Bread Food

BEER BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Mix dry ingredients and beer.
• Pour into a greased loaf pan.
• Pour melted butter over mixture.
• Bake 1 hour, remove from pan and cool for at least 15 minutes.
• UPDATED NOTES: This recipe makes a very hearty bread with a crunchy, buttery crust. If you prefer a softer crust (like a traditional bread) mix the butter into the batter instead of pouring it over the top.
• Sifting flour for bread recipes is a must-do. Most people just scoop the 1 cup measure in the flour canister and level it off. That compacts the flour and will turn your bread into a "hard biscuit" as some have described. That's because they aren't sifting their flour! If you do not have a sifter, use a spoon to spoon the flour into the 1 cup measure. Try it once the "correct" way and you will see an amazing difference in the end product.
• I have had many email from you kind folks about using non-alcoholic beverages instead of beer. That is fine to do but I highly recommend adding a packet of Dry Active Yeast or 2 teaspoons of Bread (Machine) Yeast so that you get a proper rise.
• The final result should be a thick, hearty and very tasteful bread, NOT A BRICK! ;).
• Thank you all for the incredibly nice comments and those of you who left a bad review - learn to sift sift SIFT! You will be amazed at the results you get.

BASIC HOMEMADE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand until bubbles form on surface. Whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Stir oil into yeast mixture; pour into flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours., Bake at 375° until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped or has reached an internal temperature of 200°, 30-35 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

BREAD ROLLS

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix milk with water. Add sugar, yeast, and butter. Stir until yeast is dissolved and set aside for 10 minutes or until yeast has foamed up a bit.
• In a large bowl, mix flour and salt. Use the lower amount of flour to start with and add more only if the dough is really too sticky.
• Add yeast mixture to flour and mix.
• Knead until smooth and elastic. (I use a hand mixer with a kneading attachment.).
• Place in greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes.
• Oil your hands and shape the dough into rolls and place in a well-greased pan. I use 2 round non-stick cake pans.
• Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise another 15 minutes.
• Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let these cool down before you remove them from the pan or they will likely tear.

FABULOUS HOMEMADE BREAD FOR THE FOOD PROCESSOR

Steps:

• Pour the warm water into a large bowl, and whisk in 4 teaspoons of bread flour, the yeast, and the white sugar until thoroughly combined and the sugar has dissolved. Allow to stand until the yeast starts to form creamy bubbles, about 5 minutes.
• Fit a dough blade into a large food processor, and place 3 1/2 cups of bread flour, the oats, whole wheat flour, salt, brown sugar, and vegetable oil into the work bowl. Start the food processor running, and slowly add enough of the water-yeast mixture to allow the dough to form a firm ball and pull away from the sides of the processor, about 1 minute. Process for another 30 seconds to knead.
• Place the dough into an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the dough with oil. Cover with a damp cloth, and allow the dough to rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down the dough, and divide into 2 equal-sized pieces. Form each piece into a loaf; pinch the seams and ends closed.
• Grease 2 4x8-inch loaf pans, and place the loaves into the pans with the seam sides down. Allow to rise until the dough is 1 inch above the rim of the pans, about 1 more hour.
• While dough is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven until the tops are browned, about 35 minutes. Allow bread to cool in pans for 10 minutes, then turn out onto cooling racks to finish cooling.

MOIST AND DELICIOUS BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the oil, eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and mashed bananas.
• Add the baking soda and flour.
• Combine well for 2-3 minutes.
• Pour into a greased loaf pan and bake in a preheated 325 degree F oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.

EASY WHITE BREAD

Steps:

• Mix 500g strong white flour, 2 tsp salt and a 7g sachet of fast-action yeast in a large bowl.
• Make a well in the centre, then add 3 tbsp olive oil and 300ml water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add another 1-2 tbsp water and mix well.
• Tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for around 10 mins.
• Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with cling film. Leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size or place in the fridge overnight.
• Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Knock back the dough (punch the air out and pull the dough in on itself) then gently mould the dough into a ball.
• Place it on the baking parchment to prove for a further hour until doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7.
• Dust the loaf with some extra flour and cut a cross about 6cm long into the top of the loaf with a sharp knife.
• Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

PITA BREAD

Steps:

• You will need a large bread bowl, a rolling pin, and unglazed quarry tiles or several baking sheets, or alternatively a castiron or other heavy skillet or griddle at least 9 inches in diameter.
• Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in a large bread bowl. Stir to dissolve. Add whole wheat flour, one cup at a time, then 1 cup white flour. Stir 100 times (one minute) in the same direction to activate the gluten in the flour. Let this sponge rest for at least 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours.
• Sprinkle salt over the sponge and stir in the olive oil. Mix well. Add white flour, one cup at a time. When the dough is too stiff to stir, turn it out onto a lightly floured bread board and knead for 8 to 10 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. Return the dough to a lightly oiled bread bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until at least double in size, approximately 1 1/2 hours. Gently punch down. Dough can be made ahead to this point and then stored, covered, in the refrigerator for 5 days or less.
• If at this time you want to save the dough in the refrigerator for baking later, simply wrap it in a plastic bag that is at least three times the size of the dough, pull the bag together, and secure it just at the opening of the bag. This will give the dough a chance to expand when it is in the refrigerator (which it will do). From day to day, simply cut off the amount of dough you need and keep the rest in the refrigerator, for up to one week. The dough will smell slightly fermented after a few days, but this simply improves the taste of the bread. Dough should be brought to room temperature before baking.
• This amount of dough will make approximately 16 pitas if rolled out into circles approximately 8 to 9 inches in diameter and less than 1/4-inch thick. You can also of course make smaller breads. Size and shape all depend on you, but for breads of this dimension the following baking tips apply:
• Place unglazed quarry tiles, or a large baking stone or two baking sheets, on a rack in the bottom third of your oven, leaving a one inch gap all around to allow air to circulate. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Divide dough in half, then set half aside, covered, while you work with the rest. Divide dough into eight equal pieces and flatten each piece with lightly floured hands. Roll out each piece to a circle 8 to 9 inches in diameter. You may wish to roll out all eight before starting to bake. Cover rolled out breads, but do not stack.
• Bake 2 at a time (or more if your oven is larger) directly on quarry tiles or baking sheets. Bake each bread for 3 or 4 minutes, until the bread has gone into a full "balloon" or until it is starting to turn lightly golden, whichever happens first. If there are seams or dry bits of dough - or for a variety of other reasons - your bread may not go into a full "balloon". Don't worry, it will still taste great. The more you bake pitas the more you will become familiar with all the little tricks and pitfalls, and your breads will more consistently "balloon." But even then, if you're like us, it won't always "balloon" fully and you won't mind because the taste will still be wonderful. When baked, remove, place on a rack for about five minutes to let cool slightly, then wrap breads in a large kitchen towel (this will keep the breads soft). When first half of the dough has been rolled out and baked, repeat for rest of dough, or store in refrigerator for later use, as described above. You can also divide the dough into more, smaller pieces if you wish, to give you smaller breads.

BEST BANANA BREAD

Steps:

• Remove odd pots and pans from oven.
• Preheat oven to 350º / 180º.
• Cream together butter and sugar.
• Add eggs and crushed bananas.
• Combine well.
• Sift together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Add vanilla.
• Mix just until combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour into greased and floured loaf pan.
• Bake at 350º / 180º for 55 minutes.
• Keeps well, refrigerated.