Vegan PBR Beer Bread

stop pulling your hair out!
Too Easy: Vegan PBR Beer Bread

Beer bread, out of the oven, drenched in butter and ready to impress. 

Party season is upon us. We all like the holidays but let's be honest, sometimes they can be a giant pain in the ass. Between work and life, scrambling to come up with something to bring to holiday dinner parties can be enough to make you pull your hair out. Never fear, beer bread is here! This recipe is perfect for just such ocassions, its a no-knead to the nth degree and almost embarrassingly easy. Its also pretty perfect for an I'm-just-gonna-sit-on-my-couch-and-eat-bread-all-day kind of day. It can be thrown together almost literally at the last minute and pairs well with a variety of things. I've eaten it for breakfast with Earth Balance and jam and for lunch/dinner/appetizers with butter, hummus, or whatever else is around. If you're looking for a SUPER easy food gift for Christmas, this is it. Just combing all of the dry ingredients in a mason jar, write out a pretty recipe card with instructions, include a bottle of beer (or not), tie a bow around the whole thing and voila! 

(Almost) instant Christmas gift! 

Beer bread batter, fully mixed. 

You will need: 

1 standard sized loaf pan, thoroughly buttered. 

2 1/2c all purpose flour + 1/2c whole wheat flour

1 1/2tsp baking soda

1/2tsp baking powder

1tbsp vegan sugar

1 1/2tsp ground sea salt

5tbsp Earth Balance

1 12oz beer of your choosing, 

I used a PBR for the bread in the photos.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Thoroughly grease your loaf pan with 1tbsp of the Earth Balance.

In a medium mixing bowl combine all dry ingredients, stir. 

Pour in beer slowly, dry ingredients will fizz up quite a bit.

Stir slowly until well combined.

Dough will be very wet and sticky.

Pour your dough into greased loaf pan and shake to distribute evenly.

Beer bread batter in prepared loaf pan, ready to bake. 

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Lower temp to 375 and bake for 30 more minutes or until top is golden brown.

Place loaf pan on a cooling rack.

Melt remaining Earth Balance and pour over top of your finished loaf. 

Let sit for 5-10 minutes then turn out onto a work surface. 

You can eat it right away (it'll be hard not to) or allow to cool, wrap tightly in foil, 

and re-heat when you're ready to party.

Freshly baked beer bread waiting for its butter bath.

Vegan Yeasted Waffles

perfect every time:

Vegan Crispy Yeasted Waffles

Out of the waffle maker and ready to eat. 

Sometimes a simple pancake just won' t do. Sometimes I need my weekend breakfast to feel a little more polished, a little fancier if you will. This is my go to recipe on those days. Its an easy one, but it is sure to impress the hell out of you and anyone lucky enough to be part of your waffle party.
It still manages to impresses me every time I make it.

This is a yeasted batter, creating a waffle that is both incredibly light and at the same time crispy on the outside.  I use a mix of all purpose and whole wheat flours, adding flax which provides a slight nutty flavor. The best thing about these waffles? In addition to tasting amazing, they're pretty damn good for you. This batter can be made the night before and left covered to rise overnight, or can be made the morning of and placed in a warmed oven to rise for 60-90 minutes. If you're a planner, go for the night before. If you're a throwing-it-together-at-the-last-minute kind of cook (like me), the warm oven trick is for you. Each variation is quite easy, it all just comes down to scheduling; they come out perfectly either way.

A little tip: when preparing the waffles, keep your oven or toaster oven on the warm setting and place the finished waffles directly on the grate, in a single layer.
This will keep them crisp until you're ready to eat.

Crispy yeasted waffles with flax seeds.

Vegan Crispy Yeasted Waffles Recipe.
makes 8-10 waffles

1/2c warm water

2c non dairy milk (warmed)

3tsp active dry yeast

1/2tsp ground sea salt

1 1/2tsp organic vegan sugar

1 1/2c all purpose flour

1/2c whole wheat flour

1/2c melted vegan butter

Add to finished batter:

2 flax eggs (2tbsp ground flax seed mixed with 6tbsp hot water)
1tbsp of whole unground flax seeds

Pour the 1/2c of warm water into a medium or large mixing bowl.
Your batter will approximately double in volume during the fermentation process,
so make sure your bowl is big enough. 

Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water and
allow to sit for 10 minutes until slightly frothy.

While the yeast proofs, heat 2c of non-dairy milk, on stovetop or in the microwave. 

Melt 1/2c vegan butter.
Once yeast is proofed add milk and melted butter, whisk until combined.
Add in flours, sugar and salt, whisk until you see no lumps.

If letting sit overnight: 
Cover your bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a well fitting lid and
place in a warm, dry area.
Allow to rise for 8 hours.
Batter will increase in volume and appear bubbly when ready.

If preparing the day of:
*If using this method, make sure not to use plastic wrap to cover your bowl;
you don't want it heating in the oven.
Use either a tight fitting lid or aluminum foil with a heavy plate on top.

Pre heat your oven to 275 degrees and allow to warm for 5-8 minutes.
Turn off the oven, place your waffle batter on the middle shelf
Cover your bowl with a tight fitting lid and place inside the warmed oven.
Allow to rise for an hour to hour and a half, or until batter has increased in volume and appears bubbly.

Crispy golden deliciousness.

Once your batter is ready:
Prepare flax eggs by combining 2tbsp of ground flax seeds
with 6tbsp of freshly boiled water.
Whisk to combine and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until thickened and gelatinous.

Add flax egg mixture, whole flax seeds to batter.
Whisk to thoroughly combine.

Pre heat your waffle maker.
For my particular model, a single circular waffle maker,
a half cup of batter makes one waffle.
This recipe will make 8-10 waffles.
Measure out appropriate amount of batter for your waffle maker.

Once waffles are ready place single layered in a warm oven until ready to serve.

Top off with a little  butter and maple syrup and you're ready to go.

Also perfect for vegan chicken and waffles.
C'mon, you know you wanna.
Just add a few Gardein crispy chicken tenders and drizzle with maple syrup.
Done!

Vegan chicken and waffles? Yes, I believe I will.