40 minute buns rock!

Just a quick post to give a mention for these great 40 minute hamburger buns. I started making them 5:30 and they were ready at 6:30. I did let them rise for more than the 10 minutes suggested. And they were huge for our tiny burger patties, haha! I usually make really big patties too. Oh well!

These are so soft and delicious you just want to gobble them up with out the burger! Definitely try this recipe from the Fresh Loaf:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/18873/40-minute-hamburger-buns-or-rolls

Here is recipe:
Ingredients
* 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
* 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water (110° to 115°)
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 egg
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions
* In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let
* stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a
* soft dough.
*
* Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about
* 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces (I make 6-8 depending on how big I want the buns to be); shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
*
* Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes
* or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
* Yield: 1/2 dozen to 1 dozen.

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins with Uber topping!

So sweet, more of a dessert than good afternoon snack for the kiddos, but I couldn't help but topping these bad boys with large doses of brown sugar and white sugar mixed. It bubbled and melted and turned the tops into little sugar houses that was so sweet and flaky you just couldn't stop gobbling them up! Here they are just out of the oven. What's missing is all the mini muffins that are already in our tummies! No just kidding, they are still in the oven baking. ;)

Orignial Recipe Click here

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I left this out, I think I must have finished up our vanilla!)
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I'm sure I put more)
• Mix a 1/3 cup with 1/3 brown sugar 2/3 white sugar and use it to top the muffins.

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Cover tops of muffins with sugar mixture and check back to make sure they are still sugar covered before you toss them in the oven. I always put too little but this time it was PLENTY! Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. 

sourdough introduction - pizza dough & garlic knots

My sourdough experience began about 6 weeks ago with some failed starter. Now that I have a good starter, Carl's 1847 Oregon Trail starter (click to find out how to get some of your own free starter), and have aged it a bit I decided to try a couple recipes. Started out with some flapjacks and biscuits. The biscuits were terrible little bricks but the flapjacks were great and we could taste the sourness and it was amazingly delicious!!! I had never eaten flapjacks before so it really confused me when they came out so thin! I thought I did something wrong but my hubby said they were perfect. So yah!

Next I made pizza dough and garlic knots. The pizza dough came out too crispy, I think I won't par bake it next time. The garlic knots were amazing, soft and light yet crispy and buttery. I must say that there is A LOT of butter in the recipe and I really can't make these too often. Here is the recipe as they looked looked about the same: Sourdough Pizza Dough

Park Baked Sourdough Pizza

 

I think my pizza might have been a little less crispy buttery fried if I had not par baked it, although it was great the night of I prefer a soft crust. Not doughy but not crispy either. I will try this recipe again with out the pre-baking and I'm sure it will be perfect.  We always eat the end result so fast I forget to take pictures. I tend to make the same style each time - Mediteranean. You can put all or some of the following toppings: pesto sauce, cheese, sun dried tomato, mushroom, olives, feta, and artichoke. I also added fake pepperoni last time just for fun. 

Great to Par Bake if you plan on freezing though!

Now the Garlic Knots (modeled after The Great American Pizza company's "doughnots") were AMAZING! At least for my first try I was pretty happy. I basically just used the pizza dough recipe but kept adding flour until I had a dough ball I could work with and knead because the pizza dough was really wet, and I added Vital Wheat Gluten to the pizza dough which I didn't add to this batch. Here is recipe I kinda looked at over my should while trying to "wing" my knots. http://www.foodmayhem.com/2009/08/garlic-knots.html These are also WAY more delicious than these rolls that I made here, they ended up way too dry and I haven't gone back to make them again but not so dry. Soon but I'm enjoying playing around with my sourdough starter.

Also just a quick note that when I made these, I then melted the butter and poured it all over the top while it sat in a foil bowl that I then closed up tight and put in the oven again on a low setting just to sizzle in the butter. Yum yum butter.

Challah Challah!!

