Yum YUM
Okay, this 'bread in five minutes' thing is amazing. I seriously threw all the ingredients into an old ice cream container, stirred it up for less than 2 minutes and covered it with saran with a corner loose for escaping gas (no lid yet) and left it for about 3 hours on top of the stove to rise. Into the fridge where it sat for a day and I made my first loaf today. Grabbed a handful of the goop (and this one is seriously goopy) and shaped it a bit, left it to rise for longer than I was supposed to (because I went to pick up the girls up the street and stayed for 2 or 3 hours and a glass of vino) and then baked it when I got home. Amazing texture, moisture and look. This one is a healthier version than the last, all-white-flour one. I did add about 1/3 cup of wheat gluten just in case, to help it rise. And I didn't use all whole wheat flour, but maybe about 2/3 and the rest white flour. I skimped on the salt a bit, which I shouldn't have but other than that, no complaints! See for yourself:

The inside

Half of the loaf after dinner

Easy Wheat Bread

We are still without a breadmaker. Well, I could rephrase that to be, we are without an electronic breadmaker as there it seems to have been replaced by me-the-breadmaker. I do cheat a bit and use the kitchenaid mixer to mix and knead, something that I just do not enjoy. This is our favourite recipe from the breadmachine, just made without the machine. It only takes 5 (or maybe 6) ingrediants and is very very yummy.


True Whole Wheat bread
To make a 2 pound loaf (or 2 one pounders)
1.25 cups lukewarm water (I adjust for dryness to 1.5 cups)
2.25 tsp yeast

2 tablespoons honey
4 cups whole wheat flour (I use a mix of whole wheat and multi-grain)
5.5 tsp vital wheat gluten (you may be able to opt out of this)
1.25 tsp salt

Mix the yeast, honey and lukewarm water in the mixing bowl. Let it stand a bit and make sure you mix it all together as the yeast might clump. You could avoid the clumping by making a paste of the yeast and a bit of the water but I never do. Add the flour, gluten and salt. Mix with the dough hook for about 10 minutes or until the dough is somewhat elastic-like. Transfer to a oiled bowl, cover with saran wrap and let rise in a warm spot (I use the oven with the oven light on) until doubled and a finger poked in it leaves and indentation. Knead it down and shape it into whatever you want, one loaf, two loaves, in a pan (greased) or on parchment paper. Let rise again. Preheat the oven to 450, bake for 10 minutes then turn the oven down to 350 and bake until the bottom sounds hollow and you can smell the bread (about 20 minutes longer). You can mist the sides and bottom of the oven a couple of times during the first 10 minutes for humidity (the Joy recommends this). Let cool.

Christmas Stollens
Aunty Karen, wonderful person that she is, traditionally makes masses of these to give to the folks in her life like teachers and bus drivers. I had high hopes of starting this tradition last year as I love to give baked delights for holiday presents but for reasons I cannot recall, it didn't happen. But I have managed to try out the recipe for Stollen finally, and while I've not yet tasted it, can you agree that the pictures make it look divine. I think I should test it before giving it away, don't you?

The easiest bread in the world
This recipe comes via Bettina, our Danish neighbour across the way. She makes this frequently and switches it into bread rolls, round loaves, rectangular ones. Anything goes. The first time I tried it was disastrous and ended with me pitching the entire yucky mess. This time, I realized that there wasn't enough yeast so I modified that and it's looking good. There's no kneading required and no double risings. The best time to make it is just before you go to bed and then get up a bit earlier than usual and bake it for breakfast.

Danish Oat Bread
2 cups lukewarm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
Mix these together and let sit until it foams, or about 5 minutes

2 tbsp canola oil
1/3 cup oats
1/2 cup seeds/nuts/berries (your choice)
1 1/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (you can combine flour types to your taste)
1 1/2 tbsp wheat gluten (I added this to combat our dry climate)

Stir oil, oats, seeds and salt into the yeast mixture. Slowly stir in the flour, mixing with a spoon, not a hand mixer. Dough will be sticky. Do not knead. Pour into well-greased & floured (or lined with parchment paper) baking pans, cover and let rest in fridge 8-12 hours or overnight. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes then turn down the oven and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

This is the dough after 8 hours in the fridge. It has doubled in size.

Update: well, again, this wasn't the most successful bread but I haven't given up. This time the bread stuck to the pan, burnt around the edges and is a modicum underdone. I've modified the recipe to include a well-greased or preferably, parchment-lined pan and reduced the heat and duration. I don't know if this new temp (350) and duration (25) minutes is better than the old (450) temperature and (45) minutes so I'll try again and let you know.

Fun for tomorrow
Because it's not getting any warmer, I think we'll try our hands at making pretzels tomorrow. This recipe came from a blogger that I read on occasion because she has 6 kids under 12. And that's all I need to say.

Pretzel Recipe (makes 12 largish pretzels)

2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
7/8 cup water
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

Mix it all together like you would bread.

Don’t know how to do it? Don’t have a bread maker with a dough setting?

This is a great tactile experience for younger children. And it is extremely easy to do. I know what you are thinking, I used to be afraid of baking bread too.

Get a mixing bowl.
Measure water in first, room temperature. Too hot or cold and it will not rise.
Then pour the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl in a little mound.
Dig a little hole in the top of the mound, like a volcano.
Put the yeast in the little mound.

Then stir it all up.

When it is doughy, dump it out onto a floured table and knead it.

This is the part when all the kids can help.

After they are done kneading, put it in a bowl and cover the bowl with a damp cloth so the dough doesn’t dry out while rising.

Once it has doubled in size, it is ready to shape into pretzels.

Break the dough into 12 pieces.

Your children can make the traditional pretzel shape. Form the dough into letters or shapes. Or even just leave them as pretzel sticks, but that would be boring. Let them play with the dough as long as they want to. The dough might end up tough, but you know what? They will not care.

Once you are done shaping them beat an egg and brush it over the pretzel.

Sprinkle them with Kosher salt.

Or a mixture of cinnamon and sugar.

Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 10-15 minutes. The time will depend on the thickness you have rolled the pretzels to. So keep an eye on them. Once they are golden, they are ready to come out of the oven and enjoy.