BBA Challenge: English Muffins

The English muffins nearly defeated me. My excitement turned to dismay when I split open the first batch and found doughy centers, and I resigned myself to trying again. For the purposes of the challenge I try to make each bread one time and move on to the next, just to keep things going, but I couldn’t let this go. Read more

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Gingerbread Scones

With wide eyes and a booming voice, Top Gun shouted, “Mommy, are you making stones? I love those!”

Our boys adore scones (even if they still can’t say it) and with all the excitement in the kitchen you would think some fabulous dessert was in the works instead of simple gingerbread scones for breakfast. After the scones had cooled a little I arranged them on the plate, leaving one for the boys to share while I quickly took a few photos. The flavor of these is such a delight that there wasn’t a single crumb left after breakfast and Michael asked me to make a double batch next time. Read more

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BBA Challenge: Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread

I am so behind on the BBA Challenge that I probably will not catch up to the rest of the group, but I will keep working my way through the book, maybe finishing in time for the anniversary of the challenge in May.

This particular bread is our favorite so far, and with cranberries and orange for flavoring it is a perfect bread for the holidays and would be a lovely bread to toast and slather with maple cranberry butter for Christmas morning. This was quite a hit at home and will become a Christmas tradition for our family. The only thing I did different was to use part bread flour and part white whole wheat flour, and we thought the texture was excellent. Read more

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Whole Wheat and Flaxseed Bread

This whole wheat and flaxseed bread is one of our favorites we have made from the new Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day (review). It truly is a whole grain bread, no all-purpose flour in the formula, just flaxseed and whole wheat flour. The flaxseed adds many important nutrients as well as flavor to this dense loaf. The vital wheat gluten is added to help the loaf maintain structure while rising and baking, otherwise the loaf could collapse under the weight of the ingredients.

We made the bread exactly as instructed the first time, then played around with it. The loaf with roasted garlic had some fabulous flavor and we’ll definitely make that variation again.

The method is easy, just stir together all the ingredients in a bucket, cover and let it rise, then refrigerate the dough until you are ready to bake. The dough will keep in the refrigerator for up to 10 days and makes up to four loaves, an easy way to keep dough on hand and get healthy quality bread on your family’s table.

WHOLE WHEAT AND FLAXSEED BREAD

Adapted from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, by Jeff Hertzberg, M.D. and Zoë François. (review)

Makes 4 (16-ounce) loaves.

Equipment

dough bucket with lid (I use food service buckets.)
pizza peel or flat cookie sheet, dusted with flour
parchment paper (optional)
baking stone
small cast iron pan or roasting pan
serrated bread knife or lame

Ingredients

1/2 cup (52 g) ground flaxseed
7 cups (896 g) whole wheat flour
1-1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (or 2 packets)
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/4 cup (36 g) vital wheat gluten
3-3/4 cups (900 ml) lukewarm water

Preparation

1. MIX: Whisk together the flaxseed, flour, yeast, salt, and gluten in the bucket. Add the water and stir with a heavy wooden spoon. The dough is heavy (really, not kidding) and you might need to use your hands to incorporate the last bit of dry flour. (You can also do this in a heavy duty stand mixer with the paddle attachment.)

2. Cover the bucket (not airtight) and allow the dough to rest at room temperature until it rises and collapses, about 2 hours. Refrigerate for up to 10 days. (The dough works best when it’s had time to chill.)

3. SHAPE: Dust the surface of the chilled dough with flour. Cut off a 1-pound piece of dough (about the size of a large grapefruit). Dust it with more flour and quickly shape into a round ball or batard.

• Ball: Stretch the surface of the dough on all four sides, rotating one-quarter turn as you go.
• Batard: Shape into a ball then start elongating and stretching the dough until it has a diameter of about 3 inches. Roll the dough into a shape that tapers at the ends.

4. REST: Place the shaped dough on a pizza peel or unrimmed cookie sheet dusted with flour or covered with parchment. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest for 90 minutes (40 minutes if using fresh unrefrigerated dough).

5. BAKE: Thirty minutes before baking time, place baking stone on middle rack and preheat the oven to 450° F/230° C. Place the cast iron skillet or empty broiler pan on rack below. Just before baking, slash the dough in three diagonal 1/4-inch deep parallel cuts using the bread knife or lame. Slide dough directly onto the hot stone, or you can also slide the parchment onto the stone. Pour 1 cup tap water or ice cubes into the skillet or broiler pan and quickly close the door. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until richly browned and firm. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing. (Trust me, waiting is the hardest part.)

Variation

Roast a head of garlic and mix the roasted cloves in with the dough. Refrigerate and bake as directed above.

More Bread With Whole Grains

More Healthy Bread in Five From Around the Blogs

Kalyn’s Kitchen – White Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil

Big Black Dog – Whole Grain Challah with Cranberries and Orange Zest

Lor’s Lipsmacking Goodness – Ten Grain Bread

Carrots ‘n’ Cake – Chocolate Espresso Whole Wheat Bread

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BBA Challenge: Cornbread with Bacon

I realized as I started this challenge that I had forgotten to mention the cinnamon and sticky buns, which I actually made for the first time two years ago with The Daring Bakers. Since I had made them for a previous challenge I decided I did not need to repost them, though I highly recommend the recipe as they were delicious.

Now for the cornbread. This is one challenge where I suspected Mr. Reinhart and I might butt heads. I grew up eating my Southern mother’s and grandmothers’ cornbread, which is definitely not sweet. For me, eating sweet cornbread is akin to eating dessert, at least some of the versions I’ve tasted. Reinhart’s recipe has granulated sugar, brown sugar, and honey, a triple punch of sweet, but I made it exactly as directed so I could get the full essence of what he intended. Read more

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The Daring Cooks Make Vegan Dosas

For the Daring Cooks September challenge, we made vegan dosas adapted from the reFresh cookbook by Ruth Tal. Fresh is a popular chain of vegetarian/vegan restaurants in Toronto, Canada with three published cookbooks teaching how to cook Fresh food at home. Our host Debyi of Healthy Vegan Kitchen chose this fun challenge for us, and I for one am grateful because this is the first time I’ve ever made Indian food and witnessed our two older boys actually eat it. Builder Guy (6) has recently developed a taste for spicy foods—good thing because we like our spices—and Top Gun (5) is finally coming around and trying new things. Monkey Boy is still a picky three-year-old, but he did eat one of the plain dosas. We thought the dosas were delicious and would eat that coconut curry sauce on just about anything. Read more

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