I <3 <3 <3 Challah! So I thought it time to share my recipe. ;) This recipe makes the equivalent of 3 small braided loaves or 2 larger braided loaves. I like splitting it into 2 loaves and braiding it as suggested and then putting it into a bread pan for nice slice-able bread (and even better for french toast!! yummie) Also I make one a chocolate challah and the other a plain. Pictured above is my most recent chocolate challah. Each of the ropes where rolled out with the rolling pin and filled with chocolate chips (or nutella) and then rolled up lengthwise and then as I braided it I put more chocolate chips in. End result was not enough chocolate! I want it like Hadassah's famous chocolate challah at the Marin JCC ECE! It was layer's upon layer's of chocolate with bread in between. That's my kind of chocolate bread. As soon as I figure it out I will post more about it. :)



Challah Recipe

* 7 cups flour
* 1 T salt
* 1/2 cup sugar (or honey)
* 2 pkg yeast + 1/3 cup warm water
* 1/2 cup oil
* 4 eggs
* 1 cup boiling water
* 1/2 cup cold water

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beat eggs in a small bowl.

In a large bowl mix oil, sugar and salt.

Add boiling water to large bowl and stir until all is dissolved.

Sprinkle yeast into a measuring cup with 1/3 cup warm water. Wait a few minutes, then stir.
Add cold water to mixture in large bowl. (The stuff in the bowl should now be the right temperature to add yeast. If too hot, wait a few minutes; if too cold, put the bowl in the microwave to heat it.)
Add yeast to large bowl.
Add eggs to large bowl, reserving about 1 tablespoon.
Add flour 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Turn out dough onto floured board and knead for 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed (but not too much). Dough is ready if it springs back after being poked with a finger.
Put back into bowl, cover with dishtowel, and put in warm oven (heated to 170-200, and then turned off beforehand) until doubled - about 1 hour.
Turn out onto floured board and knead for 1-2 minutes.
Divide dough into thirds.
Take one of the thirds, and knead for another minute. Form into 8-12 small "snakes" for bulkies, or 3 large snakes for braid. Make bulkies by knotting each small snake and pinching the ends together. Place bulkies close together pinched-end down in greased pan (I use a silicon mat covered baking sheet or a oil greased bread pan). For braids, pinch ends of 3 large snakes together and begin braiding. Pinch ends together when done. Place in greased loaf pan.

Repeat for 2 other thirds. Put formed loaves/bulkies into oven (pre-heated and then turned off, as before) for about 45 minutes.
Remove from oven. Turn oven to 350.
Brush tops gently with reserved egg. Sprinkle with poppy seeds, if desired.
Bake for about 30 minutes (loaves) or 20 minutes (bulkies). Times will vary. Watch for moderate browning on top, but be careful not to allow scorching on bottom.

even more perfect wonderful whole wheat fluffy sandwich loaf

I really didn't think my bread could get any more perfect than it already was but low and behold these beauties are amazing!

Can you see how light and fluffy! It is so soft and delicious and sweet and oh so perfect. What did I change you ask? Well I ran out of oats. Never thought the oats where drying the bread out so much but hey, each trial teaches you something new! So I replaced the 1 cup oats with a 1/2-2/3 cup unbleached white flour. I also finally bought honey! So 1/4 cup honey and still kept the 2Tbsps of white sugar to give it that sweet yummie bread flavor I was looking for. Then I also painted the tops with honey before baking. Now I could have gone without that because my hands are so sticky from each time I hold the bread to cut it. I also keep it wrapped up in plastic which makes it a little stickier! (haha!) So here is the orignal recipe. And here the new one with adjustments made for this round! ROUND 6!

Yield: 2 loaves
Ingredients:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast

2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)

2 tablespoons milk 2 tablespoons oil

4 tablespoons or 1/4 cup honey

2 Tbsp White Sugar

4 tablespoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten (Bob's Red Mill is what I used)

2.5 cups all-purpose flour

3 cups whole wheat flour

Instructions:

1. Combine first 2 ingredients with a pinch of sugar and let proof for 5 minutes. I did this in the measuring cup so that I could put the next 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir while waiting for the proof. Once bubbly and fluffy add the yeast mix to the mixing bowl and stir.

2. Add flours, vital wheat gluten and salt and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. I do this in my kitehenaid mixer. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes to 1.5 hours.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into two loaves. Place in 2 greased loaf pans and cover. Let rise in a warm place until it is the size you would like your loaf to be once baked. It will not rise in the oven, maybe a little, so don't put it in the oven until you like how it looks. I painted the top with warm honey and then you can sprinkle all kinds of oats or seeds or anything on top that would like to make it pretty. I left everything off because then I have to sweep the floor even more often.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon cover it with some foil. My loaves were perfect after 30 minutes. Very soft and tend but almost hard and hollow when knocked on.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. I removed it to a wire rack to cool. Slice and enjoy while still warm or wait until cooler so that your bread slices nicely! (click here for a little bread slicing tutorial) Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

march breads

I know I mentioned this before but finding the time to blog about my baking is very difficult for me. This month I will just be posting everything I baked and a few I forgot to take pics of for the blog. I baked a little less this month over last month but still had a wonderful array of yummie yeasties and I even ventured into trying some wet breads and sourdough.

