Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

I’m so excited about this whole wheat sandwich bread. It is really soft, perfect for toasts and sandwiches. This is the recipe I like to use for whole wheat bread and I love that my kids will eat it with no problem. Yesterday I got a loaf out of the oven and at snack time half was gone. This bread is delicious especially with butter on it. Don’t let whole wheat scare you and try this recipe.

Recipe:

1. All-purpose flour – 250gr

2. Whole Wheat Flour – 150gr

3. Yeast – 2tsp

4. Water – 240ml

5. Salt – 2tsp

6. Oil – 30ml

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and knead to make a dough, you can use a hand mixer or a stand mixer with the dough hook. Knead for about 5 minutes, add a little oil to coat the dough and bowl, let it rise for an hour or hour and a half. After rising, shape the dough into a loaf and put it in an oiled loaf pan, let it rise again for about 45 minutes to an hour. Bake at 375°F for about 35-40 minutes.

* Whole wheat bread takes a little longer to rise than white bread.

* Rising time depends on how warm is in your kitchen.

Cheesy Twists

These Cheesy twists are great for snack, breakfast or dinner, and especially good to dip in soup. These I made with pesto and sesame, but you can make them without it or with other filling. If you wish to add seeds on top you can do that also. Any seeds will work, sesame, poppy or mixed bagel seeds.

Ingredients:

All purpose flour- 4 cups
Salt – 2 tsp
Yeast – 2 tsp
Egg – 1 large + egg white, save the yolk for spreading on top with 1 tbsp oil
Butter – 2 tbsp, melted
Milk -1 cup,warm
Cheddar cheese – enough to cover the dough
Sesame seeds – for sprinkling on top, optional
Pesto:
Olive oil- 2 tbsp, add more if you need
Parsley – a bunch

To make the dough, mix all ingredients except the cheese, and knead for 5 minutes. Let the dough rise for about an hour. In the meantime whisk the egg yolk with olive oil and set aside. Cut the parsley and whisk it with the olive oil, set aside. When the dough is ready, divide it in two equal parts and roll each part into a pizza crust. Spread pesto on both parts, sprinkle a good amount of cheese on one part and cover with the other part. Cut into strips, twist each strip into a spiral. Put each twist on a pan next to each other, cover and let them rise for about an hour. In about an hour preheat oven to 350°F, when oven is ready spread the egg yolk and olive oil mixture on top of the twists, sprinkle with sesame seeds and bake for about 27 min.
Next time make these with feta, or both feta and cheese.

Flour Wraps

These flour wraps are really easy to make and don’t require the long rising of the dough. They don’t even have yeast. Simply make the dough, let it rest for 20-30 min, shape balls and let them rest for 20 min, and then make the wraps. You can use these wraps to make small pizzas too, use them to make your favorite sandwich instead of bread or buns, and even breakfast sandwiches.

Recipe:
1. All-purpose flour – 2 cups
2. Salt – 1tsp
3. Baking soda – 1tsp
4. Butter – 3tbsp, melted
5. Hot water – 1/2 cup

Mix dry ingredients and set aside. Melt butter and add it to the dry ingredients with the hot water. Knead to make a soft dough, let it rest for 20 min. Make 8-9 balls and let them rest for 20 min. With a rolling pin roll the balls flat on a floured surface to about 6 to 7 inches. Cook for about 1 min each side on medium heat.

These little hands really wanted to help make the wraps.

Soft Dinner Rolls

If you make these dinner rolls, they’ll be your favorite meal addition. So simple and so easy to make, I promise you will be making them as soon as they are gone. Little hands will be grabbing them at snack time. Make cold sandwiches, sloppy joes or just add them with any dinner or lunch.

Recipe:
1. All-purpose flour -300gr.
2. Salt – 1tsp.
3. Yeast – 1tbsp.
4. Oil – 2tbsp., and some extra to coat the dough
5. Milk – 1 cup(240ml), warm
6. Sugar – 1tsp.
7. Eggs – 1, for egg wash

In a small bowl mix the milk, 1tsp. yeast and sugar, set aside for 20 min. In another bowl add the flour, salt and the rest of the yeast. After 20 min add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients, add the oil and mix to make a dough. Knead for about 5 min. Add some oil to coat the dough and oil the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise for about an hour.
After the dough has risen oil your hands with a little bit of oil and make balls about
70gr. each, arrange in a pan and let them rise again for about 45 min to an hour. In the meantime whisk the egg and set aside. After rising preheat the oven to 375°F. When the oven is ready spread the egg wash over the rolls and bake for 25-30 minutes, until golden or golden brown.
Enjoy!

