Tips for Baking the Perfect Loaf
INGREDIENTS
As any good cook or baker will tell you, the secret to success lies in using the best possible ingredients. The same is true for breads. Always try to obtain the most recently milled flours, the freshest vegetables, the ripest fruit, the freshest yeast. You will notice a difference! Here are some guidelines that should help:
WHITE FLOURS
Bread flour is now sold in most grocery stores. (Gold Medal packages it as “Better for Bread” flour.) It has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour. Gluten gives structure and height to each loaf, therefore bread flour will produce a higher loaf of bread (also, one with a coarser texture) and should be used in the recipes where it’s indicated.
We switch to all-purpose flour (bleached or unbleached) for most dinner rolls, sweet rolls, and specialty breads, as well as for loaves that rise too high with bread flour. Both bleached and unbleached all-purpose white flours are refined; however, bleached flour has also been whitened with an oxidizing or bleaching agent such as chlorine dioxide.
WHOLE-GRAIN FLOURS
Whole wheat flour, unlike white flour, is ground from the complete wheat berry and thus contains the wheat germ as well as the wheat bran. Avoid using stoneground whole wheat in the bread machine. It is coarser in texture and does not rise as well as regular whole wheat flour in the machine.
Rye flour is a heavy flour milled from the rye grain. It is low in gluten. You will need to combine it with white or whole wheat flour to produce an acceptable-size loaf. A rye dough is also stickier than other doughs.
Barley flour is milled from barley kernels, which are very high in minerals. It contributes a slightly sweet taste and a cakelike texture to the dough.
Buckwheat flour has a strong, tart, and earthy flavor and lends a grayish color to the finished product. We use it in small quantities because a little goes a long way.
Millet flour is ground from whole millet, and when added to bread, gives it a crumbly, dry taste and texture.
Oats have the highest protein and mineral content of all grains. They add that sweet and nutty “country” richness to bread.
Cracked wheat and bulgur are pieces of the wheat kernel. Bulgur is cracked wheat that has been parboiled and dried for faster cooking. It will absorb liquids more readily than cracked wheat.
Bran is the outer covering of the wheat kernel. It is added to bread recipes for texture, flavor, and fiber. Use it sparingly since too much bran (more than 1⁄3 cup in the small loaf, ½ cup in the medium loaf, or 2⁄3 cup in the large loaf) can inhibit the yeast’s growth. Most supermarkets now carry miller’s wheat bran in a box. Check the cereal or health-food section of your market.
Wheat germ is the tiny embryo of the wheat kernel. It contributes texture and a nutty flavor to whole-grain breads. If used in excess (more than ¼ cup per small or medium loaf or more than ½ cup per large loaf), it will inhibit the rising action of the yeast. Normally sold in jars, it’s usually located in the cereal or health-food section of your grocery store.
Millet is a yellowish, round grain that resembles a mustard seed. It adds a crunchy texture and extra nutrition to your breads.
We had no difficulty locating the various whole grains used in these recipes at local natural-foods stores. The larger stores offer them both packaged and in open bins. Compare prices and we think you’ll discover that buying them in bulk from the bins is a better deal.
Whole-grain breads do not rise as quickly as white-flour breads and are normally shorter, denser loaves when made in a bread machine. Most machines, however, take that fact into account and allow a longer rising period in the whole wheat cycle. Only white, wheat, and rye flours contain gluten; therefore, all whole-grain recipes require white and/or whole wheat flour as a base.
Whole-grain breads also brown faster and have a more robust flavor. If they are too dark for your liking, switch to the Light Crust setting when baking whole-grain breads.
It’s important to note that whole-grain flours and wheat germ contain natural oils and will soon go rancid if stored at room temperature. You should always store them in airtight containers in the refrigerator or freezer.
VITAL WHEAT GLUTEN
Vital wheat gluten is an additive that gives bread extra strength and increased height. Vital wheat gluten is not a flour (don’t confuse it with something labeled “gluten flour”). It is almost pure gluten, which is the flour’s protein, and it is isolated in a long process that involves washing out the starch and then drying, grinding, and packaging the pure gluten that remains. It’s especially useful when baking heavy whole-grain breads that need a boost. Use 1 tablespoon per cup of flour.
LIQUIDS
The very best water to use is bottled spring water. It has no chlorine and contains all the minerals the yeast needs to perform at its best. Avoid softened water. It’s high in sodium.
