Author: Plant-based Bear

No-Oil Whole Wheat Bread

No-Oil Whole Wheat Bread for Bread Machines

21 Jul 2019 Plant-based Bear

There are many bread recipes out there, and I haven’t tried them all. However, this is one I have, and I liked it alot! I’ve made it so super easy to make bread (just dump in the ingredients, and spend 5 minutes later on to knead and separate dough into two loaves, finally baking!)

On Amazon, I recently purchased a bread machine for very little money. While I like this machine (and even my first attempt was a success), the 2 lb. bread loaf dimensions seem unsuitable for making a sandwich that would fit in a regular sandwich bag, and the slice size is rather large for toast, too. Cutting in half made things too small.

2 lb. Bread Machine Bread, cut in half, and then sliced.
The size of the loaves is unruly, with a half, above, being almost too small, but the full loaf being too large.

So, I set about to solve the problem, using some solutions from others! This recipe has been modified from the original author to suit my needs! See my notes after the recipe for more information!

No-Oil Whole Wheat Bread
Print Recipe

No-Oil Whole Wheat Bread for 2-lb. Bread Machines

Great whole wheat bread, made without oil or dairy! Intended for 2-lb. bread machines. For best results, add the ingredients in the order suggested in your machine’s manual.
Last updated Sept. 25, 2019.
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Author: Based on recipe from Susan Voisin at fatfreevegan.com and modified by Plant-Based-Bear.com

Equipment

  • 2 cans from 46 oz. pineapple juice with one side cut off.
  • 2 lb bread machine

Ingredients

  • 1 ⅔ cups aquafaba also known as chick-pea broth, or water could be used.
  • 2 ⅔ cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 2 tablespoons vital wheat gluten or high gluten flour optional, but highly recommended. (If you had to, you could also substitute with more bread flour.)
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt 1 ½ tsp. if water is used
  • 2 teaspoon active dry yeast

Instructions

  • Pour the aquafaba into the bread machine pan, attempting very accurate and precise measurements. A glass or clear plastic measuring cup is best, to get just up to the intended line.
  • Stir flour before measuring. Overfill measuring cup by spooning flour in, and then level off with knife before adding to bread machine pan. Don't scoop up flour with measuring cup.
  • Add the remaining ingredients. Make sure the yeast doesn’t come into contact with the liquid by placing it in a shallow dip (created with a spoon or your finger!) at the top of the ingredients.
  • Choose the dough setting on the bread machine, unless you want to bake in your bread machine, and press start.
  • If baking in the bread machine, choose whole wheat setting, and wait for the cycle to complete! Fresh bread!
  • After the initial dough program is complete, pre-heat oven to 200°F.
  • Remove dough from bread machine and place on a lightly-floured surface, knead gently a couple of times, and then split into 1-lb. balls. (I use a kitchen scale to weigh mine and split.)
  • Place dough into pineapple juice cans, lined with Teflon sheets. (See post below recipe.)
  • Place cans into 200°F oven, turning OFF the oven. Let rise for 50 minutes to 1 hr.
  • Bake at 350°F over for 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown on top.
  • Remove cans from oven, cool slightly, and dump bread out to cool completely.

Notes

  • Make sure all ingredients are at room temperature.
  • Really do get some vital wheat gluten, or high-gluten flour.  Bob’s Red Mill “Vital Wheat Gluten” is what I’ve been using lately, but even the generic brands will do.  This really helps the bread have some sponge, and bend, instead of breaking and crumbling easily.  It’s really worth it!  I’ve also now doubled the amount of vital wheat gluten to 2 Tablespoons (and I often have more rounded Tablespoons than precise, flat ones.)
  • Bread will slice better after it’s cooled.
  • Around here, bread lasts about a week on the counter in a sealed bag.  But, it also freezes very well, or store in the refrigerator.

Bread in a can? Am I crazy? Actually, this method works very well.

Here’s what you do:

  • Purchase 2 46 oz. pineapple juice cans. Wal-Mart has them, or many grocery stores, (or any can of this size, although they seem to be becoming more rare.) I can find them for $2-3 each.
  • Use your can-opener to completely remove the top, and drink the juice, use it as a base for fruit smooties, or use it to pre-treat your fruit before dehydrating! (Bananas taste great after drying when pre-treated with the pineapple juice.)
  • Purchase some Teflon baking sheets. The link has some that I found for incredibly cheap. I use them in the bottom of ALL my baking sheets and pans now (in fact, they live in the pans, even when not in use.) These Teflon sheets easily cut to size with just scissors. I cut a flat sheet to use around the edges of my cans, and also traced the can for the bottom, and cut out a circle.
  • Simply place the 1-lb dough balls in the bottom of the cans, lined with the Teflon sheets. I don’t press it in tightly, but do help it conform to the can a bit. Let dough rise in the slightly heated oven (now turned off) to about double or more the original size, and then bake.
  • When you remove the cans from the oven after baking, the bread will just almost fall out of the can (with a bit of shaking), and there is almost no cleanup, as you can simply wipe the Teflon sheets down, and store away for the next time!

