Cranberry Bread with Apple Glaze

A few years ago, I was living on the east coast and saw a cranberry bog for the first time.   I always thought that cranberries grew on trees, but they actually grow on vines, in marshy wetlands.

It's a shame that these sour little fruits are not used more often in regular yeast bread. This recipe came out really well (and would probably make really dynamite Thanksgiving rolls):

Cranberry Loaf

2 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp corn syrup
1/4 c. applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c. water
1 c. coarsely chopped cranberries
1/2 Tbsp yeast
1/2 Tbsp salt
4+ c. white bread flour

Apple Glaze:
3 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp apple juice

In the bottom of a mixer bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients.  Add the cranberries, yeast, salt, and 2 cups of the bread flour.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the remaining flour in portions, until the dough forms a ball on the hook.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead in extra flour until the dough is elastic and not too sticky.  Let rise for one hour.  Knead again very briefly, shape into a loaf, and place in a greased loaf pan.  Let rise for one hour.  Bake at 400 for 10 minutes then at 375 for 25 minutes.  Meanwhile combine apple juice and sugar.  Heat briefly in the microwave to help the sugar dissolve completely.  Remove the baked loaf from the oven and place on a cooling rack.  Then, using a basting brush, coat the top of the loaf with the apple glaze.  Allow to cool before slicing.

Multigrain Bread

A friend of mine recently celebrated a birthday.  This is the loaf that I made for her.  (I am told that it pairs fabulously with apple butter!)

If you don't have multigrain flour (or can't find it in the grocery store), you can mix some together yourself, using whatever combination of grains sounds good to you.  Sometimes you can buy small amounts of many different flours if you shop at natural foods stores that sell in bulk.

As a general rule of thumb, I try to keep the gluten-free flour (everything that isn't wheat) to no more than 25% of the total flour content.  If I want a more hearty loaf, I will incorporate an additional 25% whole wheat flour. 

Multigrain Bread

Multigrain Flour:
2 Tbsp brown rice flour
2 Tbsp white rice flour
2 Tbsp corn flour
2 Tbsp buckwheat flour
4 Tbsp rye flour
2 Tbsp millet
1/2 Tbsp Flax seed
2 Tbsp rolled oats

3 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp molasses
1 2/3 c. water
1 egg, beaten
1 c. multigrain flour
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 tsp. yeast
1/2 Tbsp salt
3 1/2 c. white bread flour

Combine the wet ingredients and place them in the bottom of the mixer bowl.  Add the multigrain flour, the whole wheat flour, and the yeast.  Mix briefly and allow to sit for 10 minutes before mixing in the salt and two cups of the white bread flour.  Mix in the remaining cup of white bread flour gradually (extra/less as needed), until the dough makes a ball on the bread hook.  Increase mixing speed slightly and mix for about 2 minutes more.  Turn out onto a heavily floured surface (dough may be sticky) and knead in extra flour until the dough is soft and elastic.  Let rise for  one hour.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly; shape the dough, and press into a greased loaf pan.  Allow to rise for one hour.  Bake at 400 F for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 F and cook for 30 minutes.  Turn off the oven and allow the bread to stay inside the oven for 10 minutes more.  Place the loaf on a wire rack to cool completely.

 <Sigh> One of my favorite sights is a loaf of bread almost hitting the top of the oven!

Split Top Rye Bread

 

Every once in a while (more often than I'd like to admit), I wake up in the wee hours of the morning, frazzled about some aspect of my graduate work.  Although I'd rather get a good nights sleep, I enjoy the opportunity to bake a loaf of bread before work.  It's always fun to send out the early morning e-mail to my colleagues: "Fresh Bread... still warm... help yourself!"

In my opinion, really good Rye Bread is best done with a prefermentation of some sort.  This is what evokes some of the richer flavors of rye.  But, since I don't do anything with notable grace, eloquence, or speed at 4 am, this was an easy alternative.

Rye Bread

2 Tbsp canola oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 2/3 c. water
1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 c. rye flour
1/2 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp nonfat dry milk
1/2 Tbsp salt
3 c white bread flour
1 Tbsp caraway seeds (optional)

Mix oil, honey, molasses, water, lemon juice, rye flour, and yeast in a mixer bowl.  Let sit 10 minutes before mixing in the dry milk, salt, and two cups of the bread flour.  Gradually mix in the last cup of flour, until the dough is a good consistency: not too sticky or too dry.  Knead the dough for several minutes until it is fairly smooth and elastic.  Let rise in a warm place, covered, for about one hour.  Knead the dough down slightly, shape into a loaf, and place in a loaf pan.  Let rise again, about one hour.  Cut a slit in the top of the loaf and sprinkle bran flakes over the top.  Bake at 400 °F for 10 minutes, then reduce to 375 °F and cook another 25 minutes.  Turn off the oven, and leave the loaf inside for a final 10 minutes.  Place the loaf on a wire rack to cool completely.

