In my quest to keep my home (and the oceans and landfills) as plastic-free as possible, bread was a bit of a puzzle for me. While I try not to eat too much of it due to my insulin resistance, it is awfully handy to have some around the house for quick meals, especially for my boyfriend as he dashes to and from multiple jobs.

I began my search by venturing outside the grocery store where I did find a couple of bakeries that would let me bring my own bags, and then I started wondering just how hard it would be to make my own. It turns out, not hard at all! And, between Karma Co-op and Bulk Barn, I’ve been able to find all the ingredients in bulk and bring them home in my own reusable bags and containers.

I’ve experimented with a few recipes now and so far this is my favourite for easy, zero waste bread.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon fine sea salt
• 2 cups warm water
• 3.5 cups all purpose flour
• 1.5 cups 12 grain flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal

Instructions

1. Mix yeast, honey, salt and warm water in a large mixing bowl until yeast is dissolved. Add one cup of all purpose flour, mix, add another cup and repeat until you’ve added all your all-purpose flour. Add one tablespoon of olive oil and the 12 grain flour. Mix until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
2. sprinkle a little flour out onto your flat work surface, scrape your dough from the bowl onto the flour. Knead it for five minutes.
3. Let the dough rest for a minute while you grease your bowl with the other tablespoon of olive oil.
4. Pop the dough into the greased bowl, turn it over once to coat it in oil, then cover with a warm, damp tea towel and leave to rise for 1.5 – 2 hours.
5. Punch the centre of the dough to get rid of any air bubbles then cut it in half and shape it into loaves. Place them on a cookie sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rest for 5 minutes.
6. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees while you make a couple of shallow diagonal cuts on the top of the loaves and brush with the egg. (I also like to sprinkle rosemary and coarse sea salt on top of one to be fancy).
7. Pop in the oven for 30-45 minutes, until your house smells amaaaaazing and the loaves sound sort of hollow when you tap them. It’s a thing, I swear!
8. EAT DELICIOUS FRESH BREAD. It doesn’t keep nearly as long as commercially-baked bread, so you may want to slice what’s left on day 3 or 4 and use it for toast, but it will still be super tasty!

Have you tried making your own bread? Have your own favourite easy zero waste bread recipe? Let us know in the comments!