| Recipe #1 | Sourdough Bread |

6/23/2018

I typically refer a lot to The Minimalist Baker (links for references will always be at the bottom of the article) for most of our favorite recipes. Her recipes are mostly vegan, usually gluten free, ALWAYS easy to follow and absolutely delicious.

However, for this sourdough recipe I half winged-it and half very closely paid attention to the coaching provided by Emma Christensen in an article on thekitchn.com. Her article is super serial and I am not a very serious baker...such as, I don't have a food scale and how I measure my ingredients would give "real" bakers heart-attacks. BUT! That means, you can TOTALLY make this bread!!

I will share many of the recipes that I borrow from others. This one is a mishmash so it owes credit to others as well... including my husband (our family's original and resident baker) and our friend Daniel who gave us our sourdough starter.

I started with the following ingredients:

• 4 cups unbleached flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 3/4 cups hot water (at around 105 degrees F)--> I just use a standard household thermometer.
• 2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

Mix all the dry ingredients together. Then I added about a heaping table spoon (an actual table spoon not the precise measurement) of our sourdough starter which I had just pulled out of the fridge, it had not been fed yet and was kind of quit but still smelled good and alive). Then pour in the warm water over the starter slowly. This allows it to warm up and start stretching it's legs after "hibernation". Then I added the oil and took off my rings and kneaded it on a floured surface. You may need to add more flour or water while kneading, depending on the original consistency of your starter itself. My starter was a bit wet so I added flour this time.

Next, put the dough into a bowl, cover the bowl in a kitchen towel and let it rise for at least 24 hours. When you uncover it at that time you should see lots of bubbles in the dough if your starter is alive! (See the end of the article on a link to learning how to start your own).

Next, knead it again. At this point you may have to add more flour to it as it may be "wet" and sticky. Fold the bread onward onto itself, stretching the dough away from the bottom and into the center of the top in a manner that causes a mound structure to form on the bottom part of the dough ball (which will become the top). I formed it into a round loaf but you can to the same thing for any shape of loaf. This creates a smooth top.

Lift it gently and place it top down (to reveal the smooth bottom, now the top) on the surface you plan to bake it. Either a cooking pan, sheet, or bread loaf pan (s). Score it (I did a simple X). Let it rest for another 2-3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 500 degree F with a glass or fully metal dish or deep pan full of water. The steam makes your crust superb! Finally, bake at 500 degrees F (with the steam/water container in the oven) for 20 min. Then reduce the heat to 450 F and bake until the crust is deep golden brown.

When you take it out, allow it to cool. It is tempting to eat it RIGHT AWAY! And we have absolutely done this. But, you allow the moisture to settle inside and it helps the bread not get too dry when you allow the internal temperature and moisture to cool and escape naturally.

SLICE AND ENJOY!!!!!!!!!

Further Resources:

• Minimalist Baker: LINK
• Emma Christensen's Sourdough recipe and coaching article: LINK
• Forming a round loaf (video): LINK (start at 00:00:37)

Easy Confidence Building Bread Rolls

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp organic cane sugar
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 packet rapid-rise yeast
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (sub up to 1/3 with whole-wheat pastry // plus more for kneading)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened plain almond milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 Tbsp vegan butter + more for topping

Directions:

• In a large mixing bowl, combine first 3/4 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
• In a separate mixing bowl (or small saucepan over medium heat), heat the water, almond milk and butter until warm - about 105-110 degrees F. It should be the temperature of bath water. If it’s too hot, it will kill the yeast.
• Add wet to the dry ingredients and whisk or beat for 2 minutes, scraping sides as needed.
• Add another 1/4 cup more flour and beat for another 2 minutes. Then, add only enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Then let rest 10 minutes.
• Divide the dough into about 12 pieces and place in a greased 8x8 dish or 8-inch round pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size - about 30-45 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (Optional) and brush the tops with additional melted vegan butter.
• Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until fluffy and light golden brown.
• Best fresh but can be stored after cooling in a bread basket at room temp with a clean and dry dish cloth as a cover for about 24 hours....if they last that long!