Multi-Grain Flour

I heard of this idea from my cousin. She knows a bunch about good cooking and I’m so very happy she brought this flour mix to my attention.

I use this flour fairly often. Sometimes it’s because I want to but it seems it’s more often because I fail to grind flour for a recipe and then during nap time if I want to bake, I’m stuck either dragging the flour grinder to the garage so I don’t wake napping chitlins or baking with all white flour. Heaven forbid. So I keep this mixture in the refrigerator and use it instead of plain whole wheat flour. I think it lends an extra light nutty touch to a lot of baked goods.

(P.S. Sometimes I do skip whole grain flours all together. Usually it’s when we are in the mood for this cake. It’s about the only thing I’ve never tried to healthify.)

So anyway, this flour mixture. It comes from 6 different grains. I’m sure you could even add other ones if you so desired. Some spelt perhaps? Or maybe quinoa? Just heed Jennifer’s warning about the gluten contents of certain grains. Wheat has the most so if you are substituting different grains, exchange them for one of the other flours so you don’t throw the gluten ratios in your baked goods too far out of whack.

Multi-Grain Flour

Adapted from Good to the Grain by Kim Boyce and  Jennifer’s recipe

1 cup oat flour

1 cup barley flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup whole wheat bread flour

1/2 cup rye flour

1/2 cup millet flour

Mix it all up and store in a jar in the fridge or freezer.

And actually, this is how I usually mix this stuff up: I weigh out 4 1/2 oz EACH of oats and barley and 2 1/4 oz EACH of the wheats, rye, and millet. Then I send them through my grain grinder, give the resulting flour a stir, and then put it in the jar. This way, my flour is as fresh as possible.

Yield: about 4 cups of flour

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5-Minute Bread

Bread so easy it takes 5 minutes. I love this bread.

The original recipe has been all over the world wide web for a few years now. I first saw it on my cousin’s blog. I’ve made it several times since then and really should have blogged about it sooner!

Of course the original version is all white flour. I’m sure I’d love it but have not yet been able to bring myself to make it. I have a strange fear of making 100% white bread. I think I’ve only done it 2 or 3 times (with other recipes). At any rate, you can use whatever combination of white and whole grain flours that you like. I’ve used up to half whole wheat with fine results. This particular batch is just 1/3. If you use all white flour, you can skip the gluten. I added that because of the whole wheat flour.

This bread looks like a perfect artisan loaf. Feels like it, too…really crusty on the exterior and soft on the inside. It is absolutely fabulous buttered and dipped in soup. It makes quite a tasty breakfast pizza crust. Tonight we had it as our bread with sloppy joes. A bit difficult to eat but so tasty.

5-Minute Bread

Adapted from Mama JJ

3 cups warm water

1 1/2 T active dry yeast

2 T wheat gluten

1 T salt

2 cups whole wheat bread flour

4 3/8 cups white bread flour

In a large bowl, combine the water and yeast. Let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Dough will be sticky but that’s okay. Cover with a shower cap and let rise until about doubled (an hour). Scrape dough down, re-cover, and place in the fridge.

When ready to bake bread, remove a hunk of the dough, shape it, and lay it on a well-cornmealed bread board or cookie sheet with no sides. And I mean WELL covered in cornmeal. We don’t want any sticking going on. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with flour, give it a few deep slashes with a serrated knife, and let it rise in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

About 25 minutes before it’s finished rising, place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of your oven. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. When bread is ready, gently slide it onto the hot stone, pour a few tablespoons of water onto the bottom of the oven, and quickly shut the door. Repeat this two more times in the first 5 minutes of baking. Then leave the door shut for the next 45 – 50 minutes or until the loaf is a lovely brown and sounds hollow when tapped.

Allow loaf to cool at least 30 minutes before slicing, though I prefer it to be completely cooled. When hot, the insides are too soggy to cut.

Repeat as often as needed to use up the batch of dough. They say it keeps in the fridge for up to two weeks. I’ve never had it last more than 5 or 6 days as we always eat it up too quickly.

Yield: 2 or 3 nice sized loaves.

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Quick Pizza Dough

I discovered this recipe via my soon-to-be cousin-in-law on Pinterest. It seemed too good to be true. Pizza dough in 5 minutes? I had to try it.

