Copycat Panera Tomato Basil Bread

Copycat recipes annoy me sometimes.

Whole wheat flour adds fiber and flavor.

It surely does, but Panera’s Tomato Basil Bread isn’t a whole wheat bread.

I tried a number of different recipes before finding a version that passes muster for the kiddo.

I have a firsthand appreciation for wanting to please young palates. Yet if your goal is a copycat recipe, then their taste buds aren’t your ultimate metric.

The tomato powder is optional…

How can the only source of tomato flavor in tomato basil bread be optional?!

I also saw some surprising add-ins such as fresh basil, red chili flakes, and pesto. Panera clearly uses dried basil with no heat, cheese, or olive oil in their recipe. There’s even a “ copycat recipe” for this bread that looks more like a glazed cranberry pound cake!

Please note, with respect to you, I’m honest; with respect to my fellow food bloggers, I’m discreet. I will not link the sources of my harsh critiques.

That said, not all modifications are damnable. Many commercial bakeries use ingredients and techniques that are neither available nor practical for a home cook to obtain or execute. These must be substituted and adjusted.

Additionally, dietary restrictions may demand changes. I have no problem with a Gluten-Free Copycat Panera Tomato Basil Bread for example! But adding various flours for the sake of preference negates the “copycat” description in a recipe developer’s objective. Call it Panera(or whatever)-inspired!

My Copycat Recipe Process

Before I even started looking at other recipes, I bought a loaf of Tomato Basil Bread from my local Panera and studied it. And before even opening the bag, I weighed it!

This substantial loaf is nearly 3 lbs (1.4 kg). It boasts a patchy brown, streusel-like topping over two humps of crust protecting a tight yet springy crumb. Once cut, a slice reveals two bright orange spirals uniformly speckled with dried tomato and basil pieces.

The recipes I referenced needed, at minimum, to match that bright orange color. Foremost, I wanted to find the correct ratio of flour:tomato product(s) because the ingredients list on the Panera at Home product wouldn’t tell me enough.

Panera at Home

Though the Panera at Home products aren’t identical to their bakery analogs, they’re close enough to offer hints. The Tomato Basil bread bag lists the following ingredients…

• enriched wheat (AKA all-purpose) flour*
• tomatoes*
• tomato juice*
• water
• yeast
• canola oil
• (vital) wheat gluten*
• brown sugar

…plus less than 2% of:

• sugar
• cultured wheat flour (AKA sourdough starter)*
• salt*
• calcium sulfate*
• minced garlic
• dried basil
• palm oil*
• cinnamon
• honey*
• natural flavor*
• enzymes*
• ascorbic acid*
• soy lecithin*

Those ingredients with an asterisk either could not, or could not practically, be included in a homemade vegan version and thereby demanded some attention.

All-Purpose Flour and Vital Wheat Gluten

I use bread flour.

Though it of course lists the quantity of protein per serving, no Nutrition Facts label even hints at how much protein comes from where. Some comes from all-purpose (wheat) flour; some, vital wheat gluten (wheat flour protein isolate).

Most likely, the blend of flour and gluten in Panera’s Tomato Basil Breads approximates the protein content of bread flour. A reasonable guess is that Panera keeps all-purpose – or even cake, or 00 – flour on hand and adjusts its protein content accordingly (less for pastries; more for breads).

I might suggest a similar system if I ran a bakery. Barring that, bread flour for bread makes the most sense.

Tomatoes

I use dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes.

Tomato Juice and Ascorbic Acid

I use tomato paste and water.

I almost ran my recipe trials with tomato juice. Then, I realized tomato juice widely varies in sodium content; tomato paste, not so much. My recipe therefore includes tomato paste and water to ensure consistent results across brands.

And most likely, the tomato paste you use takes care of the ascorbic acid on the list.

Sourdough Starter & Enzymes

I use the overnight rise technique.

I love the culture (no pun intended) of sourdough: neighbors sharing starters they’ve been feeding for weeks, people near and far baking breads together and giving them as gifts.

But maybe you don’t have such a neighbor. Besides, even when I made a concerted effort, I could not taste much sourdough in Panera’s Tomato Basil Bread!

It must be there; it’s written in the ingredients list, and thus legally binding. I opted for an overnight rise which allows your dough to ferment and develop more complex flavors without being a true sourdough.

Salt

I use kosher salt.

On an ingredients list, salt could be sea salt –

or table salt, pink salt, black salt, mine salt, smoked salt…

You get the idea. I simply used my go-to, Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt.

Calcium Sulfate, Natural Flavor, & Soy Lecithin

I use (almost) nothing.

Though not impossible to find, calcium sulfate probably isn’t on the shelves of your grocery store. You might even have some if you regularly coagulate soy milk for tofu, brew beer, or make cheese.

Yet chances are you don’t. Since I’m already asking you to wait overnight, asking you to order a less-than-2%-of ingredient seemed unfair. I omitted it.

Natural flavor and lecithin are addressed in the next section.

Palm Oil

I use plant-based butter.

By using Country Crock Homestyle Dairy Free Butter, I tackled palm oil, natural flavor, and lecithin. If you can’t find this product, you have options:

1. Make your own.
2. Use only palm oil, melted.
3. Skip melting anything and stick with canola oil.

Do I know which undefined natural flavors are in Panera’s product? I can’t. They could be buttery –

or flowery, grassy, earthy, herby, hoity, toity…

Buttery is as good a guess as any. And that’s assuming my “butter” has buttery natural flavors!

Honey

I use agave nectar.

There are plenty of arguments regarding why and which honey is good for us, our pollinators, and our planet. However, the bottom line is: Honey isn’t vegan, and this is a vegan food blog. I use agave nectar, but almost any light-colored liquid sweetened will work too.

What’s for dinner?

Logically, after several successful trials, I had to make Panera’s Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich.