. When you try out the recipes, do leave a comment here letting me know how you like them. :)

Whole Wheat Foxtail Millet Multi-Seed Bread

Yesterday, a friend of mine who regularly follows my blog and my facebook pages - artbysusmitha and veganosaurus - asked me why there has been a lack of activity on my blog and I decided it was time for some action.



I made this bread a few weeks ago. I quickly clicked some pics and typed out the ingredients but this laziness causing cloudy weather and busy life in general has been getting in the way of me completing the post, until now.

I started out to make a regular whole wheat, multi-seed bread but at some point I got the idea of putting broken foxtail millet in there and I must say, it was a brilliant move! Sometimes bakers knead chiroti rava/sooji (fine semolina) into the dough to get an interesting texture. But rava is one of those nutrient-less carbs and I wanted to make this bread with whole ingredients, that's why I decided to use the millet rava instead.



The millet gives the bread an excellent texture! And don't even get me started on the delightfully crunchy, browned crust. Mmmmmmm.

The next time I make this bread, I will turn a portion of it into Rusk. I'm sure that the millet will give it the perfect kind of crunch. It's been so long since I made Rusk. Just the thought of it is making me want to bake right now.

The procedure of making this bread is pretty basic. If you're making bread for the first time, you can watch my step-by-step video tutorial for making basic bread dough to get a general idea about yeast frothing, kneading, etc., and then make this Whole Wheat Foxtail Millet Multi-Seed Bread using the ingredients and recipe below.



Whole Wheat Foxtail Millet Multi-Seed Bread

3 C Wheat Flour
1/2 C Broken Foxtail Millet (Navane Idli Rava)
1 tsp Sprouted Fenugreek Powder (optional)
2 T Flax Seed Powder
Mixed Seeds - Melon, Black Sesame, White Sesame, Poppy
2 T Wheat Berries - soaked in hot water for 15-30 mins and drained
2 T Coconut Oil + 1 tsp for greasing the mixing bowl
1 T Apple Cider Vinegar (white vinegar can be used instead)
1 tsp Salt
1/4 C + 2 T Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
3/4 C Soy or other Vegan Mylk
3/4 C Water
Optional - Vegan Yogurt mixed with Corn Starch (Corn Flour) to brush on top of the bread

Mix the water and soy mylk and heat them together in a pan.

Add 2 T sugar and stir to dissolve

Let the liquid come down to lukewarm temperature.

Sprinkle the active dry yeast onto the liquid and keep aside for 10-15 minutes, allowing the yeast to froth and bubble.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, place 2 C of the whole wheat flour with broken foxtail millet, sprouted fenugreek powder, flax seed powder, remaining 1/4 C sugar, salt and 2 T coconut oil.

Mix everything together with your fingers, rubbing the oil into the flour.

Make a deep well in the centre and once the yeast mixture is frothed and ready, pour it into the well.

Add the apple cider vinegar and mix everything with a fork to get a sticky dough.

Add as much of the remaining 1 C whole wheat flour as required, a little at a time, and mix with your hand to get a rough ball of dough.

Knead in the seeds and wheat berries.

Transfer the dough to a floured surface and knead well to form a smooth, elastic dough.

Grease the mixing bowl with the remaining 1 tsp of coconut oil.

Place the ball of dough into the bowl and swirl around to coat it with oil on all sides.

Cover the bowl with a large plastic bag and place it in a warm/sunny spot.

Allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

After the dough has doubled in volume, punch it down and transfer to a floured surface.

Knead very lightly and shape into desired form (loaves, buns, rolls...anything you like).

I wanted to make mine into a braided loaf but it expanded so much in the baking tray that the shape got changed. haha

Cover again with a plastic bag and allow to rise in a warm place for another 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 190 C. Optionally lightly brush the top of the bread with the vegan yogurt and corn starch mixture.

If you've made loaves then bake in the preheated oven for about 50-55 minutes, if it's rolls/buns then 35-40 minutes will do.

Allow the bread to sit in the hot oven for 10-15 minutes after it's done.

Take the tray out and allow the bread to cool down in the tray for 1/2 an hour, then transfer to a cooling rack and let it cool down some more.

It's okay to slice the bread if it's a little warm but *do not slice into the bread while it's hot!!!*

The bread tastes great served with some hot soup/stew or just dipped in some garlic olive oil.

Since it doesn't have any additional spices, it even tastes yum with jam.

Enjoy! :)

Marbled Green Smoothie Banana Bread

Why is banana bread called banana bread? Fruit, flour, sugar, soda, oil...one could say that banana cake would be a more appropriate name. Perhaps calling it bread is just our way of cheating. You know, you could polish off half a loaf of bread and feel pretty smug about it, but imagine eating half a cake. Egad! Guilt trip galore!! :oP

DH and I spent a long weekend at Chennai having a super duper fun time playing with our nephew and nieces. There were run off the mill games like hide and seek, chinese whispers, running and catching, lego connect four and there were crazy ass made up games like evil robot, mind reading and pretending to be asleep because we were so freaking tired by the end. Well that last bit was just hubby and me. Try keeping up with a pack of highly active kids and you'll know exactly what I mean.

