There is something to be said about Homemade Bread. I love the way everything comes together to form a perfect loaf. The way the dough smells and as this bread bakes, it sends out the most grin producing smile...you can SMELL it's going to be great! This recipe makes two loaves and YAY for that!! I sliced up one loaf for toasting and sandwiches and save the other loaf for thicker grilled cheese sandwich slices and 'texas toast' style french toast for Sunday Brunch... YUM! ~Enjoy! Diane Basic Homemade White Bread {Super Soft} Ingredients: 1 package (1/4 ounce) active dry yeast (or approx. 1 Tbs) 2-1/4 cups warm water (water temp. according to your yeast) 3 Tbs sugar 1 Tbs salt 2 Tbs canola oil 6-1/4 to 6-3/4 cups all-purpose flour (depending on humidity) Directions: In a bowl, dissolve a pinch of sugar in warm water (I check my water temp with an instant read thermometer) add in yeast. Place 3 cups of the flour, sugar, salt and oil into Mixing Bowl. Beat with dough hook until combined/smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough - the humidity level with depend on how much you add in total. I keep an eye on my mixing bowl, if after 3 minutes or so I see flour still on the bottom of the bowl, I add a touch more water, if I see a filmy, flour paste (wet) I add a touch more flour...after any additions I make, I let the dough have time to catch up and mix. Once the bowl is "clean around the bottom two-thirds of bowl with no trace of flour or water" I let the dough knead for another 2 minutes (about 4-6 minutes total knead time with my Kitchen Aide Mixer and Dough Hook) Turn the dough into a lightly greased bowl (I coat my large stainless mixing bowl with Olive Oil), turning the dough ball once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Yields: 2 loaves Recipe adapted from: Sandra Anderson for Taste of Home Photos by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home
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My Personal Review: This bread is beautiful and easy to make with a short rise time and no second rise or knead. The original recipe from King Arthur Flour is called "English Muffin Toasting Bread" but, sorry - I don't see, nor taste that "English Muffin" effect...This is superb for toast and sandwiches or even a grilled cheese. It is a plain bread but, soft and quick to bake (no need for a dough hook on your mixer either!) I can't wait to test out adding in raisins and a swirl of cinnamon into this to see what the results would be (I'll keep you updated) Being plain isn't a 'bad' thing, it's just different then other breads I've baked which were sweeter. I will definitely be making this again weekly and not worry about buying sandwich bread at the store. I personally would rather call this "sandwich bread" that makes excellent toast. ~Enjoy! Diane English Muffin Toasting Bread Ingredients
Directions 1) Whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and instant yeast in a large mixing bowl. 2) Combine the milk, water, and oil in a separate, microwave-safe bowl, and heat to between 120°F and 130°F. Be sure to stir the liquid well before measuring its temperature; you want an accurate reading. If you don't have a thermometer, the liquid will feel quite hot (hotter than lukewarm), but not so hot that it would be uncomfortable as bath water. 3) Pour the hot liquid over the dry ingredients in the mixing bowl. 4) Beat at high speed for 1 minute. The dough will be very soft. 5) Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan, and sprinkle the bottom and sides with cornmeal. 6) Scoop the soft dough into the pan, leveling it in the pan as much as possible. 7) Cover the pan, and let the dough rise till it's just barely crowned over the rim of the pan. When you look at the rim of the pan from eye level, you should see the dough, but it shouldn't be more than, say, 1/4" over the rim. This will take about 45 minutes to 1 hour, if you heated the liquid to the correct temperature and your kitchen isn't very cold. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F. 8) Remove the cover, and bake the bread for 22 to 27 minutes, till it's golden brown and its interior temperature is 190°F. 9) Remove the bread from the oven, and after 5 minutes turn it out of the pan onto a rack to cool. Let the bread cool completely before slicing. Yield: 1 loaf. Recipe by: King Arthur Flour Photo and Review by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home Do you have flour, yeast, water, salt, saran and a dutch oven? that's all you need for this - mixing is by hand, rising on its own (dough needs its time to ferment a good 13-18 hours prior to baking), cooking in dutch oven - your done!! ANYONE can make this! Every once in a while I see a recipe that I just have to try! This was one of them because, well...it sounded too good to be true! and guess what - it IS GOOD and TRULY tasty! While the dough needs to rise for 13-18 hours, it doesn't need your attention during that time so, I made mine the night before and let set overnight - ready to pop in the oven for the morning! It's a truly yummy bread and from a similar/popular recipe from the New York Times that I read a while ago. The recipe I used this time was from Michaela over at An Affair from the Heart. Her bread photo sparked my interest in giving this recipe a try. I am so glad I did, it is