Yeast bread index

Traditional Sponge Method

Basic whole wheat bread

Millet bread

Thin pizza dough



Bread Machine Dough Recipes

Cracked wheat bread

Feta and spinach bread

Naan dough

Parmesan, pepper, and oregano bread

Pizza dough

Rye bread

Sunflower oatmeal bread

Millet bread

Using my basic recipe for Traditional Whole Wheat Bread, I doctored it up to include millet.  We love this...the millet gives the bread yellow dots, and if you don't cook it to mush, it makes the bread crunchy.

Millet Yeast Bread
Makes 2 standard sized loaves

Millet:
3 c whole millet, soaked in 1 1/2 c hot water 

Sponge:
1 1/2 c lukewarm water (85 - 105 degrees)
1 1/2 T dry yeast (2 packages)
2 - 4 T honey
1 c dry milk powder
2 c whole wheat flour
2 c white bread flour

Part two:
4 t salt
1/4 c oil
3 c whole wheat flourUp to 1 c flour for kneading

Place the millet and hot water in a bowl to soak.  Proceed with the instructions for Whole Wheat Bread (link above), adding the millet along with the salt and oil in Part two.

Traditional whole wheat bread

I have mentioned before how much I love my bread machine, but I also love love love making bread the traditional way when time allows.  I use the sponge method, which means that back in the day, I was letting the sponge rise for 45 minutes, and then letting the bread rise three more times!  Well, I've recently come to the conclusion that the more efficient yeast available today (the only thing I can easily get without a special trip) doesn't do as well with four total risings.  I am ashamed to admit that I've cut back to three total.

But you know what?  My bread really hasn't seemed to have suffered.

So even though I've tried other methods...no-knead, rapid rise, and bread machine...my all time favorite is this adaptation of the traditional method.  Your mileage may vary.  Just sayin...

Whole Wheat Yeast Bread
Makes 2 standard sized loaves

Sponge:
3 c lukewarm water (85 - 105 degrees)
1 1/2 T dry yeast (2 packages)
2 - 4 T sweetener (brown sugar, honey, molasses)
1 c dry milk powder
3 c whole wheat flour
1 c white bread flour

Part two:
4 t salt
1/3 c fat (oil or butter)
2 c whole wheat flour
1 c white bread flour
Up to 1 c white bread flour for kneading

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water.  Stir in the sweetener and milk powder.   Stir in the flour one cup at a time, using a brisk circular folding motion.  Beat the whole mass well for about 100 strokes.  Cover with a wet linen towel and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm spot.

Fold in the salt and fat.  Fold in the additional 3 cups of flour until the dough begins to come away from the side of the bowl.  Knead on a floured surface, using up to 1 additional cup of flour.  Knead for about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth and elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl.  Spray the surface with cooking spray if desired and cover.  Allow to rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.  Punch the dough down and fold it into a ball.  Remove from the bowl onto the kneading surface (most likely no more flour will be needed).  Cut into two pieces and allow to rest for 5 minutes.  Knead lightly and shape into loaves.  Place each into a sprayed loaf pan if desired.  Allow to rise for 45 minutes.  Brush the tops with an egg wash or milk if desired, and bake at 350 for about an hour.  Remove from the pans to cool.

Bunny rolls

How cute are these?

Here are the instructions that came with the image (via email from a friend):
A perfect idea for Easter! Use any sort of frozen or homemade bread dough, form your rolls, snip and lift/shape the ears during rising and carve the eyes once baked.



I wish I knew where these actually originated.  If you know, please share so I can give proper credit!  Blogger Cindy deRosier thinks it might be from Gourmet Magazine, now defunct, but hers are a little bit different. 

Thin pizza dough

We like all different types of dough for our pizza, but our favorite is probably a thin crust.  The problem?  Some of them get soggy, and many are limp.  Yuck. 

