I have always enjoyed baking, mostly everyday kinds such as bread, muffins, pies and cakes. I have made many different loaves of bread over the years using many different techniques. But for my daily breakfast bread I have stuck to one recipe and one method for several years. I use a bread machine, but I only use it on the dough setting. This allows me to have a warm place for the dough to rise, be punched down and rise again without my attending to it. I then put the dough in a pan for an additional rise and bake it in the oven for 35 minutes.
Many people fail with bread machines, I think, because they never made bread by hand first. Despite the careful measurements dictated by machine instructions, I find it necessary to get the right feel of the dough before I leave it to rise. Different weather affects flour, and what is too much one day is too little the next.
I want my morning toast and almond butter to carry me through until lunch. Accordingly my bread(pictured above)is loaded with white whole wheat flour, bulghur, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds. Local honey provides a touch of sweetness. Water, salt, oil and yeast combine with them all to make a hearty and chewy bread.
My granddaughter loves to eat my bread. I cautioned her one day to wait until it had cooled before slicing it. Deciding it was cool enough, she cut a big slice for herself and happily munched it while reading one of her countless books. I was stunned when I went in the kitchen to find two halves of the loaf with the middle missing. I asked her why she had done that. She replied, honestly enough, that the center of the loaf was the best part!
Saved By Words 
Oh, your grand daughter with your bread did amuse me!
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I learned to make bread before I learned pastry. There was never any chance of me having a light touch – I buy my pastry ready made.
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I have always been so envious of those who know how to work with dough. I was never taught and I watch these shows where people make breads and pastries from scratch and I keep thinking one day I will take the time to learn.
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Oh, wonderful! I can almost taste it myself! Years ago I tried the bread machine and didn’t really like it. But just in the last year I started making bread again the old fashioned way and there’s nothing like it! This reminds me it’s time to make a loaf this week. But tell your granddaughter, the ends are actually the best! 🙂
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I love kneading, but I get busy and neglect the dough. That is where the machine has helped since the dough stays warm no matter the kitchen temperature.
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I always wondered if those bread machines were too good to be true. Push a button and out comes bread? Yeah right, George Jetson.
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Well something comes out, but it is often a brick.
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Hard tack might be good.
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My wife bought a bread-maker three years ago. She also bought all the ingredients to make a nice granary loaf. It tuned out perfectly, and was delicious, if half the size of what we would normally buy at the shop. She was very pleased with herself, and cleaned the machine, before storing it on corner of the kitchen worktop.
And that is where it has sat, every day of those three years since. Never used again. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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That is too funny. Kind of like me and my sous vide appliance.
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I had a bread machine for years and used it frequently. I have never been a successful bread maker, but your post inspires me to try it again.
At least your granddaughter was honest! I, myself, love the crust!
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My husband loves the heels. Me not so much. Another indicator of a good match!
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I like them in homemade bread, but commercially baked bread…not so much.
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He always takes the heel once the bread is cooled off. I save the other one for him when I finish the loaf.
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That loaf recipe sounds wonderful! We have a bread machine which gets used in fits and starts. I’m not able to eat much bread so when I do it has to be good!
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I put ours in the refrigerator since I toast it anyway. In the heat of summer it can get moldy before I finish it.
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Mold is a sign that it’s real bread, without preservatives.
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Thanks. I actually hadn’t realized that.
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Your bread looks so delicious. I wish I could share some with your granddaughter.
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A lovely sweet post Elizabeth. And the bread sounds & looks delicious!
Bless you,
Jennifer
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I think we both enjoy our baking, Jennifer.
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That we do 😀
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I used to make sour dough bread on holiday, in a campmoven– I.e. an iron casserole over an open fire. It was yummy and I felt pretty proud, yet I rarely made it at home. I am more impressed by you and my sister who carry on with bread making as part of the weekly routine. Still, at least I have earned my stripes!
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My old neighbor used to make dumplings over stew in the same way. I am indeed impressed that you did that with sourdough, a bread I have never mastered.
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I learnt baking bread recently. We do not eat much of bread only some times in the evening with tea. I enjoy baking bread and its heavenly fragrance 🙂 Your granddaughter will have precious memories about grandmother’s bread.
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Do you cook it on the stove top?
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I have a small oven. Can we cook on stove top?
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No. I was just wondering if you were making Indian flat bread or oven loaves.
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I make Indian flat bread made of wheat flour for lunch. A few months ago I read about making oven loaves and I have been trying them
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If you would like to try an easy artisanal loaf that requires no kneading at all, check out our very first cooking video after more that 5 years of blogging. You get a moist, chewy loaf with next to no investment in time. So easy your kids can make it – fun! – https://cookupastory.wordpress.com/2019/09/12/35-cent-loaf/
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Thanks.
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