OH...MY...GOD...
I just baked the best loaf of bread in my life. Even my dad was speechless. He actually said it's "fluffiness was freaking him out.". Haha, he expected the usual dense loaves of white my mother bakes. He doesn't realize I'm a mad scientist in the kitchen. No recipe goes untweaked - although I will readily admit to some failures in my time. (my overly salty rice and lentil congee for example)
I have been saving this box of Total I got on sale but didn't like, so it's become slightly stale. I knew I could find some use for it. Like toast them and use them as breadcrumbs, or to coat something friend.
The cottage cheese and herb loaf last night was OK, but a bit too dense. I'm going to make a bread bowl out of it I think. I decided I wanted to make a new loaf, so I went to check recipes. I found an oat one I liked, but I'm out of oats. That's when I remembered the Total. It's very whole-grainy. Why couldn't it stand in? I put all the wet ingredients in my bread pan first. I substituted Johnnie Fair maple syrup for the honey. I put in the flour and then made a little safety well in the flour for my yeast.. (don't let your yeast come into contact with the salt, sugar or liquid until it has to) I then used the Total instead of the oats, in equal amount.
Your liquid ingredients must come to room temperature before kneading in most bread recipes, or your loaf won't have as pleasant a texture. It hinders the yeast growth and the gluten. I am forgetful, I burned my kosher soup earlier when I didn't remember to check on it, so I put the ingredients in exactly how I specified every time I bake, and then set the timer for about 20-30 minutes. Of course if you have eggs or milk in your bread, you may have to adjust this for safety.
The full recipe is as follows, and can of course be made using these same items for dough made by hand. If a using bread machine put the ingredients into the pan in this order:
Maple Total Bread (1.5 pound loaf)
8-9 ounces of water (add 8 oz then check on the dough to see if it needs a bit more moisture)
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter/margarine or oil. (I bet olive oil would be amazing)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (most types of syrup would work, or honey, etc...)
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I confess to being out of BREAD flour, so I used all-purpose...the shame...)
Now make a little yeast well in the flour with your finger to protect it...
Then lightly drop the Total on top. We're putting the flour BEFORE the Total to keep the cereal from totally disintegrating in the water before we knead the dough.
1/2 cup Total (I'm sure any flaky, whole grain cereal you have on hand would suffice)
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
Set your timer for 30 minutes to allow the wet ingredients to come to room temperature.
Use the Basic Bread setting, and your desired crust color. I personally used Light.
In about 3 hours, you'll have a super fluffy loaf of pale amber goodness.
I have been saving this box of Total I got on sale but didn't like, so it's become slightly stale. I knew I could find some use for it. Like toast them and use them as breadcrumbs, or to coat something friend.
The cottage cheese and herb loaf last night was OK, but a bit too dense. I'm going to make a bread bowl out of it I think. I decided I wanted to make a new loaf, so I went to check recipes. I found an oat one I liked, but I'm out of oats. That's when I remembered the Total. It's very whole-grainy. Why couldn't it stand in? I put all the wet ingredients in my bread pan first. I substituted Johnnie Fair maple syrup for the honey. I put in the flour and then made a little safety well in the flour for my yeast.. (don't let your yeast come into contact with the salt, sugar or liquid until it has to) I then used the Total instead of the oats, in equal amount.
Your liquid ingredients must come to room temperature before kneading in most bread recipes, or your loaf won't have as pleasant a texture. It hinders the yeast growth and the gluten. I am forgetful, I burned my kosher soup earlier when I didn't remember to check on it, so I put the ingredients in exactly how I specified every time I bake, and then set the timer for about 20-30 minutes. Of course if you have eggs or milk in your bread, you may have to adjust this for safety.
The full recipe is as follows, and can of course be made using these same items for dough made by hand. If a using bread machine put the ingredients into the pan in this order:
Maple Total Bread (1.5 pound loaf)
8-9 ounces of water (add 8 oz then check on the dough to see if it needs a bit more moisture)
1 1/4 teaspoons of salt
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter/margarine or oil. (I bet olive oil would be amazing)
2 tablespoons of maple syrup (most types of syrup would work, or honey, etc...)
2 1/2 cups bread flour (I confess to being out of BREAD flour, so I used all-purpose...the shame...)
Now make a little yeast well in the flour with your finger to protect it...
Then lightly drop the Total on top. We're putting the flour BEFORE the Total to keep the cereal from totally disintegrating in the water before we knead the dough.
1/2 cup Total (I'm sure any flaky, whole grain cereal you have on hand would suffice)
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast
Set your timer for 30 minutes to allow the wet ingredients to come to room temperature.
Use the Basic Bread setting, and your desired crust color. I personally used Light.
In about 3 hours, you'll have a super fluffy loaf of pale amber goodness.