Monicas Bread Making Tips

Bread Recipe Tips from Monica's Kitchen

SHAPING THE DOUGH

Take dough out of the Bosch™ bowl and place on the counter. Form it into the shape of a large circle. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces. Now you have the beginnings of a variety of bread forms. 1/6 can become any of the following forms, or any you can dream up!

LOAF OF BREAD

simply take 1/6 of the dough and shape it into a long, narrow loaf and place into a prepared (oiled) bread pan

CINNAMON ROLLS

Roll dough out into a rectangle shape, (at least 10 by 14 inches) then add your favorite ingredients.

Here’s what I do: spritz the entire face of the bread with olive oil, sprinkle with chopped pecans, cinnamon, finely ground coconut and organic raisins. You can try applesauce, chopped bananas, chocolate chips, maple syrup, etc.

This bread is so good for you, I don’t mind a simple sugar frosting. In our household, we drizzle fresh cinnamon rolls with maple syrup and by pass the traditional sugar coating.

FOCACCIA BREAD

Simply roll dough out into a rectangle shape. I use a jelly roll stone and spread the dough out with a roller. I let the dough rise and then spritz it with olive oil and follow with Italian herbs or a Rosemary herb blend. We serve Focaccia bread with marinara sauce (spaghetti sauce) and a salad. Very easy and very yummy! This bread is also great dipped in an olive oil/balsamic vinegar/Italian seasoning mixture.

BREAD STICKS/PRETZELS/CINNAMON TWISTS

Take 1/6th of the dough and make it into a circle. Cut the circle into 8th and each piece can become a bread stick. Simply use your hands to roll the dough into long pieces. Place the dough on a prepared pan or cookie sheet, spritz with olive oil and your favorite seasonings(for pretzels, add coarse salt) and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

You may want to roll spices into the bread and then shape them for bread sticks. Cinnamon Twists are just bread sticks that have been rolled in olive oil or maple syrup and then in a mixture of cinnamon and sugar, then twisted and placed on a prepared baking sheet. Keep in mind, these products will need less cooking time. Probably 12 to 15 minutes.

DINNER ROLLS

Again, taking 1/6th of the dough, form the dough into a circle and then cut it into 8ths. Each 8th makes a large dinner roll. Place dinner rolls about ¼ to ½ inch apart in your prepared pan.

PIZZA CRUST

Using 1/6th of your dough, spread the dough onto a pizza stone as thin as you like, prick and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. If you like soft crust, let the dough rise and then bake. If you want crispy crust, do not let the dough rise, prick it and then bake immediately.

STICKY BALLS/MONKEY BREAD

Use a round cake pan with 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil in the bottom of the pan. Add honey or maple syrup and pecans or walnuts. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Press raisins into the dough and roll dough into 1” balls and fill the pan with the balls touching.

Let it rise and then bake. Turn pan upside down on a platter to serve. Variation: roll each dough ball in a maple syrup mixture and then roll the wet dough in a mixture of cinnamon, finely ground coconut, raisins, and nuts and then place in the pan, prepared with olive oil and syrup as previously instructed.

BRAIDED BREADS

These are so fun and beautiful. Place with 1/6 of the dough and try braiding bread. Later, roll out each strand of the bread and “stuff” with spices, veggies and marinara sauce

Rising the Bread Dough

Cover and let rise until double in a warm draft-free place. This should take anywhere from 20-40 minutes. I preheat my oven and place the loaves on top while it is preheating. Some people prefer to set the loaves in a slightly preheated oven that has been turned off and then turned back on again after about 20 minutes.

If desired, brush olive oil on your loaves for a brown crust. Sprinkle with oat, rye, or whole grain flakes. Sesame or poppy seeds work well too. This makes a beautiful presentation and the flakes or seeds add a delicious 'toasted' flavor to the bread.

RISEN DOUGH READY TO BAKE

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes for rolls and 25-35 minutes for bread.

Many ovens vary on temperature, if you are not sure, buy an oven thermometer to check your oven's exact temperature. Another surefire way to tell if your bread is done is to stick it with an instant-read thermometer. It should read 200 degrees.

Fresh from the oven, your bread is ready to eat. The whole process takes less than 2 hours!

Almost every time I make my bread, I freeze dinner rolls prior to rising. I simply shape the rolls and place them on an ovensafe dinner plate and put them in the freezer. When I am ready for fresh from the oven bread, I simply take the plate out of the freezer, let the rolls thaw and rise and then bake them. Delicious and very convenient.

When we are hungry for pizza, we will thaw the same dinner rolls, roll them into individual round pizza crust, bake them and then add our favorite toppings! You can freeze this dough in its many forms and you will always have a variety of choices on hand. This bread also freezes well after it has baked and cooled completely.

Want hot cinnamon rolls on Saturday morning? If you are baking Friday night and want fresh rolls the next morning, simply make the cinnamon rolls and then put them, covered, in the refrigerator to slowly rise overnight. Take them out in the morning, let them warm up and complete the rising process and then bake!

Whole Wheat and Seeds Bread Recipe

(My Favorite High Fiber Bread Recipe)

10 cups of wheat berries

1 cup of barley

1 cup of brown rice

1 cup flaxseeds (ground in blender or coffee grinder)

1 cup sesame seeds (ground in blender or coffee grinder)

6 cups of hot tap water (if you like sour dough, use 5 cups of hot water and 1 cup of sourdough starter liquid)

1 cup olive oil

1 cup honey

3 Tlb. Saf yeast

2 Tlb. Salt (more if you want)

Grind wheat berries, barley and rice in Mill. Grind flaxseeds and sesame seeds in the blender attachment. Dump the seeds into the mixer and then fill the blender attachment with 6 cups of hot tap water. Add 10 cups of freshly ground wheat flour. Add olive oil and honey and yeast.