So here's a recipe for a wonderful thin dough that has the best consistency I've ever experienced.  You can even toss this stuff if you know how.  Mostly I stick to rolling it out ;-)  I got the recipe from my friend Barbara, but I don't remember what she said the source was...if you recognize it, please let me know so I can give proper credit! 

 

I used a peel and a pizza stone to cook this one.  Sometimes we do it on the grill!

Thin Pizza Dough

2 1/4 t yeast
1 3/4 c flour plus extra if needed
3/4 c water, warm
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 t olive oil

Stir together the yeast, 1 T of the flour, 1/4 c of the water, and let them stand for 5 minutes.  Stir together 1 1/4 c flour and the salt, and add the yeast mixture, oil, and 1/2 c water.  Knead.  Cover and let rise 1 hour.  Don't punch down; just sprinkle with flour and shape to a 14 inch circle.

Parmesan & Oregano Braided loaf

Shirley Moore, from Beads&Bread sent me this fabulous-looking recipe that I can't wait to try out.  Shirley mills her own flour (how jealous am I?  very!) so I'm sure her loaves are exceptional!

Parmesan & Oregano Braided loaf

1 egg
2 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups hot water
3 1/2 cups freshly milled ww flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast
1 Tbsp lecithin (optional)
1 Tbsp gluten (optional)

Add in this order to bread machine using "dough" setting. After dough finishes, remove and spread onto floured surface. Roll into a rectangle. Brush with melted butter. (about 2-3 Tbsp)
Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese. (I just used the Kraft powder kind). Sprinkle about 1 Tbsp garlic powder, and 2-3 tsp dried oregano. Roll up into tight tube from the long side.
Cut into 3 equal pieces. Shape into 3 20" tubes. Braid these together and tuck ends under. Place in greased loaf pan, let rise for 30 minutes. Bake 30 minutes @ 350.

These are just cute little garlic knots that I make for supper a lot. The kids love them. Same bread recipe, just cut into pieces, roll into "snakes" then tie into a knot and bake 350 12-14 minutes. brush with melted garlic butter before serving.

Parmesan bread

You can vary the fresh herbs contained in this bread depending upon what you've got on hand.  We really liked it with fresh oregano.  The recipe is for use with a bread machine and makes a 1-1/2 lb loaf.

Parmesan, Pepper, and Oregano Bread

1 c + 2 T water
1 T olive oil
3-1/4 c flour
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, fresh grated
1 T sugar
1 t salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
2 T oregano, fresh chopped
1-3/4 t yeast

Basic setting and medium crust.

Rye bread

I've been searching for awhile for a rye bread recipe that works well in my bread machine.  I've never had problems with rye bread when I've hand mixed and formed it, but I was having flop after flop when I tried to adapt it for my bread machine.  It tasted great, but always seemed to form a big air bubble and collapse on top!

Finally, here is one that worked well, tasted great, and made a very pretty 1.5 lb loaf:

Rye Bread

1-1/4 c water
1 T butter, softened
2-1/2 c bread flour
3/4 c rye flour
2 T dry milk powder
2 T sugar
1-1/2 t salt
1 t caraway seed
2-1/2 t yeast

Use the basic setting and choose a light or medium crust.

Feta and spinach bread

This recipe is for use in a bread machine, but those who know how to bake bread can probably adapt it to hand making with no difficulty. Anyway, the recipe makes a 1-1/2 lb loaf of chewy deliciousness, and it makes the house smell fantastic while it’s rising and baking.


Feta and Spinach Bread

¾ c water

¾ c chopped spinach
2 T olive oil

3 c flour

4 oz feta cheese, crumbled

1 T sugar

½ t salt

2 ¼ t yeast

Add ingredients in the order specified by your machine. Run the basic cycle, medium crust.

