Boy, am I glad to be posting recipes!!! Rachael wanted to make her Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins for her history class Thursday (we have snacks!), but couldn't find her recipe. We've NO IDEA what happened to it. She was going crazy, having lost it, and not sure how to get it back. All of a sudden, I realized, "I POSTED IT TO THE LADIES BACK WHEN YOU HAD IT AT THE COUNTY FAIR!!!" And sure enough, there it was! So we printed it out. She's happy, and thinks that her mother is brilliant (thank you, thank you, lol!). Disaster averted!!!
Jackie, I am making your bread recipe right now. I am almost ready to punch it down for the last time. I can't wait to bake it. The dough is making the house smell so good! Freddy is anxious to try it too. Beth
BWAAAAAHHHH!!! I miss gluten and the wonderful things it does for bread! If you want tough rising, try baking without gluten at all! BWAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!! Anyway.... Bread flour is milled twice so it is softer. The small graining allows the gluten to "over develop" in yeast breads. It is not recommended for quick breads because you want tender and flakey! For whole wheat breads that use the dark wheat milled with the bran (that's why it's darker), you will need to add "vital wheat gluten" which should be able to be purchased at a grocery store or health food store. Because in whole wheat the bran is still intact, it cuts the gluten fibers as they produce and inhibits rising. I would also recommend using either molasses or honey (or if you can find it - Barley Malt syrup) as the sugar to feed the yeast. White sugar is overprocessed, and while it will feed the yeast, it won't engorge them like a more natural sweetener will. BWAAAAAHHH!!! I used to love baking bread!!!!! I can't even touch wheat flour anymore or my hands breakout. BOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!
MY RESPONSE IS LOST SOMEWHERE IN CYBERSPACE!!! Krista, does the gluten make a loaf of wheat bread softer and less heavy? That's probably my family's biggest complaint, as to why they won't eat wheat bread. How much honey would I use to replace sugar?
Yes. The vital wheat gluten is extra glutenous flour that you add (about 1 Tsp per cup if I remember correctly). It's STRAIGHT gluten. Yes...it is gluten that makes the bread soft. If you overwork your dough, too, you can make it too tough as well. I would use tsp for tsp on honey - I've found honey and molasses to be very forgiving. The sugars job in a bread recipe is only to feed the yeast, which causes them to expand which creates the air bubbles. The air bubbles stretch the gluten strands to capacity and make a soft bread. NOW....if you overfeed your yeast OR you allow it to rise too long what happens is that the gluten strands cannot hold the weight of the bubbles and break in half. Shorter the gluten strands the denser and tougher the bread is. It's really a science experiment when you make bread. Measure correctly too (never scoop your flour then level off....spoon into the measuring cup and level off!) .
Jackie, I just took the bread out of the oven and it is beautiful! The loaves are very tall and and smell wonderful. I can't wait to cut one and try it. Thanks again for sharing the recipe. Beth
Why? What does it do if you scoop and level? This is cool, I'm doing science and my kids aren't even up yet!
Do you remember Jeff Smith, who use to do "The Frugal Gourmet" on PBS? I once saw him do a show on breads, and he measures out his bread flour by WEIGHT, rather than VOLUME. I had that recipe once upon a time..... I'm a scooper, rather than a spooner, lol!
AHHHHH!!!! There's the cruxt of the matter! Weighing is MUCH more accurate than cups. Scooping packs down the flour too tight....So, as it starts to mix and loosen you end up with too much flour and a very tight dough that will not rise well. Think of rice in a chinese food container. They really pack it in there. If you fluff it out it's almost twice as much as would normally fit in that container.
Okay...said in my best Homer Simpson voice "Aaaaaagghhhhhhhhhhhhh....fresh baked bread...." Note: drooling out of the side of my mouth with my head tipped back too.
I think I am going to bake some of that bread myself. I am already making pizza dough tonight...why not do more!
Notice to all bread lovers!!! Do not, I repeat DO NOT make Jackie's bread recipe unless you want to have your whole family drooling all over the place! I can't slice it fast enough! Freddy is in love with it and Emily is still telling everyone to try it with grape jam. Oh my goodness it is out of this world good! I don't know if there will be any left for the boys to try after school. I know we will be making more of this stuff right away. Thanks Jackie!!!!
Now...Sloan....that made ME giggle! Alright. I'll bite. Off to make a GLUTEN FREE loaf I've never tried. It's supposed to make a soft white bread that you can use to make hot dog buns and rolls as well as sandwich bread. I'll let ya know if it's even close to what Jackie's sounds like (doubt it! LOL )
As ever the voice of health and fitness! :lol: We only eat wheat bread also...just joking with ya! However, when I make white bread it is way better than that Wonder stuff.
Before having to eliminate gluten from my diet, I ate wheat bread all the time. I used to make wheat hot dog rolls and wheat hamburger buns. i remember the first time someone served my eldest a sandwhich from white bread she looked at me and said "Mom, i don't think this bread is cooked all the way, it's still white". It was funny! Unfortunately, there is not as easy a way to make gluten free bread the same health as whole wheat (high fiber etc). I do make one that I add flax seed meal too and use brown rice flour which is better than the white flours. I'm trying this one simply because I really miss soft doughy bread. BOO HOO!!!
That's funny, Krista, about the bread not being cooked all the way. lol. I grew up on white bread. Which is odd because unless it is fresh baked I can't stand it. I only buy wheat. I perfer the grainy nutty wheat breads but my kids like the regular wheat that is kinda soft. I do however eat white on hot dogs and hamburgers...never really thought about it being wheat until you just mentioned it. Subs I get wheat though. I need to try wheat buns. I used whole wheat flour in banana pancakes and it was sooooo good!
MMMMMM Whole wheat pancakes! i miss them too. Brown Rice Flour pancakes are good - but just not the same! LOL Well...my house smells really good right now. It looks okay, so far....the top is kinda "craggly" of course, all gluten free breads have that look....not real smooth. If this recipe tastes okay, i think next time I'm actually going to grease up my hands and shape it in small loaves.
