Smaller bread items will always require a hotter oven than their larger counterparts, and will generally take substantially less time to cook. For example, the average loaf

will need around forty-five minutes in a 450F degree oven, while bread rolls will need just ten minutes in a 500F degree oven.

To boost the nutritional value of your loaf, whether made in a bread maker or by hand, add a finely crushed vitamin C tablet. This is a routine ingredient of many bread maker recipes for brown or wholemeal bread, but I will occasionally add the same to home made white bread when winter bugs are prevalent around my children’s schools.

There’s a lot of fun to be had by experimenting and adapting the ingredients of a simple bread recipe, but if you opt to use a different flour then be aware that it will take

up water at a different rate too, with course flours absorbing more than the more processed flours. You can expect to use a weight of water of around half the weight of the flour you’re using, but add the water a little at a time, and don’t be surprised if you find yourself needing much more or much less than usual.

While the temperature of the water used is crucial to the fermentation of your yeast, salt and sugar will determine it’s behaviour. Although salt is partly used to give flavour to the bread, it’s mostly used to control the fermentation of the yeast – too little salt causing too much fermentation, and too much causing too little. Sugar is used not to make the bread sweeter, but to feed the yeast as it ferments. If you suspect your yeast may be the source of breadmaking problems for you, look to your salt and sugar too – you may be surprised how much influence these relatively minor ingredients have over a major ingredient like the yeast.

It’s knowledge like this which will give you the courage to experiment, and soon you’ll be offering the world tasty bread recipes of your own!

To make two 900g (2lb) loaves you will need the following ingredients. Figures in brackets are imperial measurements – please do not mix the two…

700-800ml (24-27 fluid ounces) water
28g (1oz) salt
28g (1oz) sugar
28g (1oz) yeast
1360g (3lb) plain flour

You will also need 2 bread tins, measuring about 21cm x 11.5cm x 6.5cm (8.5″ x 4.5″ x 2.5″ inches). Alternatively, two 19 cm (7.5″) round cake tins will do instead.

Start by heating the water to about 40C (105F). Add the salt and sugar and dissolve. Cream the yeast with a little of the liquid and then mix with the rest of it.

Carefully weigh the flour into a large basin and add sufficient liquid to make an easily workable dough. This must be kneaded well, so give it a good pounding for a couple of minutes.

Leave it to prove (or double in size) in a warm place for approximately two hours.

Heat the oven to 230C (450F) or gas mark 8.

Grease the tins and then turn your dough out on to a floured board and knead it thoroughly again. Divide it into two and put each piece into one of the greased tins to prove

again for about twenty minutes. Bake for approximately 40 minutes until the bread is well browned, and then turn it out of the tins to cool.

This simple bread recipe has been in use for hundreds of years, and has stood the test of time.

Easy Ciabatta Bread Recipe

Tired of the same old sandwiches? Are you interested in trying something different when it comes to bread? Have you ever tried eating ciabatta bread? Now is the time to add some zing to your sandwiches. Try this very easy yet satisfying ciabatta bread recipe and your sandwiches will instantly turn into delicious panini.

Ciabatta bread is the best alternative to your low-fiber, calorie-rich sandwiches. It should be your top bread choice.  Especially if you are a big fan of panini yet very health-conscious.  Ciabatta bread is proven to contain less fat, zero preservatives, and less sugar, making it ideal bread for those who are watching their weight or just want to stay fit.

If you still haven’t tried ciabatta bread there is no need to worry. It is just like other breads out there but with more benefits. There are many ways to prepare your panini using this bread and here’s an easy recipe you can absolutely try at home:

1. Prepare the ingredients

Since this is an easy recipe it requires very simple ingredients as well. For starters, set aside two slices of ciabatta bread to make your sandwich. For the filling, prepare one small onion coarsely chopped, one small can of tuna flakes drained, one small can crushed pineapple drained, ½ cup grated cheese of your choice, sliced cucumber, lettuce and ½ cup mayonnaise.

2. Make the filling

The secret to a tasty easy ciabatta bread recipe is the filling. You can make a great one by combining the onion, tuna flakes, crushed pineapple, cheese, and mayonnaise in a bowl. Mix the ingredients well and make sure not to overdo it.

