A couple of tasty treats for Veganuary!

Close to 610,000 people took part in Veganuary in 2022! So, whether you’re joining them and kicking off the new year with a pledge to go plant based or are already a fully fledged vegan here are a couple of tasty recipes for you to try out.

Tomato and Pesto Croissants.

Presenting a classic marriage of flavours from the pesto and fresh tomato, all wrapped up in crisp, flaky pastry and made from strong white bread flour for a healthy dose of fibre.

Makes 6 croissants

Ingredients

110ml warm water.

1 packet (7g) dried yeast.

200g strong bread flour.

Half a tablespoon of sugar.

A quarter of a teaspoon of salt.

150g vegan spread (soft enough to spread).

6 tsp vegan pesto.

1 tomato (sliced).

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

In the measuring jug, combine the warm water and yeast.

In the mixing bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt then add the yeast and water mix. Bring together with your hands to form a dough, then on a lightly floured surface, knead for a few minutes before returning to the mixing bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to prove for 10 minutes. 

After 10 minutes, lightly flour your surface again. Once the dough has proved, turn it out and roll it out into a 40cm x 30cm rectangle, then spread 100g of the vegan spread on top in an even layer before rolling it up like a swiss roll.

Dust your surface with a little more flour. Cut the dough roll in half to make two smaller swiss roll shapes, spread a little more vegan spread on the top of one and place the other on top. Flatten both halves together with the palm of your hand and dust with a little more flour on each side before using the rolling pin to roll into a 40cm x 30cm rectangle. 

Slice the dough into 3 even rectangles, then each rectangle into 2 triangles. Place a tsp of pesto at the wide end of each triangle and roll toward the thin end to create the croissant shape.

Place the croissants onto a baking tray, melt the remaining vegan spread and use your finger to spread a little across each croissant, before placing a slice of tomato on top of each one. Bake for 15 minutes until golden. Allow them to cool on the tray before serving.

Banana Bread.

Made in just 6 easy steps, this classic bake, made with light brown soft sugar makes for a sumptuous bake with a tasty caramel flavour. 

Makes a one 1kg loaf

Ingredients 

4 ripe bananas

75g vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

225g self-raising flour

2 teaspoon baking powder 

100g light brown soft sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C.

Mash 3 of the bananas into the measuring jug with the vegetable oil and vanilla.

In the mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients.

Add the wet mix to the dry mix and combine.

Pour into the lined loaf tin and top with the 4th banana, halved lengthways.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until golden on top and springy to touch in the centre.

These recipes are from the Easy Peasy Baking campaign, launched by UK Flour Millers, making baking simple. You can find more Easy Peasy Baking recipes and information on the campaign over on the Fab Flour website.