Accomplishing Bread

I'm not afraid of pumpkin muffins. Flour, eggs, oil, spices and pumpkin can be stirred easily in a bowl with a wooden spoon. Warm from the oven, they are a taste of the harvest season. Bread? Now that's a different matter altogether. 

I'll admit to you that for all my enthusiasm for adventures in the kitchen, cooking with loved ones and trying new experiences--I am afraid of bread. My mother-in-law grinds her own wheat berries and long ago invested in a Kitchen Aid mixer to knead her dough. I suppose she practiced plenty having raised four children ever ready to slather good jersey-cream butter and raspberry jam onto thick slices of her hearty wheat bread. I've avoided living up to her bread making, using the excuse that a Kitchen Aid is expensive. 

It occurred to me that my own brood was missing out on a wholesome tradition, having packed slice after slice of store-bought bread into school lunches over the years. Finally, last fall--in a fit of baking excitement--I bought a bread machine. Some people are struck by spring fever, but I suffer from a fall fever that enamors me with baking. Because the thought of whole-grain bread seemed so divine at that moment, I was later surprised to feel a tickle of fear as I unpacked my new gleaming white gadget. Suddenly pumpkin muffins seemed the right thing to bake and I set aside the bread machine?for an entire year. 

Dust gathered and I felt a bit silly cleaning an appliance that I never used. Then, as it inevitably happens when the weather cools and the leaves start to turn color, I felt the urge to bake. I mustered courage and took the baking guide to my bread machine to work. I decided to start with the basic recipe and bought yeast, whole grain flour and local honey from the bulk section of Valley Natural Foods. I was encouraged by the low cost of my ingredients, realizing if I could accomplish bread, I'd save money on those impending school lunches. 

"Add wet ingredients first...next dry...create a well in the dry ingredients and carefully add yeast...snap pan in place...select settings." Yes, it was that easy. I felt satisfied, like a runner finishing a first marathon. But then the bread machine began to clunk and complete a 90 degree turn on its own. Rereading my manual I discovered this is a sign of needed moisture, to which I could easily remedy by adding water a teaspoon at a time. The finished product was dark-crusted bread with good flavor. I beamed as my husband, raised on homemade bread, carefully spread Hope butter across a thick slice. He nodded and smiled, helping himself to another piece. That morning I fixed three tuna sandwiches for the kids using my own bread.  

Yet, my baking journey was young; I had barely pulled out of the driveway. Determined to create a better crust I tried a different recipe. It resulted in a harder, darker crust than the first. Next I tried substituting a few ingredients and a different setting. Again dark. I repeated the first recipe with the lowest setting and still had dark-crusted bread. The kids were beginning to complain that their sandwiches were tough to gnaw. My 16-year old said she missed chewy bread and I noticed my husband no longer greeted me at the bread machine with a butter knife in hand. My initial fear was turning into a depressing sense of failure. 

My final attempt was on a particularly hectic evening when I was feeling grumpy. The resulting bread?I must have measured wrong or omitted an ingredient?was a lumping hulk that looked like an aggregate of bread pieces. According to the manual, too much moisture caused the ugliest chunk of bread I'd ever seen. My oldest daughter suggested my mood had something to do with it, leading me to believe that good humor is key to good bread.  Worst of all, it still had a dark crust. 

By this time I was ready to reacquaint myself with pumpkin muffins. The kids had an assortment of interesting school lunches that did not include sandwiches. I couldn't even bring myself to buy bread; it felt like admitting defeat. Then, as life has a way of unfolding with moments of divine intervention, I received a phone call at work. The call had nothing to do with bread, but somehow in the conversation the woman on the other end of the line said she shopped Valley Natural Foods for bulk flours and grains. Curious, I asked what she did with these ingredients. "Why, I bake bread," was her reply.  

"Do you use a bread machine?" I asked. 

"Oh, no. I have a Kitchen Aid mixer," she said. Inwardly I sighed. I admitted to this bread-maker that I couldn't seem to overcome the issue of a dark crust with my bread machine. 

"People I know just use their bread machines for kneading, like the mixer. Use the oven to bake it," she suggested. Brilliant! I can use the oven; I can bake muffins, I can bake bread! Sometimes it is the obvious we overlook. My new partnership with my bread machine is that it does all the hard work: it mixes, kneads, times intervals of rising, and again kneads. I plop the dough into a bread pan and bake. It's easier than pumpkin muffins and like any new journey has opened up a landscape of possibilities. My favorite flours are by Bob's Red Mill and they have a wealth of recipes. I've included two of my favorites. And, if you want the pumpkin muffin recipe, just e-mail me at cmills@valleynaturalfoods.com.   

Whole Wheat Bread from the Bread Machine  

1-1/2 cups Water (room temperature)

2 Tb Melted Butter

2 Tb Brown Sugar, packed

3/4 tsp Sea Salt

2 cups Whole Wheat Flour

2 cups White Flour, Unbleached

2 tsp Yeast, Active Dry

All ingredients should be at room temperature before starting. 

Add all ingredients in the order suggested by your bread machine cycle and process on the whole wheat bread cycle according to the manufacturer's directions. Let loaf cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Yield: one (1-1/2 lb.) loaf  

Buttermilk Bread from the Bread Machine  

1-1/2 cups Water, room temperature

1-1/2 Tb Melted Butter, room temperature

2 Tb Honey

6 Tb Buttermilk Powder (Sweet Cream)

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

2-1/4 cups White Flour, Unbleached

1 tsp Sea Salt 1 Tb Yeast, Active Dry

All ingredients should be at room temperature before starting. 

Add all ingredients in the order suggested by your bread machine cycle and process on the basic bread cycle according to the manufacturer's directions. Let loaf cool for 15 minutes before slicing. Yield: one (1-1/2 lb.) loaf 

For more recipes from Bob's Red Mill, visit: www.bobsredmill.com/recipe/.