It’s two ingredients: self-rising flour and Greek yogurt. I don’t keep self-rising flour on hand so I turned it into a 6-ingredient recipe. Of course. I always make things more difficult.

But really, it’s still very simple.

Don’t expect a traditional flavor and texture from this dough. It’s more like a biscuit dough. But I’m okay with that, especially if I want pizza in half an hour rather than 3 hours. And actually, we enjoyed it so I might just use this recipe even at times when I DO have 3 hours to prepare dough!

Quick Pizza Dough

Adapted from here

1/2 cup sprouted whole wheat pastry flour*

1/2 cup sprouted whole wheat bread flour

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

1/2 – 1 cup plain Greek yogurt

Combine the dry ingredients. Stir in enough yogurt to make a nice dough. It might be a little sticky but that’s okay. Knead dough for a few minutes on a floured surface. It should be a smooth dough.

Divide ball into two. Roll out into 12 inch circles on a floured surface, top with sauce, cheese, and toppings. Slide onto a preheated pizza stone in a preheated 475 degree oven. Bake until cheese is just starting to brown and crust is browned a bit on the bottom, about 7 minutes. Remove from oven and slice and serve.

Yield: 2 12-inch pizzas

*Don’t have sprouted flours? Use unsprouted whole wheat flours. Don’t have whole wheat flours? Use all-purpose!

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Soaked Oatmeal Pancakes

A few weeks ago I put out a plea for ideas on how to use up the whey I got from making Greek yogurt. Margo, from Thrift at Home, kindly posted her recipe for oatmeal pancakes.

She calls these “hearty oatmeal pancakes” and I can see why. I usually eat 4 of my whole wheat buttermilk pancakes and feel fine. But 4 of these babies and I was stuffed!

Topped with maple syrup and some of that Greek yogurt? I loved them. So did Bennet. He gobbled up half of a plain one in no time at all.

Thanks for the recipe, Margo!

Soaked Oatmeal Pancakes

Recipe from Thrift at Home

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups sweet whey (NOT acid whey which comes from making cheese)

2 eggs

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

The night before you wish to eat pancakes, stir together the oats and whey. Cover and let sit on the counter all night.

In the morning, whisk in the eggs and oil. Stir in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Fry on a hot, buttered skillet. Eat immediately with your choice of toppings.

Yield: about 20 pancakes (3-4 inches each)

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Pumpkin Roll

We LOVE pumpkin roll around here. Along with angel food cake, this is a dessert that Brad and I are capable of eating nearly the entire thing in one sitting. So delicious.

A little note here. Typically you roll a cake roll by starting at the end of the cake. When I am trying to stretch one cake to feed more people (as I was here), I start at a long side. This makes a longer, skinnier cake roll that doesn’t have as many rolls in it. It’s much prettier if you roll it from the end.

Pumpkin Roll

Recipe adapted from The Central Market Cookbook

Cake

3 eggs

7/8 cup sugar

2/3 cup pumpkin delight (recipe below)

3/4 cup AP flour (sometimes I use half whole wheat pastry flour)

1 t baking soda

2 t cinnamon

confectioner’s sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper and grease the sides of the pan.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer for 3-5 minutes. Add all other cake ingredients and mix well. Pour onto prepared pan and slide into the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until set.

While cake is baking, prepare a non-terry cloth towel by spreading it out flat on the counter and sprinkling generously with confectioner’s sugar. When the cake is finished baking, remove from the oven and immediately flip it onto the prepared towel. Take the parchment paper off of the bottom and then starting at one side or end, roll the cake up, towel and all. You don’t want the layers of the cake touching each other so there needs to be towel in between. Let cool completely before unrolling and icing.

Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened

2 T butter, softened

1 t vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients together until smooth. Spread onto the unrolled cake and then roll back up again (without the towel this time). Place on a platter, cover, and refrigerate until ready to eat. Sprinkle the cake top with more confectioner’s sugar just prior to serving.

Pumpkin Delight

1 cup pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 T white sugar

Mix together until sugar is dissolved. This will give you extra. I freeze it for the next time I want to make a pumpkin roll.

Serves: about 10

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