Anyways, we came back home from these three days away to find some verrrrrry ripe bananas on the counter. When we'd left on Friday night, they were raw, but three days is plenty of time to ripen and ripen some more. I love eating bananas in this state but there are only so many I can have. Hence, I decided to make banana bread.

I found a nice marbled chocolate-banana bread recipe on the PPK and used that as the base recipe. But as much as I luuuurrrrve chocolate, I wanted to make something non chocolatey. So I thought about the things that go well with banana, and spinach suddenly popped into my head. If spinach and bananas can be a great duo in green smoothies, why not in bread, right?

And while I was at it, I adjusted the ingredients a bit and made it even more healthy by substituting a portion of the white flour with pearl millet flour. So here is my Marbled Green Smoothie Banana Bread. I feel comfortable calling it bread now. :)

Dry ingredients:

3/4 C Pearl Millet Flour (Bajra/Sajje Hittu)
3/4 C + 3 T All Purpose Flour (Maida Hittu)
3/4 tsp Salt
3/4 tsp Baking Soda

Wet ingredients:

1 C Mashed Very Ripe Bananas - about 3 large bananas (Pachbale Hannu)
3/4 C Sugar
2 T Coconut Oil - at room temperature
1/3 C Vegan Mylk - soy, almond or cashew
1 tsp Pure Vanilla Extract

Additional ingredients:

1/4 C (tightly packed) Blanched Spinach
5 T Boiling Water

Preheat the oven to 170C/340F.

Line a loaf pan with aluminum foil.

Place the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk a few times to mix well and incorporate air. Transfer 3/4 C of this flour mixture to another large mixing bowl. 1 C of the flour mixture will remain in the first mixing bowl.

Beat together all the wet ingredients (not the spinach and water). It should come to about 2 C.

Bring 1 C of water to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, blend the blanched spinach with 3/4 C of the banana mixture to form a smooth, creamy liquid.

Pour the spinach mixture into the mixing bowl with the 3/4 C of flour and mix lightly. Add 2 T boiling water to this and mix well with a fork to get a smooth paste.

Pour the remaining 1 1/4 C of banana mixture into the bowl with the 1 C of flour and gently mix. It's okay if some flour can be seen but DO NOT OVER MIX. Add 3 T boiling water and mix quickly with a fork until fairly smooth.

Now pour about 1/2 C of the plain banana bread batter into the prepared loaf pan. Top this with about 1/2 C of the green banana bread batter. Keep alternating them until you've finished transferring all the batter into the pan.

To form a pretty, marbled pattern, take a butter knife and swirl it through the batter in circles for a few seconds.

Bake in the preheated oven at 170 C / 340 F for 60 minutes. Increase the temperature to 180 C / 350 F and bake for 20 minutes.

About 10 minutes into the 180 C baking, test with a butter knife poked into the center for doneness.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes.

Lift the bread along with the foil and transfer to a cooling rack. Let it cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy! :)

Rustic Okara Khara Veggie Bread

Okara is the soy bean pulp that's left behind after the soymilk has been extracted from it. Since I regularly make soymilk at home in my SoyaJoy, I always have some Okara sitting in my fridge. It has a very short shelf life so if it isn't used up quickly, its fate will be to end up in the compost pile.

Because it's got a lot of health benefits, I have been trying to include it in different foods that I make. The problem is that it's pretty tasteless , so I have to be careful about how much I add in each dish. A tad more and the whole dish becomes bland.

I used to mix it into Chapathi dough before but now I don't make much Chapathi to begin with and when I do, it's in Phulka form so the dough can have nothing but wheat flour, salt and water in it.

The one place where Okara benefits taste and texture is in yeast breads, when used in the right quantity.



If you don't make Okara, then just switch it with an additional half cup of vegan mylk and half cup of whole wheat flour and you're set.

Khara means spicy in Kannada (and a few other Indian languages). During my pre-vegan days, I used to really enjoy the Khara Breads sold at small, local bakeries. But now I make my own and even though I miss walking into a bakery and buying fresh buns, it's a great trade off because home made breads are so much more rich, moist and wholesome. And of course, they leave my kitchen smelling amazing! :D

Rustic Okara Khara Veggie Bread

1 C Warm Soymilk or other Vegan Mylk
2 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Mix the above together in a large mixing bowl and keep aside for about 15 minutes, to let the yeast froth and bubble.

Then add:

1 C Okara
2 tsp Salt
3 T Coconut Oil or Sesame Oil
2 T Flax Seed Powder
1 T Sesame Seeds
6 Crushed Spicy Green Chillies
1/4 tsp Asafoetida Powder

Beat with a whisk. Then stir in:

2 C Grated Veggies - I used 2 Beets and 3 Carrots in this bread
2 Finely Chopped Onions
1/4 C Chopped Cilantro
1 tsp Crushed Dried Curry Leaves

Whisk together and add (a little at a time):

3 1/2 C Whole Wheat Flour

Knead into a very moist and sticky dough.

Cover the mixing bowl with a plastic bag and place in a warm spot to rise for 2 hours.

Divide the dough into two portions.

