My Lime Green Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Bread’ Category

This is a recipe I’ve made for several years now and it’s so good.  My two new loaf pans — one is a pumpkin pan and one is a gingerbread boy and girl so they’re perfect to use for my two loaf pans.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 – 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cloves
3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 2 loaf pans.

Combine sugar, oil and eggs. Beat til smooth. Add water and beat until blended. Add pumpkin, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and cloves.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt and baking powder. Add to pumpkin mix and stir just til blended.

Pour into pans. Bake about 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

What pretty flower pots! Maybe too pretty for planting flowers?

OK. Let’s do something else with them! How about . . we make flower pot bread?

We’ve had these pots for years! When Chad was a kid, he loved to help make flower pot bread. It’s actually just any old bread recipe you want to use but baked in glazed flower pots.

For this batch, I made Herb Bread.

Yes, it was really good! But, homemade bread, fresh from the oven is always good. Here’s the recipe I used but you can use any recipe you desire.

Herb Bread

2 packages active dry yeast
2-1/2 c. warm water
2 T. sugar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 T. salt
1 T. dried basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/3 c. grated Romano cheese
2 c. whole wheat flour
4 c. bread flour (I used the patent flour that I use for everything)

1. Mix yeast, water and sugar in mixer bowl. Let sit for 5 minutes.
2. Stir in olive oil, salt, herbs, garlic and onion powders, cheese and the whole wheat flour. Gradually add in the bread flour, adding more water or a bit more flour to get to the consistency desired.
3. Knead dough by hand 8 – 10 minutes, in the Bosch mixer 4 minutes (probably 6 minutes with a Kitchen Aid mixer).
4. Put dough in an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp towel and let rise until doubled.
5. Punch dough down. Shape into either two loaves or one loaf and four flower pots. Allow to rise til doubled.
6. Bake at 350 for 35 – 40 minutes if using loaf pans; for 25 – 30 minutes if using flower pots.

A few things about this recipe:

1. This is the recipe that came with the Bosch mixer, with just a couple of minor changes I’ve made.
2. It makes 2 loaves.
3. It is written for use with home ground wheat. If you’re using storebought whole wheat flour, you may have to adjust the amount of water and you may not need the gluten and dough enhancer.
4. It is written for use with the Bosch mixer. If you’re using a Kitchen Aid, it will take longer to knead. If you’re kneading by hand . . it’s going to take a while.

My favorite bread pans are these Norpro pans. They’re more narrow than most bread pans and the slices fit better in my toaster. I bought mine from Pleasant Hill Grain. They also have the gluten, dough enhancer and plastic bags for storing the bread.

Ingredients for Bread:

2-1/2 c. very warm tap water
6 – 8 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour
1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. molasses or honey
2 T. gluten
1 T. dough enhancer
2 T. SAF Yeast
1 T. Salt

1. Pour water and half the flour into the mixer and mix on Speed 1 til barely mixed.
2. Add the oil, molasses or honey, gluten, dough enhancer and yeast. Mix on Speed 1 til barely mixed.
3. Add salt and enough flour to make dough the consistency needed. I usually use barely 6 cups of flour. The sides of the bowl should be clean when you’ve added enough flour. The dough needs to be sticky!
4. Knead on Speed 2 until the gluten has developed. I usually check mine after 8 minutes of kneading. Here’s a link to help determine when the gluten has developed. If you’ll oil your hands before working with the dough, it will help it not to stick to your hands.
5. Oil your countertop and your hands. Turn the dough out onto the countertop. Divide in half. Form into 2 loaves. Place in greased pans. Let rise til double in size . . anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on the temperature in your kitchen.
6. Bake at 350 for 35 – 30 minutes.