Posts Tagged ‘bread’

Naan

Posted: 25th February 2014 by doomthings in Dinner, Snack, The Foodening
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My best friend and I have been trying to make naan and while each attempt has turned out yummy, it’s never tasted like naan.  We tried a bunch of variations on the leavening agents and different ways of cooking/baking the bread.  This one has come the closest to that delicious delicious light fluffy flatbread called naan.

Naan | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from Food 52):

  • 3 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 3/4 cup warm milk
  • 1 cup plain yogurt
  • melted butter (or ghee) for brushing

Directions:

  1. Combine yeast, sugar, and water and let sit for 5 to 10, or until foamy (this activates the yeast).
  2. In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, and baking powder.
  3. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and milk until combined.  Add in the foamy yeast mixture.
  4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined and knead until smooth.
  5. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, and let rise for an hour or until doubled in size.
  6. When dough is ready, punch down on well floured surface and divide into 16 equal pieces.  Roll each piece to about 1/8 inch thick.
  7. Brush the dough on both sides with butter and place in a cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat for about 1 minute until bubbles form.
  8. Turn over and cook the other side for about a minute.
  9. Do the same for the remaining dough, let cool, and enjoy!

Herbed Focaccia Bread

Posted: 2nd June 2013 by doomthings in Dinner, Snack, The Foodening
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Focaccia bread is delicious.  It’s great for dipping in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and cracked pepper goo.  I recently came into enormous amounts of oregano and, after finding out you can snip fresh oregano and store it in ziploc bags in the freezer for months, put it away then decided it would be awesome in bread.  The original recipe calls for rosemary, but who can resist fresh herbs?   Originally we were going to use it as appetizer dipping bread, but we liked it so much it turned into multiple sandwiches for the next few day’s lunches.  I think I made it a bit too thick, so it was fat on the outside and too think in the middle, but it still tasted delicious!

Ingredients (Adapted from the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book):

  • 4 cups bread flour
  • 1/2 cup warm milk*
  • 1 tsp active dry yeast
  • 1 cup warm milk*
  • 2 tsp salt
  • handful fresh oregano leaves
  • olive oil (for drizzling)

*Water can be substituted for the milk (as in the original recipe).  I like the slight difference in texture and taste the milk makes.

Directions:

Day 1:  Prepare the “sponge”

  1. In a large bowl, combine the 1/2 cup warm milk, 1/2 cup of flour, and yeast; beat until smooth.
  2. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit overnight at room temperature.

Day 2:  Make the bread!

  1. Remove the plastic wrap from the sponge and stir in the oregano.  (Add more in small amounts until you think it “looks right”.
  2. Gradually stir in the 1 cup warm milk, salt, and enough flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
  3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining dough until a stiff dough is formed (smooth and elastic).
  4. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
  5. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and place a large bow upside down over the dough.  Let sit for 30 minutes.
  6. Shape the dough into a circle (about 11 inches in diameter).  Don’t work the dough too roughly to keep any air bubbles in tact.
  7. Make 1/2-inch deep indentations every 2 inches in the shaped dough and brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with coarse salt if desired.
  8. Bake at 475 degrees F for 15 – 20 minutes, or until golden on a preheated baking stone or non-preheated, greased baking sheet.


The “sponge”, day 1.
The “sponge”, day 2.
Oregano in the sponge!
Mixed and risen!
Even bigger after 30 minutes of sitting.
Shaped with finger pokes.
Lets get baking!
YUM.

 

English Muffin Bread

Posted: 8th May 2013 by doomthings in Breakfast, The Foodening
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This is a re-post of an older post.  I made this and devoured it almost immediately (with the help of my husband) so originally, there were no pictures.  Now, there are pictures.  Also, I highly recommend you make this.  Right now.  Go.

Ingredients (adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee):

  • 5 1/2 cups warm milk
  • 3 packages (each package is 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 11 cups bread flour

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Let rise for 30 – 60 minutes (until about doubled).
  3. Spoon into (4) well greased (and floured) loaf pans.
  4. Let rise in pans until dough reaches the top of the pans (30 – 60 minutes).
  5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. 10 minutes before done, brush with melted butter.  Bread will be moist at first, so allow to cool completely before cutting.

My favorite part of this recipe is that I get to throw all the ingredients in the bowl, mix, and watch.  Most yeast bread recipes require the yeast to sit in vaguely warm water and activate.  This may be why the texture is so much moister and spongier than other yeast breads.