3. Make your panini

Now that you have the filling, it is time to get your ciabatta bread. Spread enough filling on one side and put lettuce and cucumber on top of it.  Cover with the other slice of bread. If you want to add tomatoes you can do so but add them in a few minutes before you remove your panini from the panini press or oven to avoid making your sandwich being soggy.  Spread olive oil on the outside of the bread before placing in the grill or oven.

4. Heat it up

You can have crispier and tastier ciabatta bread panini by toasting them in the grill or oven for around five minutes or longer until they are golden brown. Once cooked, remove from the grill or oven and serve while still hot.

The ciabatta bread recipe presented above is just one of the many ways to prepare a healthy snack for you and your whole family. It is easy to prepare, requires very simple ingredients, and very nutritious. The next time you want to have a healthy snack, simply try this easy ciabatta bread recipe.

By: Sabrina Rocca

Author

Choosing a Bread Machine

Why do you want to purchase a bread machine?

Begin your hunt by saying, “What’s my reason for looking for a bread machine?” Does your closest buddy have one? Is the smell of sweltering bread enticing? Do you want to be hands on with the ingredients of the bread consumed by your folks? Is it bread that is newly baked you like compared to the ones on the shelves of a grocery? Is it that you want to give a particular person a bolt from the blue with this recently added piece of equipment? Persons and individuals buy bread machines because of so many reasons. Bear in mind-a bread machine is another mini apparatus which is going to eat up a place in your cooking area. Also it could need a bigger deal and cost compared to other little equipments you might have in your kitchen.

How does a bread machine function?

Each and every bread machine has the same make-a control box just as a micro wave oven. It also has a strong mixing tool to facilitate the mixing of ingredients on the slate where the bread will be seared. Then this piece of equipment will also facilitate the placing of the correct heat for the bread to be done. What is required is for you to do are to put the mixture onto the pan, choose the right temperature and settings then take out the bread when it is done. When choosing the right equipment, take note of its make and descriptions.

For people who are really into manufacturing bread, capabilities of a machine like self program will make the maker control the bread machine more to an extent that he or she can make it adjust to their personal mix of ingredients. The said capability of a bread machine is widespread among high-end bread machines

Makers of bread machines puts forward lots of customer help for first time buyers or possessors. The literatures like instructional guides are a big help and you’ll tend to look at them from time to time. Go over the user manual first when you buy a bread machine. Browse the recipe book and try to find out if they’re the ones your folks will like. Some recipe books could be found in stores and places where you could buy books and other reading materials but it’s strongly recommended that you use the ones included upon purchase of the appliance. When you’ve become used to using your equipment, this is the time you might want to consider trying other recipes and ingredients. Also try to look at the other things that come with your bread machine or the bread machine that you want to buy. Others even have customer service phone numbers or a visual presentation on how your machine should be handled.

Lots of these equipment produce remarkable bread however don’t expect that this wont cost you. It costs approximately the same rate as the mediocre bakery offers you. If you want freshly baked bread, on the other hand, a bread machine may help you. You just have to determine the functions that are most valuable to you and your lifestyle.

By: Getar

Author

A Recipe for Rye Bread

The more I make bread, the more I am convinced of the importance of the kitchen being in the best position in the house. When we designed and built our house, I was determined that the kitchen should have a view and be on the front of the house. Now that it’s six-fifteen of a summer morning and I’m up early, kneading bread, because we’ve run out again, I’m especially happy to be looking out over a sun-soaked landscape to the distant mountains. Every time you make bread you’re guaranteed a good ten minutes of contemplation as you knead it, the mechanical rhythmic activity frees the mind to wander or switch off…very therapeutic. Having a view thrown in as well is just an added bonus.

I haven’t always made bread. It is a comparatively recent development. Making jam was the first breakthrough into self-sufficiency, then came the day when our local supplier of rye bread, who made a loaf that (miracle of miracles), all the children would eat, decided to switch recipes and use caraway in it…instant rejection by the whole family.

We’d stopped the wheat bread to try and help my son’s allergies and found it helped most of us, so apart from the occasional indulgence of fluffy white bread, I wanted to stay off it. There was no alternative; I would have to take the leap into bread making. The main reason that I’d resisted was that it seemed to take so long. First the mixing and kneading, then the rising, then knocking down and forming loaves, a second rising and finally the baking. Who could keep track of all that in the chaotic life of a three-child family?

