Maybe it's just me, but there's something deeply satisfying about baking bread the "old-fashioned" way...something organic and comforting about kneading the dough, something rhythmic about waiting for the rise, something enjoyable about the PROCESS, itself, that modern technology has failed to reproduce.
Here's a picture of my first attempt at 100% handmade, hand-kneaded bread.
It is 1/3 white, 2/3 whole wheat. The recipe took a total of 12 cups flour, and kneading that amount of dough took some muscle! Besides the fact that I did not have my dough divided perfectly into thirds, and the large loaf had an air pocket in the middle, it turned out really well for my first try...and even the boys said it was the "best bread they ever tasted!" If I can please them, I'm happy.I have two loaves of white bread rising as I type this...I'll pop them into the oven tonight, and we'll have fresh bread for breakfast tomorrow. We've almost finished off the first three loaves above, so I'll be baking whole wheat again in the next day or two.
Does anyone else cringe at the price of bread these days? Good whole wheat loaves around here usually start at $2.79/loaf and only go up. I'm pretty sure I can make this recipe for under $3 for 3 loaves, it might be less. Definitely less if I was buying my flour in true bulk form. I love it when the healthy alternative is also healthy for the budget!
5 comments:
i'm enjoying your new blog and laughing my hinny off at your addiction ;o)
I whole heartedly agree about bread making. I have tried really hard over the past two years to make bread for my family instead of buying it. There is something very satisfying about making and eating your own bread. I love the simpleness of it. Great post Kris!
Hey -- I tried a recipe today and it turned out so well I thought you might enjoy it:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Honey-Wheat-Bread-I/Detail.aspx
I didn't have honey so I used brown sugar...and before rolling it up to put in the pan I sprinkled some sunflower seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds and flax seeds over the dough then rolled it up and then put a few more on top. It was so goooooooood. Super easy...
If you get ahold of a recipe that makes more than 3 loaves of whole wheat I'm looking for one. I'd like to make about 6 loaves at a time and freeze them...but haven't had time to find a good recipe yet....
Mom-ster,
This does look like a good one...I need to bake bread tomorrow, so I think I'll give it a try. And adding the seeds sounds great...that would be an "adult" loaf in this household, but that's OK...(more for me!)
I'll be on the lookout for a larger recipe...do you have a large capacity mixer? Judging by my recipe, 6 loaves of bread would require 20-24 cups of flour and a HUGE bowl for rising...I would probably just make 2 batches at the same time...I've thought of doing that actually. I understand why women of "yesterday" devoted one day a week to baking. I want to get better at that. Planning is always my downfall, though!
Can you imagine feeding your crew when you have 3 teenage boys? Jordan can already eat us out of house and home!
aren't you the realist ;o)...I've been half chuckling all day as I envision myself kneading a ball of dough that contains 24 cups of flour & where I would store a bowl to contain it...I think I will pursue the double batch idea instead. (actually I did that tonight a double batch of pizza dough for pizza bread tomorrow and a 2-loaf-batch of bread for a sick friend)....a 4x-batch of soup and another batch of soup for supper...I'm pooped.
take care
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