Multigrain Bread

I was a very lucky girl growing up. My Mom was an amazing cook and my Dad made amazing bread. There was always an abundance of good food at my house. I realize as I get older that  I took for granted my Mom's cooking and my Dad's bread baking. 

I can remember as a kid getting so excited to go out, to eat fast food, or for the junky white bread. It was (what I thought) a treat for us but now I love home made meals and home baked bread far more than restaurant or store bought. Well sometimes I like restaurants because I don't have to clean or do dishes.

Recently I have been trying to bake more and more. Also, I have been trying to do whole grains. I came across a multigrain bread recipe that I thought was genius because it used hot cereal as the base which is great so I don't have to go and buy and deal with each of the grains. I have tweaked the original recipe into something I love. The bread is delicious. Earthy and full of goodness! Bake some and you'll feel healthier for it but then you might add a ton of butter on it and feel a little less healthy.

Multi-Grain Bread

adapted from Cook's Country

*I use weight measurements in most of my baking for more precise weight. You can pick up a scale at most stores and your baking will thank you.

180 grams Nine Grain Hot Cereal

544 grams Boiling Water

1 packet Rapid Rise Yeast

100 grams Honey

4 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Melted and Cooled

450 grams Whole Wheat Flour

170 grams All-Purpose Flour

50 grams Gluten Flour

20 grams Salt

Place cereal mix in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour.
Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, butter, yeast, and salt and mix 1 1/2-2 minutes; cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let dough rest for 20 minutes.  Knead on medium-low speed until dough clears sides of bowl, 3-4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2-3 tablespoons additional all-purpose flour and knead until it does.  Don’t add more!) continue to knead dough for 5 more minutes.  Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 45-60 minutes.
Grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans.  Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and divide in half.  Press 1 piece of dough into 9×6 inch rectangle, with short side facing you.  Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go.  Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed.  Repeat with second piece of dough.  Spray loaves lightly with water or vegetable oil spray.  Roll each loaf in oats to coat evenly and place seam side down in prepared pans, pressing gently into corners.  Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size 30-40 minutes.  Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.
Thirty minutes before baking, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.  Bake until loaves register 200 degrees, 35-40 minutes.  Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes.  Remove loaves from pans, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving.
Storage: Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.  Wrapped with additional layer of foil, bread can be frozen for up to a month.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

When I made the homemade sloppy joes my husband said that the french bread rolls were to chewy so I went on a hunt to find a great bun recipe and I came across this one on A Chow Life. T test it out I made sloppy joes and eagerly waited for the feedback and it was a huge thumbs up from everyone. I've also used it for meatball sandwiches, cold cut sandwiches and breakfast sandwiches. Every time it's delicious. So if you are looking for a good bun, here you go.

Hamburger Buns
1 and 1/2 cups milk
8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
4 and 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
5 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. kosher salt
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Sesame seeds for sprinkling (optional)
In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk and butter and heat until the butter is melted, about 7 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool to 105° to 115°F. Add the yeast and stir until the yeast is dissolved. Let stand for 10 minutes. 

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine the 4 cups flour, the sugar and salt and beat on low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add the milk mixture and knead until the dough forms a ball, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, oil the inside of the bowl and return the dough to the bowl.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough into a 10-by-7 1/2-inch rectangle. Using a ruler as a guide, cut the dough into 2 1/2-inch squares. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, spacing the buns evenly apart, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Preheat an oven to 400°F.
Remove the plastic wrap from the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the buns with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until the buns are golden and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a bun registers 190°F, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer the buns to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut in half and use as hamburger buns. Makes 12 hamburger buns.

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Cinnamon Raisin Bread

My Dad is a bread baking genius. Ever since I could remember he has baked his own bread. I don't know why I never learned from him. It was probably because he was very... particular about his bread. I can still remember getting in trouble for not slicing even pieces of bread. Even in my house, without my Dad present, I used to get nervous about cutting the bread but then I remembered it was my house and I (sometimes) purposefully cut uneven slices. Sorry Dad I guess I still have some rebellious teenager left in me.

I have now found the love of making my own bread. The house smells amazing and no mass produced bread can hold a candle to home made bread. It is delicious.

