Anyone who’s been around here for a while knows of my love affair with 5 Minute Artisan Bread. I truly believe it is the easiest way for the average home cook/chef/baker to make their own delicious, healthy bread for their family. It saves money, and it really is pretty much the quickest way to make bread.
But to be honest, I rarely make loaves with it. Plain old sliced bread is just so yesterday. Instead, I usually make sliders , dinner rolls, pizza crust, pocket sandwiches or flatbread with it. Each option is so super simple and a lot less fussy than a loaf of bread. You know, all those technical terms about crumb and crust and fermentation blah blah blah. I’m not into all that. It takes too much time, effort, and skill that I just don’t have.
I always – always – have a batch of this dough in the fridge, ready at a moment’s notice for whatever bread-like goodness I want to whip up, which just adds to its attractive qualities. Recently, I found yet one more use for this amazing bread dough: mini flatbreads. They are reminiscent of sandwich thins, although not exactly the same thing because the official sandwich thins are technically smooshed rolls, and these are definitely flatbreads. Two different things.
But I like to think these are even better. Flatbread is my favorite all time form of bread because it’s so soft, and yet a bit chewy. But it doesn’t necessarily make a great sandwich because it’s usually too thick to fold effectively like a tortilla into a taco or burrito shape. And way too floppy to stack on top of another piece to form a real sandwich shape. Enter the mini flatbread: all the yummy taste and texture of traditional flatbread, but miniaturized to make the perfect sturdy little sandwich.
Trust me. It’s way better than sliced bread.
Flatbread Sandwich Thins
Ingredients
8 oz (or about 2 cups) white whole wheat flour
8 oz (or about 2 cups) all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 TBSP yeast
1/2 TBSP salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger, optional
12 oz (or 1.5 cups) lukewarm water
Instructions
Measure the dry ingredients into a very large bowl. Whisk together.
Stir in the water until well combined. This might take a little oomph, but when the dough starts to get just a bit on the sticky side, you’ve accomplished your mission.
Allow the dough to rest at least a couple hours (I usually let it sit all day); it will rise and fall. Just let it do it’s thing.
Cover the bowl loosely and store in the fridge until you need it. (It’s easier to work with the next day.)
To make the mini flatbreads, sprinkle the dough with a bit of flour. Pinch off a small piece and form a ball; it should be maybe 1.5″ in circumference, and you should be able to hold the ball in your palm and curl your fingers around it. The size is the most important thing here. Too large and it will be too floppy; start smaller than you think and adjust from there.
Pat the ball into a round disk and place it on a lightly floured surface. Gently roll it into a circle about 2.5-3″ in diameter.
Heat a frying pan over high heat (no oil). Place the flatbread on the pan and cook until bubbles form on the top. Flip and cook briefly on the other side. Remove from heat, and continue with remaining dough.
Notes:
The ginger is a dough conditioner and is totally optional. It does not add flavor.
You can also use 1 or 2 TBSP of orange juice as part of the liquid; according to King Arthur Flour, orange juice improves the texture of whole-wheat-flour bread dough. Once again, it doesn’t affect the flavor.
You can make a few flatbreads at a time, as you need them, and store the remaining dough in the fridge.
This recipe is halved. You can double it all except the yeast, which only increases to 1.5 TBSP.
This recipe really is truly best when the ingredients are weighed. I use the EatSmart Digital Kitchen Scale. I also like to sift the flour through a mesh strainer as I’m pouring it into the bowl; it really creates a lighter finished product.
Fill your mini flatbreads with whatever filling you would normally put between regular sandwich bread slices!
Don’t be put off by the lengthy instructions and storing bread dough in the fridge: this really is QUICK! Stove-top flatbread is pretty much the quickest ever way to make bread. And making the dough easily becomes part of your weekly (or bi-weekly) routine; at least it has for me!
It is soooo incredibly EASY also. If loaf bread scares you, then try this!
Making your own bread is so much CHEAPer than buying it. I typically buy 10 lbs of flour every 6 weeks, and it costs me (at most) $6.00. This flour not only makes all my bread, but all my other baked goods as well. So my DH and myself get all our bread (including dinner rolls and pizza crusts) for less than $1 a week. (My children are another story. Let’s not discuss the cost of wheat-free flours.)
And it goes without saying that this bread is considerably HEALTHY-er than the vast majority of breads available in the store. And the ones that might be healthier are also quite heftily expensive, so take that into consideration.
My family is huge and crazy. Well, the people aren’t huge. The amount of people is huge. But the people in my family are definitely crazy. As Mark Twain once said, “In one way or another, all men are mad.” I think he was on to something there.
Here’s a little taste of Christmas in my family (both sides): (oh, and the box of Cocoa Puffs you see is totally a Christmas thing! I do not buy those normally! And my Certain Little Someone eats them as a special snack, and not for breakfast.)
