from Kris B.
In our effort to explore all that King Arthur Flour has to offer with its products, recipes, and projects, Tracey and I are participating in the King Arthur Flour Bakealong Challenge. Each month a new recipe is shared and bakers around the world are invited to try it and share their experiences on IG or the King Arthur website.
As its title implies, this is a basic everyday use for anything and everything bread - sandwiches, toast, or the favorite way at our house...straight off the counter with a little butter. Any way you slice it, this loaf will not disappoint!
Many people are convinced that making homemeade bread is either too complicated or takes too long. The process, especially with this only seven ingredient loaf, is simple. Waiting for the two rises to take place does take time, but it is time that you can use to do a load of laundry, read a book, or take a few photos. It's the kind of time that we all used to have and probably took for granted. I am as guilty of this as anyone else.
I love homemade bread. When my girls were little and I only worked part-time, I made bread twice a week. Back then, he only bread I ever bought was an occasional hamburger bun. I miss those days! Though I probably make more homemade food than the average person, it is far less than I used to do. Like I said, this recipe is quite simple and makes two loaves. Now that I'm not cooking for a family of four, a single recipe of King Arthur's Everyday Whole-Grain Bread will last the two of us at least a week, maybe two if I don't take sandwiches for lunch everyday and come home to a snack of a slice with butter and jam.
Why is it that we refer to the days where most of food was homemade, our vegetables homegrown, our clothes homemade, and our family incomes much less, as the good old days? As simpler times? I for one can say that I would much rather worry about whether my bread is going to rise properly or whether I not I have the perfect color thread for the blouse that I am making than to worry about commute times and whether or not I am meeting all of the state mandated regulstions for educators. Yet as I write this, I have on my to-do list the creation of documents necessary for an importantvmeeting next week. My words and my actions are totally out of alignment here. How about yours?
Most of us cant go back to those "simpler times," but I suspect that every one of us can carve out an hour or two to roll up our sleeves and knead some bread for a few minutes. It really is a relaxing thing, feeling and smelling the soft dough as it squishes between your fingers. Ah! Heavenly!
King Arthur Flour, Tracey, and I challenge you to make bake along with us this month. Give the King Arthur Flour Everyday Whole-Grain Bread a try.
from Tracey G.
As Kris said, this is the most current King Arthur Flour
Bakealong Challenge recipe, the Everyday Whole-Grain Bread. I must preface by
saying though, that I am having fun with the Bakealong Challenge, not only do
we get to try new recipes, but I'm sure there'll be new techniques as well
coming along in the future. I love a "reason" to branch out just for
fun! For example, last month's Inside-Out Pumpkin Muffins (click the link to go to the post!) were the first time
I've ever made a muffin with a cream cheese filling! So, not only did I try a
new recipe - but I learned a new technique/filling recipe I can apply to
another muffin one of these days.
I love to make homemade bread. As I've said before, I
used to make it faithfully every week, at least 4 loaves at a crack. My freezer
was always filled with homemade loaves. My mom loved to take sandwiches to her
dialysis appointment since it was right at about lunch time, and regular
store-bought, commercially made loaves of bread were loaded with deadly salt
for a person on a salt-restricted diet due to CHF issues (Congestive Heart Failure).
So, I'd prop Harry up in his bouncer on one of the kitchen counters (and in his
high-chair when he got older!) and get to making the bread for the week. Thanks
to King Arthur Flour's wonderful products and support (as demonstrated by their
wonderful recipes and blog posts making you feel like you could make anything,
lol) I'm rediscovering the fun of making bread again. And it's nice now not
hearing the whining anymore on how "you used to make bread all the
time" from the peanut gallery that is my Husband, Jeremy, lol.
