non-bakers bread

OK, so I am not a great baker. I love all the yummy confections bakers make but I have never had a mixer and I often skip dessert. I do love home made bread and as soon as my budget will afford I would love to have a great standing mixer on my counter. My friend Lili, who gives me a lot of great recipes, just passed on one of my new faves. This bread is so easy!!! Even my mixer less kitchen can do it. I love it too because it takes less time from start to finish than my staple, Sunday Rhodes rolls. It is also very delicious. It is so good I promise you will think it is straight from the Macaroni Grill.

Mix together with a spoon
2 Cups warm water
1 Tbs. yeast
1 Tbs sugar

add
4 cup flour
2 tsp salt

Let rise in bowl with a rag over it for 40 min. to 1 hour until doubles in size. Pinch dough in half roll into two little balls (about the size of a soft ball). Grease cookie sheet and spread corn meal over grease. Set your two dough balls on the cookie sheet. Let rise another 45 min. covered. Melt about 1 Tbs. of butter and brush on tops of dough.

bake at 425 degrees F. for 10 min. Reduce heat to 375 degrees F. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.

We like to slice it in wedges and eat it with salads or dinner. I think it would also be good with balsamic and EVOO for dipping.

D's Favorite Whole Wheat Bread

We make a lot of bread in our house, especially since my husband, Todd decided to become a master at artisan bread baking. So I tend to leave most of the white flour-based breads to him, but whole wheat is my domain. I grew up in a house where we ate whole wheat everything - bread, pancakes, waffles . . . you name it. So when it comes to sandwich bread (artisan breads are a whole separate matter), quite honestly, I have a hard time even looking at white wonder bread-types, let alone the thought of eating them. (The only white sandwich bread I will eat is Grandma Sycamore's, which can be found out in Utah - that's my one exception).

So, this is my family's favorite whole wheat bread recipe, which my mom passed on to me from Walton Feed. It is incredibly moist and oh-so-yummy!!!

Since I'm a huge fan of whole wheat, let me just share a few tips with you. Nowadays, I use almost exclusively hard white wheat. There are a lot of people out there who aren't crazy about whole wheat because of the texture or density of it. The hard white wheat, as opposed to hard red wheat, is not as dense or quite as nutty flavored, but still contains all the same nutritional value as the red wheat. For this reason, I can often substitute up to half of the wheat in things like cookies, etc. and people don't even know the difference.

I've had people ask me where to buy the hard white wheat, and it's super easy if you live out west, especially Utah, where you can get it at grocery stores like Macy's or emergency preparedness places. Out here in Iowa, I have to drive to an Amish store and buy it there, but I can buy it in bulk and it's great.

My next tip is that if at all possible, it is ideal to use freshly ground wheat because after it is ground, it starts losing some of its nutritional value as it sits on your shelf. That doesn't mean that the ground whole wheat you've had for several months isn't still healthy - it is - but it is at it's absolute nutritional best if you use it straight from the grinder.

Ok, you're probably sick of my ranting, so I'll get on with the recipe! This recipe makes 4 loaves and fills my Bosch mixer completely. So if you have a smaller kitchen aid or other smaller mixer, you should probably cut the recipe in half or it won't fit.

D's FAVORITE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD:

3 Tbsp. yeast

1 tsp. sugar

1 cup warm water

3/4 cup honey

3/4 cup oil

2 Tbsp. salt

3 3/4 cups hot water

5 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar

12 cups whole wheat flour, divided

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water. In a large bowl (or mixer), mix the honey, oil, salt, 3 3/4 cups water, lemon juice and 6 cups of the whole wheat flour. Add the dissolved yeast mixture to the bread mixture and mix for 7-10 minutes to get the gluten working.

Gradually add in another 6 cups whole wheat flour; knead for 5 minutes in mixer (if kneading by hand, mix all ingredients and knead by hand for 10 minutes. If dough seems too sticky, add enough flour to get past sticky point, but remember that too much flour causes bread failure).
Let stand for 10 minutes. Divide and shape into 3 to 4 loaves (I always get 4 big loaves out of this). Place in greased bread pans and let rise until doubled in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. This is so good while it's still warm with homemade jam!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

This really is the best pumpkin chocolate chip bread. It is so moist and has great flavor. It can also be made into muffins. The cinnamon sugar sprinkled in the pan and on top of the batter prior to baking makes a delicious crust.

Pumpkin Bread

3 cups sugar

1 cup oil

4 eggs, beaten

1 (16oz) can pumpkin puree

3 ½ cups flour

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp cloves

2/3 cup of water

1 cup chocolate chips, optional (toss with 1 Tbsp. flour to prevent chips from sinking to the bottom of the loaf while baking.)

Cream sugar and oil together. Add eggs and pumpkin; mix well. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients alternately with water. Mix well. If adding chocolate chips, gently fold them into the batter at this point. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans. Sprinkle pans with cinnamon sugar. Pour batter into the two pans and sprinkle cinnamon sugar over the top of the batter. Bake at 350 degrees for one hour or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Once bread has cooled (at least 30-40 minutes), remove from the pans. Waiting for the bread to cool prior to removing it from the pans will ensure that your bread won't split with half of it coming out onto the cooling rack and half staying in the pan.