KAF Sourdough Sandwich Bread

 KAF Sourdough Sandwich Bread 

This is so easy and good, a perfect hybrid of sourdough and yeasted bread.  The only change I've made from the KAF recipe is that I don't use powdered milk.  Instead, I replace some of the water with whole milk. 

1.  Prepare your Levain the night before, cover and let sit on counter overnight, about 12 hours: 

127 grams bread flour 

128 grams water

44 grams ripe sourdough starter 

2.  Mix together the following.   Knead in mixer 3-4 minutes, or until dough has taken shape.  5-6 minutes by hand. 

All of the ripe levain

630 grams bread flour

1/4 C sugar

2 1/2 teaspoons table salt

2 teaspoons instand yeast

4 T butter, room temperature 

300 grams water, warmed in microwave 30 seconds.  

40 grams whole milk. 

3.  Place kneaded dough in lightly greased bowl; cover and let rise until about doubled, 1-2 hours. 

4.  Divide dough, form into logs, place in lightly greased small (8.5x4.5) loaf pans.  Cover and let rise until crowned over the rims (1-2 hours).   Optional:  lightly score with a lame. 

5.  Preheat to 375 degrees. 

6. Bake 30-35 minutes.  Turn loaves out onto racks to cool.  

-YUM- 

I am experimenting with subbing in some whole wheat flour.  100 grams worked great. 

Multigrain Bread

 Multigrain Bread 

- the bread I made a lot in the yellow house.  Healthy.  I started with a recipe from Cooks Illustrated and simplified it a little. 

2 C boiling water

1 C seven grain hot cereal mix 

3 T honey

3 T butter 

2 1/4 C all purpose flour (plus a bit more during kneading) 

1 C white whole wheat flour 

2 T wheat gluten 

2 T wheat germ 

1 envelope ( 2 1/4 teaspoons) yeast 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1/2 C old fashioned oats 

1.  Add boiling water, honey, and butter to cereal mix in a large bowl.  Stir occasionally as it cools to warm. 

2.  Meanwhile, mix ingredients in stand mixer fitted with dough hook. 

3.  Add cereal mixture to dry ingredients; knead until dough clears the sides but sticks to the bottom.  Add a little more flour if necessary.  Dough should be soft but not too sticky. 

4.  Turn the dough out and knead to form a smooth round ball. 

5.  Put dough in large bowl (oiled or buttered).  Cover loosely with greased plastic wrap.  Let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes. 

6.  Turn dough out and gently press dough into a rectangular shape.  Roll up tightly into a loaf shape.  Place into a greased 9 x 5 loaf pan.  Loosely cover, and let rise for 30-40 minutes. 

7.  Preheat oven to 350.  Spray top of risen loaf lightly with water.  Bake for 35-45 minutes.  Spread hot crust with butter.  Let cool in pan 15 minutes.  Turn out onto a rack and cool. 

Makes beautiful toast the next day! 

No Knead Bread in the Le Creuset

THAT BREAD - This one is for you Noelle and Keenan!  From NYT Cooking, Mark Bittman.  Uncle Frank made something similar when he visited us in Littleton a few years ago.  

It looks a bit different each time I make it.  I've slowly gotten it down to a process in the Japanese oven.  I didn't make this very much in the U.S.  Now I make it about once a week and we just love it.  It uses very little yeast and relies on a very long rise time.  It's just a great easy bread!

3 1/3 C flour (430 grams), plus more for dusting 

1/4 teaspoon instant YEAST 

2 teaspoons kosher salt (we use a scant 1 T salt) 

1 1/2 C water plus 2 T (345 grams)


1.  Put a large mixing bowl on your scale and zero out the scale.  Add the 430 grams of flour.  Add the yeast and salt, stir.  Zero out your scale again and add 345 grams of water. 

2.  Stir together with a wooden spoon.  Dough will be shaggy and sticky, messy.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Let sit out at room temperature for 12-18 hours!!  I mix this up at night and I know I can finish it anytime the next morning or afternoon.  

3.  Dough will have expanded and having bubbles all over its surface.  It's very wet.  Generously flour your counter, dump/scrape out the dough.  Sprinkle top with flour and lightly fold dough a few times in on itself.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 min while you wash the bowl.  

4.  Line the bowl with parchment paper.  Shape the dough into a ball, and put it into the bowl, seam side down.  Cover bowl with plastic or clean dishtowel and let rest for 2 HOURS. 