And in my huge family – as in any family – it’s a matter of course that we each differ from each other in many ways, and occasionally (of course, only very occasionally) disagree on matters of minor importance. But one thing we all agree on: we love Christmas! My parents did a great job of creating very special Christmas memories that we all treasure to this day, even as we get deeper into our thirties and um, forties (hoping my oldest sister doesn’t read this. Ahem.).
Our traditions are too numerous to count, but one of our favorites is having sticky buns for breakfast Christmas morning. My mom started making these when I was a little girl, and she taught each of us to make them. They’ve been a part of our holiday season for as long as I can remember, and this time of year doesn’t seem complete without them.
This year, we didn’t have time for such a breakfast on Christmas morning, because it happened to be Sunday, and Sunday means church. Especially Christmas Sunday! Can’t skip church on Christmas Sunday, that just doesn’t seem right. Anyway, we (or I, rather) decided that Christmas Eve morning would be the perfect day to have our traditional Christmas breakfast. And the fact that everyone in the family agreed with and listened to the middle child should be a sign to you of the importance of this tradition.
I convinced my littlest sister (already an amazing little baker at the age of 19) to make a couple batches of sticky buns for us all to eat on Christmas Eve morning, and she did a phenomenal job! Fluffy and sweet and soooo delicious!
I am going to give you my mom’s recipe in all its unaltered glory, as we ate it on Christmas Eve. (When I make them, I usually adapt the ingredients to be healthier, and I cut down on the caramel glaze to be cheaper (and healthier). Also, I leave out the nuts for my DH’s sake. ) In my normal day-to-day life I don’t eat this much sugar or refined flour, but for Christmas? Bring it on!
Mom’s Sticky Buns
Ingredients
6-7 cups flour
1 package dry yeast
2 1/4 cups milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
8 TBSP butter, melted
3-4 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chopped nuts, optional
Caramel Glaze:
1 cup butter
2 cups brown sugar
2 TBSP corn syrup (I usually omit this.)
1/4 cup milk
Instructions
In a mixer bowl, combine 2 cups flour and yeast.
In a saucepan, heat milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup butter, and salt, until warm. Stir to melt butter. Add to dry ingredients in mixer bowl; add eggs.
Beat at low speed for 1/2 minute, scrape bowl, then beat 3 minutes longer. By hand, stir in enough flour to make a soft dough.
Knead, adding flour as necessary, until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl, then turn greased side up. Let rise, covered, until double, about 1.5 hrs.
Divide dough into 2 parts. Roll out each half. In bowl, mix 1 cup sugar, cinnamon, and 8 TBSP butter. Brush half of mixture onto each rectangle of dough. Roll up jelly-roll fashion, seal long edge, cut into 1 inch slices and place in a greased pan whose bottom has been covered with a caramel glaze (below) and nuts (optional).
Bake at 350F for 20 minutes.
Caramel Glaze:
Bring ingredients to boil in a medium saucepan, boil for 1 minute. Place in 2 9×13 pans and cover with chopped nuts.
I will be the first to admit that these pumpkins will not win any beauty contests. Thanks to the oats, they have a crumbly texture and bumpy exterior, and thanks to the lack of eggs and sugar, they don’t bind together and rise quite as well as a good little muffin should. But before you turn around and head back out the door – or off to your next blogging adventure – they do have a redeeming quality!
Two, actually:
They have no sugar.
They are moist and delicious! Dee-lish-us, I tell you!
These ugly little savory muffins have amazing flavor that is the perfect accompaniment to an autumn soup. I served ours with potato soup, and it was a match made in heaven. So who cares what they look like? They taste good, and after all, that is the point.
In a separate bowl, stir together the wet ingredients until well combined.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry, stirring just until combined.
Scoop batter into greased muffin tin and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Muffins are such a great QUICK bread that you can serve with soup or salad for a light dinner or lunch.
And so EASY, too! Just be sure not to overmix the batter, or they will get really tough.
This particular recipe takes a lot of pumpkin, so it’s not necessarily CHEAP (depending on how much you paid for said pumpkin). Around here, that’s at least a couple dollars. However, this time of year is the cheapest pumpkin’s gonna get, so now’s the time to make them!
These muffins are probably the HEALTHY-est I’ve ever made. They have no sugar, use whole grains, and are largely based on a very healthy vegetable. Very healthy, indeed!
This post originally “aired” January 2010, but I think June (almost July) is a much better time of year. You know, grilling season.
Waaaaay better. OK, so my DH might disagree because he has a very soft spot in his heart for the yellow arches and all their friends, but *I* happen to think these hamburger buns are waaaaay better than any you’ll find at a fast food joint. In my very humble opinion, the majority of fast food hamburger buns are all about the light fluffy texture and not so much about the flavor. To me, they taste like… well… sort of like nothing. Very bland, and mass-produced.
