Hippie Bread

This morning, I'm starting my first job. I've been asking myself a lot of questions--will I totally mess this up? Will my co-workers like me? Most importantly, what will I eat as a quick breakfast before hopping on the train? 

This bread is the answer. It is the most delicious food ever created. 

Two summers ago, my lovely roommate Carson and I were interning in D.C., asking ourselves these same questions. Carson's fabulously talented friend Brigid gave her this recipe for a vegan bread. I was skeptical at first--not because it was vegan (well, a little), but mostly because of the number and variety of ingredients it required. But it was actually a really simple recipe to follow, and when it came out of the oven, well, I was sold. 

I can't really describe it...it's moist (sorry for those of you who hate that word!). It's crumbly. It's a little spicy. Yes, the ingredients list is long and a little weird, but do not be daunted, my friends! The amount of hippie bread this makes is well worth it. Eat it in the morning. Eat it in the evening, all over this land. Carson and I call it Hippie Bread because this stuff is pretty darn good for you!

 Yeah, this is definitely the most ridiculous-looking mise en place ever. You have 18 ingredients. But the good thing is that you probably have most of them lying around. If it helps, you can think of this as a vegan carrot cake--one that you can eat guilt-free for breakfast.

 To make this look less daunting, here are the three categories of ingredients. Dry: flour (wheat is great, too!), sugar, sea salt, baking powder, oatmeal, cinnamon, cayenne, and nutmeg. Ignore that orange--the zest should be in the wet ingredients!

 Wet ingredients: prepared chai tea, apple cider vinegar, silken tofu, fresh ginger, almond milk (or soy!), canola oil, and honey. And the orange zest!

 And the fold-ins: almonds, carrots, and raisins. Phew. Let's get to it!

 Combine all of your dry ingredients and stir well...

 Combine all your wet ingredients (which looks gross)...

 Then mix it in a blender, with a hand mixer or stand mixer. It will still look gross.

 Add the dry ingredients to the wet.

 And stir until just combined. If you overmix it, you will get tough Hippie Bread. Yikes. 

 Fold in the fold ins! And then give the batter a taste. Because it's vegan you don't have to worry about eating raw eggs. It is spicy, so if you can't handle the heat use only a 1/2 teaspoon or so of cayenne. 

Plop it all in a 9" x 13" baking dish. You want to spread it out in a thin, even layer.  40 minutes will give you perfectly bread-like bread, and 30-35 will give you a very, very moist bread.

 Mmm.

Slice it on up. It's good warm or cold. It would also bake up real nice as a cake or muffins. You could also top it with a cream cheese frosting and pretend it's carrot cake...no one will ever know your dark vegan secret! Enjoy! 


Hippie Bread


Dry

• 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour (you can mix in a little flaxseed or oat flour as well)
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp orange peel 
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 ½ Tbsp cinnamon
• 1 ¼ tsp cayenne
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• 1 Tbsp sea salt

Wet

• 16 to 19 oz. silken tofu (1 container is fine)
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• ¼ cup agave (or honey)
• 1/3 cup soy or almond milk
• 2/3 cup prepared chai tea
• 2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 tsp raw ginger

Fold-ins

• 1 ½ cups grated carrots
• 2/3 cups crushed almonds
• 1/3 cup raisins

1. Mix dry ingredients. 

2. Mix wet ingredients. You can use a stand or hand mixer for this, but on I've used a blender before in a pinch. 

3. Add dry ingredients to wet. Mix until the dry ingredients have all been moistened, but don't overmix! 

4. Fold in the carrots, almonds, and raisins.

5. Pour into a lightly buttered or oiled 9x13 pan. Place in a 425 degree oven for 35-40 minutes. Make sure that a toothpick comes out clean when poked into the center. Let cool and slice into squares. You can freeze it, you can fridge it, you can leave it on the counter for easy snacking…anyway you eat it, you'll be glad you did.