I found this Cinnamon Raisin bread recipe and loved it. It is a much drier loaf than I am used to but this last weekend we made french toast with it and it was divine. I have made it no less than 6 times since I found the recipe a couple weeks ago and there is always a loaf in the house. It is easy and delicious.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/4 tsp, plus 3 tblsp. sugar
2 and 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
1 and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
5 tblsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
1/2 cup water
1 cup raisins

Stir the yeast, warm water, and 1/4 tsp sugar together in a small bowl. Let the mixture stand in a warm location until the yeast starts foaming, 5-10 minutes.
Combine the flours, remaining sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Stir well. Stir the yeast mixture, butter, and water into the flour mixture. Then stir in the raisins or work them in by hand. Let stand 10 minutes.
Knead in machine for 4-5 minutes.
Lightly oil a large bowl and turn the dough in it to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl loosely with a kitchen town and let the dough rise in a warm location until it is doubled in size, 45 -60 minutes.
Oil a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. Punch the dough down and shape it into a loaf. Press the loaf into the prepared pan and, again, cover it loosely with a kitchen towel. Let it rise in a warm place until it nearly fills the pan, 45-60 minutes. Do not over rise. This bread should barely peak out of the top of the pan.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread until the top is browned and the bottom sounds hollow when tapped with your finger, 30-35 minutes. Remove it from the pan and let it cool on a rack.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread and it's healthy.

I love this time of year. Being able to walk in to my backyard and get fresh vegetables for dinner but I have an abundance of zucchini. I missed one the other day and when I found it it was huge so the only thing to do is make zucchini bread. My favorite bread but it's always very oily so I wanted to find a recipe less oily and healthier and I think I found it at Skinnytaste,com. It's a great website with lots of good, healthy recipes.

I made this for Sam's birthday and it was so good I made a second loaf the same night so if you have an abundance of zucchini try this out and let me know.

Lowfat Chocolate Zucchini Bread

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour (regular whole wheat flour would work)
1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1-1/8 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1 large egg, beaten
2 tbsp melted butter
1 cup apple sauce
1-1/2 cups shredded zucchini (not packed)


Preheat oven to 325°.

Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well.

Add chocolate chips and gently mix to combine.

In a medium bowl, mix egg, vanilla, melted butter, apple sauce and zucchini. Add to the flour mixture and stir until just blended.  

Pour batter into a large 9x5 inch loaf pan.

Bake at 325° for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan and let it cool before slicing. 

DELICIOUS Whole Wheat Bread

A couple of months age I met an amazing gal at the gym I work out at. She brought me a wonderful loaf of bread that has changed my life. Okay maybe that is a little exaggerated. I make this bread about every 5 days and it gives us two loaves. Since I am so nice I always give one loaf away and keep the other and everyone who has tried it loves it.

For this recipe I grind my own wheat but you can use King Arthur's Whole White Wheat flour. You can buy it at most grocery store and even the gluten flour is sold at Wal-mart so even if you don't have these ingredients in your pantry they aren't hard to find.


 


Amber's Amazing Wheat Bread
 Note This recipe makes one loaf so I always double it.

1 1/4 cup warm water
1 Tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup honey
2 3/4 cups whole white wheat flour or regular wheat but I prefer white
1/4 cup wheat gluten
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. nonfat non instant dry milk
1 Tbs. butter/margarine/oil
1 Tbs. vinegar
1/4 cup potato flakes (NOT potato pearls)

Mix ingredients in order listed in mixing bowl of mixer with dough hook attachment (like kitchen-aid) for 12-15 minutes. Let rise until double, 1- 1 1/2 hours. Punch down, and shape into loaf or rolls. Let rise again until double and bake 375 degrees for 20-30 minutes until golden brown and sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Let cool 5 minutes. Remove from pan and finish cooling on rack.

French Bread into Rolls.

French Bread Rolls

adapted from allrecipes.com

*Makes about one dozen rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

 

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let it get nice and frothy, creamy. Then add the oil, salt, and half the flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth , 5 to 7 minutes. Oil bowl, place dough in bowl, turn to coat, cover and let rise til double in size.

 

Tturn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces (about 75 grams each), and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls  and let rise until doubled in volume, 1 hour on a colder day, 35 minutes on a warmer day. Remember there is a TABLESPOON of yeast so they can over rise quickly!! Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bake for 13-15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Next time I will brush butter over the top. Yum!!