Sourdough buns

I’ve been making these sourdough buns for a while now. And I have to say we all love them. They are soft and easy to prepare. I made them for Thanksgiving and just now for Christmas Eve and in between. Make the dough in the late evening and the next morning shape the buns, let them rise for about 2 hours in a warm spot and bake. The rising time is long especially if it’s cold outside, that’s why I prefer to make the dough between 6:30pm and 7:30pm. and the next morning I just shape the buns and let them rise for a couple of hours.

Recipe:

1. Starter – 120gr, active

2. Sugar -1 tbsp

3. Unsalted butter- 1/4 cup, melted and warm,not hot

4. Salt – 1tsp

5. All-purpose flour – 350gr.(2 1/2 cups)

6. Water – 170ml ( 3/4 cup), warm

7. Oil for coating

Egg wash: whisk 1 egg and 1 tbsp milk well

Start by adding the sugar and water into a bowl, stir until sugar is dissolved. Add the starter and stir again, add salt, flour and butter and knead until you make a dough. Drizzle a little oil, enough to coat the dough cover with plastic wrap and let it rise overnight in a warm spot( about 12 hours). After rising make the buns and put them in a oiled pan with some space between them, cover with plastic wrap and let them rise again for about 2 hours. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread the egg wash over the buns just before you put them in the oven. Bake for about 25-30min

Easy Parmesan Rolls

These parmesan rolls are easy to make. Basically I use the same recipe for my bread, except the water is a bit more.

Ingredients:
1. All Purpose Flour(King Arthur)-3 cups
2. Yeast – 1 tsp
3. Salt – 1 tsp
4. Water – 1 1/4 cup, lukewarm
5. Olive oil – 1tbs, and some extra for oiling the bowl and dough.
6. Butter and parmesan for the top

Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix with the dough hook. When dough is all done, oil the bowl and the dough, cover and let it rise for an hour. After an hour make little rolls, about an inch big and set them in a pan close to each other. When you are done, melt butter and spread on top of the rolls, and let them rise again for about an hour. After an hour preheat oven to 400° and bake for 25-30min. When done let them rest for a few minutes and in the meantime prepare the butter and parmesan.
Simply melt 1tbsp butter in the microwave, add 1tbsp parmesan and mix. Spread the mix over the rolls and you are done.
• Depending on how warm is in your kitchen rising time may vary.
• Depending on your oven baking time may vary also.
• If the dough gets too sticky just oil your hands a little.

Focaccia Bread

I love focaccia bread and of course I had to make it. This recipe was given to me by an Italian friend, but I had to change the recipe because I use all-purpose flour, and the original recipe is with bread flour. The dough will be soft and sticky, but it shouldn’t be too sticky. If you are not able to handle the dough you can use water or oil for your hands, I prefer oil. Also, I’m using my favorite toppings for this bread, but you can use anything you like on bread. This bread is good for sandwiches too.

Ingredients:

1. All-purpose flour- about 4 cups

2. Water – about 2 cups(lukewarm)

3. Yeast – 2tsp.

4. Salt- 2tsp.

5. Olive oil

Topings:

1. Kalamata olives

2. Butter – 1tbsp.(melted)

3. Rosemary – 1tsp.

Mix the ingredients for the dough. It will be sticky and soft. You will need to stretch and fold 4 times, and every 30 min. Simply take one side of the dough, pull up and fold over the other side, do this with each side.

Focaccia Bread

After the 4th stretch and fold, grease a pan with olive oil and put the dough in it, pan should be 10inchx13,5inch and 2inch deep, cover and leave it for 30 min. After 30 min, with your fingers make dimples in the dough, spread the melted butter, add the olives and rosemary, leave it to rise for about an hour. After an hour, turn the oven on 400° and bake for 25-30 min. Rising time will depend on how warm is in your kitchen, it may take longer.

It came out really good and in my kitchen the rosemary smelled so good.

Now, after I made this with olives, I’m thinking Parmesan cheese would have been really yummy on top.

Homemade Bread

Homemade bread is always better and cheaper. I’ve been baking bread for more than 10 years. You might think it’s hard, but the hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise. Once you have figured out the best time to make bread, you’re all set.

Ingredients:

1. Flour- about 3cups

2. Salt- 1tsp

3. Yeast-1tsp

4. Water-1cup

5. Olive oil

Mix the first 4 ingredients and make a dough. It should be soft and a little sticky, but easy to come off your hands. Add about 1tbsp (15ml.) of olive oil and knead a little, then use just a bit more olive oil to coat it, put the dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for about an hour until it has doubled in size. After about an hour take it out and knead a bit, shape the bread, coat it with olive oil and let it rise for about 30 min to an hour. After about 45 min of rising, preheat the oven to 400° and bake for 25min.

Note: The rising time will depend on how warm it is in your kitchen, if it’s colder it would take longer for the dough to rise. You don’t have to add oil to the dough if you don’t want to, just some to coat it, so it doesn’t stick to the bowl and for the second rising to give it a nice toasty color.