100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

100% Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

Serves: 4 standard loaves
Cook Time: 25-30 mins
Cook Temp: 350 F

Ingredients

2 cups

hot water

2 cups

milk

1 Tbsp

yeast

1/4 cup

sugar

—

1 Tbsp

lemon juice

1

egg

1/4 cup

sugar

1/2 cup

oil

1 Tbsp

salt

About 10 cups

whole wheat flour

Instructions

1

Combine hot water with the milk in a bowl so the temperature is lukewarm. (if it’s too hot it will kill the yeast) Add sugar and yeast and let set for about 10 minutes.

2

In a large mixing bowl combine the lemon juice, egg, remaining sugar, oil and salt. Pour in the liquid yeast mixture and stir until combined.

3

Add 6 cups of the whole wheat flour and mix until combined.

4

Add the remaining 4 cups of flour, 1 at a time, mixing each time until combined. Keep adding flour until your dough is not longer sticky, but still soft. (you may have to add  more or less than 10 cups depending on altitude or humidity)

5

Knead the dough until it passes the “window pane” test. This will take longer than when kneading white bread. (YouTube bread     window pane test if you don’t know what that entitles. The time of kneading will depend on if you are doing it by hand or by machine. I never go by time, but instead by feel for best results)

6

Cover the dough and proof for about an hour. Knock the dough down and proof for an additional hour.

7

Knock the dough down and divide into 4 equal portions. Form the dough into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover the loaves with plastic wrap or a damp towel and proof for about an hour.

8

Preheat the oven to 350 F and bake bread until golden brown, about 25 minutes. You can tell when the bread is done when it makes a hollow sound if you tap the bottom of it. Cool the finished loaves on a rack. Store in airtight bags or in the freezer.

Notes

-Bake temperature and time vary according to your oven. My oven bakes hotter than normal, so I bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. You might have to play around a bit with your temperature and bake time to get the perfect result.

-Lemon juice is added as a preservative, it helps the bread stay fresh longer. It doesn’t overly affect the taste, so if you don’t have any it’s not a deal-breaker if you eat the bread in a day or two, or freeze it.

-You can omit the egg if needed, but I find it helps a little with structure.

-If you can’t find milk at the store (these are crazy times!), you can always substitute it with water, it just might not taste as awesome. You could also use less sugar. I’ve made this bread with only a 1/4 cup of sugar...it was okay. I wouldn’t recommend using less than 1/2 cup of oil though. 

-Feel free to half the recipe if you don't have enough loaf pans.

***If you are making bread from home-ground wheat, the bread will be a lot more dense, because (in my experience) I can't grind the wheat as fine as you would get in store bought whole wheat flour.
You can try and double grind your wheat (that's a lot of time/work!)
Also, be sure to DOUBLE THE YEAST! This is important in getting a good rise.
Adding a cup or two of store bought whole wheat flour, or white flour can help with gluten development as well. 

Good luck!

Keep in mind that it might take a few tries to get it just right...heck it took me a few years to make a bread that I would actually eat a sandwich on!

Scalloped Potato Casserole

I made these scalloped potatoes tonight, they were AMAZING and a huge hit with the kids, so I decided I'd better write down what I did so I can make them again.

Scalloped Potato Casserole
Bake Temp: 375 F
Bake Time: about an hour to an hour and a half

-1/4 cup butter
-1 medium onion, minced

-1 Tbsp garlic, minced
-1 tsp salt
-1 tsp pepper
-1/8 tsp thyme
-1/3 cup flour
-1 cup chicken broth
-1 cup cream
-1 cup milk
---
-4-5 medium large potatoes, thinly sliced
-1 cup frozen peas
-1 cup frozen corn
-2 cups chopped baked ham (I used our leftover ham from Easter dinner)
-2 cups shredded cheese

-Melt the butter over medium heat, in a medium sized saucepan and add the onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and thyme. Saute for a few minutes, allowing the onion to soften a bit. Mix in the flour and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Whisk in the liquid and continue to cook for about 5 more minutes. Remove from heat.
-In a 9X13 casserole dish, layer half of the potato slices to cover the bottom. Top with 1/2 cup frozen peas, 1/2 cup frozen corn, 1 cup chopped ham, and 1 cup shredded cheese. Pour half of the sauce mixture evenly over the top. Layer on the rest of the potatoes, peas, corn, and ham on top and then pour the remaining sauce mixture evenly over everything. Top with the remaining cheese.  Bake at 375F for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked through.

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

Bake Temp: 325-350F (depending on your oven)
Bake Time: 40-60 minutes

-1/2 C butter

-1/2 C white sugar
-1/2 C brown sugar

-1/4 tsp salt
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp nutmeg
-1/4 tsp ginger
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-2 eggs
-1 tsp baking soda
-2 cups flour
-2 cups mashed banana
-1 cup chopped walnuts (opt)


-Cream the butter, sugar, salt, vanilla and spices. Mix until light in color and fluffy in texture. Add the eggs and mix until fluffy.
-Sift together the baking soda and flour.
-Add the flour mixture and mashed bananas alternatively to the batter by first adding about a forth of the flour and mixing just until combined. Add one-third of the mashed banana and mix, just until blended in. Repeat this process until all the ingredients are mixed together.
-Line 2 loaf pans with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Evenly distribute the batter between the 2 pans. Bake at 325F-350F until the center of the loaf springs back when lightly touched or when an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 40-60 minutes.