This month's Bakealong Challenge, the Everyday Whole-Grain
Bread, is one of the best bread recipes I've ever run across! Wow, it's so
super simple it's not even funny, lol. I made two more loaves just yesterday,
after making 2 loaves a couple days before that. That means, that so far
this week, I've made four loaves of bread, in no time flat to boot! And as
there's only one left as I type this, I guess that means the people in my
household heartily approve of this recipe! And I do to, it will now be one I
turn to regularly. It's so simple and tasty, it's perfect. And not to mention
using King Arthur Flour's White Whole Wheat flour makes it a great way to get
more whole-grains in the diet! It's great plain, with butter, toasted - it
works with anyway you choose to eat it!
The dough is great to work with. The first time I made
it, it was a bit sticky, but it was a rainy day too - I am sure that the extra
humidity in the air affected that a wee bit. So, I ended up adding enough all-purpose flour to get a smooth non-sticky
dough. I did, however, do that very gradually as you can cross that fine line
of just enough flour stage to the uh-oh-I-created-a-dough-anchor stage. Not a
good thing, lol. The second time I made it, I left it slightly sticky - which
was kind of humorous. In getting it out of my mixer bowl, into the oiled bowl
for the "resting/rising" phase (more on that in a bit), I used my
whole hand to get it, and before I knew it, it seemed hopelessly stuck to my
hand - and I mean STUCK because I'd meant to oil my hand, but forgot,lol. But,
I was patient and waited for it to "let go" of my hand on its own.
Had I forced it faster, I am sure I would have had my left hand covered with a
coating of bread dough, lol. But, by letting it let go by itself, it all came
off like magic. Even if the patience was a little hard to come by, lol.
I exclusively use instant yeast, currently, the SAF brand
that I bought at the King Arthur Flour website. I used to use the Fleischmann's Rapid Rise yeast, also an instant yeast, and it's one of my favorites - and
easy to find in the grocery store in the convenient pre-measured packets.
However, I am now totally in love with SAF Instant yeast - mostly because it's
a good buy (a 16 oz bag that you measure out yourself), and, after reading that
it's pretty much all they use at the King Arthur Test Kitchens, I was sold.
From what I've read it's very dependable, and so far in my usage, I can attest
to that. I also love the method you use for using an instant yeast - you mix it
in with the flour of the recipe, and proceed as directed per the recipe. I will
admit I went my own way with this recipe as I not only mixed my yeast with the
first 3 cups of White Whole Wheat, I also mixed in the sugar and salt. I then
added the water and oil and let that mix until blended and like a thin batter.
At that point, I added in the remaining all-purpose flour called for - all of
it since I knead it in the mixer.
But anyway, using an instant yeast, I choose to use a
one-rise method, for the most part. When working with the White Whole Wheat
flour, or any of the bread doughs for that matter, after I get the kneading
done in my stand mixer, I pop it into an oiled bowl to rest - and it rises a
bit too. I usually give it about 20 min or so. Then I divide it, shape it and
let it rise for the formal rising, lol. Once it was divided, I chose to make
rustic loaves instead of using a traditional loaf pan, just for fun. I lined my
baking sheets with parchment paper, placed the loaves on them and let them rise
for about 30 minutes. After rising, I then dusted the tops of my loaves with
flour and gave them a few slashes with a sharp knife for decorative-purposes
just before baking - I did it then so the cuts didn't rise and lose their
definition - this way they were pretty after baking, lol. I had to bake mine a
bit longer than the 30 minutes suggested -
but that's only because I had my rustic loaves on cookie sheet, one on the top
rack and one on the bottom, so I had to add about 10 minutes to that time. They
were perfect.
I can honestly say that I wish this was the bread recipe
I cut my bread making teeth on all those years ago - I would've thought myself
a pro! I remember vividly my first attempts at bread making when I was 19 or
so, and it was a laborious process let me say for so little reward, lol. This
recipe would have kept me going, and I bet I wouldn't have quit trying there
for a few years, you can't go wrong with this one. I do hope you try it!
Here are the helpful links:
Here's
the link to the Bakealong Challenge page, introducing this month's recipe (it also
has some good tips for the recipe under the links!)
Just the recipe:
The blog post recipe walk through:
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