Place one portion in a loaf pan lined with wax paper. Cover and let it rise for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.

Roughly shape the other half of the dough into rolls on a cookie sheet lined with aluminium foil. Cover and let it rise for 1/2 an hour. They will expand sideways, rather than upwards. So they resemble something between flatbreads and buns.

For the buns, preheat the oven to 190 C. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Allow to sit in the turned off oven for 5-10 mins. Remove tray from the oven and allow the buns to cool in it for 10 mins. Transfer buns to wire. They taste best when slightly warm.

For the loaf, preheat the oven to 200 C (it won't take long because the oven is already hot from baking the buns). Uncover the loaf pan and bake on the middle rack for 1 hour. Allow to sit in the turned off oven for 20 mins. Remove pan from the oven and let the bread cool in the pan for 20 mins. Transfer the loaf to a wire rack and let it cool completely. Peel off the wax paper.

Slice and enjoy! :)

This bread needs to be stored in an airtight container in the fridge. It will keep outside for only about half a day because of the vegetables.

Gluten Free Vegan Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flatbread

I've often seen Gluten Free baked goods pop up when I'm browsing in the Vegan blogosphere. I never really paid too much attention to GF baking though because most GF cakes and breads called for certain gums and such. Besides, I figured, why put the extra effort when GF was meant for people with wheat allergies?

Then I came across Hobby and More's Vegan, Gluten Free Breads. Even though she doesn't *need* to follow a wheat-free diet, Richa of Hobby and More makes amazing looking GF breads and that got me very interested. I kept thinking I should attempt some of her GF bread recipes using her innovative steaming method but kept procrastinating because I needed to go out and buy potato or tapioca starches.

Then Rithika of Vegan on the Prowl made this Very Versatile Gluten Free Flatbread. She based it on Richa's recipe and switched up the ingredients to things that are more easily available in India. Now I had no excuses left!

Plus, a few weeks ago, hubby and I decided to follow a GF diet and see if it makes any difference in general health and energy. I'd been making rotis with various grain flours (jowar, bajra, makki...) but was jonesing for something more bread-y. This was a perfect time to try out the GF flatbread!

I made this bread twice. The first time around I followed Rithika's recipe exactly. But the next time I wanted to use a local grain (as opposed to the ground oats) and I remembered Harini of Tongue Ticklers mentioning that Bajra (Pearl Millet) is good in GF recipes. Harini has years of experience making delicious Gluten Free baked goods because her daughter requires it so I confidently took her word for it. I'm glad I did. Bajra turned out to be an excellent replacement for wheat! I've continued to use it in all GF baking recipes since.

Also, I was out of arrowroot powder. So I used the last of my organ egg replacer powder stock instead since it is made of starches. And I eliminated the baking powder because the egg replacer contains leavening agents. But in future recipes I'll be going back to using arrowroot powder and baking powder.

Here's my version:

2 heaping C Bajra (Pearl Millet) Flour
2/3 C Orgran No-Egg Powder
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
5 tsp Organic Jaggery Powder dissolved in 1/4 C Hot Water
2 T Coconut Oil
1/2 tsp Salt
1 - 1 1/4 C Warm Water

Mix dry ingredients.
Add wet ingredients (except water) and mix.
Add water, a little at a time and knead into a sticky dough.
Cover the bowl with a plastic bag and let it sit for 1 1/2 hours to let it rise.
Punch down dough and break off balls.
Tap each ball into a flat shape on wax paper.
Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.
Place the flattened dough along with the wax paper in a tray inside a steamer and steam for 5 minutes.
Peel off the wax paper and let the bread cool.
Toast on a griddle or grill in an oven.
Enjoy! :)

Maize Bread - Vegan Mofo Post 6

Maize is the term we use to refer to the locally available variety of corn in India. Ever since I tasted corn bread for the first time at Angelica Kitchen in downtown Manhattan, I knew I'd wanted to add the recipe to my baking repertoire. After returning to Bangalore, I searched in vain for corn meal here. Then one fine day I saw broken maize at the grocery store and even though it had more of the texture of corn grits as opposed to corn meal, I knew it would do the trick! :)

I adapted this recipe from the very first vegan recipe book in my collection, Very Vegetarian by Jannequin Bennett. A beautiful hard cover with recipes ranging from simple to gourmet and pictures ranging from super delicious to droolalicious! To this day, the book continues to give me guidance and inspiration.

Corn bread a very simple and quick bread with the right balance of moistness and crumbliness. Hubby and I enjoy it best with vegan chilli (as you can see in the picture). The crumbs soak up all the flavors from the chilli and combine to create a delicious burst of flavors and textures in the mouth.



1 C Broken Maize or Yellow Cornmeal
1 C Maize Flour or Corn Flour or All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 t Baking Powder
1/2 t Baking Soda
1/4 t Salt
1/4 C Maple Syrup or Sugar Syrup
1/3 C Soymylk or Almond Mylk or Cashew Mylk*
1 T Lemon Juice or Vinegar (I prefer Apple Cider Vinegar best)
3 T Warm Olive Oil or other Vegetable Oil
3/4 C Warm Water

Preheat oven to 190 C / 375 F.

