coconut toast

This is a Moll family favorite. It's perfect for overly indulgent brunches.

3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 stick butter (softened)
1 1/2 cups coconut

mix sugar, egg, butter. Spread on bread, sprinkle with coconut
bake 15 min. at 350.
This enough for about 12 slices of bread. We usually use bakery white bread.

Speedy No-Knead Bread

Yet another one of Bittman's versions. This tastes almost just like the 2-day version but takes much less planning!

Time: about 1 hour, plus 4 and 1/2 hours' resting

3 c. bread flour

1 packet (1/4 ounce) instant yeast

1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

oil as needed

1. Combine flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 and 1/2 c. water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl  with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.

3. At least a half hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex, or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.

4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15-30 minutes, unitl loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.

Fast No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

Bittman came up with a whole wheat version that can be done in less than a day! We really like it.

Time: About 1 hour plus 5 hours' resting time

2 c. whole wheat flour

1/2 c. whole rye flour (we didn't have this so we added more w.w. flour)

1/2 c. coarse cornmeal

1 tsp. instant yeast

1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

oil as needed

1. Combine flours, cornmeal, yeast, and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 and 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.

2. Oil a standard loaf pan (8 or 9 inches by 4 inches; nonstick works well). Lightly oil your hands and shape dough into a rough rectangle. Put it in pan, pressing it out to the edges. Brush top with a little more oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 1 hour more. 

3. Preheat oven to 350. Bake bread about 45 minutes, or until loaf reaches an internal temperature of 210. Remove bread from pan and cool on a rack.

Yield: 1 loaf

100% Whole Wheat Bread

I found this recipe online this weekend (can't find the link now). It is so yummy and soft! It's making a good sandwich bread, too (a little dense and chewy, but not so thick you'll choke).

2c milk
1/4c light brown sugar (I used sucanat and I'm sure you could use honey, too)
1 tsp salt
1/4 c butter
1 c warm water (between 105' & 115')
2 pckg dry active yeast (4 1/2 tsp)
8c whole wheat flour (NOT pastry flour)

1) Heat milk til hot but not boiling. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt & butter. Stir til blended. Set aside and allow to cool til lukewarm.

2) Sprinkle yeast over warm water in large mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve yeast. Add lukewarm milk mixture & mix together.

3) Add 4c. of flour. Beat vigorously until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour. Mix last bit with hands until dough is stiff. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead 5 minutes until smooth & slightly elastic. Place dough in a large, lightly greased bowl. Turn dough so greased portion is up. Cover & allow to rise til doubled in size (roughly 1 hour at 85').

4) Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface. Divide into two equal balls. Cover & let rest for 10 minutes.

5) Take one ball & cut in half, forming 2 pieces. Roll each piece into 12" long strips. Twist strips together, making a rope. Roll rope into a ball and mold ball into a loaf pan. Repeat with other half of dough. Cover both pans and let rise for an hour or til dough reaches sides of pan.

6) Bake in a preheated 400' oven for 35-40 minutes. Cool on cooling rack. **Optional: brush tops of loaves with melted butter when fresh from oven.

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My notes:
I found I only used maybe 7 cups of flour. I also had to knead this for closer to 10 minutes before I felt like it was smooth enough and had enough elasticity. This may have to do with strength, counter height, etc. Just keep kneading til it feels right (helpful, I know, but kneading time has more to do with how the dough feels than with the actual time on the clock). I put my baking stone on the bottom rack of the oven when I preheated the oven. This helps the oven to maintain an even cooking temperature after I open the oven to put the loaves in. It also shortened the cooking time by at least 8 minutes. And it's super yummy. I'll be (hopefully) making this a lot this winter!

Nine-grain Bread

This comes from More Breaking Bread with Father Dominic (PBS pledge premium!). It calls for "nine-grain cereal mix", but I don't keep such things on hand, so I use oats.

Sponge:
1 cup lukemarm water
2 pks yeast
1 cup bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 t brown sugar

Dough:
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
2 T veg oil
2 T brown sugar
2 t salt
1 cup nine grain cereal mix (or oats)
1/4 cup millet
1/4 flaxseed
4 1/4-5 cups bread flour, divided

For Sponge: Combine water, yeast, bread flour, whole wheat flour and brown sugar in medium bowl; beat until smooth. Let stand 20 mins or until foamy and doubled in volume.

For Dough: Add water, oil, brown sugar and salt to sponge; beat until smooth. Add cereal, millet and flax seed, stir until incorporated. Add 2 cups bread flour; beat until flour incorporated. Repeat with 2 cup bread flour. Add enough of the remaining bread flour, about 1/4 cup at a time, to form a dough. Dough will be sticky but resist the temptation to add too much more flour.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface, Knead 10-12 mins. Rinse and dry the bowl, then oil surface of dough and place in bowl. Cover w/ a clean, dry cloth and let rise about 1 hour or until doubled.

Punch down dough. Knead briefly to expel large air bubbles. Diivde dough in half, the form each half into a loaf. Place loaves in lightly greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans. Cover with a clean, dry cloth and let rise about 45 mins or until doubled.

About 15 mins before end of risingtime, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake loaves 40-45 mins or until golden brown, slide easily from the pan and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. Cool on wire racks.

Bittman's No-Knead Bread

This is the version Linsey posted ages ago that many of us have made dozens of times. Easy-to-make, but takes some advance planning. Sylwinn has had success using whole-wheat flour.

3 c. flour

1 and 5/8 c. water

slightly less than a T. of salt

1/4 tsp. yeast

Mix the above together. It will be much wetter than a typical bread dough. Cover bowl and let sit for 16-20 hours. Dough should be at least doubled and bubbly.

Flour (or cornmeal) a board. (If your dough is super-wet, you will need to use quite a bit of flour.) Scrape or peel the dough onto the board and fold in half. Cover with a floured towel (not terry-cloth) and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.

An hour before your bread is done rising, preheat your oven to 450. After oven is hot, place your cooking pot (I use a cast-iron dutch oven, Linsey uses a heavy bottomed stainless steel pot) with lid in the oven empty.

When you are ready to bake the dough, remove the pot from the oven and quickly plop the dough into the pot. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Then, remove the lid and bake for another 15 minutes.

Cool on a wire rack.

Slow-cooker Bread

I can't always get this to rise well, but it's got super quick prep, is quite healthy, and a good bread to make in summer since it doesn't use the oven.

1 T. yeast

1/4 c. warm water

1 c. warm milk OR buttermilk

1/2 c. rolled oats

1 and 1/2 tsp. salt

2 T. oil

2 T. honey

1 egg

1/4 c. wheat germ

2 and 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

Grease deep metal or glass bowl or 1-lb. coffee can. (I have the cake insert for my crockpot, but it's not required.) Turn slow-cooker on High to preheat. 

Dissolve yeast in water. Combine with milk, oats, salt, oil, honey, egg, and wheat germ. Add flour and knead until smooth and elastic. Place in prepared bowl or can, covered loosely with foil. Pour 1/2 c. water in preheated slow-cooker. Place trivet or crumbled foil in bottom; set bowl on trivet. Bake, covered, for 3 hours. Top of bread will not necessarily brown. Yield: 12 servings. From: Whole Foods for the Whole Family (LLL)