Not these hamburger buns: these buns have taste. And personality! You will be disappointed if you’re looking for that light and fluffy bland nothing, because they’re somewhat chewy in texture. But instead of being the mere background to your hamburger, these buns step up and actually add a little flavor, spunky things that they are.
I originally found the recipe where all (OK, lots of) good recipes are found, onallrecipes.com. I changed it up, though, because that’s what I do. I cut it in half and used the bread machine, so it’s easier and cheaper. Oh, yes, and healthier!
Better than Fast Food Hamburger Buns
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 TBSP butter
1 1/2 tsp honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 cup bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 pkg yeast or 2 1/2 tsp yeast
Egg Wash:
1 egg yolk
1 TBSP water
Optional: 1 TBSP oat bran
Place ingredients, except for egg wash ingredients, in bread machine in order specified. Use dough setting. Watch the dough as it kneads: if it is too dry, add a few drops of water at a time; if it is too wet, add flour a teaspoon or less at a time. The dough should easily give when you gently press your finger against it. It should be slightly sticky, but not so sticky that the dough comes off onto your finger. Furthermore, it should not rattle and thumb in the bread machine and make it shake (a good sign it needs some more liquid!).
Once the dough has finished its cycle, punch it down and place on a pizza stone or greased cookie sheet. Divide into 6 or 8 equal portions. Roll each portion into a ball, and tuck the bottom under to make a smooth top. Allow to rise for about 30 minutes. Mix egg yolk and water and brush on the tops of all the rolls. If desired, sprinkle with oat bran. Bake in 400F oven for 15-20 minutes.
If you don’t count the hour and twenty minutes it takes for the bread machine cycle, it is a pretty QUICK recipe. Once you take the dough out of the machine, the rest of the process takes up less than an hour.
Using the bread machine makes it so EASY. I would probably never even attempt hamburger buns if it weren’t for my bread machine.
It is easily as CHEAP (or cheaper) than buying a package of store-bought buns. I haven’t figured out the price breakdown, and I know that the store-bought buns can be found very cheap on sale, but I think the figures would come close. I would venture to say that this healthier version is definitelycheaper than healthy store-bought buns. And if you’re trying to save money by not eating out as often, it’s definitely cheaper to make your own “fast food” than to buy it from a real fast food place.
This is a much HEALTHY-er option than either store-bought buns or the fast food variety. It has whole grains, minimal sugar and minimal fat. I would venture to say that your favorite fast food joint cannot boast such claims!
But first: this is my 300th post, can you believe it?! Wow! I had no idea when I started this blog that I had that much to say.
Secondly: my 2 year blogiversary is coming up this weekend, so stay tuned for a couple of really cool giveaways!
And thirdly: wait. There is no third. On to the sliders then!
Father’s Day is, of course, coming up this weekend, and one way to show Dad he is special (in a good way) is to make him a special meal. Grilling always comes to mind because of the association of guys and grilling, but I am grill-less, so alas, I have no grill recipes for you. Steak is another thing that comes to mind, but we don’t eat that around here very much because it’s expensive. (At least the good steak is, and what’s the point of throwing away money on tough rubbery steak?)
Here, then, is a perfect Dad’s Day meal if you are grill-less and penniless like me: sliders.(Feel free to play up the cheesy baseball references. )
Cue the soundtrack:
Now we’re ready to start. This is not so much a recipe for the perfect slider filling (although I will tell you what I put in mine, and give you some more ideas), as much as it is a trick to make them as easily as possible.
In fact, I’ve started making these once every week or two , because I’ve discovered how quick and easy (and cheap and healthy, yada yada) these are. More reasons why I make them:
They freeze beautifully.
They are easier to keep than a loaf of bread. Nine times out of ten, I end up with a stale hunk of bread after we’ve had a meal or two with the rest of the loaf, but with sliders, I can easily take the portion I need and keep the rest frozen until I need it again.
They look cuter than regular sandwiches.
Instant portion control!
I think we end up using less bread dough in the end by making it into sliders, because I really think it goes farther.
Baking the dough in smaller portions takes less time, both in rising and in actual baking.
In short, it’s a win-win all around. I think my DH secretly feels these are a little bit too girly for him, but when I feel them with something manly like beef, he doesn’t mind. In fact, he’ll polish off several in one sitting (so much for portion control. Oh well, it works for me and that’s the more important thing, since I’m the one who gains the weight in this household.).
I use my artisan bread dough to make my sliders, which should be no surprise to you if you’ve read my blog for any length of time at all. I cannot recommend this bread-making method highly enough for anyone who wants healthy fresh bread, but doesn’t want to invest a great deal of time into it. A few minutes to mix up the dough, then just let it sit on the counter for a few hours (or more – sometimes I let it sit overnight). Keep in the fridge, and for the next two weeks, you have bread dough at the ready for pizza crusts, rolls, flatbreads, and loaves of bread. A loaf of bread still requires quite a bit of resting and baking time, but rolls, pizza crusts, flatbreads - and sliders! – take very little time to rise and bake (less than an hour all told). Find the instructions for artisan bread dough here.