Keep a 9 inch square baking pan ready.

Pour the warm water over the broken maize and keep aside.

Sift together the dry ingredients.

Beat together the wet ingredients.

Mix everything together.

Pour into the baking pan and quickly and lightly spread to make a more or less even layer.

Bake for 25 minutes.

Serve warm.

Enjoy! :)


*Note: I tried using water instead of Vegan Mylk and it really messed up the texture. I think a certain amount of protein/fat is required in the liquid for the crumbs to come out perfect.

Mediterranean Sun Dried Tomato Bread

1 1/2 C soymilk
2 T sugar
4 T olive oil
2 t active dry yeast
2 T raw flax seed powder
1 t salt
1 C all purpose flour
3-4 C whole wheat flour

sun dried tomatoes (soaked in warm water and re-hydrated)
chilli powder
herbs - oregano, rosemary etc...

Heat the soymilk until lukewarm (test the temperature with your knuckle). Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the sugar, oil and yeast. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve. It should be all bubbly and frothy by the end of this time.

Add the salt and flax seed powder and beat a little. Slowly whisk in the 1 C all purpose flour and 2 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour a little at a time while continuing to beat it as much as possible. Once the dough gets too thick to beat, add just a little more flour and mix with your palms to obtain a rough dough.

Form this dough into a ball and transfer it onto a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top). Knead well for about 10 mins at least (add a little more whole wheat flour while kneading if the dough is sticky but make sure it doesn't get too dry) until it reaches a smooth, elastic consistency.

An effective way to knead is to press the dough away from you with the base of your palms, then fold the dough over towards you and then it press again.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and swirl it around until it's coated with the oil. Cover with a clean plastic bag and let it sit in a warm spot for about 2 hours, until doubled in volume.

Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead for a few seconds. Divide it into two balls. Roll the balls out into large rectangles about 1 centimeter (a little less than 1/2 inch) thick and place them flat. Lightly coat these rectangles with a very thin layer of olive oil and spread the sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle the chilli powder and herbs over them (you can add sliced olives too but I didn't have any when I made the bread so they're not in there). Gently roll up the sheets and form them into loaves. Place them in loaf pans, cover again with the plastic bags and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours to double in volume.

I actually made one bread with this rolling up method and the other with bits of the sun dried tomatoes and herbs and spices kneaded into the loaf. Both were nice but I personally preferred the taste of the rolled up style bread better.

Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Bake the loaves for 50 minutes.

A great way to get a nicely browned, crusty top is to spray the bread with water every 15 minutes or so while it is baking.

Cool for some time in the loaf pans. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely. Slice with a serrated knife and serve.

Tastes great with Hummus!

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns

Last year I had the pleasure of tasting a gourmet cinnamon roll at Cinnaholic and I was absolutely blown away by it! Ever since then I've been craving a cinnabun as perfect in taste and texture as that particular roll. Now if it were up to me, every time I craved a cinnabun, I'd just teleport right on over to Cinnaholic and stuff my face to my heart's content. Heck, I'd even be happy to be their employee just so I could be constantly enveloped in the smell of cinnamon rolls baking. And that says a lot because if you know me, you'd know I'm not into 'work'. But let's face it, it's going to be at least another year before I perfect my teleportation powers and Berkley is too far away from Bangalore to risk it. Imagine if I apparate in some remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean where no one's heard of cinnamon rolls?? *shudders*

So my only option has been to bake and bake with the aim to arrive at the recipe for an amazing cinnabun. Something to keep my happy until the next time I'm able to experience a heavenly Cinnaholic cinnamon roll once more.

I first took a non vegan clover leaf rolls recipe and then tweaked it and tweaked it some more to not only veganize it and make it healthy with whole wheat in the mix but to also get the perfect, fluffy texture. Then when those rolls turned out great, I finally decided to take the leap and adapt that recipe into one for cinnabuns. And FINALLY, these delicious Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns came into being. :)



Baking bread takes a bit of effort and a LOT of patience. But both these things pay off ten fold when your house is filled by the smell of bread baking and your mouth delighted with the amazing taste of artisan bread which you had the satisfaction of making with your own two hands.

So plan in advance, assign a day to make an event out of it and enjoy the process!

Vegan Whole Wheat Cinnabuns

1 1/4 C soymilk
1/2 C agave nectar or maple syrup or sugar syrup
4 T olive oil
2 t active dry yeast
1/4 t sugar
1 1/2 T raw flax seed powder
1 t salt
1 C All Purpose Flour
3-4 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 C or more Cinnamon powder

Heat the soymilk until lukewarm (test the temperature with your knuckle). Pour into a large mixing bowl and whisk in the agave nectar, oil and yeast. Sprinkle the sugar on top. Leave for 15 minutes for the yeast to dissolve. It should be all bubbly and frothy by the end of this time.

Add the salt, 2 T of the cinnamon powder and flax seed powder and beat a little. Slowly whisk in the 1 C all purpose flour and 2 1/2 cups of the whole wheat flour a little at a time while continuing to beat it as much as possible. Once the dough gets too thick to beat, add just a little more flour and mix with your palms to obtain a rough dough.