Best of all, this round bread is perfect for sandwiches, or toast, or even a plant-based “burger” patty!

PBB
“Canned” No-Oil Whole Wheat Bread for Bread Machines.
This could have baked another 5-10 minutes to get even darker, but for those in the “no-crust” crowd, these were perfect.

Plant-based Bear?

19 Jul 2019 Plant-based Bear

So what is a plant-based bear? I’m glad you asked!

Plant-based is the notion that it’s healthy and good to eat a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet. Here is a good article with more information on that. Here on the Plant-based Bear, we’ll most-often use this definition, slightly modified from the article linked above:

  • Whole food describes natural foods that are not heavily processed. That means whole, unrefined, or minimally refined ingredients.
  • Plant-based means food that comes from plants and doesn’t contain animal ingredients such as meat, milk, or eggs.

A whole-foods, plant-based diet lets you meet your nutritional needs by only eating natural, minimally-processed foods where none of the ingredients come from animals.

Or, as one guy puts it, “Just eat plants!!!”

Some followers of this philosophy also cut out the use of honey (it’s created by animals–bees), but I’ve not ascribed to that notion.

Also, different from a “vegan” diet is the fact that I will attempt to use as little oil as possible. Why? Because all oils release carcinogens when heated that are hazardous, and they’re a dense source of calories. You don’t have to take my word for it, but, it’s also not really debatable with me. (Check out “Why should I avoid oil? Isn’t oil healthy” about 3/4 of the page down here, or this.) So, while I cannot control the use of oil at restaurants and out and about, when cooking at home, I certainly can! (And, when at restaurants, I can make good choices about what I order to not be deep-fried, for example.)

Finally, my focus is to eat plants. But, I’m going to try to take it easy, or use less of:

  • Avocados
  • Olives
  • Nuts
  • Seeds

They’re not outlawed, and I’ll enjoy some home-made peanut butter or other nut butters, and almost every plant-based cheese or cheese sauce recipe will use cashews, etc. But we’re going to try to go light on these things, as again, they have so many calories packed in such little packages.

I’m also making this a way of life. It’s not a “diet” in the sense that I don’t expect to just do this for a short while, and then return to my dairy-loving, highly-processed way of living. A diet is something you get on, and then get off, cheat on, or just fail at. There’s no need for that much pressure. Here I’m just trying to change my way of living, no pressure at all!

A bear? Isn’t that a wild animal? One Urban Dictionary definition says this:

The most common definition of a “bear” is a man who is hairy, has facial hair, and a cuddly body. However, the word “Bear” means many things to different people, even within the bear movement. Many men who do not have one or all of these characteristics define themselves as bears, making the term a very loose one. Suffice it to say, “bear” is often defined as more of an attitude than anything else – a sense of comfort with our natural masculinity and bodies that is not slavish to the vogues of male attractiveness that is so common.

While I’m not a hairy guy, there is some facial hair, and I’ve identified with the “bear community” for well over a decade.

So there you have it! The Plant-based Bear will have recipes (usually “stolen” or modified from somewhere else), commentary on cooking, nice finds at the market, or whatever comes to my mind.

So why not the “Vegan-Bear”?

I don’t much like the term “vegan”, although it’s one of the first words I’ll type into Google when looking for a new recipe or something to try. Vegans are described in a couple entries in the Urban Dictionary this way:

People who refrain from eating any animal products (or anything derived from animal products) or using animal products such as leather, silk, or wool. It is a more strict form of vegetarianism. People who are vegan are often passionate about their veganism.

Most people will assume that because you follow a vegan lifestyle, you must be a pretentious jerk (or in a cult).

Another entry seems to “get it” more:

Being vegan doesn’t mean you have to be a part of any organization (i.e. PETA) or chain yourself up and protest. It just means that you choose to follow a 100% herbivore diet.

“Vegan,” although very similar to what I’m trying to do, seems to encompass a much larger philosophy, gets linked in with being anti-animal cruelty (not that I’m for animal cruelty in any way), and goes far beyond what you eat. I’m attempting to eat this way mostly for health and weight-control reasons, not because I’m opposed to leather and just renewed my membership in Greenpeace.

I’m here to share my experience, and what I’ve found to work or not work for me, not preach at you, or try to convince you of something, other than to try some of this tasty food for yourself!

More information about me, perhaps, to come! Here’s to happy eating!

Get in touch at [email protected].

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