Celeste's Sunflower-Oatmeal Bread

LOVE the texture!



In a small bowl combine: 1 1/4 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon active dry yeast and a pinch of sugar.

In another bowl: 1 1/4 cups warm buttermilk, 1/4 cup honey, 2 tablespoons molasses and 2 tablespoons unsalted butter.

In a large bowl: 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup rolled oats, 3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon of salt. Add the buttermilk mixture, yeast and 1 large egg at room temperature. Beat hard for 3 minutes. Add the flour (4-5 cups unbleached all purpose) 1/2 a cup at a time until dough is soft and clears the side of the bowl.

Knead about five minutes, dusting with flour 1 tablespoon at a time if needed.
Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat and covering with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled, about 1 1/2 hours at room temp.

Gently deflate the dough, you can either shape into three free form loaves (baked on a cookie sheet) or two regular loaves. Let rise in the pan until doubled, about 30 minutes. Brush with rich egg glaze (1 egg, about 2 tablespoons of milk/water), and sprinkle with oats.

Twenty minutes before baking preheat oven to 375 F. Bake 35-40 minutes.

I forgot to add the oats, and quickly threw on a few at the last minute...as you can see they didn't stick ;)
Delicious bread anyway!

Vanilla Belgian Waffles

These are good, I like them because the batter is thinner then the Buttermilk Waffles I usually make so it's easy to get them crispy!




Ingredients:
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
pinch of salt

In a separate bowl:
3 large eggs
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract.

Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and beat until smooth, making sure to not overmix.
Cook according to manufacturers instructions.

Note: You can also substitute whole-wheat pastry flour for the white flour.

Graham Bread

So so so GOOD! Graham flour must be magic!



The original recipe is huge and makes 4 loaves. Since it was my first time making this I didn't want to make that much and end up not liking it so I halved the recipe.
I'm going to share the half recipe.

Directions:
In a small bowl pour 1/4 a cup of warm water and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of yeast and a pinch of brown sugar over the top. Stir till dissolved then let sit about ten minutes.

In a large bowl (can use whisk/electric mixer/wooden spoon) Add:
2 cups warm water, 2/3 a cup plus 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk, 1/2 a cup brown sugar, 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 a stick) melted, 1/3 a cup plus 1 tsp molasses, and 2 tsp. salt.
Add to the batter:
the yeast mixture along with 2 eggs at room temp. (usually takes about 20 minutes outside the fridge). Beat to combine. Add 1 1/2 cups of graham flour. Beat hard until smooth. Add unbleached all purpose flour 1 cup at a time until your dough holds its shape and clears the side of the bowl. The recipe calls for 4 1/2-5 cups but I ended up using 2-3 more cups then it asked for. Just be sure to not add too much, but definitely add enough!!


Knead for a full 10 minutes on a well floured surface, dusting with flour to prevent sticking. Yes, kneading this long is tough, but well worth it!

Place in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Then rise 1 1/2 hours or doubled. Gently deflate then rise again for another 40-45 minutes. The extra rise helps the flavor and texture develop.

Grease two 9x5 inch pans. Form loaves and place in pans. Let rise 30-40 minutes covered with plastic wrap until no more then 1 inch above the rim of the pans. Twenty minutes before baking turn oven to 350 F. Brush the tops of the loaves with egg glaze (1 egg, a few tablespoons of water or milk) if desired. As you can tell I didn't bother this time, usually I do though. :)

Bake on the center rack for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool for five minutes in the pans then transfer to cooling rack.

Sourdough Pancakes and Waffles

Here is a little switch-up if you want a little flare to your pancakes/waffles. Yum!!
My favorite are still the buttermilk, but these are pretty darn good.





1 cup classic sourdough starter
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

The night before:
In a nonreactive bowl combine starter, milk, and 1 cup of the flour. Be careful not to over stir, then cover with plastic and refrigerate.

The next morning:
Add the final 1 cup of flour and remaining ingredients. Do not over mix! The batter will be the consistency of heavy cream and bubbly because of the baking soda.

Pancakes: Cook for two minutes each side on medium heat. Make sure your pan is heated up well before adding batter.

Waffles: Follow manufacturers directions.

Bran-Molasses-Sunflower Bread

The first thing that really impressed me about this bread was that my children actually ate the crust!! It's really soft, and has a fantastic flavor. It's really tasty warm, and tastes just as good the next day.


Directions:


In a small bowl (or liquid measuring cup) :
3/4 a cup warm water (105-115 F) then sprinkle over the top 1 tablespoon active dry yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar, stir to mix. Let sit about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl:
1 1/2 cups warm milk (I put mine in a tall plastic cup in the microwave for 30 seconds)
4 tablespoons (half a stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup wheat bran (The recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups, I added a little less, feel free to adjust amount for your taste)
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds.
Beat hard, then add 2 cups unbleached all purpose or bread flour with the yeast mixture. Beat hard until creamy, about two minutes. Then add the remaining 3 cups of flour 1/2 a cup at a time until the dough reaches the desired consistency. (I ended up using 6-7 cups flour total, so keep in mind you may use more or less)



Turn out onto desired surface and knead 5-10 minutes.