Here I made some Garlic Naan! It came out wonderful! So much so that I actually made it twice. The first week in March and the second week to go with a yummy vegetarian red curry.

I don't have a pizza stone so I put my cast iron flat iron in the oven and it came out brilliant! Here is the naan cooking away in the oven.


And here is the final product.

After reading the March round up from BYOB I was totally inspired to make the chocolate brioche that Roxanna made from Green Girl. I stayed traditional in shape but liked the idea of using Nutella inside instead of the chocolate chips and boy did this taste good. But bottom line - it was just like my chocolate challah bread. I need to do a little more reading about what makes Brioche a Brioche instead of just calling it an egg bread! I think I ate most of it!




So I picked up Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day and tried out the recipe for the fluffy sandwich bread on page 92. It was much better than the 10 grain cereal one tried in January but still wasn't not sold on it as a regular staple in my house. It was still really dense and the strong yeast smell made my husband not want to eat it. So it lasted a long time. But it was super delish toasted with butter and thinly sliced extra sharp cheddar cheese. My personal favorite is Tillamock's Vintage White Cheddar - extra sharp. I pick up the 2lb block every time I go to Costco as this is truly my favorite cheese. The hamburger buns were from the same batch of dough and they came out pretty good too but still hubby didn't like the smell.

As you can see it came out with quite a nice texture and was soft but not as soft as my favorite whole wheat bread that I keep making. You can see a few pics below or click here for the recipe.

Here is my next round of Bagels that really did not fair that well! I'm not sure what I am doing wrong but they come out so FLAT and this time they were all gooey in the middle where the water seeped in while boiling and didn't seem to cook off. I feel like my dough is too dry so as I shape the balls the top dough tears leaving places for the water to sneak in. I'd love some help here if anyone knows what to do or how to help me. I will be trying it again this week and will try to keep my dough a little more hydrated and hopefully more pliable. I need the gluten to do it's job so maybe I should knead it longer too. hmmm.....

Here I cut the yucky part out of the middle so that I could eat it. Ew! Didn't taste bad though. LOL!

Of course another round of chocolate chip banana bread. And muffins too but they didn't have any chocolate. That way I can send it for snack to school with Mr. H.

Round 5 of favorite whole wheat oat bread. Here's the recipe. I really feel like it just gets better every time.

So I ventured into the realm of sourdough bread. I think this one needs it's own post which will come later but bottom line is it came out more like a french loaf because my sourdough starter was bad. Still tastes good though, hehe.

Sliced up nice too! I made it because I really wanted to have pannini's for dinner. I served this sandwiches with a really delicious broccoli cheddar soup (I adjusted it to be vegetarian). Here is the link for that recipe because it was amazing. I highly recommend doubling the recipe to serve 8 so that you have enough leftovers.


What I didn't get a chance to take pictures of were my beautiful Calzones! They were so pretty with the rolled twisted edges and the filling was to die for, adults got mediterraian style and the kiddo's got pizza pocket style. Yum yum. I baked them in the oven just like I did the naan above. I put my cast iron flat iron in the oven and baked it on one side only. Super duper great.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins - small batch so they went super quick. Only two left and a picture with two muffins only is a sad picture.

Also put together a pan full of my no-bake eggless granola bars. Super quick and easy, here is the recipe:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped cashews
1 cup coconut flakes - dry unsweetened - I love this so sometimes I add extra, yum yum!
1 cup oats
1 cup puffed rice cereal
1 cup kamut puffed cereal
1/4 cup flax meal
Put all in a 9x11 pan and toast @ 350 degrees in the oven for 12 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes so they don't burn. While that is toasting heat 3/4 cup honey and 7 Tbsp coconut oil on the stove till warm and mixed. Combine the honey and dry toast ingredients and then press into the 9x11 pan. Let cool. Place in the fridge to get extra hard. Pull out, flip over onto a cutting board and make your granola bars! Too much honey and they are too gooey and fall apart when not super cold from the fridge. Still really good but almost too sweet when there is too much honey. I wrap each individually and keep in the fridge for quick snack access. You can press chocolate chips into the top after pressing into the pan for chocolate coconut granola bars. My favorite!