The last batch of artisan dough I made, I was thrilled to be able to use a kitchen scale for the first time to measure out the ingredients. At the FitBloggin’ conference in May, I was given an EatSmartKitchen Scale , something I have been wanting for a looooooong time! I was SO excited to pull it out for my artisan bread dough, and I was not disappointed with the results.
Well, to be honest, I was disappointed at first, because the dough was more liquidy than I had ever seen it and I was sure it wouldn’t work. Actually, these turned out to be the best tasting bread I’ve made with the artisan recipe yet, so something was working right!
I’m excited to try even more recipes with the scale (I’ve also had great success with gluten-free recipes!), and you’ll hopefully be seeing more metric measurements here in the future (don’t worry, I’ll still give you cups and TBSPs!).
Hopefully, once I’ve got more practice under my belt, I will be able to share with you what I’ve learned about how to use a scale and the metric system in your baking.
But back to the sliders. If you’re not convinced about the merits of artisan bread dough, don’t worry: pretty much any bread or roll recipe will work in the same way. The trick is more in how it’s baked than how it is mixed together and what the exact ingredients are.
Enough already, you say vehemently! OK then, so what is this trick to making sliders?!
Easy. A muffin tin! That’s it. All you have to do is portion out your dough into a muffin pan (fill each cup about halfway), let it rest for 15-20 minutes, then bake it for another 15-20 minutes at 450F.
And voila! Perfect little slider buns. (Awww, so cute!)
Once they’re cooled down a bit, you just remove them from the pan, slice them in half horizontally, and fill them with whatever you desire. Most recently I made roast beef sliders (sure to be a hit with Dad if he’s a beef-eater like my children’s father!), using up some leftover roast beef. I layered the following on the bottom piece of the roll:
thick slice of roast beef
1 TBSP of homemade BBQ sauce (I will have to blog about that one soon!)
a dill pickle “hamburger slice”
half a piece of provolone (or whatever cheese I had at the time)
a piece of lettuce from my garden
a swirl of spicy brown mustard on the “lid”
Of course, you can put in your slider whatever your little heart (or Dad’s heart) desires. Pretty much anything that goes in a sandwich can go in a slider, just in smaller (and cuter) portions. Some suggestions:
pulled pork
shredded beef
chicken salad
tuna salad
lunchmeat and cheese
BLT
crab salad (especially good for a luncheon with guests)
etc.
So, to recap:
Sliders are QUICK because they take less time to rise and bake than traditional loaves of bread. They also defrost more quickly, and are quicker to utilize than bread. They’re great for weeknight meals, or lunchboxes.
Sliders are EASY-er to bake than loaves, at least in my opinion. Free-form artisan loaves can be tricky to shape and bake properly, but with the muffin tin, all you have to do is plop the dough into the tin. It does help, I think, to cut a small slit in the top of each slider before baking, otherwise you get a Hershey-kiss-like effect.
Homemade sliders are so CHEAP! Flour, water, yeast, and salt. Pretty basic!
If you use at least half whole grains, and appropriate fillings (veggies like lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, etc.), they can also be very HEALTHY.
We often think of scones as a British food, I guess because it’s a very British-sounding word. But when Brits say “Scone” they mean something very different from what we as Americans mean when we say “scone”. A British scone is very much like an American biscuit (although a British biscuit is very much like an American cookie or sweet cracker).
And to think, we speak the same language.
I don’t really know if the American scone has a counter-part in English cuisine, and I’m not sure why they’re always cut in triangles, or why we think they are British. There’s a lot regarding scones that confuses me, as you can see.
All of that aside, as Americans, we enjoy eating scones and pretending to be very British, because it is a lot of fun. And because you can make scones in so many yummy different flavors, kind of like biscuits and cookies.
At a tea party recently, where we were pretending that high tea was something we did on a regular basis with our pinkies in the air, I made some scone mix in a jar to give away as door prizes. Scones were on the menu, made by the fabulous Touche Touchet Bakery in town, and it just seemed fitting to offer my guests a way to bring the experience home. Plus, it was cheap (Shh! Don’t tell the prize winners!).
Whether you are hosting your own tea party, or you do have high tea regularly, here’s how to make your own scone mix in a jar (original recipe from Savings Lifestyle). Give it as a hostess gift or as a favor, or even as a present for a tea-loving friend.
To make this or any kind of mix-in-a-jar, you will need a quart-size canning jar, and wide-mouth jars are best because it’s easier to get all the ingredients in and out. A case of 12 wide-mouth canning jars costs about $25, making each one just over $2.