When a recipe calls for buttermilk, fresh is best. If you don’t use it that often, you can buy a small carton and store it in the freezer. Once defrosted, it will keep in the refrigerator for up to a month. Shake it well before using. Even more convenient is the powdered buttermilk found in cans, usually with the other powdered milks in your grocery or natural-foods store. It’s best to store it in the refrigerator. There’s no need to mix the buttermilk powder with water before adding it to the mix. Simply replace the buttermilk with water and add 1 tablespoon buttermilk powder to the other dry ingredients for every ¼ cup buttermilk called for in the recipe. For instance, if the recipe calls for ¾ cup buttermilk, substitute ¾ cup water and add 3 tablespoons buttermilk powder to the other dry ingredients.
A similar substitution can be made if you find yourself out of milk. Add ¾ to 1 tablespoon nonfat dry milk powder to the dry ingredients for each ¼ cup fresh milk called for in the recipe.
FATS
Fats add flavor and tenderness, and keep the bread from turning stale rapidly. (Note that the Authentic French Bread, has no fat in the recipe. As a result, it dries out and loses it fresh flavor in just a matter of hours.)
Margarine is fine to use but avoid the lower fat varieties because they contain more water than regular margarine and will affect the recipe. If you choose butter, select unsalted butter. It is usually fresher. Also, for your convenience, select a brand of butter or margarine that has tablespoon measurements marked on the wrapper.
SWEETENERS
Sweeteners such as granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, molasses, corn syrup, maple syrup, and fructose add flavor and color to the bread crust and provide food for the yeast.
EGGS
Use only large eggs. One large egg is equivalent to a scant ¼ cup liquid and it will add a golden color and a cakelike texture to the loaf. To eliminate cholesterol, you can substitute ¼ cup water, ¼ cup liquid egg substitute, or 2 egg whites for each whole egg. For vegans, there’s a non-animal product called Egg Replacer. Look for it in health-food stores.
SALT
You can omit the salt in recipes if you are on a salt-restricted diet. However, the salt affects both the time it takes the dough to rise and the strength of the gluten formed. Your salt-free loaf will rise more rapidly and probably collapse during baking. Reducing the amount of liquid and yeast slightly might help. If not, try a Rapid Bake setting. Or consider using a “lite salt,” such as Morton’s, as long as it contains both potassium chloride and sodium. The easiest option of all: Cut the amount of salt in half in the recipes. Your bread will most likely still rise well, not sink too much, and taste almost the same as the original.
YEAST
Yeast is a live fungus that feeds on sugar, ferments it, and produces carbon dioxide. Small bubbles of carbon dioxide are trapped in the gluten, the bread’s weblike structure, and when they expand, the bread rises. To avoid killing the yeast, do not use liquids that are extremely cold or hot (over 115˚ F).
Since the yeast is often the most expensive ingredient in the bread, here’s a money-saving tip: Buy your yeast in 1-pound or 2-pound bulk packages at one of those warehouse discount stores, such as Costco or Sam’s Club, or at a wholesale restaurant-supply store. The savings are remarkable! Open the brick-hard, vacuum-packed bag of yeast and pour a little into a small, baby food–sized jar. Close the package, seal it well, and store inside a freezer bag in your freezer. It will keep for at least a year that way. Or share it with friends if you don’t think you’ll be using that much yeast in a year’s time.
Not sure your yeast is still active? There’s an easy way to test its potency. Place 1 teaspoon yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water (105 to 115˚ F) and wait 5 minutes. If the mixture doesn’t start to foam in that time, it’s time to replace your yeast.
MISCELLANEOUS INGREDIENTS
Again, we recommend using only the freshest ingredients. This is especially true when it comes to Parmesan cheese, as noted in the recipe for Anita’s Italian Herb Bread.
Several recipes call for sunflower seeds. We found that the raw unsalted seeds from the natural-food store bins were best. If you use salted seeds, reduce the amount of salt called for in the recipe. Always store seeds and whole grains in the refrigerator or freezer to avoid rancidity.
Potatoes, buttermilk, eggs, and oats add a wonderful rich flavor and moist texture to breads and rolls. Keep them in mind when you want to vary a recipe.
A NOTE FOR THOSE ON SPECIAL DIETS
If you are concerned about your cholesterol intake, you can substitute nonfat milk for whole milk and 2 egg whites or ¼ cup water or ¼ cup liquid egg substitute for each egg.
If you are a vegetarian who eats no dairy products, you can substitute water or soy milk for the milk or buttermilk, ¼ cup water for each egg, and vegetable shortening or oil for the butter or margarine in these recipes.