So eventually I take the plunge, turn to my friend Nigel (Slater, not namedropping but he and Nigella (Lawson) are ever-present in my kitchen, in book format of course) and find a foolproof recipe for a white loaf, simpler to start off with white I think. Well the first try produced a reasonable, if huge, loaf, and though my son still remembers that it was a bit doughy in the middle. Second try, I got two pretty perfect loaves and I was on a roll.

Now to find a recipe for rye bread. It seems that 100% rye is usually made by the sour dough method and I couldn’t see my family going for that, so settle for a half and half rye/whole-wheat recipe… triumph. Ok, my son the food connoisseur complained it was a bit too sweet, so next time round I reduced the amount of honey, but this recipe has been our staple diet ever since, and I am now truly ensconced in my kitchen, looking at the view, every other day, while I endeavor to keep the supply level with the ever increasing demand.

Any way, finally to the recipe:

500g rye flour

450g whole-wheat flour plus more for kneading

50g plain flour

1 tablespoon salt

1 10g sachet of instant yeast

1 tablespoon honey

3 tablespoons oil

670 ml milk

125 ml water

Warm the milk to lukewarm. Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and put in the yeast, then honey, then oil, pour on the warmed milk and water and mix. When it gets doughy turn out on to a well floured surface (it will be extremely sticky) and knead for 10 minutes. You will need to keep adding flour as you knead. It is better for it to be too sticky than too dry – you can always add more flour, but too dry will make a dry, hard loaf. After 10 minutes, put it back into the bowl with a plastic bag over it and leave in a warmish place for two hours or so. Then knock down, firmly pressing out the air, but not over kneading, then form into two or three loaves on a baking sheet, cover again and leave to rise for another hour. Then bake for 30 minutes at 190C until they sound hollow when you tap on the bottom of the loaf. Cool on a wire rack

So how do I keep track of the bread making, in between school runs, mealtimes and the rest? Well I don’t always. There are times when I optimistically start the bread off, leave it to rise and four hours later remember about it, knock it down, forget to switch on the oven so it has had an extra day or so in rising time by the time it gets cooked. It does seem to be very forgiving though – whatever you do to it, you do generally get bread out at the end, it may not always be the perfect loaf, but then variety is the spice of life after all. There was one time it hadn’t quite finished cooking by the time I had to do the school run, so I asked my husband to take it out in ten minutes….. By the time I got back we had a very useful weapon against intruders. We didn’t eat that one…I think it was rivet for lunch…!

By: Rajat Sharma

Author

Healthy Bread Recipes

The benefits of healthy bread recipes is that bread is a good source of protein and complex carbohydrates. Good bread is high in niacin, riboflavin and other B complex vitamins. Certain kinds of breads contain good amounts of calcium and iron. Whole Grain breads are high in fiber. Healthy Bread REcipes should contain all of the aforementioned or at least, most of the ingredients.

Since prehistoric times, bread has been a staple food in virtually every society. In early times as hunter gatherers settled into agricultural societies, this simple food only required stones to grind the grain into flour or meal. Then water and/or other liquids were added to mix it into a dough. Then a means of cooking the dough made it into a bread. These types of breads were usually flat, such as chapatis, tortillas, matzo and types of crackers. It was not until the introduction of baking powder, yeast and a medley of other leavening agents came about, did the invention of `giving dough a lift’ thereby allowing the breads to rise.

Today, we have such a variety of flours, yeasts, leavening agents, almost every type of bread known to man is made and so is healthy bread and those are the very best recipes.

The type flours offered to us the other ingredients interact giving us the various kinds of bread, their unique textures and flavors. Breads come in various shapes and sizes – we are looking for a healthy bread recipe to provide us with nutrients – niacin, riboflavin,B-complex vitamins, and calcium, iron, whole grain. That sounds like a lot to request, but we can get it. We can also make it with a bread maker if you have one.

Since bread is one of our main staples, it should be the healthiest bread we can find and if we cannot find it, make it yourself. And there is nothing more pleasing than a healthy bread that one can make a healthy sandwich with.

Did you know that bread has just as many calories as toast? Just some of the moisture has come out of the bread when toasting.

It is noteworthy to mention some of the healthiest breads; whole wheat bread, Multi-grain bread, Flax-seed bread, oat bran bread, pumpernickel bread, Whole wheat pita pocket,rye bread and the list goes on. Even white bread is fortified with iron, niacin, thiamine and calcium.

So check your list to see what is healthy in breads if you are purchasing and if you are making it yourself, you already know what is good in you healthy bread recipes.

