Bran Muffins

POST RAISIN BRAN MUFFINS

5 c. flour 3 c. sugar (I use 1 1/2-2 c.) 5 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt, optional 7 c. Post Raisin Bran Also add 1 extra cup of raisins if you like alot of raisins Mix all dry ingredients together and mix it well. Then add 1 quart buttermilk, 1 cup liquid oil and 4 eggs (or use Second Nature or Egg Beaters). Mix well and bake as many as you wish. Keep rest in a covered bowl in refrigerator. Will keep up to 6 weeks. Do Not Stir Again. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. I literally copied and pasted this from another website. But my kids love these. We've started using plan bran flakes because they didn't love the raisins.

Mom's Whole Wheat Italian Bread

This recipe is easy, quick (for bread), and great for sharing. It makes 4 mini loaves.

Ingredients:

2 T yeast
1/4 C brown sugar
2 1/2 C water
3 C whole wheat flour
1 T salt
3 C white flour

In a large bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until foamy.

Add 3 C whole wheat flour and beat well. (I use my electric mixer) Let it stand for at least a half hour, longer if you like. This is important to the flavor.

Mix 1 T salt with 1 C white flour and add to mixture. Then gradually add an additional two cups of white flour - some of which may be added while you need the bread.

Knead 5 minutes or until springy and smooth. The dough should feel sticky to the touch, but when you touch it it shouldn't come off on your finger.

Rinse out your bowl well with hot water and put oil in the bottom. (I use canola, but olive or vegetable would be fine). Put the dough in and turn it over once so it is greased on top.

Cover with saran wrap or a damp cloth and let rise for one hour.

Punch down the dough and shape into four small loaves. Place the loaves on a greased cookie sheet (I use cooking spray) and let rise for an additional 45 minutes. At this point you can slash the top with a sharp knife and spray the loaf with water, but I often skip these steps.

Bake two loaves at a time in a preheated oven (all four will absorb too much of the heat and through your cooking time off) for 20-25 minutes until loaves are brown and crisp.

Cathy's Artisan Bread

I made this last night and it was SO delicious.

Ingredients

3 C warm water
1 1/2 T yeast
1 1/2 T coarse salt
6 1/2 C flour (I used half white, half freshly ground white wheat)
Cornmeal

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a mixer bowl. Add half of your flour and salt (to protect your yeast from direct contact with the salt) and mix. (I used my kitchen aid with a dough hook.) Add remaining flour. The dough will be VERY sticky.

Grease a large plastic bowl and transfer dough. Cover bowl with a lid or tight Saran wrap that's been sprayed with cooking spray. Let sit for 2 hours at room temperature.

Flour your hands and the counter top with a half cup of flour. Grab a grapefruit size hunk of dough from the bowl. Drop it on the counter and nonchalantly form it into a loaf. (Whatever you do, don't knead it. Because this is supposed to be a no-knead recipe. The consequences might be disastrous.) Cover the loaf with Saran wrap. Cover remaining dough and put in the fridge to be used at a later date. (Keep in the fridge for up to a week, Cath says after that the sourdough flavor is too strong.)

Preheat oven and a baking stone to 400 degrees. Allow oven to heat for a full 20 minutes while dough is doing it's final rise on a pizza slip sprinkled with cornmeal. Slip dough off pizza slip onto baking stone. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Spread slices of bread with butter and have your neighbors over for a slice . . . or two.

To make loaves from remaining dough, just double your rise time. Take your grapefruit sized hunk, let it return to room temperature and give it two rises, with the final rise on the pizza slip. Don't forget to get the oven and baking stone good and hot!

Michele's Basic Sweet Bread Recipe

I love that this recipe can make a great banana, zucchini, apple or pumpkin bread depending on the spices you add. I'm normally not a huge fan of banana bread, but this is as yummy as a spice cake!

Basic Sweet Bread--recipe is for one loaf

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter (I often halve this and use applesauce for the other half, works great)
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg (you will need to add an additional egg beyond the ratio when doubling)
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/3 tsp cloves
1/3 tsp ginger

1 cups mashed banana (cinnamon & cloves only) OR
1 cups chopped apple (all spices) OR
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (all spices) OR
1 cups pumpkin (all spices)

Cream sugar and margarine in large bowl. Add vanilla and eggs. Add dry ingredients. Mix. Add fruit. Mix well. Pour into greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 325 for 35-45 minutes. (Usually closer to 45 or even a bit more).

Marylynne's Whole Wheat Bread

This is our family's favorite sandwich bread. It goes great with a hearty soup the first night, makes excellent toast the next morning, and then sandwiches for lunch.

4 cups Whole Wheat Flour (freshly ground)

1 Tbsp. Salt

1Tbsp. Dry Yeast

1/3 cup Oil

1/3 cup Honey

2 1/4 cups Hot Water

2 cups White Flour

Mix first three ingredients in a large metal mixing bowl. Into a medium bowl add the Hot Water. Using the same 1/3 measure cup, add to the water the oil first and then the honey.

Add White Flour 1 cup at a time, mixing in well after each cup. Mix last cup in with hands, kneading as you mix. When it is mixed in well enough that the dough no longer sticks to your hands, rub the bottom of the bowl with Canola Oil. Continue kneading just until mixed well and ball of dough is greased.

Turn over in bowl and cover with a piece of plastic wrap that has been greased or sprayed with Pam. Let rise until double in bowl, about 30-60 minutes.

Punch dough down. Turn out on a smooth surface and knead until smooth ball forms.

Cut into two equal pieces and form two loaves, using a rolling pin to expel air bubbles.

Let rise just until even with top of pan, about 20-30 minutes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes.

Artisan Bread

My friend Rosalynde found this recipe in the New York Times. The secrets are a good sponge for your dough and a dutch oven with a lid. Crusty, chewy, air bubbly goodness. I like to serve it with Mozzarella Caprese, any soup, or slathered with Nutella!

First, here's the link to the article itself with the original recipe:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/08/dining/081mrex.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I basically follow the recipe, but I skip a few steps. Here's what I do:
The night before you want to eat the bread, mix 3 cups of flour (all-purpose is fine, doesn't need to be bread flour), 1/4 tsp yeast (I use instant bread-machine yeast), 1 5/8 cup water, and 1 1/4 tsp salt. Mix it in a large bowl just until it comes together; it will be very sticky and very ugly, don't worry about it.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and leave it alone for at least 18 hours---it can go even longer, too. You should see bubbles at the surface when it's ready. About 3 hours before you want the bread to be done, dump out the dough onto a floured surface. It will be a wet, stringy, sticky, ugly mess; don't worry. Just fold it over itself once or twice until it's roughly in a round loaf shape (again, it will be ugly and shapeless---DON'T WORRY!). Leave it to rise again for 2 hours.

Before you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450, then put in a round, oven-proof pot with a lid. (I use an enamel stock pot.) When the pot and oven are at temperature, take out the pot and pour the dough into it. Say it with me now: it will be an ugly, sticky mess---don't worry! Shake the pot a little to even things out, then cover with the lid and put in the oven to bake. (Full disclosure: I sometimes skip the heated pot step, and it has always turned out fantastic anyway.) Bake covered for 1/2 hour, then uncovered for 15 more minutes. Prepare to be amazed by the gorgeous loaf that emerges and the incredible taste and texture. Enjoy!