Some thoughts on bread machines

Since this blog is called Real Food Fast, I make no apology that I use a bread machine. I also know how to do it by hand, and I used to bake all of our bread that way when my kids were very little. I received a question offline that I want to share with you:

Ann wrote:

If you do not mind me asking can you tell me what brand and/or model you have? I will have to look around online but I know I use to find many bread machines at tag/yard sales and whatnot so my impression was they did not work very well.

I replied:

I think what happens to a lot of people is that they don’t think about how bread baking is going to fit into their routine. They buy a bread machine and use it a few times, and then just lose interest. It’s a big machine, and you’ve got to have a place to keep it that doesn’t eat up counter space but also is easy to fetch and carry. I keep mine on top of the dryer, so laundry day is also bread day lol!
Some of the ones you find at yard sales may not work very well…I don’t know, but I’ve had great luck with my cheapie yard sale find. It’s an old Oster, and came with an instruction booklet that I actually read lol! It has a paddle that leaves a big hole in the bottom middle of the loaf, but that doesn’t bother us too much. If it does, I take the dough out to shape and bake the old fashioned way.
All I can say is that I love this machine, and it’s the best thing I ever did, getting it. Now we have fresh bread where before, despite my best intentions, we had none! :-)

Here are two of my favorite bread machine recipes (besides Naan and Pizza Dough):


Sunflower Oatmeal Bread

1/2 c water
1/2 c + 2 T buttermilk
1 large egg
1 1/2 T butter, cut into pieces
2 T honey
1 T molasses
2 1/2 c flour
1/2 c oats
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c unsalted sunflower seeds
1 1/2 t salt
2 1/2 t yeast

Basic cycle, light crust.



Cracked Wheat Bread

3/4 c boiling water
1/2 c cracked wheat or bulgur
3 T molasses
2 T butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 t salt

3/4 c water
2 2/3 c white flour
1/3 c whole wheat flour
2 1/4 t yeast

Pour boiling water over cracked wheat in a bowl.  Add molasses through salt and let it stand 1 hour at room temperature. This mixture will be considered a liquid ingredient.

Basic cycle, light crust.

Making pizza dough

Pizza with Muffuletta salad mix, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese

Whether you buy pre-made dough, make your own by hand, or use a bread machine (like I do), eventually you've got to figure out how to get that lump of dough shaped into a pizza pie shell. Over on YouTube, Momspizzadough makes it look easy to shape it and get it from the peel onto your pizza stone. I tried it...it is easy!

One of our favorite pizza combos is Muffuletta salad mix plus tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese!

Pizza Dough (for bread machine)

1-1/3 c water
1/4 c olive oil
2-1/2 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1 T sugar
1-1/2 t salt
2-1/4 t yeast

Set machine for dough setting. Shape dough and transfer to hot stone at 450 for about 10 minutes. Add toppings and cook 5 to 10 minutes more. Cooking can be done in oven or on grill.

Naan

One of my favorite Indian flatbreads is called Naan; I love it as an accompaniment for stews or saucy dinners. It’s got the perfect shape and texture to sop up the good stuff!

Recently, I started making the dough in my bread machine. When you take the dough out, it’s been through it’s first rising and is ready to form. My first attempt resulted in laves that were way too fat and puffy. I learned from that first experiment to flatten and stretch the loaves much more in future batches! If you don’t have a machine, I’m pretty sure this recipe would be easily adaptable to regular mixing and hand kneading.

Naan Dough for the Bread Machine

1 T peanut oil
1/2 c plain yogurt
1/2 c milk
2 c flour
1/4 t salt
1/8 t baking soda
2-1/2 t yeast

1/4 whole wheat flour for forming
Olive oil or melted butter

Run the basic dough cycle. Remove from the machine and divide in half. Divide each half into thirds. Dust the surface with whole wheat flour and roll each piece into a large flat oval. Brush oil or butter on both sides and place them on parchment paper.

Bake the naan at 450 for 6 to 8 minutes, preferably on the parchment on a pizza stone. Serve piping hot or cooled. Makes 6 naan.