Sourdough Bread Bowls

This weekend, I had the privilege to send Flourboy off to the wilderness on a hunting expedition.  Part of the send-off included a batch of Sourdough bread bowls to accompany the stew that he put together for the hunting party.  I'm not going to lie, this is definitely the best batch of sourdough that I've made yet.

I attribute this greatness to two changes.  First of all, I added extra gluten to both the firm and the dough.  Second of all, after shaping the boules, I let them rise in bowls rather than directly on a cooking sheet.  Both of these changes contributed to keeping the boules round (as opposed to flat-ish puddles in the middle of the pan.)

I am told that the hunting party found them satisfactory.

Apple Bread French Toast

It's been a while since I made french toast, but I decided to put some of my leftover apple bread to good use.  Most excellent! 

Just beat 2 eggs, add a little milk, dip some slices of bread, and ta-da!  You have an awesome breakfast!

Apple Bread

This week I have been experimenting with apple bread recipes.  After several iterations, this is what I've come up with.  The recipe makes a very moist bread with excellent apple-y flavor.  Consider adding bacon if you want to make a more savory bread, or try using the leftover bread for apple french toast.

 
Apple Bread


2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. applesauce
1/4 c. water
1 c. peeled, chopped apple
1 c. rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. apple pie spice
3+ c. white bread flour
1 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten

1/2 c. cooked, crumbled bacon (optional)

In the bottom of a mixer bowl, combine the wet ingredients, apples, rolled oats, salt, and apple pie spice.  In a separate bowl mix together two cups of the flour with the yeast and gluten.  Add this to the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Slowly add in the last cup of flour and watch for the dough to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead gently.  (This part is a bit awkward with all of the apple pieces, but it can be done!)  Once the dough seems to be holding together fairly well, allow it to rise in a covered bowl for an hour.   Punch down, knead slightly, and if desired, knead in the bacon pieces.  Shape into desired loaf.  Let rise on hour.  Bake at 400 °F for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 375 °F and cook for 25 minutes longer.  (Note: the texture and flavor of this bread really improve if you let it cool all the way before slicing.)

If you are wondering about the addition of gluten to this recipe, it's basically a slick way to increase the protein content of your dough.  If you take a look at the amount of protein in all purpose flour, it  is usually around 3g per 1/4 c.  Bread flour is about 4g per 1/4 c.  Adding extra gluten to the dough adds another 8 grams of protein, bringing the total to almost 5g per 1/4 c.  So, it's basically like using SUPER bread flour.  In this case, the addition of gluten positively impacts the structure of the bread and helps to compensate for all of the gluten-free ingredients.  You don't have to add it, but you will probably end up with a flatter, denser loaf.

Starting The Day Sour

One of the downsides to having a sourdough starter is the perpetual feeding that it requires.  Every two days (if I'm keeping it at peak performance), I end up throwing away about half of it.  Turns out, there is a use for some of that extra starter: sourdough pancakes!  I think this makes Monday morning just a little bit more pleasant.

I found this recipe in the same book that the other sourdough recipe came from.  Check it out here.  These are a little more chewy than other pancakes that I've had, but give it a try and see for yourself what you think.

Sourdough Pancakes

2 1/2 c. Sourdough starter
2 c. all purpose flour
1 c. milk
1 c. water
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. baking soda

The night before you want to make pancakes, mix together the starter, flour, milk, and water.  Let it sit covered, at room temperature, overnight.  In the morning, mix together the remaining ingredients, and fold them into the batter gently.  Let it sit for 30 minutes.  Ladle the batter onto a hot griddle (1/3 to 1/2 cup depending on the size of pancakes that you like).  Watch for lots of bubbles on the tops and then flip 'em!  Keep pancakes warm in the oven until you are ready to serve.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

Extenuating circumstances have kept me from posting for a few days, but fear not!  I have been hard at work, ruminating on all sorts of wonderful bread ideas for the fall.  Sweet quick breads are one of the most common outlets for all of that pent-up baking zeal.  My hope is to throw a few less-sweet alternatives into the mix.  After all, it isn't just about the sugar is it?

This bread literally made my house smell like I was baking a pumpkin pie, and I appreciate the fact that it looks so pretty!  Try it toasted for breakfast with a little bit of honey, molasses, or pumpkin butter on top.

Pumpkin Spice Bread

2 Tbsp. oil
2 Tbsp. honey
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/4 c. water
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 c. whole wheat flour
2+ c. white bread flour

Combine together all of the wet ingredients in the bottom of a mixer bowl.  Add the spices, yeast, salt, and whole wheat flour.  Mix thoroughly.  Add the white bread flour one cup at a time (plus extra if necessary) until the dough balls up on the mixer dough hook.  Turn onto a floured surface and knead in extra flour until the dough is a nice consistency and not too sticky.  Let rest, covered, for 15 minutes.  Knead again, for a few minutes more, then let the dough rise for one hour.  Shape the dough into a loaf and let rise one hour.  Brush milk on the top of the loaf and decorate with pumpkin and flax seeds.  Bake at 400 °F for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 °F for the last 20 minutes.  Let cool on a wire rack.