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Vegan Cranberry Nut Quick Bread using Flax Seed Meal
November 14th, 2008 Madhuram Posted in Breads, Egg Replacements, Food Blog Events, Vegan Baking | 
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It’s long time since I have baked a quick bread. The last time I baked this for my friends and it was a hit. I had used bananas instead of eggs, so the bread tasted more like bananas. That’s the only reason I don’t like using bananas as an egg substitute because it’s flavor/smell will dominate the baked dish. Whether it’s a carrot cake or chocolate cake, it’s going to taste like a banana only. So this time I decided to use flax seed meal as the egg substitute.
What is a Quick Bread? As the name suggests, “Quick Breads” can be baked quickly, when compared to the traditional yeast breads. Quick breads are leavened with baking powder and/or baking soda, not yeast. So you can mix, bake and enjoy these baked goods in less time. Quick breads can be sweet or savory. One important thing to be noted while baking quick breads is, mixing the wet and dry ingredients only until moistened. Few lumps in the batter is fine, because over-mixing causes the gluten in the flour to develop and the result would be a coarse and tough bread.
Quick breads such as banana, zucchini and cranberry slice and taste best when served a day after baking. Wrap the cooled bread in foil or plastic wrap; leave at room temperature overnight. Use a serrated knife for breads that have fruits and/or nuts. Corn bread and coffee cakes are best served warm. (Source: The Taste of Home Baking Book)
I had some dried cranberries left after preparing these “no-bake” bars, so I wanted to use it before I could forget all about it and find it out after 3 months while cleaning the pantry. I also had 2 cranberry bread recipes in hand. One was the traditional yeast bread and another one a cranberry orange quick bread (from the book Baking for Dummies). Hands down my choice is the latter, because I’m not yet ready to bake with yeast. I have this preconceived notion that I cannot handle yeast, it’s difficult. But the quick bread required fresh cranberries which I didn’t have. So I came up with a recipe combining those 2 recipes, making few changes here and there. The bread came out quite decently.
Yield: 1 Loaf
2. In a large bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Also add the cranberries, sugar and nuts and combine it thoroughly. If using dried cranberries, add a tablespoon of flour to the dried berries and stir it well before adding it to the flour mixture. Otherwise all the berries will stick to
each other and settle at the bottom of the bread.
3. Whisk/blend together the flax seed meal and water until white and foamy. I used Magic Bullet to blend it.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the flax seed mixture, orange zest, orange juice, oil and applesauce (if using).
5. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just blended. I felt that the batter was thick, so I added another 2 tablespoons of orange juice. You can also dilute it with water or any type of milk. Do not over-mix. Few lumps should be fine, it would dissolve while baking.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. I checked mine for doneness around 48 minutes and the toothpick came out clean. I removed the pan out of the oven after 50 minutes.
7. Cool the loaf for 15 minutes before removing it from the pan.
8. Finish cooling the loaf on a wire rack.
2. Everybody liked the taste of the bread, the sweetness was right but it did have a mild raw smell. I’m not sure whether the culprit was the whole wheat pastry flour or the baking time. Even though the time given in the original recipe was 60 minutes, the toothpick came out clean after 48 minutes itself. Maybe I should try using only all purpose flour the next time.
This is my entry to the following events:
1. Suganya’s Vegan Ventures.
2. Mansi’s Vegetarian Thanksgiving Recipe Carnival. What is Thanksgiving without cranberries!
3. Egg Replacement Event – Flax Seed Meal hosted by me.
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November 8th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Hi
I just made this recipe.I halved it and baked it in 2 mini loaf pans for 32 minutes.After reading your notes,I increased the amount of liquid ingredients a little-added an extra 20 mls of apple sauce and about 2 teaspoons of oil.I also added double the amount opf flax .Inspite of all your warnings,I couldn’t resist cutting off one teeny slice to taste.The bread is very tasty-I like the subtle orange flavor.I also used orange flavored craisins..has anyone made this with fresh cranberries?Does it taste any different?Thanks for sharing.It’s a keeper!
Geetha
Thanks for trying it Geetha. I haven’t used orange flavored craisins, that sounds very delicious.
November 2nd, 2009 at 1:04 pm
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, recipe and detailed notes about changes that one can make. I tried baking in the past without egg and it did not come out good, but your detailed notes are very helpful.
Here are changes that I made…
2 teaspoon of soda == 1 teaspoon of baking powder + 1 teaspoon of flaxseed (this is in addition to flax seed your recipe calls out).
I also added 1/2 cup of water
Thanks
Mona
You’re welcome Mona. The change you have made is good, I too will try it when using flax seed powder.
October 25th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Hi Madhuram,
i am fairly new to your website. i never tried eggless recipies before.. but after trying a few of your recipies, i am hooked. this bread was a total hit with my wife and kids…. they are asking me to make it again….
Keep up the great work…i look foward to more delicious recipies.
Alex
Alex, thank you very much for trying the recipes and for taking the time to record your feedback here.
March 13th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Hi madhuram
Baked this today after my sucess with the choc cake.
I followed your recipe with few inputs from the book The joy of vegan baking.
The bread was good.Thank you once again for sharing this wonderful receipe.
Thanks for the feedback Priya. I’m glad you liked the bread.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:54 am
Tried it.. its a HIT!! made some changes though.. I used shortening in place of veg fat, didnt have oranges, so i used lemons and lemon juice. Did add some orange essence though. Its a very festive looking loaf! YUM!
That’s wonderful Kiran. Hope you like the taste too! Thanks for trying the recipe.
February 24th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Hi,
your website is a great resource for eggless baking. I have yet to try anything, lets hope baby sleeps through the afternoon.. I’ll be trying this recipe then.
Thank you very much Kiran.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Madhu, I have whole wheat flor (not whole wheat pastry flour). Would that do?
Hi Deepa, saw your comment just now. Yes you could use 50% of each all purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Bake it for an extra 3-5 minutes. I would recommend you to try the carrot cake. It’s from Indira’s site and she uses banana for the egg substitute. I have baked it so many times and every time it comes out so well. I have tried it with wheat flour also and have not felt the difference in taste.
December 18th, 2008 at 11:46 am
what is the flax seed mean and ground flax seeds – i have whole flaxseed which i grind in coffee blender – can it be used in place of flax seed meal ?
Flax seed meal, flax seed powder and ground flax seed all refer to grinding whole flaxseeds only. These 3 terms are being used in most of the vegan books and so I have also used it interchangeably.