I don’t buy too many processed food in my house, especially when it comes to bread. With today’s technology, making bread at home is quite simple. You just need to purchase a programmable bread machine that will do most of the tasks in baking bread. One of the many things I love when making bread at home is that I can choose a variety of flours and ingredients to suit my personal taste and dietary needs. Anyway, here are some of my favorite bread recipes.
Everyday Sandwich Bread Recipe
This is the easiest recipe I have for baking bread at home. I really love the smell and taste of a freshly baked bread. What you will need is a reliable bread machine to bake a loaf of bread for you. I use the Zojirushi BB-PAC20 Bread Maker since it is capable of making a loaf of bread with almost the same size and shape that you would get in bakeries. It is also capable of making gluten-free bread which my husband finds it to be useful.
My everyday sandwich bread is made of bread flour, dry milk, sugar, butter, salt and dry yeast. The bread flour is suited to use with yeast breads because it has higher protein and gluten content compared to all-purpose flour. The dry yeast will change the food into carbon dioxide bubbles, where the bubbles will be trapped in the gluten that together forms fluffy bread.
Ingredients:
- 320 ml of water
- 544 grams or 4 ½ cups of bread flour
- 46 grams or 4 tablespoons of sugar
- 35 grams or 2 ½ tablespoons of butter
- 8 grams or 2 teaspoons of dry milk
- 2 grams or 2 tablespoons of salt
- 7 grams or 2 ½ teaspoons of active dry yeast
Directions:
- Start by adding water to the baking pan
- Add baking flour, dry milk, sugar, butter and salt to the pan. Create a tiny indentation in the flour using a spoon, and put the dry yeast there. Just make sure that the yeast won’t touch any liquid.
- Insert the backing pan into the bread machine, close the lid, and plug the cord in an outlet.
- Choose the BASIC setting in your bread maker. Set the crust to your desired darkness and then press the start button.
- Wait for the machine to knead and bake for you. Once baking process is completed, press cancel button to switch off the bread machine. Take the baking pan out with the use of oven mitts. Gently shake the bread loaf out and enjoy your freshly baked bread.
Spiced Lentil Rolls Recipe
I love Indian flavors and I wanted to incorporate them into some of my cooking – that’s how these little gems came about! Flavorful, hearty lentils are wrapped in a pillowy coconut and curry scented dough. The lentils are spiced but not spicy, there’s a little hint of spice from the red chili powder, but not enough to make your nose run or anything. These are a seriously perfect lunch to bring to work/school because they are full of protein and they taste great at room temperature! I like to make a big batch of these and freeze half, that way if I need a meal or snack in a pinch all I have to do is just pop one out of the freezer!
Dough:
- 1-1/4 cup warm Coconut milk
- 2-1/2 tsp Active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp Agave
- 2 tbsp Coconut oil (not virgin)
- 1-1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 cup + 1 tbsp Whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp Curry powder
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
Filling:
- 2 cups cooked Brown lentils
- 3 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 Garlic clove, pressed
- 1/2 tsp Garam masala
- 1/4 tsp Mustard powder
- 1/4 tsp Red chili powder (or more if you like it spicy!)
- 1/2 tsp Coriander seeds, crushed
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt, plus more to taste, if desired
- 3 tbsp Coconut milk
- 1 tbsp of Olive oil that we will use for brushing
Directions:
- To prepare the dough: In a stand mixer that is fitted using a dough hook, you should dissolve the yeast & agave in the warm coconut milk. You should set it aside for few minutes until mixture will look foamy.
- Add flours, curry and salt, and then mix it on low for around 6 minutes.
- Place the dough in a large bowl brushed with oil, and then turn it around once for the top to get nice and oiled as well. Then cover it tightly using plastic wraps and place it in warm area for around 1 hour, until you see that the dough has already doubled in size.
- While the dough is rising, mix together your filling. In a medium bowl, combine all the filling ingredients and mix well with a spoon or clean hands. Set aside at room temperature until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 375 F and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Once dough has risen, punch the dough down and divide it in half. Roll out one half into a rectangle about 11 inches by 10 inches. Spread 1 cup of the filling evenly over the rectangle, all the way to the edges. With the long side facing you, roll it up into a log. Cut the log in half and cut each half into 3 pieces.
- Transfer the rolls to the prepared baking pan and flatten the tops slightly. Repeat with remaining dough and filling until you have 12 rolls all together. Cover and let them rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
- Right before you bake them, brush the tops with the tbsp of olive oil. Bake for 12-14 minutes, until tops are firm and bottom are golden brown. Let cool at least 5 minutes before eating. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Banana Nut Mini Loaves Recipe
Why make one big breakfast bread when you can make four mini ones! These are perfect to take along for picnics or with you to work and they’re absolutely adorable!
My son loves these because the slices are small enough for toddler hands, and he feels like he’s getting away with something because they are so sweet – little does he know that these are actually healthy! Flax meal replaces the eggs, Whole wheat flour adds fiber, walnuts are packed with protein and Omega-3, and I use Maple sugar because it’s easier on your blood sugar levels. My son already has so much energy, the last thing I need is for him to be bouncing off the walls hyped up on unhealthy refined sugar! So with this kind of sweet treat, we can eat confidently and without guilt because it’s good for us!
Ingredients:
- 2 ripe Bananas
- 2 tbsp Flax meal
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Hemp Milk (or milk of choice)
- 1/2 tsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Sunflower oil
- 2/3 cup Maple sugar
- 1-1/4 tsp Vanilla extract
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp Whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp Unbleached All purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp Sea salt
- 1-1/4 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 cup Walnuts, finely chopped
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 and grease the mini loaf pan(s) very well.
- In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth. Add flax meal, milk, vinegar, oil, sugar and vanilla, and with a hand held mixer on low speed beat until combined.
- Sift the flours, salt and soda and add to the wet ingredients, mix again on low speed until just combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula if needed, and fold in chopped walnuts.
- Divide mixture evenly between the 4 compartments (or pans). Gently tap the pan(s) a few times on the counter to get the batter smooth and even.
- Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Remove loaves immediately from the pan(s) and let cool completely on a cooling rack.