Turn mixer to speed 1 for about 1 minute or less until mixed. Then put the plastic lids on the mixer and set a timer for 10 minutes.

Let the mixture sit and "sponge." After sponging, run the mixture on speed 1 and add the salt and remaining flour until the dough just begins to clear the sides of the bowl. Set your timer for 5 minutes and let the mixer knead the dough.

After 5 minutes, let the dough sit for about 2 or 3 minutes. . .if the dough is not sticky and looks smooth, you are ready to dump the dough onto a greased counter top.

Grease your hands, shape the dough into a big ball and then cut it into 6 equal pieces. Each piece can be used for a variety of bread forms. . .loaf, rolls (8 large, or 16 small), focaccia bread, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, sticky buns, hamburger buns, etc. Have fun and enjoy! 325 to 350 (20 minutes for pizza crust and rolls, 30 minutes for loaves)

For nutty bread, throw in 1 cup of raw sesame seeds. Every bread form that is listed above will work with this mixture.

HAND KNEADING (IN CASE YOU DON’T HAVE A KITCHEN CENTER. . .YET!)

Bread-Making Tips and Techniques

Ultra Mill is the most economical mill on the market. If you are interested in “mega” baking (more than 20 cups of flour at a time) you may want to order another mill.

Please email Monica@YourHealthSource.Org for information on other types of mills.

First and foremost be sure that your ingredients are fresh and at room temperature. Cold flour that may have been stored in the freezer should be brought to room temperature. Ultimately, your flour should be ground fresh for the maximum amount of nutrition and flavor! (I keep frozen flour or bread for no longer than 1 month)

Ingredients for Great Bread:

Extra Virgin, first cold pressed Olive Oil (not heat treated, not “extra light tasting” olive oil)

Raw, unfiltered, local honey or 100% maple syrup (you can substitute other forms of sweetener)

SAF professional yeast, needs no “proofing” In other words, you don’t have to check it. . .it is consistently good. Store your yeast in a sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Hot water 120 to 130 degrees

Freshly milled, high quality grain(need high protein content)

Real Salt™ or Sea Salt

Fresh milled flour starts to oxidize immediately and studies have shown that within a few days it can be completely rancid. I use high-gluten hard spring wheat from Montana to get the highest rising bread possible. Extra virgin olive oil or cold-pressed safflower or sunflower are the best oils to use for maximum freshness.

Raw honey contains the most nutrients and helps to keep the bread fresher longer. Salt should be unprocessed sea salt or I prefer to use RealSalt™ because it is naturally mined from the earth and contains minerals.

Most salts(including many sea salts) are heat treated and contain free flowing agents such as aluminum or sugar to keep them flowing smoothly. Realsalt is not heat treated.

I do most of my baking with SAF instant yeast. It's a professional baker's yeast that needs no proofing. Proofing is when you add the yeast directly to the water with a pinch of sugar to see if it's still alive. You can add the SAF yeast directly to the flour instead of proofing it in the liquid. Because it is a highly potent yeast, you use about 1/4 less of it than regular yeast.

As for baking pans, I use stoneware or glass baking pans. Stainless Steel pans are a wonderful choice, as well. Brushing the pan with olive oil works to keep the loaves falling right out of the pans. I do not use pan sprays because they have propellants and are not the best for the environment or for baking stones.

SOME OF THE BASIC THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN USING AN ELECTRIC MIXER ARE:

1.Be careful not to add too much flour! In the beginning this is very tempting and easy to do but in the end, you will wind up with a very heavy loaf.

2. Do not be tempted to over-knead. Because these machines are extremely powerful, it's very easy to over-knead the dough. If the dough goes from soft to stretchy to big globs that break apart in your hand, then you have most likely over-kneaded the dough.

Usually anything over 10 minutes will do this. Be sure to perform the gluten test after about 5-7 minutes of kneading to prevent this from happening. (See below for proper gluten development information) Speed 1 on the Bosch™ Universal is sufficient for bread kneading.

If the dough feels heavy and just breaks apart and is not stretchy, then you must continue to knead a little longer. However, this can also happen if you have overkneaded the dough...it will go from soft and stretchy to heavy and sticky.

You will know this immediately if the dough goes from cleaning the sides of the electric mixer bowl to being very sticky on the sides of the bowl no matter how much more flour you add. Do not worry about over-kneading by hand, it would be very hard to do.

3. Usually Kneading on the lowest speed is sufficient for kneading bread. The higher speeds are most often reserved for using the blender or attachments.

CHECKING FOR PROPER GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT

Proper gluten development is important for a high-rising loaf of bread. It's formed when the protein part of the wheat is kneaded and it becomes stretchy and elongated. The carbon dioxide gas that is formed by the yeast is trapped in the gluten web thus causing the dough to rise.

After kneading the dough into a soft and smooth consistency, it should feel rather “stretchy” but not “sticky.” This will take anywhere from 3-10 minutes in an electric mixer to 10-20 minutes by hand.

Press the dough and it will spring back.

Dough clings to itself and not you.

Dough is translucent when stretched, you can see light through it.

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