Form this dough into a ball and transfer it onto a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned granite counter top). Knead well for about 10 mins at least (add a little more whole wheat flour while kneading if the dough is sticky but make sure it doesn't get too dry) until it reaches a smooth, elastic consistency.

An effective way to knead is to press the dough away from you with the base of your palms, then fold the dough over towards you and then it press again.

Form the kneaded dough into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of oil. Place the dough ball into the bowl and twirl it around until it's coated with the oil. Cover with a clean plastic grocery bag and let it sit in a sunny spot for about 2 hours. It should rise and double in volume by the end of this time.

Punch down the dough and give it a quick knead for a few seconds. Roll it out into a large rectangle about 1 centimeter (a little less than 1/2 inch) thick and place it with the long side towards you. Lightly coat this rectangle with a very thin layer of agave nectar and sprinkle generously with cinnamon powder. starting from your side, gently roll up the dough to form a long, log shape. Cut this log into 1 inch slices and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper about 1 inch apart. Cover again with the plastic bag and let them sit for 1 1/2 hours to double in volume.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Bake the rolls for about 35 minutes. Enjoy the smell of cinnabuns wafting through your home.

Cool slightly on the baking sheet. Transfer to a cooling rack. Serve warm and be transported to another dimension.

Potato Buttermilk Bread

Before I post the recipe, I'd first like to say that as much as it might look like it, the bread doesn't have whole potatoes in it. The top just looks that way because it's just been shaped accordingly. *grin*

Normally, I prefer to use 100% whole wheat (or other whole grains) in my bread recipes. But this time, I gave in and used partly whole wheat flour with mainly white flour. The 100% whole wheat bread is delicious when there are inclusions in the dough like herbs and grated veggies to add interesting textures to the final product. But with plain, untextured breads, just whole wheat makes it too dense.

Well sometimes, I don't mind giving into taste over wholesomeness. Besides, this being a vegan bread, white flour is the only less-than-perfectly-healthy ingredient in there. So indulge away! :)



2 t active dry yeast
1/2 t sugar
2 large potatoes (peeled, cubed and boiled until soft)
1/2 C cooking liquid from the potatoes cooled a little bit
1/2 C lukewarm soymilk
1/2 t apple cider vinegar (regular, white vinegar is also fine)
1 T oil (I used olive in this one)
2 t salt
2 C all purpose (white) flour (maida)
1 - 1 1/2 C whole wheat flour (chapathi atta)

Mix the flours together and keep aside.

Combine the potato cooking liquid (should be slightly warmer than lukewarm), sugar and yeast and keep it aside for about 15 minutes. It should froth and bubble and rise a bit by the end of this time (very important).

Combine the soymilk and the apple cider vinegar and keep aside for a couple of minutes to allow the soymilk to curdle well. This acts as the buttermilk.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the boiled potatoes. Add the oil, salt, soymilk mixture and frothed yeast mixture and stir well.

Now slowly add one cup of flour at a time and keep mixing until it forms into a stiff ball of dough.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead very well until it's smooth and elastic (very important).

Form into a ball and place it back into the mixing bowl. Cover it with a warm, wet cloth and keep it aside in a warm place or sunny spot for 1 1/2 hours to let it rise (it should at least double in size).

Punch down and again let it rise for 40 minutes.

Form the dough into 12 balls. Place 10 of these balls in two rows in a 9 X 5 inch loaf pan. Break the remaining 2 balls into 4-5 pieces, roll them into little balls and place them randomly on top any way you like.

Cover and let it rise until the dough has risen above the well over the rim of the pan (about 30-40 minutes).

Preheat oven to 205C (400F).

Dust the dough lightly with flour and place the pan in the middle of the oven.

Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce the temperature to 190C (375F) and bake for another 40 minutes.

Once the oven goes off, leave the loaf in there for another 10 minutes and then remove immediately.

Let the bread cool in the pan for half an hour, remove from the pan, transfer it on to a cooling rack and let it cool completely before cutting with a serrated knife.

Tastes great served with a big bowl of soup or spicy bean chili.

Enjoy! :)

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

She looked outside her window and saw the dull and dreary clouds. "Hmm", she said. "It looks like a home baked bread kind of day". And off she disappeared into the kitchen with thoughts of dough kneading in her head while Facebook looked on sadly at the momentary lapse in its addicting powers...

That's how it started. I was right in the middle of my facebooking (it warrants its own verb by now, don't you think?) and suddenly I upped and walked into the kitchen with the strong desire to bake bread (but not before updating my status message to reflect this). The exercise from the dough kneading, the smell as the bread bakes, the warmth of the oven... perfect activity to cheer one up on a cold, cloudy day!

I started off with my basic khara bread recipe and then modified a bit... just because I felt like it!

Since I've been improving upon the khara bread over time (and it sure has gotten yummier!), I figured I would share this beet bread recipe as a separate one instead of just referring people to the original post.

As always, the spices, herbs, seeds, nuts and even the vegetables used for that matter can be switched around to suit your taste. Personally, every time I make it, I use a different combination.

Today, this is what went into my bread.