Place the oats in the jar, and then the raisins. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients, then place them in a quart-size canning jar (you may need to tamp down the flour mixture with a spoon in order to fit it all). Seal the lid and decorate as desired.
Attach the following instructions:
Oatmeal Scones
Ingredients
1 jar Oatmeal Scone Mix
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut in pieces
1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Empty jar into large bowl; cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs.
Stir in buttermilk until a soft dough forms.
Sprinkle flour on countertop and lightly knead dough in it until smooth, no more than 3 minutes.
Roll dough into a large rectangle or circle, and cut into 2″ pieces.
Place on greased cookie sheets and bake at 425F for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 15 minute(s)
A QUICK gift – and a QUICK way to make scones! Keep some of the dry mix handy for your own scone preparation.
So EASY, even the most non-cook can do it.
A very CHEAP gift (which is why I chose it).
And pretty HEALTHY, too, with the whole grains, raisins, and no sugar.
Pardon the picture. It, like the others, was taken on my phone, so is perhaps worse than usual, if that is possible!
Congratulations to Amanda, winner of the $50 gift basket from Cherry Tree Soaps! Thanks to all who entered!
First of all, let me say that if you do not have a bite-size mini muffin pan, your kitchen is not complete. And I’m not just saying that because I want you to click on the link and make me some money. No, indeed. I say it because I really believe it. I don’t know what I would do without that mini muffin pan because it’s a hard-working little piece of equipment that saves me lots of time, money and effort.
It saves me time because each pan bakes for a shorter length of time due to the small size of the muffins.
It saves me money because one batch of muffins suddenly triple the amount and more – and even though they’re smaller, people still don’t want to appear gluttonous, so they’ll take two at the most. Bingo! Same amount of ingredients, more mouths fed.
It saves effort because those silicone pans are genius for baking: muffins slide out of these babies like melted butter, no problem. You don’t need to worry about greasing all the creases and still getting stuck with leftover bits of muffin in the tin.
And guess what? It’s even healthier because of the automatic portion control!
So what are you waiting for? Go buy one. And notice, that time I didn’t even include an affiliate link, because I really don’t care if you buy it through my Amazon account or not; I really just think you need to buy one, even if it’s from your local Bed Bath and Beyond. So get thee hence and buy one. Then come back here and make these yummy delicious tomato muffins.
“Tomato?”, you ask incredulously.
Yes, tomato. Yummy. And red. What more could you ask?
Whisk dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Mix together liquid ingredients in a large glass measuring cup, then add to dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened, then stir in green onions. Place a scant tablespoon of batter into each cup of a bite-size mini muffin silicone pan. Place the pan on a cookie sheet to stabilize.Sprinkle muffin tops with garlic salt, if desired. Bake at 375F for 12-15 minutes or until muffins are lightly browned on bottom. Cool for about 5 minutes, or until pan is cool to the touch, then remove muffins to finish cooling on a wire rack.
Preparation time: 10 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
The green onions really make these muffins special, so do make sure you have them on hand before starting this recipe. (This is the perfect time of year to find them at farmer’s markets by the way!) Also, the garlic salt really adds a special touch, but it’s not essential if you don’t have that (you can also add a bit of sauteed garlic to the batter, but I didn’t feel like putting out that effort. You know me and how lazy I am.)
Like I said, using a bite size muffin tin makes them cook up a little more QUICKly than the usual size, although I will admit, you’ll probably have to bake two pans instead of just one.
These are so much fun, and just as EASY as regular muffins. Muffin mixes are ones that you really just don’t need to buy. I can understand being nervous about baking a cake, and relying on a mix for that, but muffins are so easy. Just remember: don’t overmix! When you add the liquids to the dry mix, stir just until the dry ingredients are moist and leave it at that. Your muffins will be moist and yummy then.
This time of year, these muffins are very CHEAP with the availability of green onions and tomatoes at the market. Well, I guess a bit early for tomatoes, but getting there. Of course, you can use canned tomato sauce, as well. Olive oil is an expensive oil, at least if you compare it to the typical vegetable oil. But vegetable oil will cost you in the end medically, so it will save you money in the long run to go with the healthier oil.
This is a delicious HEALTHY muffin recipe, utilizing whole grains, healthy fats, lycopene-stuffed tomatoes, and onions to boot! And did you notice the low amount of sugar? Just don’t reduce it any further, or your muffins might not turn out quite right.
I’ve mentioned the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day bread-making method before: it’s my go-to method for baking bread now and I almost always have a bowl of dough in the fridge. I love its simplicity, but also its versatility: it can be made into sandwich bread, free-form “artisan” loaves, rolls, pizza, and even pita bread. It is easy to adapt, as well, to create different flavors with different grains.
