I have resolved to start baking more.....

[The Governess]

but have no idea where to start. I am seriously trying to cut refined sugars and flours out of our diet. It seems that most of the baked goods you can buy in the store contain sugar - even regular sandwich bread! Not to mention a bunch of other bad stuff. So, I want to try making my own.

 

Here's what I want to bake/make at home:

 

A basic yeast bread

A basic non-yeast flatbread type bread

A couple good moist quick breads

Muffins

Granola

Granola bars or other snack-type bars for the girls that are easily transportable.

 

Does anyone have any good recipes for the above? Or a recommendation for a cookbook? I want to try to use only honey, agave nectar, fruit or juice as sweeteners, if any.

 

Thanks so much! I am horrible at getting anything done in the kitchen, but feel like I need to change for the sake of my family. Our diet these days leaves much to be desired. :blushing:

[StaceyinLA]

in the summer I just usually can't make myself do it because of the heat. I did bake some wonderful banana bread this evening. I have a great recipe for that with honey & whole wheat flour (I grind it) so it's really healthy. I just had a slice in fact!

[jeri]

I bake from this so often! I love their ww bread recipe, a couple others as well, recipes for crackers, pie, and no-yeast breads. They also have marvelous breakfast recipes--each of my kids have a favorite pancake or waffle!

 

jeri

[Kate CA]

You might look on the http://www.urbanhomemaker.com and spend some time there. Not only do they have some really great free recipes, but they also have some great ebooks loaded with recipes. This helped jump start us again on the healthy road to eating. :001_smile:

[laughing lioness]

You might also check out Marmee's kitchen. I bought a bosch on sale during a blow out sale at her "place" and it came with a great little cookbook that she created - full of healthy recipes.

www.marmeeskitchen.com

 

I also like the "More with Less" Cookbook by Doris Longacre. I've used the granola recipe from there for years- very simple and healthy.

 

I love the "Joy of Cooking." Good wholeseme recipes.

The "Moosewood" cookbook

"Laurel's Kitchen."

 

have fun :)

[Jennifer3141]

Our favotire bread recipe come from allrecipes.com. It's the Amish white bread, however I susbstitue half the flour with whole wheat flour and use 1/2 honey, half sugar.

 

It's an easy recipe that works and makes a ton of bread. I do it twice a week so we have good bread all week long.

 

Jen

[Tina]

I just took the recipe from my bread machine and changed the sugar to honey, the butter to olive oil, and the white flour to ww. I do grind my own. I grind soft wheat berries for everything like cookies, quick breads, pancakes and waffles, etc. Oh, a friend shared about using 1/8 tsp vitamin C instead of gluten, and now my bread's a wonderful texture. I also like added some ground flaxseed for texture and flavor.

 

Just do one change at a time. Oh, my family could never switch to the all ww bread, so I do still have 1 cup of bread flour with the rest ww. You'll have to see what your family can live with. :)

[gandpsmommy]

This is my favorite muffin recipe. It does have a little bit of white flour and sugar, but you can easily substitute honey for the sugar. The recipe already requires using whole-wheat flour for half of the flour, so I don't see why you couldn't try using all whole-wheat flour. Anyway, these are so delicious.

 

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Health-Nut-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx

[The Governess]

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions!! I am going to check out all of the websites and recipes you posted. :001_smile: I'll be back.

[Peela]

Here is a bread recipe I made last week. I have never had much success making bread before and this was just awesome and easy and it worked! It is left overnight so that it starts to ferment and activate enzymes and so becomes more nutritious and easier to digest. My kids helped me with the kneading- it is a relayl fun thing to do together, and we saved some of the dough so they could make some shapes with it (and my kids are 12 and 14- there is something primal about dough!)

You have to scroll down the page.

http://www.2die4livefoods.com.au/recipes.html

[Becca]

I bake this about once a week to use up my bananas. I'm not sure what to call it - oatmeal bars maybe?

 

I never measure, so all measurements are guesstimates. Just make sure you have a good "muffin-like" consistency before you bake.

 

2-3 mashed bananas

2 eggs

1 cup milk

 

3 cups oats

1/2 cup bran

1/2 cup flax

1/4 cup protein power

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

 

chocolate chips (I need choc chips to eat this, but you don't have to if you really want to be healthy!!!)

 

if you want you can add sugar/honey or butter/oil

 

bake at 350 for about 1/2 an hour

 

I bake it in a 9 x 13 pan, but you could also use a smaller pan or muffin tins.

[Tina]

Oh, btw, if you're subbing honey for sugar you need less honey. Honey can be awful sweet. You might want to use sucanat (looks like a dry brown sugar) in some baking.

[Melissa in CA]

I have been grinding my own wheat and making my own bread for about three years now. I have tried MANY different bread recipes and had many failures. This recipe is now my staple as it ALWAYS turns out right for me.

 

Whole Wheat Bread

 

1 1/4 cups hot water

2 1/2 T olive oil (I prefer Safflower Oil)

2 1/2 T honey

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

3 1/2 cups flour (whole wheat or a mixture of both ww and white)

1 1/4 T yeast

1/2 T lecithin

1/2 T gluten (optional)

 

Dump all ingredients into mixer in no particular order. Mix on low speed until moistened. Then knead on medium speed for 10 min, until dough is smooth and elastic. Don't even THINK about adding any extra flour until it has kneaded 10 min, and even then, only add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more if absolutely necessary.

 

Let dough rise in a bowl for 1/2 hour. punch down and shape into two loaves.

 

Let rise in greased loaf pans for 30 min. or until doubled. For the fluffiest loaves, be sure to let it rise enough in the pans before baking. Do the Touch Test:

 

1) Press the dough on the side with the tips of two fingers lightly and quickly about 1/2" into the dough...

