Saturday, March 04, 2006

Because I can feel my head swelling

with the notion that someone, somewhere will ask for the recipe for the bread I mentioned baking in my last post. And I'm just proud enough of it to share. It's so pretty! And pretty yummy, too!

Nut & Grain bread

Makes 2 loaves

3-4 c. boiling water

¼ c. cream of wheat

1 c. rolled oats

½ c. grape-nuts

Pour the water over the cereals and let sit for 15-20 minutes, until it’s cool enough to touch. You can just use 1 or 2 of these, or the cereal your kids left sitting untouched for breakfast. That's how I usually start this recipe.

Add:

¼ c. molasses

½ c. honey

2 T. yeast

And stir well. Let it sit another 10 minutes.

Now you should have a dark brown, gloppy, lumpy mess. That’s good.

Now add:

1 T. salt

2 eggs

½ c. sliced almonds

2 T. sesame seeds

And any other stuff you have around—wheat germ might be good, or sunflower seeds. You are a creative person.

Now start the flour:

3-4 c. of whole wheat flour

2-4 c. of white flour

Stir and then knead in the flour – as much as you can.

Let it rise in a buttered bowl with buttered (or sprayed) plastic wrap on the top. In an hour, come punch it down. It will be sticky again—that’s ok. Let it rise another hour (whole-grain breads get 2 rises), then punch it down and cut it in half. Make it into loaves and put them in the pans. Let it rise (proof? Whatever-) one more time in the pans for 20-30 minutes. Bake it for 25-30 minutes in 375 degree oven. If you want to get fancy, you can brush with butter or egg and put extra seeds or nuts on top. When it comes out, let it cool for 10-15 minutes and then take it out of the pan. Put it in a plastic shopping bag or an unsealed Ziploc bag—this will keep your bread from getting hard and stale before it’s even cool, especially if you live in the desert. J Enjoy, you nutty baker!

Posted by Sarah Jean :: 2:53 PM :: 1 Comments:

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