This dough is about halfway finished resting: 

5.  30 minutes before dough is ready, preheat your Le Creuset pot, lid on, in the oven at 450 degrees.  

6.  When dough is ready, carefully remove hot pot from oven, lift off the lid, plop the dough (still in its parchment paper), into the hot pot, using the parchment paper as a handle/sling.  COVER.  Be careful!  Remember your lid is piping hot.  

7.  Return pot to oven and bake covered for 30 minutes.  Then carefully remove lid and bake for another 15 - 30 minutes until loaf is "beautifully browned".   You will figure out what works with your particular oven.  It took me several tries to get the timing right.  Cool on a rack. 

It's so good and makes GREAT toast the next day. 

xoxo
Mom



for in JAPAN: 

210 degrees C in convection oven.  Le Creuset right on bottom of oven.  30 min covered, 10 min uncovered.  

Dinner rolls

Dinner Rolls
 - makes 24 (I usually double the recipe).  Essential at Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, but a special treat to make with any Sunday dinner.  Everyone's favorite!

Use a large mixing bowl and mix by hand.

2 T active dry yeast
1/4 C warm water
1 C milk
3 large eggs
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C vegetable oil
5+ C flour 
2 tsp salt


1.  In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water while you mix the other ingredients. 
2.  Heat the milk until hot.  
3.  In a large bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, and oil with a whisk.  Stir in yeast mixture and milk. 
4.  With a wooden spoon,  stir in the flour and salt.  Add up to another 1/2 C flour to make a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes, adding more flour to make a very soft, only slightly sticky, dough. 

5.  Cover bowl with a damp dishtowel and let dough rise in a warm place (proofing setting in oven if the oven is free) for 2-3 hours.  Dough will puff and become sticky again. 

6.  Put parchment paper on (or lightly grease) a large rimmed cookie sheet. 

7.  Turn dough out onto floured surface, punch down the dough, and divide in half.  Roll each half out into a large circle.  (Optional - spread circle lightly with softened butter).  With a bench scraper or pizza cutter, divide each circle into twelve wedges.  Roll each wedge from the wide side towards the point, and place on cookie sheet point side down.   24 rolls will fit nicely on one cookie sheet, leaving a little space in between to allow for rising. 

Alyssa Poth

9.  Cover cookie sheet with the slightly damp towel (or plastic wrap) and let rise til doubled, 15 min - 1 hour depending on the warmth of your kitchen. 

10.  Bake at 400 degrees for 8-12 minutes.  I set a timer for 8 minutes and then watch the rolls carefully!  Optional:  brush the rolls with butter as they come out of the oven. 

11.  Remove the rolls immediately to a cooling rack to prevent soggy bottoms;). 

12.  Enjoy!  If you are lucky enough to have leftovers, the rolls are so good the next morning - microwave a roll for a few seconds and spread with Nutella! 

Simple homemade bread

Simple Homemade Bread - makes two loaves.
(not as healthy as the multigrain but everyone's favorite once in awhile) 

Ingredients: 

1 stick of butter
6 C flour (including up to 2 C whole wheat flour*)
4 1/2 tsp yeast**
4T sugar
2 T wheat gluten (optional)
2 T wheat germ (optional)
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 C milk, warmed
1 C water (+ up to 1/3 C more) 

Directions: 

Melt the butter and set aside.  Warm the milk and set aside. 

In mixer, stir together flour, yeast, salt, sugar, wheat gluten, wheat germ. 

Add the melted butter, warm milk, 1 C water, and stir for a minute or two.  Switch to the kneading hook and knead, adding a bit more water if necessary, until a soft smooth dough forms. 

Turn out onto counter and knead a few times by hand. 

Spray bowl with cooking spray; return dough to bowl; cover and let rise about 60 min. 

Punch down dough and form into two loaves.  Put into greased small bread pans, cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise about 45 minutes. 

Bake at 350F, 35 minutes.  You can tell the bread is done when you tip it out of the bread pan, tap on the bottom of the loaf and it sounds hollow.  

Enjoy!  

*  King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour is good. 

** SAF instant yeast - you can order this from King Arthur Flour - it lasts a long time in the fridge or freezer, and you can mix it right in with the dry ingredients like in this recipe.  

I also keep the wheat gluten and the wheat germ in the fridge - all of this in a little basket for when I'm going to make bread.