a wonderful bread and I cannot wait to make some with roasted garlic and rosemary! My additional bread recipe hints: make sure your water matches what your yeast needs (my water needs to be between 90-110 to activate the yeast I use (RedStar Active Dry Yeast) so, I use a digital thermometer to read water temp before adding into mix. Also, try to make this on days or nights when your house is 'warmer'...the dough rising - likes to be kept around 70 degrees - no worries though - mine turned out great - even with our house at 67 overnight. If you want to add shredded cheeses or herbs, you want to mix that in when you first mix the dough. In the NY Times recipe, they coated their dough 30 mins before baking time with cornmeal (they used a cotton (not terrycloth) kitchen towel, sprinkled with cornmeal all over and placed dough ball in the towel and let the dough ball sit lightly wrapped in the cornmeal and cotton towel 30 minutes before removing towel to bake (gave a nice addition 'presentation' to the crust.) Worried about sticking: Some have suggested placing a round piece of parchment paper on the bottom of the dutch oven to prevent sticking. My dough did not stick but, I made sure the bottom of the dough ball had a bit of flour on it to help (and the additional cornmeal coating will prevent sticking too - if you decide to use that, I did not) Words about the Pot (Dutch Oven): I used my smaller 3 Quart Staub Cast Iron Enameled Coquette. You want to preheat your Dutch Oven IN your oven when you are preheating the oven for baking the bread. Advice says you want "a screaming hot vessel" to add your dough to...as well, a dutch oven is used because the weight of the heavy pot and lid traps steam into the pot and creates the crunchy, crusty, bread outer layer. After baking, when tapped on the bottom of loaf you should hear a hollow thump (meaning the bread is done cooking inside as well - mine was nice and thumpy! lol) Enjoy! Diane No Knead Crusty Bread *made in dutch oven
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Wanting a quick flat bread to go with our Italian Dinner, I turned to focaccia bread. This super easy recipe based off of King Arthur Flours basic recipe can be altered to suit your own tastes. Use different seasonings, different toppings! heck, you can even turn it into a pizza; so versatile and super EASY. I love that you can use the regular paddle attachment and have the dough ready for rise in under 5 mins from start to mixer. My one suggestion is brushing with melted butter when its fresh from the oven if you are serving to a whole crowd for quick consumption. I think a vegetable garden seasoning with cheddar cheese sounds great too. so many combinations to be made! Enjoy ~Diane. Rosemary, Italian Focaccia Bread Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil (to drizzle onto pan or cookie sheet) 1 1/2 cups warm water 3 tablespoons olive oil (for the dough) 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon instant yeast 3 teaspoons italian seasoning 1/4 cup romano/parm mix shredded hard cheese 1 Tbs fresh minced rosemary, plus leaves for topping. 6-8 slices of sun dried tomato in oil *optional Directions: 1) Lightly grease a 9" x 13" pan, or cookie sheet by drizzling 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom. 2) Combine all of the ingredients, and beat at high speed with regular paddle attachment, with an electric mixer for 60 seconds. 3) Scoop the sticky batter into the prepared pan, cover the pan, and let it rise at room temperature for 60 minutes, till it's become puffy. I set in my oven that was heated to 170 and then turned off...I remove 5 mins before baking so I can preheat my oven. 4) While the dough is rising last 5 mins., preheat the oven to 375°F. 5) Gently poke the dough all over with your index finger. 6) Drizzle it lightly with olive oil and brush around top, and sprinkle extra seasoning, and/or the dried herbs of your choice, if desired. 7) Bake the bread until it's golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. 8) Remove it from the oven, wait 5 minutes, then turn it out of the pan onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Recipe Adapted from: King Arthur Flour, No Fuss Focaccia Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home I honestly get phone calls and emails about this recipe all the time, its my most requested. I had stored this recipe in my files on my website and realized I never blogged about it. Well, there is no mincing words, this is simply tasty. Super moist and flavorful. Everything you want in a quick bread. Enjoy! - Diane My Best Banana Bread *recipe makes ONE- 9x5 inch loaf Ingredients: 1/2 cup butter, melted 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans 2 medium bananas, mashed with fork. *demerara sugar for sprinkling/topping Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Grease One 9x5 inch loaf pan. In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter and sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla, mix well. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the butter mixture until smooth. Finally, fold in the sour cream, walnuts and bananas. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Cool loaf in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely. Recipe and Photo by: Diane Baker for Canning and Cooking at Home |