This lovely bread has the flavor of a light “honey wheat” bread, but it is completely vegan and gluten free! Adding vegan honee, whole teff, and sunflower seeds gives it a really great flavor and texture. It is soft and bendable when fresh, but it also makes great toast that is not damp in the center like so many gluten free breads are. The recipe is very versatile, and you can make it into a sandwich loaf, a braided loaf, or sandwich rolls! Here are the ingredients you will need to make it:
You will also need a loaf pan or parchment paper and a half-sheet sized baking pan, a sturdy spatula, a large (and clean) plastic bag, a thermometer, a shallow pan that you don’t care about, and either a stand mixer with a paddle attachment or a hand mixer with dough hooks:
You will need to use flour that is made with The Plant Based Egg by Freely Vegan. It will be available to purchase online very soon at www.freelyvegan.com! (You can order now by emailing theplantbasedegg@gmail.com). I will also be bringing out a premade gluten free flour in a few months that will already have The Plant Based Egg added to it! Until then, you can make your own gluten free flour by using one of the recipes on this link. (I have lots of variations so everyone should be able to find one that works for their dietary needs.) The Plant Based Egg replaces both eggs and the xanthan and/or guar gums that you find in most gluten free flours. This allows you to achieve light and fluffy results without any gumminess! Please do not try this recipe with other flours as I do not think it will work without The Plant Based Egg to provide the structure that eggs usually provide in gluten free bread. Also, please note that blends three through sixteen will all work for a braided loaf or rolls, but I have not tested all of them in full-size sandwich loaves.
(If you are not gluten free, my good friend and business partner, Gretchen Price (from Gretchen’s Vegan Bakery), will have lots of recipes coming up that use The Plant Based Egg with wheat flour! Gretchen joined the Freely Vegan team a little over a year ago, and we are thrilled to have her on board! She has a fabulous vegan blog and YouTube channel that you will definitely want to check out. You can find her on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Gretchen also just published a superb vegan cookbook called Modern Vegan Baking: The Ultimate Resource for Sweet and Savory Baked Goods!)
To make the dough, add the flour to a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center:
This is a closeup of the whole teff grain. I order it from Vitacost, but there are many places to get it online if your local health food store doesn’t carry it. It is $6.33 at Vitacost, but one 24 oz bag has enough teff for 34 batches of dough, which is only $0.19 per loaf.
Add the teff, vegan brown sugar, and yeast to the well in the flour:
Add the vegan honee to the seltzer water, and stir just to combine:
Warm the mixture in the microwave until it is 118 degrees Fahrenheit. (Be sure to stir before checking the temperature as hot spots can occur.)
Pour the warm mixture into the well:
Let stand for about five minutes, until nice and bubbly:
Stir together with a sturdy spatula or a large spoon. The dough will be quite firm:
Add the salt, vegan butter, and vinegar. Do NOT stir them in:
Place the bowl into the clean plastic bag, twist the bag to close it, and tuck the end under the bowl. Place the bowl (inside the bag) in a warm place to rise. (You want the room temperature to be at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and no warmer than 85 degrees Fahrenheit.) If your house is cooler than 70 degrees, you can use your oven with the light turned on, but check the temperature inside to be sure it isn’t above 85 degrees. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, undo the bag and fold it back. The dough will be puffy like this:
If you are using a hand mixer with dough hooks, beat on high speed for three minutes. If you are using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat on medium-high speed for two minutes:
Add the sunflower seed kernels and stir them in:
Now, the directions begin to differ. If you are making a braided loaf or sandwich rolls, you will put the bowl back in the bag for an hour for a second rise, then follow the shaping and baking directions on the links provided (including adding additional flour if needed, which can be done either before the second rise or before shaping.)
If you are making a sandwich loaf, however, you will transfer the dough now to a greased and floured loaf pan (without a second rise before shaping). I prefer to use a 9″ x 4″ Pullman pan with straight sides, but you can use any 8.5 to 9-inch loaf pan.
Place the filled pan in the bag, and let the dough rise until it is doubled. Your dough will only need to rise for 15 to 20 minutes if your room is 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but will need 30 to 45 minutes if your room is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and somewhere in between if your room temperature is in the middle. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit while it is rising. (You will not be able to use it as a place for rising your dough this time.) Place the shallow pan on a lower rack and add about a 1/4″ layer of water. Keep an eye on the water level if your rising time is over 30 minutes as you may need to add more.
You can see from the holes in the top of the dough that this loaf is slightly over-proved. (I didn’t expect it to rise as fast as it did given the room temperature and had to wait for the oven to be hot enough.)
Place your pan in the 400 degree Fahrenheit oven that is now nice and steamy. As soon as you close the door, turn the heat down to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 60 minutes.
Immediately, turn the baked loaf out on its side onto a cooling rack. Set a timer for 10 minutes. (Keeping the hot loaf on its side prevents caving of the sides.)
After 10 minutes, turn the loaf onto its opposite side. Set a timer for 15 minutes, then flip back. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and flip again. Finally, set a timer for 30 minutes, and then flip one last time. When that timer goes off, turn the loaf right-side up. Let it cool completely before slicing!
Once your loaf is completely cooled, slice as desired.
Just look at that beautiful texture!
I made peanut butter & jelly sandwiches!