Chocolate Waffles with White Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Cream

So this morning I was making waffles as was requested by my kids. I was thinking of how to change it up a bit and decided adding chocolate was a good choice. My kids made me "Star Baker" for the day, if you've ever seen the Great British Bake-Off you know that is quite the compliment 😄


-I used whole wheat flour as my kids can pack down endless waffles if I use allpurpose flour, and nobody needs to eat more than 2 Belgian sized waffles...especially kids less than half my size! I've found the whole wheat flour fills them up faster and they eat less. Me too, which is good because I too can pack in the waffles. I'm sure this recipes is amazing with white flour, but it's still delicious with the whole wheat variety as well.
-As a side note, the recipe calls for melted butter because that is what tastes best. Those of us who can't afford to chuck butter into everything that they eat can use oil in place of the butter. I use canola oil because I cannot stand the taste of vegetable oil...but it's all up to personal preference.
-Another note, sometimes you don't have the joy of having buttermilk in your fridge. If you mix half sour cream and half milk, you get a lovely result. You could also do the whole milk+lemon juice or vinegar trick, but I've found the taste and texture doesn't compare to using cultured buttermilk or the sour cream.

Chocolate Waffles

-1 1/2 C flour

-1/2 C cocoa

-1/4 C white sugar
-2 tsp baking powder
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 eggs, separated
-1/2 C melted butter
-1 3/4 C buttermilk

-sift together the dry ingredients in a bowl and create a well in the middle.
-in a separate mixing bowl, separate the egg whites from the egg yolks and place the yolks into the "well" in the dry ingredients
-add the rest of the wet ingredients to the well and mix until smooth-beat the egg whites on high until soft peaks form
-fold the beaten egg whites into the batter (be careful to not loose the volume!)
-cook the waffles according to your waffle maker

White Chocolate Raspberry Whipped Cream

-1 1/4 C whipping cream
-1/4 C white chocolate chips
-1/4 C raspberry jam

-1/2 C fresh or frozen raspberries 

-melt 1/4 C of the whipping cream with the chocolate chips and mix until smooth. Mix in the raspberry jam until smooth and set aside for a moment
-whip the cream on high until it thickens and turns into whipped cream, slowly pour in the white chocolate raspberry mixture while still whipping the cream, on low.
-fold in the raspberries and serve on top of the chocolate waffles.

Almond Joy Brownies

These gourmet brownies are perfect to share...they are also perfect if you want to eat the whole pan by yourself.

Almond Joy Brownies

Brownies
-1 C soft butter -1 C white sugar -1 C brown sugar -1 tsp salt -1 tsp vanilla -4 eggs, room temp -1 C cocoa -1 C flour -1 C slivered or chopped almonds

-mix sugar, salt, vanilla and butter just until creamed together -add the eggs and mix until smooth but don't overmix as you don't want to incorporate air into the mixture. -fold in flour and cocoa mixing until combined. -fold in nuts -pour into greased 9X13 pan

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes

Coconut Layer
-2 tbsp butter -1/2 C condensed milk -1 tsp vanilla -1 to 1 1/2 C powdered sugar -1 3/4 to 2 C flaked coconut -mix together and spread over cooled brownies. (Add more powdered sugar or coconut depending on preference) Chocolate Topping
-1 C milk chocolate chips -1/4 C cream

-Melt chocolate chips and mix in cream until smooth. Spread over coconut layer -garnish with about 1/4 C sliced almonds over the chocolate -refrigerate for a few hours and allow to harden before cutting

Homemade Oreo's

Usually homemade Oreo's are made from a cake mix. Since this blog is dedicated to baking without a box, I am presenting a homemade Oreo recipe made from scratch. The filling is my favorite part!

Homemade Oreo's

Cookie

-1 C Butter, softened
-1 C White Sugar

-1 C Brown Sugar  
-1 tsp Salt              
-2 tsp Vanilla          
-2 Eggs, room temp   
-1 tsp Baking Powder
-1 tsp Baking Soda
-1 1/2 C Flour
-1 3/4 C Cocoa

-cream together butter, sugars, salt and vanilla until light in color and fluffy in texture.
-add eggs, one at a time, mixing until the mixture is light and fluffy.
-add the baking powder, soda, flour and cocoa and mix.
-roll into equal sized balls and place on a cookie sheet

Bake at 350 degrees F for 8-10 minutes 

removed from cookie sheet and allow to cool

Cream Filling

-1 pkg of white chocolate chips
-1 8 oz pkg cream cheese, room temp

-mix the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy
-melt the white chocolate chips and mix them into the cream cheese
-whip the mixture until it resembles frosting

Frost one side of the cooled cookies with the filling and sandwich it with another cookie. ENJOY!

Vegetable Soup

This soup is perfect for a cold winter day. It freezes well once cooked and also makes a perfect crock pot meal. 

Vegetable Soup

-1/2 to 1 lb stew meat (beef, deer, lamb, whatever you have laying around...we seem to eat a lot of venison over here)
-2 cans beef broth
-1 can tomato sauce
-1 can diced tomatoes
-1 C frozen peas
-1 C frozen corn
-1 C chopped carrots
-2-3 diced potatoes
-1 C frozen or canned green beans 
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 stalks of celery, diced
-salt and pepper to taste

-in a large pot, brown the meat over medium high heat with about a tbsp of oil
-after the meat is cooked, add the rest of ingredients and simmer over medium heat until the vegetables are cooked through.