When thinking about what gifts to give my friends this year, I wanted to go a healthier route than usual, without being a Scroogy BahHumbug! Although I love making decadent and delicious Christmas treats to share, the truth is everyone gets more than enough of those this time of year. I just wanted to do something fresh and different this year for a change of pace.
After some thought, I decided to put two of my new kitchen skills – homemade jam and artisan bread – to the test and prepare them for my friends as gifts. I’ve been wanting to share both of these with you, as well, so it gives me the perfect opportunity!
You can find the Master Recipe for Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day here. I cannot take any credit whatsoever for the brilliance of this method – that goes entirely to the authors and developers! I do want to share with you my slight adaptations to the recipe just to show you how flexible it really is.
For one thing, I adjusted the ratio of whole wheat to white flour, mostly for the benefit of my DH. I like a good crusty whole wheat bread, but he prefers it a little lighter. For another, I omitted the vital wheat gluten because that’s an extra grocery item I just don’t need to buy, and because I wonder how healthy it really can be when one considers the ever-increasing occurrence of celiac disease (perhaps we are a little overloaded with gluten?). I also sometimes like to use whey, the liquid drained from yogurt, to make a small part of the liquid (about 1/4 cup or less) called for in the recipe. This increases the health factor and adds a bit of a sour-dough-like tang to the taste.
And with my slight adaptations…
Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, adapted by me to suit my style
4 cups regular all-purpose unbleached flour
3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 TBSP salt
1 1/2 TBSP yeast
4 cups water
I strongly encourage you to consult the website or buy the book for detailed instructions on the method, but for a quick summary, here’s what I do:
Place all dry ingredients in a stand mixer and stir until well combined. Make sure the mixer is locked into position, and begin adding the water as it stirs. You may need to increase the speed a bit if the mixer starts groaning and complaining. When you have a slightly sticky dough, remove it from the mixing bowl and place it in a large plastic container (and I mean large – keep in mind that the amount you have is going to double!). Place the bowl on a counter top, and cover lightly with a towel. Allow to rise for at least 2 hours or until it doubles in size and then levels slightly. Place in refrigerator, covering the container while being sure not to seal it completely, at least for the first 24 hours.
This dough will last about 2 weeks in the fridge, and will make approximately 4 loaves (I usually get more like 3 at the size I like to make).
Then, whenever you want to make some bread:
Sprinkle the top of the dough with flour, then cut off the portion you desire (I usually cut off 1/4 to 1/3). Shape it into a ball, with the ends tucked under, and place on a pizza peel or bamboo cutting board dusted with cornmeal. Allow to rest for about an hour and a half. Don’t worry if it doesn’t rise much; it’s not really supposed to, because most of the rising is done. It will inflate a bit in the oven.
About half an hour before it’s ready to bake, place a baking stone in the oven, and in the rack immediately below it, place a shallow non-glass pan. Preheat the oven to 425F.
Just before baking time, brush the surface of the dough with water, then cut slashes with a knife (in whatever direction you want!). Sprinkle with seeds or oat bran if desired. Then carefully slide the dough from the pizza peel or cutting board onto the baking stone. Pour 1 cup of water into the shallow pan and immediately close the door.
Bake for about 25 minutes or until top is golden brown and crusty and the bottom is no longer soggy. Cool at least an hour or so before attempting to slice.
TIPS:
*I generally use slightly less than 4 cups of water in the dough because otherwise it is just too wet to work with.
*You don’t have to use a pizza peel and baking stone: you can bake the bread in a regular old loaf pan if you want. I find I get the best results, though, by following their method exactly.
*I used to (and sometimes still do) take the bread out of the oven way too early. The top looks done well before the dough inside is thoroughly baked. The biggest sign of readiness is the bottom: it shouldn’t be gooey or undercooked at all. Check the bottom of the bread before removing from the oven.
*The dough really is almost impossible to handle the first day. I have found it necessary to plan ahead and mix the dough the day before I actually need to use it.
*To make my Christmas gift loaves, I baked 3 small round loaves at once on a large baking stone. I cut an X shape into the top of each, just to make it pretty. One batch of dough makes 6 small round loaves of the size you see in my pictures.
To present the bread as a gift:
When it is thoroughly cooled, place in a large plastic baggie (not the zippered kind). Tape the excess plastic on the bottom where it won’t be seen.
Wrap a pretty ribbon around the bread and tie it in a bow in front.
Line a basket with a Christmas tea towel and place the bread inside. Add jam or other condiments or treats as desired.
This is a QUICK method of bread-baking, with some caveats. Hands-on time is definitely minimal: 5 minutes a day or less as the title indicates. However, there is a LOT of resting and rising time, especially if you want to make loaf bread (flatbreads do not require the resting time, which is why I’ll make a foccaccia or the like when I’m in a hurry). Plus, as I mentioned, it’s really best to make the dough the day before you need to bake it, so some planning ahead is involved.
