Bread is by far one of the most comforting foods I know how to make. If I had to choose between fresh baked bread or hugs for the rest of my life, it would be a pretty tough call.

Bread would probably win, let’s be honest.

Bread was one of the easiest vegan conversions for me. I already had a recipe I knew and loved from Allrecipes. It was just a matter of working around an egg, which I quickly discovered wasn’t an issue at all. You’ll find this recipe is altered very minimally from the original.

The bread it yields is both soft and sweet, perfect for rolls, mini loaves as pictured, and even as a base for cinnamon rolls.

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1/2 cup vegan milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 (.25 oz) package active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup peanut oil
• 3 1/2 – 4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Mix milk, water, sugar, and yeast into a bowl. Let sit five minutes for yeast to activate.
2. Add oil and scoop about three cups of the flour on top of the wet mixture. Add the salt on top, taking care to ensure that very little salt touches the wet mixture directly.
3. Mix ingredients together and add flour as needed for dough to be wet but not unworkably sticky.
4. Knead dough for recommended amount of time (most stand mixers like about four minutes, or ten to fifteen by hand).
5. Let dough rise in a wet cloth covered bowl for approximately one hour, or until doubled in size.
6. Separate and form dough into rolls, mini loaves, or breadsticks. Place onto an oiled pain. Let rise again until double in size.
7. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees (375 if doing mini loaves). Bake in the preheated oven for 10-15 minutes (add a few minutes if making mini loaves), or until the outside turns a rich tan.
8. Let the dough rest in the pan for no more than five minutes. Remove and let cool. Optionally, remove and proceed to start eating it before anyone else realizes the bread is ready.

Notes

This dough is quite sticky, so you’ll be tempted to add a lot of flour. I’d say don’t do it, but I wouldn’t presume to tell you what to do. However, I would highly encourage you to add as little flour as you can while still being able to work with it. If you can’t scrape it off your counter, you can’t really knead it. Do what feels right.

If you’re watching your waistline, the sugar content can be lowered significantly with little to no impact on the texture of the bread. The oil can go down a notch too, but be careful to lower your flour a little as well.

If you really want a treat, butter the top of your bread right after it comes out of the oven. Maybe even sprinkle a little kosher salt on top.