Pretty Pink Vegan Beet Wheat Bread

Yeah, the final bread isn't all that pink. But the dough surely is! Besides, the name sounds so poetic this way. :oP



4 C whole wheat flour (chapathi atta)
3 C okara (soybean paste after the milk has been extracted)
1 large beet - peeled and grated
1 onion - chopped
1 T sugar
3/4 T active dry yeast
2 T raw flax seed powder
1 T white sesame seeds
1 T poppy seeds
3 T roasted sunflower seeds (without skin)
1/4 C extra virgin olive oil

crushed together:
5 green chillies
9 cloves garlic (the garlic cloves in India are quarter the size of the US ones)
3/4 T rock salt
pinch asafoetida powder


Place 1/2 C water in a small pan and heat it for a minute or so. Switch off the flame and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Cool the water a bit. It should be hotter than lukewarm but not burning hot. (I know the temperature is right when I can dip my finger in it and keep it there without needing to scream).

Sprinkle the yeast over the water and keep aside for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, place the flour and okara in a large mixing bowl and prep the veggies and spices - grating, chopping, crushing etc...- and add them to the flour. Add the nuts and seeds too.

By this time the yeast should have frothed well and risen. If it hasn't frothed, it means the water is either too hot or too cold. In which case you'll need to start again and get it right! It's very important that the yeast mixture has frothed before it can be used.

Pour the olive oil and flax seed powder into the frothed yeast mixture and beat with a spoon until it's all gooey and well blended. Add this to the bowl which has the other ingredients in it.

Now the kneading begins. This is THE most important part of baking bread. A well kneaded dough is the key to the final result. The dough should be moist but not sticky. I like to first mix everything lightly in the bowl and once they come together I form it into a rough ball and transfer it onto my clean counter top (which has been dusted with wheat flour) to continue the kneading.

Keep kneading with both palms for at least 15 minutes. Take it easy, go slow and enjoy the process. Press the dough away from you with the bottom of your palms and then fold the outer edge over the inner side. Keep repeating this. Press down, fold over, press down, fold over. Keep dusting your palms and the dough with flour if it's too sticky as you knead. If the dough is on the slightly dry side then rub your palms with olive oil and pat some on the dough as you knead. Remember that a moist dough is always better than a dry one (keep that in mind when you mix the rough dough in the bowl and add water if required). The final result after kneading should be soft and elasticky.

Now rub oil on the whole inside of the mixing bowl. Make a ball of the dough and place it in the bowl and swirl it around to coat with the oil all over.



Cover with a warm, moist cloth and keep in a warm place to let it rise for a minimum of 2 hours (you can leave it up to 4 hours if you like).

After 2 hours the dough would have risen a lot and doubled in size (at least). Punch it down, shape into a loaf (this forms one super sized loaf!) and place it in a bread pan. Cover with the moist cloth once more and let it rise for at least another 1 hour (not more than 2 hours).

Pre heat the oven to 450F/230C.

Remove the cloth and pop the pan into the oven. Let the bread bake at this temperature for 15 minutes. If you'd like a crispy crust, open the oven door halfway and carefully spray a few light squirts of water on top of the loaf a couple of times during this period.

After 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 400F/200C and bake for 45 minutes (do not open the oven door during this time for any reason).

Once the oven goes off remove the bread (check to see if it's done by tapping the top of the loaf and sides of the pan lightly and ensure it sounds hollow-ish). Let the bread cool in the pan for about 15-20 minutes. Then gently remove from the pan onto a cooling rack and let it sit there to cool completely.

Cut with a serrated knife and enjoy! :)

Whole Grain and Seed Khara Bread

I've been meaning to post this recipe here for a while now but every time I've made the bread, it's been finished so quickly that I never had a chance to catch a picture! I figured I might as well share the recipe and the picture can be added the next time I bake it. It's one of the most delicious breads I've tasted till date (even if I say so myself)!! It would be a crime to delay sharing the recipe any longer.

(Update: Baked it again on 16th May and clicked pics which got added here on 17th May.)

Whole Grain and Seed Khara (Spicy) Bread









2 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 C okara (optional)
1 1/2 t active dry yeast
3 t organic jaggery (you can use sugar instead but it won't be as great)
1 - 1 1/2 t salt
1/4 C olive oil

1 medium onion (chopped finely)
handful of fresh cilantro (chopped)

Crushed Together:
3-5 spicy green chillies
5-7 small cloves of garlic
1/8 t asafoetida

Further ingredients: (add whichever of these you have on hand)
2-3 T wheat berries (soaked overnight, drained and chopped roughly)
1 T sesame seeds
1 T flax seeds
1-2 T pumpkin/sunflower/melon seeds
2-3 t mixed dried herbs - chives, thyme, oregano, parsley...

Heat a cup of water and add salt and jaggery to it. Let them dissolve and then strain the water (to remove fine sand particles from the jaggery). Let the water cool a little until it's slightly hotter than lukewarm.

Place the whole wheat flour in a large bowl and make a deep well in the center. Add the water and sprinkle the yeast over it. Let this sit for 10-15 minutes. The yeast should froth well.

