Bread Baking day

I made some quick sourdough yesterday and used it to make sourdough english muffins and Pumpernickle bread. Then I was inspired do make some "easy french bread" So the result was 9 large english muffins, a loaf of pumpernickle, two bagettes and 12 more english muffins cut out, ready to be cooked. Wow, aside from waiting for bread to rise I've been baking from about 9:30am - 7:30pm That's a baking day!

And I tried a new trick from a blog www.17andbaking.com you can create ideal rising temperatures for bread either in your microwave or oven, depending on the size of your bowl or cookie sheets :) If the microwave you heat up a cup of water and then remove and put your bowl in, covered to rise. If in the oven you put a oven save dish on the bottom of the cold oven and pour boiling water into it while the dough you have rising is covered either in a bowl or on a cookie sheet on the oven rack. It works great!

Quick Sourdough Starter

1 cup warm water
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
1 cup all purpose flour

In a bowl combine water and yeast. Wisk in flour with a spoon or fork.

Cover. Let sit for 8 hours in a warm place until it begins to bubble. Lasts 2 weeks. Must be refrigerated (unless you use it all in one day like I did). Bring to room temperature before using.

Sourdough English Muffins
(from The Pancake Handbook ) and baking bites http://bakingbites.com/2005/12/cooking-school-sourdough-english-muffins/
½ cup sourdough starter
3 cups all purpose flour (or a combination of all purpose and whole wheat
1 cup milk or water
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp sugar
1-2 tbsp ground flax seeds (optional)
cornmeal

Combine starter with 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of water. Stir thoroughly, cover with plastic wrap and let sit out overnight (about 7-10 hours).

In the morning, add the baking soda, salt, sugar to the dough and gradually add the remaining 1 cup of flour and flax seed, 2 tablespoons at a time, until the dough loses its stickyness. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll until about ½ inch thick. Use a lightly floured biscuit cutter and cut the dough into as many rounds as possible. Place rounds on an ungreased baking sheet, covered with cornmeal. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cornmeal and leave them to rise, covered with a clean dishtowel, for about 45 minutes.

Heat a lightly oiled or nonstick skillet over high heat until very hot, then reduce the temperature to medium/medium high.

Cook the muffins for about 5 minutes on each side, turning only once. The muffins will reach a light or medium brown (turn town the temperature slightly if they cook too quickly) on both the top and the bottom when they are cooked through. Before the first flip, the sides of the muffin will start to look dry, like the edges of a pancake, when it it ready to be turned. You can peek at the underside, too.

Cool completely before storing.

Pumpernickel Bread From Baking Bites URL to article: http://bakingbites.com/2005/10/pumpernickel/
This is Robert's favorite bread! I don't make it all the time because of the sourdough starter requirement and the TIME!

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm buttermilk
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp molasses (or brown sugar)
2 tsp salt
1 cup rye flour (light or dark)
1 cup whole wheat flour
2/3 cup raisins or sultanas (optional)
2 tsp caraway seeds (optional)
Additional all purpose flour for rolling

Combine the ap flour, yeast, sourdough starter, water and warm buttermilk in a large bowl. Mix well and leave to proof in a warm place for 1 - 1 1/2 hours.
Stir in cocoa powder, molasses, salt, caraway seeds (if using), rye and whole wheat flours. If the dough has not started to come away from the sides of the bowl yet, add a few tablespoons of all purpose flour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in raisins (if using). Knead for about 5 minutes, until dough is very smooth. It will not be as elastic as all wheat flour doughs. Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours, until doubled.

Gently, without deflating the dough too much, shape into an oval roughly twice as long as it is wide and place on a lightly floured baking sheet. Rub loaf gently with some all purpose four. Cover with a dish towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 425F. Make several shallow slashes in the top of the loaf.

Bake for 40 minutes at 425F.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.
Makes 1 loaf.
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Easy French Bread
From "The More is Less Cookbook" (this page has flour on it :)

Makes 2 bagettes

Dissolve:
2 packages (5 tsp.) of dry yeast in
1/2 c. warm water
1/2 t. sugar
Combine:
2 T. sugar
2 T. fat
2 t. salt
2 c. boiling water

Cool to lukewarm and add yeast mixture.
Stir in:
7 1/2 - 8 c. flour (1-2 cups whole wheat and the rest high gluten bread flour)Or 1/2 cracked wheat or bulgar for a crunchy texture)

Knead 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Place in a oiled bowl, turning once. Let rise until doubled. Punch down and let rest 15 minutes. Divide the dough in half. On floured surface, roll each half to a 12x15 rectangle. Roll up, starting at 15" edge. Place loaves on greased cookie sheets and make 4-5 slashes diagonally across tops. Let rise until double.

Mix and brush on:
1 egg, beaten
2 T milk or water
Sprinkle on, if desired:
poppy or sesame seeds or oats

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes.