Tag Archives: bread

26 Jun

Life changing bread

I have recently started a sour dough starter, and keep it alive by feeding it daily or every other day. I make bread with it once a week. I am astounded with the time and scheduling it takes. I have had many learning moments while keeping the starter, starting a fresh starter, and making the bread. The entire process takes patience. I have been humbled by the details that go into each step. When I have decided to do my own thing, outside the process, or shorten the process, the bread is a fail. I have learned something with each loaf.

I found the following article interesting. Though it is not sour dough or yeast bread, it falls into the category of life lessons just the same, and has meaning in the title “life changing bread”. Enjoy the article.

The Life-Changing Loaf of Bread

10 Jan

BREAD!!!!!

I am so excited! Stupidly excited! I am happy happy happy! I have craved a slice of homSo excitedemade bread for a while now…just never tried making it. This week I finally did it. I decided to try gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, soy-free, BREAD – just quit putting it off; quit buying it, and see if I could make a loaf of bread!

I did it!!!!!! It is beautiful.

When you have a sensitivity to stuff, these little things make all the difference! I am dancing and laughing! Like a little kid excited!! It works! It is real bread!

Here’s the recipe I used:

Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Nut-free, Soy-free Bread
adapted from Bob’s Red Mill Sandwich Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1-1/2 cups Milk (warmed cow, rice, soy milk, or coconut milk)
  • 2-1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
  • 3 cups Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Flour
  • 2 Tbsp Sugar
  • 3/4 cup Eggs (must measure 3/4 cup)*
  • 1/4 cup Olive Oil (or other preferred oil)
  • 1 tsp Cider Vinegar
  • 3/4 tsp Sea Salt

Instructions:

  1. In a small bowl, add the yeast to warm milk and let sit until yeast begins to foam (about 5 minutes). Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer, combine all remaining ingredients. Add yeast/milk mixture and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl with a spatula, if needed. If you do not have a stand mixer, an electric hand mixer will also work.
  2. Place dough in a greased 9 x 5-inch nonstick pan. Smooth top of dough with a spatula. Cover and let rise in a warm place (75-80°F) until dough is level with the top of the pan (approximately 30-40 minutes).
  3. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 60-65 minutes. Do not under-bake. To prevent over-browning, cover with foil after the first 15 minutes of baking. To test for doneness, tap loaf with a fingernail. A crisp, hard sound indicates a properly baked loaf.
  4. Remove from oven; turn loaf out of pan and cool thoroughly on a wire rack before slicing.

MY NOTES:

  • I used canned coconut milk so I had the thick cream and water well mixed before using it in the recipe. I think the cream helps a lot!
  • ALSO, IMPORTANT: take three eggs and blend them a bit, then measure, as in the instructions; this is a better measure than just measuring whole eggs.
  • Where I am at in AR, It took about 30-40 minutes to rise to just above the pan, and it took about 30 minutes to bake. So, just watch the baking and when it is browned on top, and the internal temperature is 160 or above, it is done
  • The key to this whole thing is this Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 Baking Flour. This special blend of gluten-free flours and starches makes it easy to transform traditional recipes into gluten-free recipes – no additional specialty ingredients or custom recipes required. It is made to be a direct replacement for all-purpose flour.

It is perfect!!!!!! So good!!!!!!! I love bread!