Busy Monday

Yesterday was a busy day! Here's my 4th round oft favorite whole wheat bread recipe!

Also made our hamburger buns for our yummy eggplant burgers that I was making for dinner. Talk about kids loving veggies! This was a hit, a definite one for the books. The hamburger buns on the other hand didn't look perfect but tasted great. I topped some with onion and some with sesame.

And the bagels of course!

More Bagels

Loving the bagels. Think this might be a regular thing. Next time bigger batches and freeze some since these only last a week!

Aebleakivers aka Danish Pancakes

I'd been meaning to try these for about 3 years and I finally did it this morning! The were amazing! Super cool ball pancakes that I put chocolate and banana inside of it. Actually I put Nutella in them and a slice of banana and it was off the hook! I also put jam in one of the rounds and the kids couldn't stop eating them. Yeah! Another unhealthy meal. So next time I'll try with whole wheat flour and maybe coconut oil instead of butter. I love experiments! Here is the recipe that I used, just found a random one online. Thanks Skinny Gourmet!

Blueberry Crumb Cake by Ina Garten as seen on Barefoot Contessa

So I had another craving but this time it involved blueberry crumb cake. I always love Ina Garten's recipes as they never fail to be less than absolutely outstanding. The sour cream in this recipe makes it so moist and delicious. So good I forgot to get a picture! The one on the left is from the Food Network.... so here is the link to Ina's recipe.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Gone in less the 6 hours. Having friends over to help eat it was a pleasure too! Babies and all the kiddos. yum!

Ingredients

For the streusel:
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup fresh blueberries
Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

 

Directions

For the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:
Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:
Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Updated: 10/20/2015
We loved this so much that I made 1 each week until my husband announced he had to go on a diet because I wouldn't stop baking. It was soon after that we found out he had an allergy to cow milk proteins and began our transition to dairy free and then to goat milk! Check out our little farmstead on facebook. Like us and follow! Farmchild Homestead

Bagel Time

This is my second time trying bagels this month. I'm not sure how good I am at it yet. Seems like the plain ones keep going flat and saucer like but the ones I put a topping on stayed puffy. Not sure why yet. All the recipes tell me to only let them rise for 20 minutes before I boil them but they are never risen enough yet so I leave them for 2 hours. Maybe that's why they are flat but if I don't wait that long I'd have little bagels. I'll keep working on this one. Not everything comes out perfect the first time (or second). So as you can see they rise just fine, this was about half way through the rise time.

Then they boiled up great too. The recipe I tried this time said a total of 7 minutes boiling, the last one said 3 minutes, I think it made them softer.

I put slug slime (some crazy mix of toppings from a bagel shop near Humboldt or Arcadia. I will have to find out again but Oma brought some over for us to use.

The plain ones look a little flat.....but the topped ones are perfect. Also the bottoms got a bit too crunchy on the plains, I even pulled them out a little early.

I had to bake them on the bottom racked because I had 2 quiches baking on the top rack so that might account for the crispier bottoms. It was 375 degrees for 30 minutes. They came out at 27 minutes.

Yum yum close up.

Slicing Bread & Round 3 Whole Wheat Bread

So here goes, this is how I've figured out to slice my whole wheat sandwich bread so it comes out just like store bought bread slices.

First have a decent bread knife, doesn't have to be amazing or expensive, it's all about your wrist! I do quick little slices back and forth, gently pressure, just like I'm an electric knife. I picture what those bread slicers do in the store and try do it with my knife on just one slice. I know I'm a dork. But I like to see things in my head, it's how my brain works. So just keep doing that till you reach the bottom and you did it!

Second you have to hold the slice upright so that it doesn't fall over and crack in half since this is really nice soft bread and you want it perfectly thin. Just like the picture above. Also the longer the loaf rises the fluffier it will be and the harder it is to slice and the more important it is for you to support the slice while cutting it.

Third, you can flip the bread over and slice it upside down. It squashes the top a little but it bounces back, just don't push too hard!


So this is my round 3 loaf, one of them, and as you can see they do come out different every time. So why does it look so different this time? Well hubbie helped out. I had to go to the store so he brushed the tops with half and half instead of milk and also they hadn't risen quite to where I wanted them when he put them in the oven. I also told him to leave off the oat sprinkle from the top because all it does is make a mess. Don't get me wrong, I think it looks pretty and all but this was just more practical.

