Is French Bread Vegan? Yes, because it’s made of four ingredients only: flour, yeast, water and salt. Here’s a simple vegan french bread recipe you can try.
A Must Try and Simple French Bread Recipe
French bread may look the same as the other kinds of bread—but it isn’t. Apart from its hard and rough texture, the ingredients that make up a traditional French bread are unique compared to the soft and creamy bread we usually see in bakeshops—the reason why french bread is considered vegan, as it is typically made with just 4 ingredients: flour, yeast, water and salt.
There are still more interesting facts about French bread, I thought you might want to know. I have shared them in this article along with a simple and must-try vegan French bread recipe.
- What are French Bread and a Baguette?
- Is French Bread Vegan?
- Simple French Bread Recipe
- Nutritional Value:
- Fun Facts
- Conclusion
What are French Bread and a Baguette?
The term French bread may ring a bell for most of us, as referring to long, thin, and crusty bread. While it typically is, there is actually a surprising reason for that. In the early 20th century, the French government implemented a strict schedule for all bakers, (before 4 am until 10 pm), making it hard for them to produce freshly made bread. As a solution, a quicker with longer shelf-life loaf was made: hence a French bread called baguette was invented.
Baguettes are a variation of French bread, probably the most popular one. It is shaped long and is slightly crunchy and hard in texture. They were first created in Paris in 1920 guided by a French law that implemented guidelines on the size, ingredients and even the schedule for bakers to make them.
Gluten-free baguette:
Popular Variations of French Bread:
- Pain de campagne – is a sourdough-based country bread and a plumper cousin of baguette.
- Pain poilane – is made with stone-ground flour that contains 30% spelt, a wheat progenitor with better characteristics.
- Croissant – probably the most popular next to baguettes. It is a butter French bread that comes with different jams or can come as plain.
- Pain au chocolat – a croissant that is stuffed with chocolate inside. This is usually created with eggs and milk but there are vegan versions of this too.
Is French Bread Vegan?
Yes. French bread is vegan as it is distinctively made of four core ingredients only: flour, yeast, water and salt. These ingredients make the bread easier to bake with the capability to stay longer on the shelves, unspoiled. Their typical neutral flavor is what makes them popular too to be paired with savory or cheesy Italian foods like pasta and thick soups.
Simple French Bread Recipe
Key Details of the Recipe:
| Yield: | 4 Servings |
| Prep & Cooking Time: | 1 Hour & 50 Minutes |
| Flavor & Texture: | Crusty and slightly starchy |
| Ease: | Intermediate to Advanced |
| Method: | Baked |
| Equipment: | Stand mixer or rolling pin (for kneading) |
Stand mixer:
Ingredients:
- 3 cups of all-purpose flour (plus a little extra for kneading)
- 1 cup of lukewarm water
- 2 ¼ teaspoons active dry yeast (traditional or instant)
- 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions:
- Combine your dry ingredients, (flour, salt, sugar, yeast) in a large mixing bowl.
- Add water and mix well until completely combined or until a dough texture is achieved. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
- Prepare a large surface for kneading by generously spreading some flour.
- Take out the dough from the bowl and place it on the surface and start kneading.
- Knead using your hands, a stand mixer or a wooden rolling pin, for about 10 minutes and sprinkle some flour on every side when kneading to avoid it from sticking on the surface and your hands.
- Spray or brush some oil on a separate bowl to place your dough in with a kitchen towel as a cover.
- Let the dough rest for an hour or until it doubles in size. I suggest a warm place for a faster rising of the dough.
- Once it doubles, punch the dough to release the gas and divide it into 4 equal portions. You can use a weighing scale to measure.
- Roll each piece into a ball. Cover the pieces with a towel and let rest for 15 minutes.
- Take one piece first and push it out to form a circle. Take the right side and fold over to the middle of the circle, pinch together the piece you folded the dough it’s now touching. Then take the now right side and fold it over to the left. Pinch the ends together.
- Once it’s ready, roll it out to form a log of 15-16 inches in length. Repeat the steps to the remaining 3 portions.
- When all are formed, place them all in your baking pan with parchment paper.
- Let them rise for another 60-90 more minutes or until doubled. This time, you might want to preheat your oven to 450°F.
- Make a couple of diagonal small slices on top of the dough and pop them onto the oven, leaving them to bake for about 25-30 minutes until done and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven, let cool, and serve as desired.
Rolling pin:
Recipe Notes:
- Baguettes usually last up to 2-3 days in proper storage at room temperature.
- You can keep a baguette from drying out by wrapping it in aluminum foil.
- The outer part might soften days after baking but you can make it crispy again through a toaster or an oven.
Bread Toaster:
Nutritional Value:
The estimated nutrient contents per 1 slice of this recipe include 58 calories, 12 g carbs, 2g protein, 1g fat, 110 mg salt, 19 mg potassium, 1 g fiber, 1g sugar, 3mg calcium and 0.7 mg iron.
Fun Facts
- Baguette means ‘baton’ or ‘wand’ as its shape represents.
- It became an iconic symbol of French culture in the 20th century.
- In 1920, a law came into effect requiring French bakers to work from 4 am until 10 pm making it difficult for them to produce fresh bread. Hence, a 4-ingredient baguette was developed for a fast-baking solution.
- A strict guideline was implemented on how to bake, the ingredients and the size of French bread, during the same time.
- Because bread is such a significant component of French culture, few laws were implemented up until 2014.
Conclusion
Nowadays, French bread like baguettes are widely used not just by Europeans but by all nationalities worldwide, and are mostly used to make sandwiches and as sides to pasta and soups when toasted. Its wide production nowadays has reached almost all sides of the world making it an iconic food that France is known for.
Personally, croissants are my favorite food and I always look forward to it whenever I stay in a local or international hotel. I don’t dislike baguettes however, they are less likely to be eaten as it is, since they taste neutral or bland but they best complement some entrées such as pasta and thick soups.