no Knead - Carrot & courgette bread

This is the simplest, most delicious bread, from one of my favourite Vegan Authors, Aine Carlin. This is definitely my kind of bread, it’s yeast free so no waiting around for the dough to prove and rise. Also no messy and time consuming kneading, just mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and bake it for 30 minutes! Voila, healthy delicious bread packed full of nuts, seeds and veggies with none of the bad stuff found in most of the shop bought bread. It also makes the most delicious toast! I always use organic flour since wheat is one of the crops most heavily sprayed with pesticides and we want to avoid them if we value our health!   So here is the recipe! 

Ingredients

• 200g plain white flour
• 100g wholewheat flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Pinch of sugar
• 1 tsp dried thyme or 1 tablespoon fresh
• 1 small to medium carrot, grated
• 1 small to medium courgette, grated
• 175 ml plant milk, oat, almond or soya
• 50g walnuts, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons mixed seeds such as sunflower, pumpkin or sesame, plus extra for sprinkling
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl with ½ tsp salt and set aside. Squeeze the grated carrot and courgette to remove any excess liquid and season with a little black pepper. Add the grated veggies to the dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the plant milk, and then gently fold using a spatula, ensuring not to overwork the mixture. Mix in the walnuts and seeds.
4. Dust a little flour over a work surface and a baking tray. Turn the mixture out onto the surface and shape into a rough oval.
5. Transfer the dough to the baking tray, score the top a few times with a sharp knife and sprinkle over a little more salt, thyme and extra seeds.
6. Lightly dust the loaf with flour and bake for 30 minutes or until it sounds hollow when you tap the bottom.
7. Let it cool on a wire rack for a few minutes before cutting.

Aine Carlin's Keep it Vegan is a brilliant book full of simple, healthy, easy to follow recipes. Its a great introduction to plant based eating and has loads of family favourites from chilli, lasagna, curries, breads, desserts and snacks. Well worth buying!
Here is a link to her blog