MEASUREMENTS
BASIC MEASUREMENTS
1½ teaspoons = ½ tablespoon
3 teaspoons = 1 tablespoon
4 tablespoons = ¼ cup
51⁄3 tablespoons = 1⁄3 cup
16 tablespoons = 1 cup
You’ll find that eighth-cup measurements are frequently used for measuring liquids. The measuring cup that came with your machine is probably marked in eighths. If not, use the following equivalents:
1⁄8 cup = 2 tablespoons
Therefore:
3⁄8 cup = ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons
5⁄8 cup = ½ cup + 2 tablespoons
7⁄8 cup = ¾ cup + 2 tablespoons
11⁄8 cups = 1 cup + 2 tablespoons
TIPS FOR BAKING THE PERFECT LOAF
There are so many things we’ve learned along the way about bread machines and baking bread. Most are contained in our second book, The Bread Machine Magic Book of Helpful Hints, but here are some we’d like to pass along to you now:
GREAT BREADS START WITH THE PROPER DOUGH CONSISTENCY
• Experience will be your best teacher. If you’re new at the bread-baking business, take time to look at and touch the dough several times during the mixing/kneading process. You’ll soon develop a sense of the proper consistency for the perfect loaf. You’re looking for a dough that forms a smooth, pliable ball after about 10 minutes of kneading. It will be slightly tacky to the touch. It shouldn’t be crumbly. It shouldn’t be sticky. It shouldn’t leave traces of dough in the bottom of the pan as the mixing blade rotates. And it shouldn’t be so stiff that the bread machine sounds like it’s straining to knead it or about to stall. Some doughs can look perfect but have no give to them. Doughs that are stiff will invariably bake up into short, dense loaves. Think sensuous! What you’re looking for is a dough that is warm, soft, alive—one that makes you want to pull it out of the machine and work with it for hours because it feels so wonderful.
• Once in a while there are exceptions, when a dough should be wetter than normal or will take quite a while to pull moisture from various ingredients, but we let you know which recipes will produce an atypical dough. Read the “blurbs” at the start of the recipes. By the way, rye bread doughs will normally be on the wet side, so you need to allow for a moister dough in all rye bread recipes.
• If the dough feels too dry or wet during mixing, add more liquid or flour to correct it, 1 tablespoon at a time. Often, all it takes is a tablespoon or two to correct it. If the mixing cycle is almost over, you can make the addition, stop the machine, and then restart it.
MEASURING INGREDIENTS
• It’s very important to use accurate and proper measuring equipment and techniques. Sometimes as little as 1 tablespoon liquid can make the difference between a great bread and a not-so-great one. Use a dry measuring cup for your flours and grains. They normally come nested in ¼-, 1⁄3-, ½-, and 1-cup sizes. Avoid using the measuring cup as a scooper! This has been the cause of many a short, heavy loaf. To measure your dry ingredients properly, gently spoon them into the cup (do not pack them down with the back of the spoon or tap the side of the cup to settle them), and then level them with a straight-edged knife or spatula. Why be a spooner rather than a scooper? Because, when dipping down into your canister or bag of flour with the measuring cup, you can pack in at least 1 extra tablespoon of flour per cup, enough to make a big difference in your final product.
• Use a clear plastic or glass liquid measuring cup for your liquids; set the cup on a flat surface and check the measurement at eye level.
• When a recipe calls for more than 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, cut it into smaller pieces to ensure that it will blend well with the other ingredients.
• If a recipe calls for both oil and honey, measure the oil first. The honey or molasses will then slide easily out of the tablespoon.
• To make use of the last few drops of honey or molasses that coat the sides of the jar, remove the lid and place the jar in the microwave on High for 10 to 15 seconds. It will then pour easily into your measuring spoon.
• Any ingredients that are heated or cooked on the stove should be allowed to cool to room temperature before you add them to the rest of the ingredients; otherwise, they will kill the yeast. We suggest, too, that you add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order listed, adding the yeast last. Avoid adding yeast directly on top of the salt or vice versa. The two don’t mix.
TIPS FOR HIGH-ALTITUDE BAKERS
• Try any or all of the following suggestions if your breads rise too quickly and deflate when baked due to lower pressure at high altitudes: Reduce the amount of yeast by about one-third, increase the salt by 25%, and add ½ to 1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten per cup of flour. If all else fails, try baking your bread on the Rapid Bake cycle.
STORAGE
• Store all whole-grain flours, bran, cracked wheat, bulgur, wheat germ, and nuts in sealed containers in the freezer or refrigerator to prevent them from turning rancid. They all contain natural oils and do not have a long shelf life.