So good! Look at that texture one more time!
Here is what this recipe looks like as a braided loaf:
This recipe also makes lovely sandwich rolls! (Use this recipe, but follow the shaping directions on my sandwich roll post.)
Enjoy!
Honee Sunflower Bread (Vegan & Gluten Free)
This lovely bread has the flavor of a light “honey wheat” bread, but it is completely vegan and gluten free! Vegan honee, whole teff, and sunflower seeds give it a really great flavor and texture!
Ingredients
- 450 g (3 1/2 c) Gluten Free Flour (with The Plant Based Egg)
- 20 g (1 1/2 TBS) Whole Teff Grain (not flour)
- 5.0 g (1 tsp packed) Vegan Brown Sugar
- 11.4 g (1 TBS + 3/4 tsp) Active Dry Yeast
- 360 g (1 1/2 c) Seltzer Water
- 42 g (2 TBS) Vegan Honee
- 22.5 g (1 1/2 TBS) Distilled Vinegar
- 14 g (1 TBS) Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance)
- 9.6 g (1 1/2 tsp) Salt
- 30 g (1/4 c) Roasted Sunflower Seed Kernels
Instructions
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Add your flour to a large mixing bowl. (This recipe was developed using flour made with The Plant Based Egg, and I do not know how a flour without it will perform. See the recipe notes for more information.) Make a well in the center of the flour, then add the teff, vegan brown sugar and yeast to the well.
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Add the vegan honee to the seltzer water, and stir just to combine. Warm the mixture in the microwave until it is 118 degrees Fahrenheit. (Be sure to stir before checking the temperature as hot spots can occur.) Pour the warm mixture into the well. Let it stand for about five minutes, until nice and bubbly.
-
Stir together with a sturdy spatula or a large spoon. The dough will be quite firm. Add the salt, vegan butter, and vinegar. Do NOT stir them in.
-
Place the bowl into the clean plastic bag, twist the bag to close it, and tuck the end under the bowl. Place the bowl (inside the bag) in a warm place to rise. (You want the room temperature to be at least 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and no warmer than 85 degrees Fahrenheit.) If your house is cooler than 70 degrees, you can use your oven with the light turned on, but check the temperature inside to be sure it isn’t above 85 degrees. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
-
After 30 minutes, undo the bag and fold it back. The dough will be puffy. If you are using a hand mixer with dough hooks, beat on high speed for three minutes. If you are using a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat on medium-high speed for two minutes. Add the sunflower seed kernels and stir them in.
-
Now, the directions begin to differ. If you are making a braided loaf or sandwich rolls, you will put the bowl back in the bag for an hour for a second rise, then follow the shaping and baking directions on the links provided (including adding additional flour if needed, which can be done either before the second rise or before shaping.)
-
If you are making a sandwich loaf, however, you will transfer the dough now to a greased and floured loaf pan (without a second rise before shaping). I prefer to use a 9″ x 4″ Pullman pan with straight sides, but you can use any 8.5 to 9 inch loaf pan. Place the filled pan in the bag, and let the dough rise until it is doubled. Your dough will only need to rise for 15 to 20 minutes if your room is 85 degrees Fahrenheit, but will need 30 to 45 minutes if your room is 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and somewhere in between if your room temperature is in the middle.
-
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit while it is rising. (You will not be able to use it as a place for rising your dough this time.) Place the shallow pan on a lower rack and add about a 1/4″ layer of water. Keep an eye on the water level if your rising time is over 30 minutes as you may need to add more. Before your dough is fully risen, be sure there is still at least a 1/8″ layer of water in the shallow pan. If you have to add more, you will need to allow it to get hot and produce steam before baking the bread.
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Once the dough has doubled, remove the pan from the bag, and place it in the 400 degree Fahrenheit oven that is now nice and steamy. As soon as you close the door, turn the heat down to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 60 minutes. You only need steam for the first 10 to 15 minutes of baking time, so don’t add more water while the bread is in the oven, even if the pan runs dry while it is baking. It also doesn’t matter if there is still water left in the pan the entire baking time. Don’t open the oven door once the bread is in until it is done!
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Immediately, turn the baked loaf out on its side onto a cooling rack. Set a timer for 10 minutes. (Keeping the hot loaf on its side prevents caving of the sides.) After 10 minutes, turn the loaf onto its opposite side. Set a timer for 15 minutes, then flip back. Set a timer for 20 minutes, and flip again. Finally, set a timer for 30 minutes, and then flip one last time. When that timer goes off, turn the loaf right-side up. Let it cool completely before slicing!
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Once your loaf is completely cooled, slice as desired. Freeze any slices that you won’t eat the same day in a Ziploc bag. To defrost slices, place them in the microwave (out of the bag) and heat for 45 seconds at 50% power. Turn the slices over, then heat for another 45 seconds at 50% power. Repeat if not fully defrosted.
Recipe Notes
- See my post on 16 gluten free flour blends and choose the blend you want to use. Blends one and two are great for other baked goods, but should not be used for yeast breads. Any of the blends three through sixteen will work well in this recipe for a braided loaf or sandwich rolls. They should also work for sandwich bread, but I have not tested all of them in full-size sandwich loaves. (You can also use my premade GF flour blend once it is available to purchase.)