You can eat this bread as-is, but toasting slices is so worth the wait.  I did notice that I needed to toast a single piece on the “7” setting on my toaster oven.  This might be because it is such a moist bread.  Honey, jam, butter, or other bread-spreads are all fantastic on this bread!  It lasts barely two days in our house if we don’t control ourselves (I usually half the recipe to make just two loaves just for this reason).

A few notes:

  • On this go-round, I ended up having to let the dough sit overnight because I didn’t have time to bake it the same day.  While it still ended up tasting really good, but there was an additional fermented “sourdough” flavor, not unlike the flavor I like added to my pizza dough.  I would suggest that you don’t let it sit overnight.  Try to bake these the same day.
  • You’ll notice that the baked pictures look sort of funny and are smaller than the risen picture.  This is because they sat overnight.  Normally, the baked bread would be the same size as the pre-baked risen dough.
  • Lastly, I forgot to let the dough rise in the bowl.  This didn’t seem to affect the flavor or texture.  I just let the dough rise for twice as long in the pans.


Making the dough.
Ready to rise.
RISEN.
This looks funny because I let the dough sit overnight. Don’t do that.
Nom Nom!
Delicious with honey.

+ 20 deliciosity

Avocado Banana Bread

Posted: 4th May 2013 by doomthings in Snack, The Foodening
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So, another banana bread post.  Yay!  I actually made this one first, but wasn’t sure I wanted to post it because it was good, but not as good as regular banana bread or the chocolate chip banana bread.  Don’t get me wrong, I still thought it was good, it was just more crumbly and more cake-like than moist bread-like.  I think this is because I swapped the butter for avocado one-to-one and avocado doesn’t melt like butter.  Another big change is that I omitted sugar entirely.  I found, in multiple places, that people had omitted sugar because they used  super-ripe bananas, which are already pretty sweet.

If I make this again, I probably add sugar.  The original recipe called for 1 cup of white sugar, but I would start with 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (my favorite kind of sugar; I substitute this in lots of my baking because I love the molasses taste it adds).  To make the texture more moist, I would probably add another banana (the original recipe calls for 5, yes, 5!  I think that makes it way too banana-y, but it’s really your preference.).  Despite these changes, I still thought it was really yummy!  Go forth and bake!!

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups bread flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 banana, mashed
  • 1 avocado

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
  2. In a medium bowl, beat eggs, bananas, and avocado.
  3. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.
  4. Pour batter into a greased and floured bread pan (or any smallish pan!).
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55 – 60 minutes, or until it passes the toothpick test*.

*Toothpick test:  Insert a wooden toothpick in the middle of the bread.  If it comes out clean, the bread is probably ready.  If it comes out with batter, keep on cookin’!


Fruits!
GOOO!
Ready to bake!
Finished!

English Muffin Bread

Posted: 20th March 2013 by doomthings in Breakfast, The Foodening
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This is my very favorite bread ever.  Since trying it for the first time after finding it on One Good Thing by Jillee via Pinterest, my husband and I always try to find reasons to make it.  This is horrible, because I’m pretty sure it clogs my arteries with every bite.  Regardless, we make it all the time.

One reason we attempt to make this almost every week is that it is, as previously mentioned, delicious.  The other reason is that it is completely easy to make.  Perhaps tooooooo easy…

English Muffin Bread | doomthings

Ingredients (adapted from One Good Thing by Jillee):

  • 5 1/2 cups warm water
  • 3 packages (each package is 2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
  • 2 Tablespoons salt
  • 3 Tablespoons sugar
  • 11 cups bread flour

Directions:

  1. Mix all ingredients together.
  2. Let rise for 30 – 60 minutes (until about doubled).
  3. Spoon into (4) well greased loaf pans.
  4. Let rise in pans until dough reaches the top of the pans (30 – 60 minutes).
  5. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
  6. 10 minutes before done, brush with melted butter.  Bread will be moist at first, so allow to cool completely before cutting.

In the original recipe, rapid-rise yeast is used, which means you can skip the first rise and just let them rise in the pans.  I haven’t done this (because I don’t have rapid-rise yeast), but it makes the ease of this recipe double!  My favorite part of this recipe is that I get to throw all the ingredients in the bowl, mix, and watch.  Most yeast bread recipes require the yeast to sit in vaguely warm water and activate.  I wonder if this is why the texture is so much moister and spongier than other yeast breads.

You can eat this bread as-is, but toasting slices is so worth the wait.  I did notice that I needed to toast a single piece on the “7” setting on my toaster oven.  This might be because it is such a moist bread.  I like honey on it (a new development), but jam, butter, or other bread-spreads are just as good.  This bread would last maybe two days in our house if we didn’t control ourselves (I usually half the recipe to make just two loaves just for this reason).  + 20 delicious points.