Gimme some bread, man!

It CAN be done! Bread in a toaster oven! Mind you, I recently bought mine, so I don't know if this is also possible in older models.

I kind of stole this recipe from a really great book for beginning bakers like myself. The recipe is called Honey Whole Wheat Bread, but being that I didn't want a lot of yucky unhealthy things in it, I edited for animal ingredients... except for the honey... I love honey... sorry fellow vegan-ers. You could as easily substitute it with Agave nectar.

What you will need (which I highly recommend buying as many ingredients in bulk, you will save yourself OODLES of dinero).

2 1/2 t active dry yeast
1c soymilk (unflavored)
2T honey or Agave
4T fleggs (1T ground flax meal + 3T warm water)
3c whole wheat all purpose flour
1t sea salt
3T Earth Balance

Prepare your fleggs by mixing in the flax meal with the water and set aside. It will become gelatinous-y, similar to the consistency of an egg white, after sitting for awhile. Next you want to add the yeast to the milk, ensuring that it is evenly mixed in. Let that mixture sit in a not so drafty spot in your kitchen for about 5 minutes, or until it looks foamy. This is called the sponge, and after chatting with one of my co-workers who also bakes, said this step isn't necessary, that he just mixes everything together. But this is what worked for me, so I would recommend it.

Next add your sweetener, fleggs mixture, Earth Balance, and salt. Whisk this all together.

Add the flour to this mixture, knead, and then transfer it to a bowl that has been lightly rubbed with olive oil to rise. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it chill for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Here is the fun part, where you can get out a lot of pent up aggressions! Punch down your risen dough and begin to roll it into a loaf. You want to take your ball of dough and flatten it a bit so that it is a roundish flatish shape. Then take the bottom third and roll it up into the rest of itself. Keep repeating this until it is shaped like a log of sorts. Put your loafy shape into an oiled 5x9 bread pan, cover with a clean dish towel, and allow it to rise for another 45 min to 1 hour.

Here is the tricky part. How to bake bread in a toaster oven without scorching the top? This was my dilemma, and has been what has prevented me from attempting bread-making in the past. The original recipe needs the oven to be at 375 degrees F for 35-40min. With a toaster oven you have the problem of temperature differentiations from the front to the back of the oven. To prevent the top from being singed, I changed the heat to 350 degrees, and decided to bake it longer. So, after dusting the top of your loaf with some extra flour, pop that puppy in the oven, towards the back, set on 350 degrees F. Because the areas of the oven are different temperatures, you will need to flip your loaf around (180 degrees) every 15 minutes to ensure that it is being evenly heated. Bake for about 40-45 min, but keep an eye on it as many toaster ovens are different. The loaf will be done when it sounds hollow when tapping on the top.

Allow loaf to cool, and enjoy! This recipe will give you a nice sandwich bread that is really tasty with some peanut butter or avocado schmeared on top... or both! Not that I've ever done that...

Hopefully I will have some more step-by step photos, but for now enjoy a peek at what your loaf will look like! Happy baking!