Fresh-Start Challenge, Week 1 , Day 5 -- baking day

Finally we get to bake bread! I'd thought about making this Day 2 of the Challenge, because it is so rewarding. But it's a reward that requires an overnight rest and I wanted you to have something delicious on your first day.

Everyone, divide the Whisk Bread Dough you prepared yesterday in half. You can bake both loaves at once, but if you are cooking for just one or two, you might want to return half of it to the refrigerator. It will keep for two weeks.

Shape the dough and let it rise as shown in the video below.

While the oven is preheating, prepare Baked Pears with Cashew Cream Sauce (plant-strong) or a double batch of Cinnamon Yogurt Sauce (classic). You'll want a cup of sauce so you can serve it on baked pears tonight and on baked sweet potatoes for breakfast tomorrow. Bake a sweet potato for each person while you bake the pears. The pictures below show using homemade yogurt, which classic folks will make next week using the rest of the store-bought yogurt as starter.

If you have fresh mint leaves, tuck them in at the top of each pear half as garnish. (This makes a beautiful and light vegan dessert.) Drizzle with sauce.

When you take the bread out of the oven, remove it from the pans right away and let cool on wire racks. In the picture below, half the dough baked in a loaf pan and the other half baked free form on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

For dinner, make Green and Bean Salad using the black beans you prepared on Day 3. If you bake the bread before dinner, have bread or toast with your salad. Have Baked Pears with Cinnamon Sauce (Yogurt or Cashew Cream) for dessert.