Pour in the oil, add the okara (helps make the dough extra soft) and form a rough ball of dough, adding warm water as required. Add the rest of the ingredients and do some preliminary kneading. Then transfer the dough to a flat, floured surface (I use my cleaned counter top) and knead well for about 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and flexible in texture. The kneading is the most important part of bread making and a wetter dough is always preferable to a drier one.

Coat the mixing bowl with olive oil and swirl the ball of dough in it so it's coated with oil on all sides. Cover with a wet cloth and let it sit in a warm/sunny spot for 2 hours. The dough should have at least doubled in volume after sitting like this.

Punch down the dough, gently shape it into a loaf and place it in a loaf pan. Cover with wet cloth and let it rise again for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 390 F/ 200 C. Place the loaf pan in the oven and let it bake for 45-50 minutes. Once the oven goes off, let it sit in the oven for 5 minutes. Then take the pan out of the oven and let it the bread cool in the pan for about 20 mins. Turn the bread over onto a wire rack and let it cool completely before cutting it with a serrated knife.

This is a soft, thick and moist bread and tastes absolutely heavenly dipped in herbed extra virgin olive oil or lathered with Earth Balance buttery spread. I also like to cut it into thick cubes and serve it with a hearty stew.

Stovetop Pitas Stuffed With Baked Beans and Cabbage

Whenever I've made baked beans for bread at home from scratch, I've used rajma. But I've always liked the kind of beans they use in the canned version but didn't know what they were called. A few weeks ago I found these dried, small, white beans called butter beans at Nilgiris and they looked quite yum. So I picked them up and last week I decided to cook them. Well it turns out they were the exact beans I'd been looking for! It pays to experiment :)

My poor oven's sick :( Whenever I turn it on the power trips at home. The poor thing held on till I'd finished baking that big batch of walnut chocolate chip cookies (2 weekends ago) and then went *phut*. Need to get her fixed. So until then for my bread I'm making do with stovetop pitas. Fortunately they turn out just as yum :)

The procedure is pretty much the same as regular pita bread. You mix the dough using the Basic Bun Recipe But after the dough has risen and been punched down, you pinch off balls and tap or roll them flat, like pizza. Then you have to heat your skillet oh a high flame, place the pitas and cover and cook on both sides. Covering the skillet will make the pockets form better.

The filling is simple....

For the beans...

Quick soak the beans and pressure cook them.
Add salt and spices (your choice, I just added my Asian Super Spicy Chilli Paste) and boil for a few minutes.
Scoop a ladle full of the cooked beans and grind into a smooth paste adding a little water if required.
Put the paste back in with the cooked beans and boil for a couple more minutes.
Turn off the heat and add a big splash of ketchup.
Mix and keep aside.

For the cabbage...

Chop cabbage and microwave for 7-10 minutes.
Heat wok/frying pan and add a couple of spoons of oil.
Add mustard seeds and let them crackle.
Add sliced green chillies and curry leaves and stir for a few seconds.
Put in the cabbage and stir fry on medium flame for a few minutes.
Add salt and stir fry for a minute more.
Turn off flame.
Squeeze fresh lime juice and mix.

Now all you have to do is quarter the pitas. Gently open out the pockets (use a knife to slice and form a pocket of required). Fill a bit of the bean mixture, top with the cabbage. Enjoy! :)



Hmm these pictures have turned out a tad too nice! I feel like having munching onsome sort of stuffed pitas again tonight :D
*runs off to go mix the dough*

Mom makes chapathis stuffed with a similar mixture (sans the tofu) and my sis and I absolutely love them! The spring onions are a prime ingredient and when my homegrown ones sprung up looking delish I decided to make something on the same lines but stuffed into thin layers of bread instead.

Stuffed Bread Packets

Ingredients:

1 portion Basic Bun Recipe

For the filling:

1 C sliced carrots and beans

1/2 C chopped spring onion

1 large onion sliced thin

1 package extra firm tofu cubed
1 - 2 t spicy Asian chilli paste

2 T olive oil

a pinch omum (oregano) seeds

salt

soy sauce

ketchup

Nuke the carrot and beans in a microwave safe glass dish for 8-10 minutes.

Heat oil in a wok or pan. Add the omum seeds and let them crackle. Add the onion and stir fry for a few minutes till it's translucent. Add tofu and stir fry till it's slightly browned. Add the microwaved veggies, salt and chilli paste. Fry for a few minutes. Turn off flame and mix in a dash of soy sauce and a splash of ketchup. Keep aside.

How to proceed:

After the bread dough has risen for an hour divide it into 12-15 balls and roll them out flat to about 5 mm thickness. Place some filling in the center and fold the sides in over each other sealing carefully. It helps to fold the top down, then the sides and then the bottom layer up.

Place on a baking sheet and let the packets rise for half to one hour. You can bake them immediately too if you're in a hurry but letting them rise a bit makes them slightly fluffier.

Preheat oven to 320 C/480 F and bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy! :)

Vegan Donuts

I spent all evening in the kitchen making Vegan Donuts today. I made 3 types - sugar coated, chocolate glazed and cinnamon twisted. They turned out delish!!

