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Monday, September 19, 2011

Egg-Free Bread

Recently my 2.5 year old son has been having a lot of digestive issues and we are frantically trying to figure out what it is in his diet that is causing it. We have had him completely off dairy since early September, and I have been keeping track of everything he eats. Yesterday it seems like a pattern is developing, and the picture coming through is eggs. Sigh. Eggs are in everything! As of today he is on an egg free, dairy free diet until further notice. We are  hoping it's temporary but in the meantime it's the adjustment period around here!
This complicates a lot of baking, and buying products. I have been slacking off this summer and buying bread, and I thought I was buying a dairy free bread only to read the fine print and it says 'may contain traces of milk products'. My regular bread recipe has no dairy, but 2 eggs. So I went on the hunt for a recipe. I find I'm pretty much limited to vegan recipes at this point. Thankfully he can still eat meat, so at least it's only vegan baking and not completely vegan! I find my grocery shopping is taking forever now due to having to read and re-read labels, hunt for unknown (to me) products and try new weird things!
I tried this recipe today from VegWeb, and it turned out pretty good. It's super easy, no waiting for it to rise and it tastes pretty good. It is a dense bread and it doesn't rise too much, but both my kids gobbled it up! I made it pretty much according to the posters recipe, but I upped the yeast just a little on the advice of some reviewers.

Ingredients
6 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar, Packed
1 Tbsp. Sea Salt
2 Tbsp. Yeast
3 1/4 Cups Warm Water

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the warm water, and mix until it becomes a thick batter. 
Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and smooth out the tops. 
Bake at 400F for approx. 45 minutes or until a cake tester/fork/knife inserted comes out clean. I thought they were done at the 30 minute mark but when I stuck a knife in, it came out with batter on it. You might need to cover the tops with foil at about the 30 minute mark as they go quite dark on top in the last 15 minutes. 
Remove from pans and cool on a rack before slicing.  

Even if you are not trying to avoid eggs, this is a great recipe if you want to bake bread but don't have the time for a traditional knead, rise, knead, rise loaf. I think I might try to do 4 cups whole wheat, 2 cups of white flour next time just to see if I can lighten it up a little bit.

I know there are egg-substitute products on the market, I just haven't had a chance to look for any yet. I am starting to appreciate Planet Organic Market in Edmonton a whole lot. They are one of the only places that caters to special diets. I actually managed to get a cream cheese substitute and 'cheese' slices for sandwiches by Tofutti and shredded 'cheese' by Daiya there that taste good! Also powdered Soy Milk which is so handy to have in the pantry for baking. And the staff is very knowledgeable and helpful! Superstore seems to have a decent selection of some things as well. I found plain dairy-free soy yogurt, and a rice vegan cheese that the kids don't seem to mind either.

Anybody have egg allergies/intolerances at their house? Any product recommendations for egg replacements would be much appreciated! I know you can substitute flax and water, applesauce, baking soda/baking powder and a number of other things, but I'm at a loss when it comes to the products sold in the stores for egg replacement!

3 comments:

  1. Ener-G is an egg replacement product that works well in baking. Ive also used it is overnight french toast recipes...

    I've seen it at Save on Foods.

    Good Luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you! Ive heard of that but didnt know where to get it...or if it was really gross! I will be sure to look for some next time Im in the city :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can use chia gel as an egg substitute. It needs to be a bit thicker than the basic gel you would probably make, so use the basic rule:
    1/4 cup thick chia gel = 1 egg
    Use 1/4 water and 1 Tbsp chia seeds to achieve the desired consistency. I haven't actually tried it yet, but I know someone who uses this straight across when a recipe calls for eggs.
    It also adds a lot of other health benefits.
    Good luck. :)

    ReplyDelete

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