• If you plan to bake bread several times a week, make it as convenient for yourself as possible. We fill our canister sets with bread flour, sugar, nonfat dry milk powder, and oats. In the cupboard overhead we have containers of salt, honey, molasses, brown sugar, instant potato flakes, raisins, cornmeal, baking soda, herbs, and spices. With that arrangement, it’s possible to toss together all the ingredients for a loaf of bread in just 5 minutes.
• If you like to bake a wide variety of breads, we suggest having these ingredients on hand:
FLOURS: Bread, all-purpose (unbleached or regular), whole wheat, rye, barley, buckwheat, millet
LIQUIDS: Milk or nonfat dry milk powder, buttermilk or dry buttermilk powder
WHOLE GRAINS: Oats, wheat bran, wheat germ, cracked wheat or bulgur, millet
SWEETENERS: Granulated sugar, dark and light brown sugar, confectioners’ sugar, honey, molasses
FATS: Margarine or unsalted butter, vegetable and olive oil, shortening
MISCELLANEOUS: Yeast, salt, instant potato flakes, eggs, sour cream, sunflower seeds, oranges, raisins, imported Parmesan cheese, various herbs and spices
• Once a loaf is done, remove it from the bread pan as soon as possible. Even with the Cool Down and Keep Warm cycles, bread left to sit in the pan too long will turn damp and soggy on the outside.
• Baked bread and rolls, if allowed to cool completely and wrapped well in plastic, foil, or plastic bags, can be frozen satisfactorily for 1 month. It’s best to slice the bread first for convenience sake. We don’t recommend refrigerating bread. Bread stales 6 times faster in the refrigerator than when stored at room temperature.
• In a hurry? No time to bake that dough that just came out of the machine? No problem. You can park most doughs in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days. Place the dough in an oiled, sealed, plastic bag or bowl. You will need to punch it down each day. When ready to use it, simply take it out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature before shaping it into a loaf or rolls. We do this quite often with pizza dough. Having it handy like that means hot pizza from the oven faster than a delivery boy can get bring one to the door.
TROUBLESHOOTING
• Once in a while you’ll have loaves that turn out like miniboulders rather than anything edible. Did you check the dough’s consistency during kneading? It probably needed a little more liquid. Did you forget to place the blade securely on the post? Did you forget to add yeast? Did you scoop your flour out with a measuring cup rather than spooning it into the cup? Toss the loaf out (be careful you don’t hit anyone with it!) and try again.
• Too much liquid in the dough can produce a wide variety of unsightly results. It will usually cause a whole-grain bread to be coarse and full of holes or very small with a flat or sunken top. If you end up with a tall loaf that is spongy-soft with caved-in sides, or a bread that rose too high and mushroomed over the top of the pan, those are also results of dough that was too wet. Don’t forget that ingredients such as fruits, vegetables, sour cream, and cottage cheese add moisture to the dough as well.
• If a loaf consistently rises too fast but looks very deflated after it bakes, that means it had too long a rising period or rose too fast. The gluten strands broke, the gas escaped, and the bread fell during baking. You may need to use the Rapid Bake cycle if this happens often. It can also be the result of omitting salt from the recipe. You can reduce the amount of salt in a recipe, but we don’t recommend you leave it out altogether.
• Breads that contain whole grains, cheese, eggs, or extra sugar will often bake up very dark or have a burnt crust. You should switch to a Light Crust setting for those breads.
• The weather can play an important part in your bread-baking efforts. Days when the humidity is either very high or very low, the flour’s moisture content changes significantly. Professional bakers get around this by weighing their flour, which takes into account how much moisture the flour has absorbed from the atmosphere and gives them consistent results. If you’re not keen on weighing your ingredients, simply adjust your wet or dry ingredients slightly to allow for the change in weather. As the dough mixes, add 1 or 2 more tablespoons flour if it’s particularly humid outside, or 1 or 2 teaspoons more liquid if it’s unusually dry out. Those are the times when it’s especially important to pinch the dough as it mixes to make sure it’s wet or dry enough.
• We’ve noticed that in the horizontal bread pans that bake the more traditionally shaped loaf, flour has a tendency to pile up in the corners and not always get mixed in with the rest of the ingredients. If you have one of those pans, it’s always a good idea to clear out the corners with a rubber spatula shortly after the initial mixing cycle begins.
MISCELLANEOUS
• When using the Delayed Baking cycle on your machine, avoid using any ingredients that might spoil if left out at room temperature for any length of time, such as eggs, milk, sour cream, cottage cheese, and buttermilk. Also, make sure the yeast is not sitting in any liquid once you add it at the end.
