Soft Pretzels

I served these for dinner a couple of weeks ago. We had watermelon and green salad for sides. Everyone loved them.

Makes 8 pretzels

1 cup warm water

1 Tbs instant yeast

Dissolve yeast in water, then add:

1 Tbs sugar or honey

1 tsp. salt

3 cups flour (I used half white, half wheat)

Knead for 5 minutes in Bosch or Kitchenaid machine. Let rest for about 10 minutes. Divide dough into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each one into a 14” – 16” inch “snake”. Form into pretzels and bake at 375° for 20 – 25 minutes. 

You can also do a twist right here

After they are baked, top with the following:

For Parmesan pretzels:

Melt 1 tsp. butter for each pretzel. Brush on hot pretzel and sprinkle with parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning. Serve with marinara or Alfredo sauce.

For cinnamon sugar pretzels:

Melt 1 tsp. butter for each pretzel. Brush on hot pretzel and sprinkle with a cinnamon sugar mixture. 

This one has a twist in it

Banana Nut Bread

I'm still using those bananas I got on sale.

(Originally from Rosemary Markham in “Making Eat a Part of Wheat”)

I've changed it a little from her recipe. 

3 bananas (very ripe)

2/3 cup brown sugar

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 ½ cup whole wheat flour (from soft wheat)

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

2 Tbs. yogurt (or milk or sour cream)

½ cup chopped nuts (I added 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds to the chopper too)

Preheat oven to 350° F  (325° convection oven). Put bananas in bowl and mix until mashed. Add brown sugar, oil and eggs. Mix until thoroughly combined. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix. Grease 1 large or 2 small loaf pans.  Pour batter in pans and cook for 45 – 60 minutes.

Scones

Serves 4 - 6

1 Tbs instant yeast

1 cup warm water

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg

¼ cup oil

3 ½ - 4 cups flour (whole wheat or white)

Mix yeast, water and 1½ cups flour with dough hook. Cover and let rest 5 – 10 min.  Add rest of ingredients except flour and mix. Turn on low speed and add rest of flour until dough pulls clean from sides of bowl. Knead for 5 minutes.

Spray counter with Pam and roll out dough until ½ inch thick. Cut into scone sized pieces with pizza cutter, then move the pieces a little apart from each other so they are not touching and let rise for one hour.

Ready to rise

Heat oil in pan at medium heat. Add scones and cook one side until lightly browned, then turn and cook the other side.

Second side cooking

Serve with chicken filling, peanut butter, honey, jam or jelly, butter, cinnamon sugar, tuna, or nutella.

Other options:

You can fry this scone dough right after it is mixed. Just take pieces and stretch and flatten them into a circle and fry. They are a little different, but faster.

You can also bake these scones instead of fry them. Bake on greased or silicone lined cookie sheet at 350° for 12 – 15 min.

Parmesan Rolls

Makes 12 rolls
1/2 batch roll dough (half white and half wheat flour)
2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs melted butter
2 Tbs raw sunflower seeds

Roll out one half of the dough into about a 12 inch circle. Brush melted butter on, then sprinkle cheese and sunflower seeds. Cut into 12 triangles with pizza cutter. Roll into rolls.
Place on cookie sheet. Let rise 1 hour, then bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Cut into 12 pieces

Roll up

I only used 1/2 the dough so I made cinnamon rolls with the rest.

Cornbread

From Boarding the Ark Today

This is not exactly what their recipe says, it is what I really did.

½ cup yellow cornmeal

½ cup whole wheat or white flour

1 Tbs. honey or sugar

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp baking powder

½ cup milk (or 1 Tbs milk powder and ½ cup water, or ½ cup canned milk)

1 egg

1 Tbs oil

1 Tbs applesauce, optional

Mix cornmeal, flour, honey, salt and baking powder. If using powdered milk add powder with dry ingredients. Whisk in milk, egg, oil and applesauce just until smooth. Fill muffin papers about half full.

Tip: Applesauce keeps cornbread moist.

Note: I left out the oil and put 2 Tbs applesauce.

Bake 400° for 10 min. Makes 10 muffins.