By: IC

Author

Banana Bread Recipes for Diabetics

Back-to-school and the upcoming fall season call for bringing out fruit bread recipes.  Following are some recipes for banana breads and muffins.  All are suitable for diabetics.

BANANA-ZUCCHINI BREAD

1 cup egg substitute

2 cups Equal Sugar-Lite

3/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 medium sized ripe bananas, mashed (1 cup)

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups shredded unpeeled zucchini

1 cup chopped pecans

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs.  Blend Equal, applesauce and oil into eggs.  Add banana and mix well.  Combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Stir flour mixture into egg mixture.  Stir in zucchini and pecans just until combined.  Pour mixture into two greased 9-inch loaf pans.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes.  Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks.

BANANA NUT BREAD

3 large well-ripened bananas

1 egg or 1/4 cup egg substitute

1/2 cup sugar-free applesauce

1/3 cup low-fat milk

1/3 cup sugar or Splenda for Baking

1 tsp. salt, optional

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

(or you can use 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mash bananas with a fork.  Add egg, applesauce, milk, sugar or Splenda, salt, baking soda and baking powder to bananas.  Mix well with fork.  Slowly stir in the flour.  Stir only until flour is moistened.  Fold in chopped nuts.  Lightly grease a loaf pan with cooking spray.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a cooling rack.

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

3-4 large bananas, ripe and mashed

3/4 cup Splenda granular

1/4 cup egg substitute or 1 egg

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt, optional

1/3 cup butter, melted

1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, blend together bananas, sugar and egg or egg substitute.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Blend well.  Stir in the butter and chocolate chips.  Fill paper-lined muffin tins 2/3 full.  Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

By: Linda Wilson

Author

Tips and Recipes for Making Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in a home garden. One of my favorite things to make with zucchini is healthy loaves of bread.

Here are a few helpful tips:

When purchasing, look for ones that are under 10″ in length with no damage to the outside skin. I prefer to store mine at room temperature as refrigeration can speed up ripening.

Fresh zucchini should be used up within 5 days. You can freeze it by peeling off the skin and shredding the pulp. Measure out 2 cups of pulp and place in a zipper closure bag. Purge the air out of the bag and seal shut.

You can freeze completely baked loafs by wrapping them in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Label and freeze for up to 3 months.

Here are the 3 recipes that I like to use. If you want a really moist loaf of bread with a slight sweet taste, I recommend the tropical pineapple. If you prefer the classic version, try the second recipe. If you like nuts in your bread, then go for recipe number three.

Tropical Pineapple

3 eggs

1 c. vegetable oil

2 c. sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

2 c. shredded unpeeled zucchini

8 1/4 oz. crushed pineapple, well drained

3 c. flour

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. salt

1 c. chopped nuts

Beat eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until thick. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. makes 2 loaves.

Classic Bread

3 eggs

2 c. sugar

1 c. oil

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. allspice

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 c. loosely grated zucchini

Beat eggs until frothy. Add sugar, beat until thick and lemon colored. Add oil and vanilla. Add flour, cinnamon, allspice, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Beat until well mixed. Fold in zucchini. Pour in greased and floured pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.

Zucchini Nut

3 beaten eggs

1 c. oil

2 c. sugar

2 c. grated zucchini (not peeled)

3 tsp. vanilla

3 c. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. baking powder

3 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. chopped nuts

Add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla to the eggs. Add dry ingredients, mix well. Pour into 2 greased loaf pans and bake for 1 1/2 hours at 325 degrees until done.

By: Shelly Hill

Author

Bread In The Woods

We really like fresh bread while we’re camping. There is something about bread products that just seems especially good in the woods. Maybe it’s the fresh air; maybe it’s the appetites that we work up in the woods.

When we talk about bread in the woods, two thoughts seem to flash through folk’s minds: “Hey, I can barely handle yeast in the kitchen,” and “Yeah, but I’m a tent camper. I can’t bake in the woods.” Never fear. This article will help.

If you can barely handle yeast in the kitchen, maybe yeast in the campground isn’t a great idea. But then, yeast is not temperamental to anything but temperature. If you solve the temperature problems, yeast in the campground is no more difficult than yeast in the kitchen. You need warm enough water to get the yeasty critters growing. Most recipes are going to ask for water in the 105 to 110 degree range. Unless you have a practiced finger, bring a thermometer.

