Saturday, January 19, 2008

Earth Bread: the Recipe

Happy Saturday! I've had a number of very kind requests for the recipe to the Earth Bread I have mentioned in my 11/26/07 and 1/17/08 posts. I've been meaning to post this since November, but you know how intentions are sometimes. Anyway, here is the recipe if you're interested in trying it out:


Earth Bread*

Yield: 2 to 3 loaves or 12 to 15 rolls

3 Tbs sugar
2/3 cup warm water
2 pkgs active dry yeast
2 cups milk
4 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
4 Tbs butter or oil
4 cups unbleached bread flour
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups quick oatmeal, uncooked
2 cups cooked cracked wheat (1 cup raw) -->recipe for cooking it at bottom
1/2 cup sesame seeds

In a small bowl, combine 3 Tbs sugar, warm water and yeast; let stand 10 minutes.

Scald milk and add salt, 1/3 cup sugar and butter or oil; let cool and place in a large bowl. Add unbleached bread flour, whole wheat flour, uncooked oatmeal, cooked cracked wheat and sesame seeds. Pour in yeast and mix to a stiff dough.
Turn onto a lightly floured board and knead for 10 minutes**. Place in a greased bowl and let rise until doubled in size.

Place on a floured board and divide into 2 or 3 portions*** (depending on the size desired), and shape into round flat loaves.

Place in well-oiled 10 or 12-inch round plans****. Brush tops of loaves with oil or butter. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size.

Bake at 375 degrees until golden and loaves start pulling way from the sides of the pan*****.

A few of my comments on the above recipe:
*My whole-grain-phobic teenage son *loves* this bread - this makes me very happy.
**10 minutes feels like a really long time when you're doing this by hand, but it's worth it.
***I tend to experiment with size and shape and always make a combination of loaves and rolls with each batch.
****I bake loaves and rolls on flat cookie sheets and have never used the 10 or 12-inch round pans recommended.
*****I can tell the loaves are done when they are golden and sound hollow when you thump them.

This bread is yummy as toast, too.

Recipe for cooking the cracked wheat:
Stir 1 cup cracked wheat into 2 cups rapidly boiling water. Reduce heat. Cook 15-18 minutes, stir occasionally.

I really love the cookbook this recipe came out of, too: Savor the Flavor of Oregon.

13 comments:

  1. Wow that looks good! Since it is snowing today I won't run out to get the ingredients, but I will soon and I'll let you know how I do. I'm not much of a baker, but I'm willing to give it a try.

    Thanks for the recipe!

    Fay

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  2. Yum. I bet that stuff smells great. I'll save this for a day that I'm feeling ambitious--bread is still a bit of a daunting prospect for me!

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  3. This looks wonderful. I'm trying not to eat wheat right now, so I'll try the recipe with spelt instead. Can't wait to get my hands in all that lovely dough!

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  4. Hi Fay, thanks for all your nice comments! :-) I know you have a blog, too, but when I click on your name, it gives me the message that your blogger profile is not yet enabled. Did you mean for it to be this way?

    Hey Meg - it's so interesting what people find daunting. Looking at all that you and Kelly are involved in and actively pursuing on your little piece of land is positively overwhelming to me!!


    Hi Kathryn: Spelt - I've never baked with this before. Can you use it in equal amounts in place of wheat flour? Please let me know how it works out!

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  5. When do you move? I can't wait to see the new place. Is it out by Estacada or Oregon City? I picture it out there, but can't remember if you said.

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  6. OH! Thanks for letting me know I didn't have my profile activated. I thought I did, but I guess I did something wrong. Anyway, I hope you will come over and take a look.

    Thanks again,
    Fay

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  7. I can not wait to try this bread. It looks so tasty and I bet it makes your house smell fantastic! We are all big whole grain eaters here, so I hope they love it. Thanks for the recipe.

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  8. I still haven't tried the recipe, but based on previous experience, I can say that it's pretty much an even substitute. The difference is in the gluten (which is why folks with wheat intolerances can eat spelt but not regular flour), so texture suffers a little with bread: instead of that wonderful chewy texture of artisan bread, you end up with something slightly more crumbly. Some people add a little xanthum gum or tapioca flour to make up for the texture. I guess I've just gotten used to it.

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  9. That looks great. We are going to have to get mom to go to the store and get the stuff for that..

    Yepper Gus is always smiling. He always brightens my day.


    Big Sloppy Kisses
    Gus and Louie

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  10. Hi Michelle! Official moving day is this next Thursday, but we get possession of the house on Tuesday and plan to move our house plants and more fragile items on our own Tues/Wed. We still have so much to do!!

    Hi Fay: Yea, it works now - great profile and it links right to your blog now! Of course, through my stellar investigative skills, I had already found it, but I can't wait to read more! :-)

    Frugalmom: Thanks - I hope your family likes it as much as mine does. It makes my kitchen smell heavenly...

    Kathryn & Ari, allergies and food intolerances are complicated, aren't they? I've done pretty well in the food arena (other than milk/dairy), but I suffer horribly from hayfever and cat allergies.

    Gus & Louie - the list of ingredients are interesting. I have to tell you, I had never even considered cooking cracked wheat until I came upon this recipe! :-) I didn't even really know where to find it, but I, clearly, was the only one in the dark - it wasn't hard to find at all!

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  11. Thanks for sharing. Now that I'm *ahem* such an accomplished bread baker, I'll definitely try it out!! :)

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  12. This does look yummy. I'm going to have to get some cracked wheat so I can give it a try!

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  13. This sounds amazing!

    Would you heppen to have any recipe changes for high altitude baking?

    I have just about given up baking here in our 7100 ft above sea level mountains. It's too challenging!

    But we loooove home baked bread. Wah!

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