It is super EASY, though. There is something of a learning curve, even if you’ve made bread before, and I will admit I’m still learning more about this process. But anyone can do it! I love that there is no kneading involved, which is often where many would-be bakers trip up.
What could be CHEAPer? When you omit the vital wheat gluten, the other ingredients are so basic that the cost is minimal. I even like to use more expensive flours (like white whole wheat), but it’s affordable enough that I make a batch at least twice a month, sometimes every week. And as a gift? Unbeatable!
In fact, I’ll break the entire gift down for you, so you can see how affordable it can be:
Basket (purchased used at thrift store): $0.50-$1.00
Tea Towel (purchased a package of 5 on sale and with a coupon at Hallmark for a total of about $2.50. Similar deals can likely be found at Bed Bath and Beyond): $0.50
Loaf of Bread: approximately $0.25
Jar of Jam: $2 or less TOTAL: approximately $3.75
This is a great price to give acquaintances and people you want to acknowledge at Christmas time, but don’t have a large budget to spend on them. Teachers, party hostesses, hair stylists, mail deliverers, doctors, etc. all would love a homemade gift like this!
It is very HEALTHY, too. I’ve actually been reading in different places recently that some research suggests using half white and half whole wheat flour might be gentler on your digestive system than using strictly whole wheat. The jury’s still out on that one, but it makes me happy to hear, since that’s what I usually do! The book contains a recipe for an entirely whole wheat bread if that is what you are looking for, but I have to admit I’ve never tried it.
I made this recipe last week before I had gone to the grocery store and bought my first of the season’s pie pumpkins. I couldn’t wait, though: I was in such a mood to make something – anything – with pumpkins, and I was also seriously in the mood for some of my Grandma’s biscuits. Thank goodness I had some leftover pumpkin puree in the freezer from last year’s pumpkin crop – yay for freezers! – so I didn’t have to wait even one more day.
The picture does not do these biscuits justice. To be honest, I was more in the mood to eat them than I was to photograph them, so I was in too much of a hurry to bother taking the perfect picture. Trust me, though: they’re delicious! The pumpkin and cinnamon add just a hint of fall flavor, so they go well with any meal and can be served with sweet or savory accompaniments (omit the cinnamon if you wish for more of a savory bent). I think I’m going to be making these a lot this fall, because I just ate the last one at breakfast this morning and I’m already craving another!
Grandma’s Biscuits with an Autumn Twist
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 heaping 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2-1 cup milk
Whisk together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Cut in butter, until mixture is crumbly. Mix pumpkin and 1/2 cup milk together until well blended, then gently stir into biscuit mixture. Continue adding milk until dough forms a ball. Place dough on floured surface and gently knead 10 times. Roll into 1/2″ thick rectangle and cut out biscuit shapes. Bake at 400F for 10-12 minutes or until tops are lightly browned. (I like to bake them on a stone.)
Serve warm with butter and jam or honey. These also freeze perfectly and are easy to double, so they’re great for batch cooking and for baking ahead.
Homemade biscuits are seriously just as QUICK as using Bisquick, but much tastier and much better for you. I made these in less than half an hour (about 20-25 minutes) start to finish one morning last week.
They are pretty EASY, although I will admit that biscuit dough can be tricky. I’ve made my fair share of hockey pucks and in the process I’ve learned a few tricks that help me turn out fluffy biscuits almost every time: don’t overwork the dough (cannot be emphasized enough!); don’t overcook the biscuits; and don’t cut them out too thin.
These are CHEAP enough that my mom (who had 11 children and cooked on an extremely tight budget) made them for breakfast probably weekly. I have very fond memories of our biscuit-and-egg breakfasts!
They are also very HEALTHY, if you use the ingredients as listed. Use at least half whole wheat flour, and real butter for the healthiest finished product. The pumpkin, of course, adds some nutritional value, as does even the cinnamon. Now if you slather it with all kinds of sugary jam, that’s not my fault!
I hate throwing food away! I hate it with a passion. When I work so hard to acquire the food as inexpensively as possible in the first place, it breaks my heart to throw it away. It seems like such a… waste. Which it is!
So I do my best NOT to throw food away, a battle which requires effort on several different fronts. For example: eating or freezing leftovers before they go bad, using even the bones of meat and the peels of fruits and vegetables to make stock and broth, only buying as much food as we will use before it goes bad, etc. etc. One element of this food fight is to come up with creative uses for almost-bad food, like past-ripe bananas or stale bread. It’s still edible, just not in its natural form.