Now you’ve got to keep the yeasty critters growing. That involves temperature too. Instead of covering your dough with plastic wrap, place the dough, bowl and all, in a large food-safe plastic bag. It’ll keep the surface of the dough from drying out, the drafts away from the dough, and you’ll have a little mini greenhouse. If you have some sun, you can probably get the dough warm enough for the yeast to work. Once at 11,000 feet in Montana with a youth group, we moved a tent into the brunt of the sun to absorb the afternoon rays and create enough heat to make the dough rise.

But you still don’t have an oven. You can use a Dutch oven. You can fry your yeasted bread. (In some parts of the West, these are called scones.) Raised doughnuts-Spudnuts®-are fried yeast breads. We’ve written before about fried bread.

If you don’t want to mess around with the yeast, you can still make some great fried breads. What follows is an easy flatbread recipe. Or try a versatile Sopaipillas Recipe.

You can also make some wonderful steamed breads around a campfire or on a cook stove. Many of these are sweetbreads, maybe even dessert breads, but they can be very good-good enough to make at home.

And of course, you can always rely on pancakes. In fact, pancakes may be one of the most versatile of camping foods. It works on the trail on a backpacking trip, in an RV, and everything in between. You can make them sweet or savory. You can top them with syrups or sauces. You can even stuff them, roll them, and eat them as a burrito.

Here’s a good recipe to start with, Indian Flatbread.

Indian Flatbread

This makes a quick side dish to feed the kids, a bread that you can make without an oven, and a great trail bread. You can double or triple the recipe depending on how big your tribe is.

4 cups bread flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 cup dry milk solids

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

Enough vegetable oil to fill the frying pan to 1/2-inch deep.

Mix the dry ingredients together. Form a depression in the dry ingredients and slowly pour half the water in. Mix and add the remaining water as needed to form a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough lightly. Cut pieces from the dough and form them into round discs about 1/4-inch thick.

Heat the oil until hot. When the oil is hot enough, a small piece of the dough placed in the oil should brown quickly but not burn. Slip the dough pieces into the hot oil, fry them until brown on one side, and turn. When done, remove them to paper towels. Serve them hot as a bread or with syrup or honey as a side dish.

For more about making bread without an oven or bread in woods, we recommend that you check out our Emergency and Outdoor Bread Manual-it’s a free download consisting of about 28 pages of goodies.

Dennis Weaver is the author of How to Bake, a free 250-page e-book. Which is free at The Prepared Pantry The Prepared Pantry sells bread mixes and other baking mixes and offers a free Bread Center with recipes and techniques.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dennis_R_Weaver
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Take this fry bread recipe with you when camping or keep it on standby at home and you can fry bread whenever the occasion calls for a tasty and filling accompaniment to your meal – wherever you are!

Homemade Cinnamon Rolls from Scratch (in 2 hours or less!)

2 cups of warm water

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons dry yeast (or two packages of dry yeast)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup Canola oil (I use Canola, but you can use any kind of cooking oil) (you can also use shortening, if you prefer)

6 to 7 cups of flour (use 1 to 2 cups of whole wheat flour if you want)

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let sit for a minute or two. Add the sugar and salt. Mix. Add the cooking oil (or shortening), 2 eggs, 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth.

Stir in 3 more cups of flour. Begin kneading the dough, adding the final cup of flour. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in more flour, a quarter to a half cup at a time.

Let the dough “rest” for 15 to 20 minutes. (I leave it sitting on the counter and use the time to wash up the bowl and other utensils and to clean off the counter top.)

Roll the dough into a rectangle that’s 24 to 30 inches long by about 16 inches wide. Spread with soft butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.

Cut the cinnamon rolls into equal sized slices (approximately one inch wide each or slightly more) and place into two greased 9×13 pans. Put in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes (or until the cinnamon rolls are golden brown).

Allow to cool for 5 minutes and then turn out of the pans.

This recipes makes two dozen cinnamon rolls. If you want REALLY BIG cinnamon rolls, cut into 12 equal pieces 2 inches wide.

From “The Rural Route 2 Cookbook” by LeAnn R. Ralph (August 2008; 250 pages; $16.95). For more recipes or to order a copy of the book (FREE! shipping if you order from LeAnn) visit — http://ruralroute2cookbook.com

By: LeAnn R. Ralph

Author