No Knead Swedish Cardamom Bread

Vegan Mofo Day 27:

This is the recipe for the Holiday Braid Bread I had mentioned in my Thanksgiving post. Recipe is from Vegetarian Times magazine and has won 1st place in "Holiday flavors around the world contest" and I can say that this recipe deserves to win the 1st place, hands down. The winner, Celia Ozereko, modified an old Swedish family recipe by getting rid of all the eggs and butter and making it a no-knead bread. It tastes amazing, we polished off half the loaf in one sitting. It is slightly sweet with a nice spicy kick from the cardamom, I bet no one can eat just one piece. Do try this out this holiday season. I'm sure I'll making it many many times.

Ingredients (makes 2 loaves):

All purpose Flour - 5¼ cups

Flaxseed Meal - 2tbsp

Active Dry Yeast - 1tbsp

Salt - 1½tsp

Whole cardamom seeds - 1½tsp, coarsely ground with a mortar and pestle

Almond Milk - 2 cups, plus more for brushing the loaf (I used soy milk and it worked fine)

Agave nectar (or Maple syrup)- 1/3 cup

Canola oil - 1/3 cup

Demerera sugar (Sugar in the raw) - 2tbsp, for sprinkling

Method:

• Stir together almond smilk (soy milk), flax seeds meal, agave nectar, oil, yeast, salt and cardamom in a large bowl. Add flour, and mix thoroughly with the wooden spoon.
• Cover with lid or plastic wrap (I draped the bowl with kitchen towel for extra sealing), let stand for 2½ hours at room temperature.
• Transfer the bowl to the fridge and let rest overnight.
• Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray or line it with parchment paper. Remove half of the dough from the refrigerator (reserve the other half for later; dough keeps good for up to 5 days in the fridge).
• Divide dough into 3 equal pieces, roll each piece into 18" long rope on a floured surface.
• Place dough ropes side by side 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Pinch ends together and tuck under. Loosely braid dough ropes, then pinch ends together.
• Cover braided loaf with kitchen towel or plastic wrap, and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375ºF. Brush top of the loaf with soy milk and sprinkle generously with sugar.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until golden brown.