 

2) if the impression you made stays, then the dough has doubled.

 

3) If the indention quickly disappears, then it needs a little more rising time; cover and let rise longer. But don't over-rise or it will flatten out in the oven. You want just the right point where is has risen all it can or should, but not too much.

 

Bake in preheated oven for 30 min.

 

Remove from pans and cool loaves on their sides on a wire rack.

 

Recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

 

Notes:

I usually use all whole wheat, but I use the golden wheat...probably known in the stores as white whole wheat. :confused: Not sure. Anyhow, If you are not going to grind your wheat, I would suggest investing in King Arthur Flour instead of the other brands; it is just a better flour in my opinion. I have also used a mixture of wheat and white with good success.

 

I have never really enjoyed the flavor of olive oil in my breads, so I use organic safflower oil which has a very mild flavor. Olive oil for me is just to strong tasting for bread.

 

If you do not have a mixer with a dough attachment, you could very well do this recipe by hand. Prepare for a lot of kneading. ;)

 

Lastly, be prepared for a bit of a learning curve with making your own bread. You'll need to figure out when or whether to add more flour or not. Your dough should be somewhat smooth and no longer sticking to the bowl. Yet not super dry either. It does take a bit of practice, but it's worth it.

[Rebecca in GA]

 

Whole Foods for the Whole Family has great tutorials on baking. It's one of my favorite cookbooks.

[Mad Jenny Flint]

I have the same goal for this year. This will be an area of growth for me. It will also be one of those meditative things that helps me keep on an even plane.

[The Governess]

Notes:

I usually use all whole wheat, but I use the golden wheat...probably known in the stores as white whole wheat. :confused: Not sure. Anyhow, If you are not going to grind your wheat, I would suggest investing in King Arthur Flour instead of the other brands; it is just a better flour in my opinion. I have also used a mixture of wheat and white with good success.

 

I have never really enjoyed the flavor of olive oil in my breads, so I use organic safflower oil which has a very mild flavor. Olive oil for me is just to strong tasting for bread.

 

If you do not have a mixer with a dough attachment, you could very well do this recipe by hand. Prepare for a lot of kneading. ;)

 

Lastly, be prepared for a bit of a learning curve with making your own bread. You'll need to figure out when or whether to add more flour or not. Your dough should be somewhat smooth and no longer sticking to the bowl. Yet not super dry either. It does take a bit of practice, but it's worth it.

 

Wow, thank you so much! It's so nice to have such detailed instructions AND a tried-and-true recipe. Yes, I have a mixer and dough attachment (whew) but I haven't baked yeast bread outside of using a bread maker since I was 10 years old and visiting my grandma. Let's just say my mom didn't have home-cooked meals high up on her priority list. ;) I've realized recently I do NOT want my dds to grow up the same way.

 

So really, thank you.

 

 

And thanks to all of the other suggestions also! I am bookmarking the recipes and cookbooks you recommended. :D I feel a bit less lost now that I have somewhere to start.

 

ETA: I am going through and giving rep to all of you lovely ladies but have reached my max for the day...eventually I will get to you all!

[Melissa in CA]

Wow, thank you so much! It's so nice to have such detailed instructions AND a tried-and-true recipe. Yes, I have a mixer and dough attachment (whew) but I haven't baked yeast bread outside of using a bread maker since I was 10 years old and visiting my grandma.

 

I used to use a bread maker as well, but my whole wheat loaves left MUCH to be desired! Making by hand (OK, with my handy-dandy Kitchen Aid mixer ;)) I can make a much better and BIGGER loaf. Much.

 

I also own a large Electrolux Assistant mixer for when I want to double and triple my recipes. My hubby took real good care of me a few years ago and bought me all sorts of expensive gadgets (grain mill, mixers, etc.)....thankfully I do still use them all. :D

 

Some people don't enjoy the bread making process...but I truly love it. It is somehow therapeutic and calming for me. Plus, there is NOTHING like the smell of fresh bead a-bakin' in the oven. :drool5:

 

Have fun!

[kls126s]

I agree that King Arthur flour is better. Check out their website for a lot of useful information. I really like their blog too. That's one I read regularly and have gotten several good recipes from. I like it because they include a lot of pictures, so it's great for us visual learners. :001_smile:

 

Here are some I really like -

- baguettes

- ww sandwich bread

- scali bread

 

And since you mentioned granola, they did just post a recipe for that.

[Melissa in CA]

I agree that King Arthur flour is better. Check out their website for a lot of useful information. I really like their blog too. That's one I read regularly and have gotten several good recipes from. I like it because they include a lot of pictures, so it's great for us visual learners. :001_smile:

 

Here are some I really like -

- baguettes

- ww sandwich bread

- scali bread

 

And since you mentioned granola, they did just post a recipe for that.

 

Mmmmm! The stuffed baguettes look dee-lish! I may have to try those when I have time on my hands.

 

Not sure about the sandwich bread though...that is an awful lot of ingredients to have on-hand for a basic sandwich bread. Do you make this often Keri, and is the taste actually worth the cost? I am always game for trying new recipes. ;)

[kls126s]

I think it tastes very good. I like ww recipes that use white wheat instead of red wheat - it has a less heavy feel to me. Even though we all actually prefer ww bread, I don't want bread to sit like a brick in my stomach. ;)

 

The only ingredients that aren't typical bread ingredients are dry milk and potato flakes. They are both cheap and come in big boxes, so it's easy to keep on hand. I say that because we always have orange juice in the house too - that may be a special purchase for you.

 

Anyway, you'll have to decide if you think it's worth it. I'd give it a try though if you can find the extras in small quantities just to test it. It's one of our favorites.