So you can see the pretty bouncy muffin top is gone, it's a little denser too. It also did not "deflate" like the last couple batches. Not a bad thing but the other loaves you can see how wrinkled they were on top from the "deflating". I also like to wrap them up in plastic as they come out of the oven to maintain the moisture and so the crust gets soft because I personally dislike crunchy crust on my sandwich bread.

Garlic Pull Apart Rolls

Garlic pull apart rolls came out delicious!!! Definitely making again. I froze a few too for dinner next week. Next time I'll freeze them before the second rise.



Also thinking of making extra garlic butter to brush the tops with next time.

Wonderful Whole Wheat Bread - round 2

This is a follow up to my original post here for my favorite perfect whole wheat sandwich bread.



The dough will be stiff and feel dryer than a white bread dough - that's ok.








For the second rise I cover it with plastic wrap loosely that's been sprayed with oil because I have a cold kitchen. I also drape it with a towel and set it near the oven that is usually on.







Once completely risen to the height you would like your bread to be (it doesn't rise much in the oven) gently paint the tops with milk and sprinkle oats on it.






Oh I love the smell of the warm bread. We eat one right away and I freeze the other one as we tend to go through 2 loaves each week.






Ok so here's my tip of the day for getting perfect store bought slices out of your loaf! Turn it upside down and if you aren't using an electric knife (I don't have one) cut like you are using an electric knife. Also, if you like thin slices hold the slice up so it doesn't break in half. You'll see what I mean when you try it. Kinda hard to explain. I'll try get a picture next time.

Chocolate Cravings??? Well I had one for chocolate chip banana bread

Thanks Rachel Ray for having great recipes. Got this one from her website and it came out delicious! I added extra chocolate chips too. :0 Here's the recipe or click here for the link to her site: As you can see we were so excited to eat it I didn't get picture till we were almost half way through it!




Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 bananas, mashed (1 cup mashed banana)
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Preparation

Pre-heat the oven to 350°F .

Grease and flour a 8 1/2-inch x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan (or use baking spray, such as Baker's Joy brand).

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, baking soda and salt. Mix in the oil, bananas and eggs. Stir in the chocolate chips (do not overmix!) and pour into the prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 70-80 minutes. Cool the loaf in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely, right side up.

Notes for next time: Double the recipe and freeze one loaf because we obviously eat it way too fast! I almost did and am not quite sure why I decided against it. Darn!

Quick Update for the week

So I'm having a terrible time finding time! How does everyone else do it? Taking pictures, posting recipes, links oh my gosh! I've take the pictures but just wanted to give a quick update with out pictures of what's been made in the last week.

Baked 2 more whole wheat bread's. I forgot to mention that I paint the top with milk and sprinkle oats just before I pop it in the oven.

Made a delicious pizza - actually 2! Ok so pics and recipe to come.....actually we ate the pizza so fast I didn't get a picture of the finished product, yikes! Just the dough. haha! next time. I make them every week so we have more chances still for this months round up.

Wish me luck. ;)

Menu: Feb. 13th - 19th

The next couple days are sounding very yummy! I want it all now! So just because it's next to a certain day doesn't mean that I actually make it on that day. LOL! It's my goal though.

Sunday: Ronzoni Garden Delight Pesto Spaghetti w/Parmesan Roasted Asparagus & Garlic Buns (Garlic Buns are compliments of Green Girl @ A little bit of everything

Monday: Mediterranean Pesto Pizza & Salad (includes sun-dried tomato's, artichoke hearts, olives & feta for toppings) Special Dessert for Valentines Day: shooting for Red Velvet Whoopie Pies)

Tuesday: Taco Salad (I use Morningstar Farms Crumble for the meat)

Wednesday: Chili Baked Potatos or maybe Twice Baked Potatos

Thursday: Split Pea Soup & Cheesy Herbed Pull Apart Bread (also from A little bit of everything) - the soup will be either the split pea or the split mung bean that Green Girl made, just depends on pricing once I get to the store.

Friday: Bean Burritos (easy and we don't need left overs for hubbies lunch the next day, this is like a day off for me.)