Thanks to Jenny Marmalade for making me want to attempt these. And thanks to Lisa for the recipe (there used to be a link here but that page has disappeared).
I approximately halved the quantity of the ingredients and also instead of Vegan Butter I used Coconut Oil. My egg replacer was flax seeds and only that I used the full quantity equivalent to 1 egg instead of half.

Lessons I learnt...

1. Vegan Donuts are soooo YUM!!

2. They are labor intensive and time consuming (well at least they seemed that way because it was my first try).

3. Hubby's fall in love with you all over again from the very the first bite :D

4. They are so not healthy! Not even in their vegan form so I dread to think of the non vegan version. EGAD!!! *shudders*. They suck oil like nobody's business and they are made completely out of all purpose aka nutrient-less flour.

5. Take pics almost as soon as you've made them since they disappear real fast.

6. Make and eat them once in a rare while and you'll be fine :)

Layered Flat Bread Thingy

Even though the overall process for making bread takes long, the effort which goes into it is minimal. The better part of the time in the whole process is taken by the dough to rise on its own while you can go about doing whatever you please (I'm usually on facebook and twitter writing about what I'm about to make).

I say all this because people have been wondering how come I've been baking so often and the answer is that baking bread takes way less of my time than making chapathis. If only I'd realized this earlier than I did!

I was getting a little bored with the same old stuffed buns and pitas so I decided to make something slightly different this time around. I wasn't sure what I'd be making but I knew I wanted tomatoes and chutney inside that bread, kinda like a grilled sandwich. So I just went with the flow and came up with this...

Layered Flat Bread Thingy



For the bread, the basic bun dough recipe from here is fine.

For the Chutney:
(feel free to play with the quantities and also add/eliminate whatever you like since I just came up with this by putting in whatever was handy)

Cilantro
Raw Mango
Blanched Almonds
Grated Fresh Coconut
Green Chillies
Garlic
Onion
Salt

Blend everything together adding only a little bit of water to an easily spreadable pasty consistency with a bit of texture in it.

How to proceed:

* Slice a few tomatoes.

* Divide risen bread dough in half. Roll out one half to about 1 centimeter thickness.

* Slightly bend the edges upward.

* Spread a thick layer of chutney on this layer.

* Cover this layer with tomato slices completely.

* Roll the other half of the dough to about the same thickness and make it slightly smaller than the bottom dough layer.

* Place this second layer of dough over everything and fold the edges of the bottom layer over the top layer.

* Preheat oven to 230 C / 450 F and bake the bread for about 30 minutes.

* Slice and serve fresh out of the oven with ketchup or red chili sauce.

* Be very careful while eating since the tomatoes will be extremely HOT!

* Enjoy :)

Stuffed Veggie Buns

Stuffed palya buns are a very common snack in most small bakeries here in Karnataka. A yummy, savory potato mixtures is stuffed into the bun dough before popping them into the oven. Ahh the memories of biting into hot, freshly baked buns and the taste of the potato rolling on to the tongue...

Ever since I've become more confident about baking breads I've started to experiment (as usual) and stuffed buns have a great scope for variations.

Yesterday I decided to stuff the whole wheat buns with a vegetable mixture and they turned out better than I'd expected. And everyone who tasted it (tuition kid, neighbor, hubby...) thought they were delish.

So here's the recipe - and feel free to share here if you come up with your own stuffing variations (vegan only please).



Stuffed Veggie Buns

For the buns:

2 C Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 T Active Dry Yeast
1/4 C Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp Salt
5 T sugar

Put the wheat flour in a large bowl. Make a hole in the center and put in 1/2 tsp of the sugar and the yeast. Pour 1/2 C lukewarm water over the hole. Let it sit for 10-15 mins till the yeast froths and bubbles. Pour in the rest of the ingredients and mix together into a dough using as much water as required. Knead the dough well till it obtains a soft and elastic texture. Make it into a ball and cover with a clean, wet cloth. Keep it aside for about an hour and let it rise.

Meanwhile....

For the filling:

1/2 C chopped carrots
1/2 C chopped green beans
1 medium capsicum (green bell pepper) chopped
2 Small white onions sliced
1/2 t Mustard Seeds
1/4 t Turmeric powder
1 T any cooking oil
Salt (to taste)

Cook the carrots, beans and capsicum in the microwave for 5-8 minutes.

Heat the oil in a pan. Quickly add the mustard seeds and step away. They will immediately crackle. Add the turmeric powder. Add the onions and stir. Fry them till they are slightly brown. Add the cooked vegetables. Stir and cook for a couple of minutes. Add salt, mix and turn off the flame.

How to proceed:

Once the dough has been sitting for an hour, punch it down and form into a log. Pull off bits and roll them into balls (about 2-3 inch rounds). Cup one of the rounds in one palm and press the top in to make a deep dent and working from the inside-outwards shape the dough into a bowl. Place some veggie mixture in and cover the hole by pulling the dough in from all sides and folding over. Now with the folded side down, shape it into a bun. Do the same with the remaining dough rounds and place them on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.

Pre heat the oven to 230C / 450F and bake for 20-30 minutes till the tops have browned well.