Here’s my challenge to you: next time you have a partial loaf of bread wasting away on your countertop, don’t throw it away! Get creative and see what you can do with it. Seasoned bread crumbs are an easy place to start. Or just crumble it up as is and throw it into your meat loaf or hamburgers. If you don’t have time to deal with it before it really goes bad, pop it in a zippered bag in the freezer so you can tackle it when you do have a spare moment. (side note: you can do this with bread ends/heels, too: just collect them in the freezer and use them when you have a good amount)
I actually had two different kinds of stale bread on my countertop yesterday: cinnamon rolls and 1/3 of a loaf of wheat bread. I had tried a new recipe (the same bread recipe for both actually) and it wasn’t quite the texture I was looking for, so we didn’t eat it up as quickly as we normally would. I put both to use, in different ways, of course, and here were the results:
1. Croutons (which became Chicken Zucchini Stuffing Casserole)
I cut the bread into cubes, sprinkled some Italian seasonings and garlic salt on them and popped them into a 300F oven for a little while. They dried out nicely into perfectly seasoned croutons, which I then used in the following recipe:
Chicken Zucchini Stuffing Casserole
3-4 cups croutons or stuffing mix
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 TBSP butter
2 TBSP flour
1 cup milk
1 cup chicken broth
1/3-1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
2 cups cubed or shredded chicken
1 TBSP olive oil
1 zucchini, diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 onion, chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
salt and pepper to taste
Some of these measurements are not exact because I forgot to measure them. It’s not super vital to have the exact amount in any case.
Pour the melted butter over the croutons and stir until they are completely covered. Set aside about 1 cup of the croutons to use later as a topping. Place the remaining croutons in a 2qt casserole dish.
In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the 2 TBSP butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly add in the milk and chicken broth, stirring all the while. Simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and stir in about half of the Parmesan cheese until it is completely melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour over the croutons in the casserole dish.
Heat oil in a medium frying pan. Stir in zucchini, celery, and onion and garlic if using. Saute until translucent and somewhat tender, but try not to brown them. Add to casserole dish.
Add the chicken to the casserole dish, also, and stir all ingredients until well combined. At this point, you can add an optional 1/2 cup of plain yogurt or sour cream for extra flavor, tang and nutrients. Sprinkle the reserved croutons over the top of the casserole, and cook uncovered at 350F for 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan over the top, and cook an additional 5 minutes or until it is melted.
This is a delicious and healthy take on the traditional chicken casserole that uses stuffing mix and canned creamed soup.
Now, for my cinnamon rolls, this is what I did:
2. Cinnamon Bread Pudding
I just adapted a traditional bread pudding very slightly to meet my needs. You can do the same thing with cinnamon bread, or really any yeast bread. I’ve seen where people do the same thing with quick breads like muffins and such, but I’ve never personally tried that so I can’t vouch for it. At any rate, the end result will be something like French toast bread pudding… which is why I ate it for breakfast this morning!
Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding
1 cup milk
2 TBSP sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, slightly beaten
2-2.5 cups cubed dry cinnamon rolls or other bread
Mix together the milk, sugar, cinnamon and egg until well blended. (You can do this quickly in a blender.) Place the bread cubes in a 1.5qt casserole dish and pour the milk/egg mixture over it. Stir well until combined. Allow the mixture to set for a while so the bread soaks up the liquid. Bake, covered, for 40-45 minutes at 350F. (Following these instructions will result in a more moist bread pudding, which is the way I like it. If you like it more dry, then don’t allow the bread to soak up the liquid, and don’t cover the baking dish).
Traditionally, bread pudding is served with hard sauce, but I had some of this Cinnamon Syrup in the fridge, so i just used that. Mmmmmm! Like French toast, but better!
Is it QUICK to use up your stale bread like this? I don’t think it takes all that much time, honestly. In particular, bread crumbs and croutons are very quick: just pulse the bread in a processor for crumbs, or chop it into cubes for croutons. Sprinkle with seasonings to taste, spread in a single layer on a pan and bake at 350F until it’s dried. They can be store in an airtight container at room temperature for quite a while.Like I mentioned before, if you can’t take the time right now, store it in the freezer until you can.
Is it EASY? Very! You don’t have to do anything complicated to save stale bread: if nothing else, throw it in the toaster or oven, or make French toast.
Of course we know it’s CHEAP! I never have to buy bread crumbs or croutons because I make them myself with leftover bread. And any time you use up something you would otherwise throw away – you are saving money!
And is it HEALTHY? It all depends on the bread you started with. Is it whole grain with minimal, natural sweeteners? Then yes, it’s healthy!
* QUICK - because who has time for anything more?
* EASY - because I'm no gourmet.
* CHEAP - because who has money for anything more?
* HEALTHY - because you are what you eat.
bread-making method before: it’s my go-to method for baking bread now and I almost always have a bowl of dough in the fridge. I love its simplicity, but also its versatility: it can be made into sandwich bread, free-form “artisan” loaves, rolls, pizza, and even pita bread. It is easy to adapt, as well, to create different flavors with different grains.