Saturday: I have no clue. I'm open to suggestions.....maybe someone will invite us over for dinner somewhere. ;)

I will add recipes and photo's as time permits. I'm baking 2 of my Whole Wheat Bread loaves right now and will get started on the Garlic Buns shortly! First my grocery list though....

100% Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

First I have to give credit to Heavenly Homemakers for testing this recipe out first! Here is the link to Laura's blog on the buns: Homemade Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

Mine came out delicious and fluffy. The only change would be to bake them on a cookie sheet instead of the casserole dish because my round buns ended up with square bottoms! haha!

So next time I will roll balls out instead of cutting it out with a cup so that I get the round buns that I love so much. I did a 1/2 recipe so I only got 6 buns and one twist roll that I didn't take a picture of for the blog. Also I have a cold kitchen so I left mine to rise for a lot longer and they still came out wonderful! Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it:

Homemade Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

5 cups (+) whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 pkgs regular or active dry yeast (4 1/2 t.)
2 T. honey
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup milk
2 T. butter
2 t. sea salt

In a large mixing bowl, stir together 3 cups of whole wheat flour and 1 1/2 cups warm water. Set aside to let rest for 30 minutes. In the meantime, mix together 1/4 cup water, yeast and honey. Allow this to sit for at least 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Melt butter, milk and salt in a small saucepan on the stove. Do not allow the mixture to get above 120 degrees.

Pour yeast mixture and milk mixture into flour mixture. Add remaining two cups of flour (more if needed).

Knead for about 10 minutes until dough begins to look “shiny”. Put dough back into the bowl, cover and let rise for at least an hour…or until it has doubled.

Pull dough onto a clean counter top and knead for a couple of minutes to get any air bubbles out. Roll dough on a lightly floured surface until about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut circles from the dough with a large drinking glass or wide mouth jar. Place circles on in a well buttered baking dish about an inch apart.

Allow to rise for about 30 minutes. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Makes about 18 buns.

Wonderful Whole Wheat Bread

Update: New post - round 2 - with more pictures and tips. Click here.

So I baked a double batch of a wheat recipe that I've been playing with for a while. Here the link to Tammy's Homemade Wheat Bread but I changed it a little - of course!. I will post my version of the recipe below. First what went wrong: Nothing other than the big holes in the middle! I will never again roll my dough out and then snail it up again to get a dough log for rising. I keep getting these darn holes in the middle. Other than that it was delicious, could have been a little sweeter. It's super fluffy making it a little harder to slice but it is so nice and tough from the vital wheat gluten that it doesn't tear! So yippie. I'm so close to my perfect loaf! Enjoy and let me know how you might do things differently.

Yield:

2 loaves

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons active dry yeast
2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons honey (I replaced it with agave &/or white sugar because I was out of honey)
4 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten (Bob's Red Mill is what I used)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup old fashioned oats (dry - uncooked)

Instructions:

1. Combine first 2 ingredients with a pinch of sugar and let proof for 5 minutes. I did this in the measuring cup so that I could put the next 4 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir while waiting for the proof. Once bubbly and fluffy yeast mix the yeast mixture into the mixing bowl and stir.

2. Add flours, vital wheat gluten, oats and salt and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. I do this in my kitehenaid mixer. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes. Well it's winter so I left it for almost 3 hours but mainly cause I had to go grocery shopping. Came home and it was HUGE!

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in 2 greased loaf pans and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes. I left it for about an hour or until I thought it was a good height for baking. It rose slightly int he oven but not much at all. So pick your height.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. I covered it with plastic wrap for about 5-10 minutes to soften the crust. Then I removed it to a wire rack and covered it with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

Note for next time:
More sugar/agave/honey

Here it all begins....I accept the challenge to bake my own bread for 2011

Bread Experience is offering a Bake Your Own Bread 2011 Challenge. Here is link for all the details.

I will start at the beginning by accepting this challenge. Next I will post pictures of my wheat bread that I just defrosted. I'm a little late but I have been baking all my own breads since last July (2010). Hopefully I can actually find the time to chronicle my triumphs and tribulations. I am excited to to work on some of the healthy bread in 5 minutes a day recipes too. That will come a little later. I'm still trying to find the "perfect" whole wheat loaf recipe that slices great, is nice and sweet but tangy and doesn't tear easy. I think I'm pretty close with this one. I have a few requirements that I will post about with the pictures.

So we will start there.

I LOVE freshly baked bread...who doesn't!