Let rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a greased bowl (turn to coat when placing in bowl) cover with plastic wrap.

After rising, divide dough into two equal portions (I usually weigh mine just because I tend to be a perfectionist and I like the loaves to be the same, totally unnecessary!!) ;) Shape and place in greased pans, rise in pans for 45 minutes. (I cover mine with the plastic wrap from the bowl so the top doesn't dry out). 20 minutes before baking preheat oven to 375 F. Bake loaves 40-45 minutes.

Place on a cooling rack, if you can't help yourself slice a warm piece after about 15 minutes. Just remember it doesn't slice as well when hot! Mmmm.

Side note: I always save my heels since they don't get eaten around here. After collecting 4-5 bread batches worth and they are good and dry I throw them in the blender and thus have a never ending supply of bread crumbs in the freezer. :)

Oatmeal-Bulgar Bread

I was so excited that my unborn child agreed with this delicious bread! He/she is proving to be quite a picky eater and I haven't been able to eat wheat bread in about 4 months. I think it's because this recipe doesn't call for wheat flour, just wheat bran and the bulgar. So you still get the delicious wheat flavor.
It was soo good! I love the texture and it tasted awesome the day after as well.


Sponge:
(I think this is where the unique texture comes from, usually recipes calling for bulgar or cracked wheat have you cook it beforehand, but this one doesn't)



In a large bowl: 2 1/4 cups warm water; sprinkling the following over the top: 1 tablespoon (or 1 package) active dry yeast, 2 tablespoons light brown sugar, 2/3 cup bulgar wheat, fine or medium grind (I think cracked wheat would work if you don't have bulgar). Let stand for 5 minutes, then add 2 cups unbleached all purpose flour and beat hard for about 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour.


Oh yeah, check out all those bubbles!

Dough

Add the following to the sponge:1 1/4 cups regular rolled oats (I actually ran out so I used 1 cup of the rolled oats and 1/4 cup steel cut oats), 1/4 cup wheat bran, 1/4 cup light brown sugar, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil, 1 tablespoon salt. Add 3-3 1/2 cups of unbleached all purpose or bread flour 1/2 a cup at a time. When the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl turn out onto a floured board (or counter :)) and knead about five minutes.
Place in a greased container, turning once to coat, and then rise 1 1/2 to 2 hours at room temperature.


Oh yeah, put a little elbow grease into the kneading!

Grease three 8 by 4 inch loaf pans and divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Let raise in the pan around 45 minutes or until doubled. Twenty minutes before baking turn on the oven to 375 F. Using a serrated knife, gently slash the top of the loaves no more then 1/4 an inch deep. (I was feeling lazy at this time, so I didn't)

Bake on the center rack in the oven 35-40 minutes, or until you hear a hollow sound when you tap the loaves. (As you can see my loaves aren't exactly full size, I blame this on running a few errands and having the dough rise about an hour too long...oops!)

Note: So I made this bread again, and measured the dough by weight this time. Apparently my pans are just a little bigger then the size asked for because I did about 1 lb 8 oz loaves and it made just two. So if you like smaller loaves go for it, otherwise just make two. :)

My Favorite Buttermilk Dinner Rolls

Unfortunately in the midst of all my holiday baking I misplaced the battery charger for the camera, so I borrowed a picture from Google images. I lucked out and found one that looks just like this recipe. Very tasty, but then again, aren't dinner rolls always?!
(This recipe makes 16 dinner rolls)





1.
Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of active dry yeast (1 package), and a pinch of sugar over 1/4 cup of warm water. Let sit for about ten minutes.

2. In a large bowl using a whisk or electric mixer combine: 1 cup warm buttermilk (105-115 F), 2 tablespoons sugar or honey, grated zest of one lemon, 4 tablespoons (half a stick) of unsalted butter, melted, 1 large egg at room temperature, and 2 teaspoons of salt.

3. Stir in 1 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour (4-41/2 cups total), and the yeast mixture and beat hard for 2 minutes. (Or until mixture is smooth and creamy). Add the flour half a cup at a time until dough is soft and clears the side of the bowl.

4. Turn onto a floured work surface and knead about 5 minutes until dough springs back when pressed. Place in a greased bowl, turn once to coat the top and let raise until doubled. 1-1 1/2 hours.

5. Divide the dough into sixteen balls, shaping into ovals. You can either place in a greased 9x12 baking dish like I did, or on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic and let raise for 30 minutes.

6. Twenty minutes before baking preheat oven to 375 F. Gently brush each roll with egg glaze (1 egg, several tablespoons of water or milk), and sprinkle with sesame, poppy or fennel seeds if desired. You can cut 2-3 diagonal slashes on the top of each roll if desired. Place in the center of the oven and bake 15-18 minutes, or until golden brown. If using two baking sheets place on upper and lower oven racks and switch places halfway through baking. Serve warm, or cool to room temperature and reheat.

ENJOY!!