Breadsticks

From Boarding the Ark Today

Ready to rise

Ready to eat

3-4 C flour (wheat or white or mix)

1 Tbs dry yeast

2 Tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

1 ½ C very warm water

2 Tbs. butter

Parmesan cheese

Granulated garlic (if desired)

Mix 2 C flour, dry yeast, sugar and salt. Add water and mix well. Add remaining flour ½ cup at a time to make medium dough; knead 3 or 4 minutes. Melt butter in 9 x 13 baking dish. (I found I like a 13 x 18 jelly roll pan better). When melted, spread butter evenly to cover bottom of baking dish. Put dough into baking dish and roll out or pat with hands to fit. Turn dough over once to coat with butter. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic. (I also sprinkled Italian seasoning)

With pizza wheel, cut dough horizontally into nine 1x13 inch strips. Alternating directions each row to keep dough from creeping. Next, cut dough across the middle to make 18 bread sticks. Let rise only about 15 – 20 minutes and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes.

Whole Wheat Bread

Makes 4 loaves
4 cups hot water (from tap) 

1 Tbs plus 1 tsp. instant yeast 
5 cups wheat flour (made from hard white wheat)

Mix with dough hook, cover and let rest for 10 – 15 min. (This bread can be made in a Bosch mixer or a Kitchenaid or by hand, I've tried it all) Then add:

½ cup oil
½ cup honey
1 Tbs plus 1 tsp salt
1 Tbs dough enhancer (optional: makes bread stay fresh longer)
2 Tbs gluten (optional: makes bread less crumbly, texture is better when added)
¼ cup flax seed (ground) (optional: I grind in a coffee grinder) 
1/4 cup chia seed (ground) (optional: I grind in coffee grinder)
5 – 6 cups more wheat flour

Add all the ingredients except the flour. Turn mixer to low and then add flour one cup at a time. Mix until dough leaves sides of bowl. Dough should be just a little sticky for the best bread. Too much flour makes dry bread. Turn up and mix on high for 10 min.

Divide dough into 4 equal portions. To handle dough, spray hands with Pam or put butter on them. To make loaves equal, I weigh each loaf on a kitchen scale. They should be about 1 1/2 pound loaves. Shape into loaves and put in greased loaf pans. (I use Pam for this) Let rise in oven with light turned on and a bowl of hot water in the bottom for 40 min. (don’t turn oven on yet)

Take loaves out of oven and pre heat to 350 degrees. (325 convection) Add loaves to oven and bake 30 min. Turn out of pan and cool on rack. After bread is cooled to room temperature, bag and put extra loaves in the freezer. When you are ready for them, let them thaw at room temperature or defrost in microwave. This bread freezes well and tastes fresh when thawed.

Tip: When measuring oil and honey, put oil in cup first, then add honey. This makes the honey slip right out of the cup.

Ingredients for 3 loaves

3 C. hot water

4 C. whole wheat flour

1 T. instant yeast

Stir, cover and let sit for 10 min. Add:

1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey

1 T. salt

3/4 T. dough enhancer

1 1/2 T. gluten

3 - 4 cups flour

Measure oil

Then add honey

Weigh each loaf

 

Ready to rise

Risen, ready to cook

All done

Some optional ideas for specialty breads:

Before putting loaf in pan, add 1/2 tsp minced garlic, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning. Mix in by hand and then form loaf. Cook as usual. This makes really good toasted cheese sandwich bread.

Or add 1/2 tsp orange zest and 1/4 cup dried cranberries. This one is good with cream cheese on it.

Or add 1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds.

Or add 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 cup raisins. This one is good for French toast.

Rolls

From Bosch (sort of)

3 C water (warm)

1 ½ Tbs. instant yeast (1/2 Tbs =1 ½ tsp)

1 Tbs. salt

¼ C. oil

½ C sugar

7 ½ C flour (total)

½ C milk powder (optional)

½ C potato flakes (optional)

Mix water and yeast with dough hook. Add 4 cups flour, mix until blended, then cover and let rest for 10 – 15 minutes. Add rest of ingredients except flour.  If you don't put in potato flakes, you may need a little more flour. Mix. Add rest of flour 1 cup at a time until dough pulls away from sides of bowl. Mix 5 min.

Bake 350 degrees for 13 – 18 min.

Note: I have made these with 1/2 wheat flour and 1/2 white flour. 

I made these today with out the potato flakes. They are still good.

Half Recipe

1 ½ C water (warm)

1 ½  tsp. salt

1/8 C oil

2 tsp yeast

¼ C sugar

3 ¾ C flour (total)

¼ C milk powder

¼ C potato flakes

Add only 2 C flour with water and yeast.