baking · Book Reviews · cooking

Three Bread Recipes

A compilation of bread recipes I have made this past week. Two are bread machine friendly, the third is old-school. Even with the third recipe, I still spend more time writing up my recipes than I do actually baking bread (mostly because I write-up my blog posts when the baby is sleeping and the toddler isn’t ripping up the house….and I tend to get distracted in those rare moments of quiet..ooh..Facebook! The news! Pinterest! OK! back to writing!!) Overall bread making has become an enjoyable part of my daily life now. I keep trying new ideas and recipes, no reason to eat the same bread every day if one doesn’t have to. The guys like it as well, so it encourages me to keep going.

Speaking of The Baby (Alistaire) he will be 4 months this week. Time is going by too fast.

Up first I was bad and pulled out some (gasp) white flour to try out a new recipe from The Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook: A Master Baker’s 300 Favorite Recipes for Perfect-Every-Time Bread-From Every Kind of Machine, on page 202. Who knew white bread could become a treat 😉 I used a bag of Bob’s Red Mill unbleached organic flour that I have hidden away for these special breads.

At over 600 pages it is a bible on making breads, it also touches on pasta, which I will be working on soon. My Mother In-Law passed on to me her old manual pasta machine, of which Kirk remembers helping with. Keep an eye out for me getting into that mess….

Semolina Country Bread

Ingredients:

Directions:

Add the wet ingredients into bread pan, followed by the dry, with yeast on top. Set for a 1½ lb loaf of French bread, medium crust. (Or follow bread machines directions)

After baking remove promptly, knock out of the pan and rest on a cooling rack. Let cool fully, then store in a bread bag, use within 2 days.

From my Breadman TR2500BC Ultimate Plus 2-Pound Stainless-Steel Convection Breadmaker cookbook, on page 52. The 1½ lb loaf is the perfect size for sandwiches. The molasses gives the bread a deep color and a pleasing flavor. I used freshly ground white whole wheat berries for the flour.

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup + 3 Tbsp warm water (80°)
  • 3 Tbsp molasses
  • 2 Tbsp sunflower oil
  • 1½ tsp kosher salt
  • 13 ounces white whole wheat flour (3¼ cups) + more as needed
  • 2 Tbsp dry milk
  • 1½ tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

Add the wet ingredients into bread pan, followed by the dry, with yeast on top. Set for a 1½ lb loaf of whole wheat bread. (Or follow bread machines directions) Watch during the first kneading, adding more flour as needed.

After baking remove promptly, knock out of the pan and rest on a cooling rack. Let cool fully, then store in a bread bag, use within 2 days.

This recipe I found on Bob’s Red Mill website. I cut and froze one of the loaves, so we’d have emergency bread.

Honey Oatmeal Bread

Ingredients:

½ cup Scottish Oatmeal
1 Tbsp fine sea salt
¼ cup sunflower oil
1/3 cup honey
2 cups milk
2 Tbsp active dry yeast
2 Tbsp Vital Wheat Gluten Flour
4-1/2 cups to 4-3/4 white whole wheat flour (18 to 20 ounces freshly ground)

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl combine 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a sauce pan heat milk, honey, oil and salt just till warm (115°). Add to dry mixture in mixing bowl. Beat at low-speed with electric mixer for 1/2 minute, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat 3 minutes at high-speed.

By hand, stir in oats, gluten and enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead till smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Shape in a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to oil the surface. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until double in size (about 45 minutes). Punch dough down; turn out on a lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

Shape into two loaves; place in two sprayed or lightly oiled metal bread pans. Cover and let rise in warm place till double (about 30 minutes). Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks. Makes 2 loaves.

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