• A serrated bread knife is invaluable. Make it your first purchase.
• The second purchase, if you bake free-form breads in the oven quite often, is one of those silicone or Teflon baking sheets. They’re reusable and you’ll never again have to grease a baking sheet. What a godsend!
• Here’s a tip from one who learned the hard way: Remember to remove the mixing blade from that special loaf of bread you’ve baked as a gift. Once the bread is wrapped and given, it’s quite embarrassing to ask for the blade back!
• If you’re making rolls or specialty breads and the recipe calls for a baking pan or a cake pan, and all you have is a glass baking dish or pie plate, reduce the oven temperature by 25°F to avoid overbrowning.
• Dark pans will produce dark crusts; shiny pans will produce lighter crusts.
• When making sweet rolls that are rolled up jelly-roll fashion and then sliced, here’s a nifty trick. Use dental floss to cut each slice. Lightly mark the roll with a knife where you want to slice it. Starting at one end, slide a 12-inch length of dental floss or heavy thread underneath the roll, and at each mark, bring the ends of the floss up and crisscross them on top. Keep pulling in opposite directions and the floss will cut right through the roll with ease.
• When you find your freezer half full of bags containing that one last slice of bread no one will kill off, what do you do with all those odds and ends? First, know that you will never again have to buy bread crumbs. A quick whirl in the food processor will turn those orphan slices into the most delicious bread crumbs imaginable! With not much more effort, you can create some delicious croutons that will make your salads sparkle. (See our recipes for croutons.) Bread pudding, stuffing, and French toast made with many of the breads in this cookbook will leave the realm of ordinary and achieve memorable status. If you’re overworked, stressed out, and too busy to create something with those stray slices, dump them into a bag, visit your own backyard or the nearest park, and take a few quiet moments to feed your neighborhood birds, ducks, or squirrels. Your day will be brighter for it.
• Last and most important, have fun with this fabulous appliance! Experiment with new shapes and taste sensations. You can turn a plain dough into a masterpiece by braiding it, brushing it with egg white, and sprinkling poppyseeds or sesame seeds on top. How about sculpting a bread basket simply by twining ropes of bread dough around the outside of an inverted, greased bowl? After baking, remove the bowl and you have a lovely basket for your homemade rolls. You can do something similar by creating a cornucopia shape from wadded-up aluminum foil. It’s the perfect centerpiece for Thanksgiving when filled with fresh homemade rolls or dried flowers and other seasonal decor. If you’re not feeling quite that inspired, have fun just shaping small, individual bread bowls the next time you serve chili or stew to family or friends. One large, round loaf hollowed out and toasted in a 350°F oven is a tasty container for your favorite dip or fondue. Experiment with various cooking containers such as coffee cans and clay flowerpots. See how much fun you can have when you unleash your creative instincts! Who knows, you might come up with a bake-off winner or a blue ribbon at a state fair. Happy baking!
ABOUT OUR RECIPES
Our recipes are listed as “small, medium, large.” The small is the 1-pound loaf that contains approximately 2 cups flour. The medium is the 1½-pound loaf that uses about 3 cups of flour. The large is the 2-pound loaf that calls for approximately 4 cups flour.
When trying a recipe for the first time, we suggest starting with the medium size first. Not all 2-pound loaf pans are created equal and you want to avoid overflows whenever possible. If it didn’t quite fill up the pan, you know you’re safe to try the larger loaf.
In some of our recipes, we list vital wheat gluten as an optional ingredient. We include it because results sometimes varied greatly from one machine to the next. If some machines produced loaves that just needed a little more “oomph” than others, the gluten helped. We recommend trying the recipe first without the gluten. If it doesn’t rise high enough or needs more body, cross out the word “optional,” so you’ll know next time to add the gluten.
You may notice that some recipes require all-purpose flour for one size loaf and bread flour for the other sizes or vice versa. We had to switch to all-purpose flour in some instances because the bread rose too high using bread flour.
All eggs used in these recipes are the large-size eggs.
When a recipe lists beer as an ingredient, either use flat beer or pour off the foamy head before measuring.
We list liquid amounts with a 2-tablespoon range in quantity to allow for the variances among machines. You’ll soon learn whether your machine produces better loaves using the lower or higher amount of liquid. Again, and we can’t stress it enough, it pays to check the dough as it mixes.
We used Red Star brand active dry yeast when testing all the recipes in this book. If you choose to use other brands, we suggest you experiment a little first because not all yeasts are created equal. With some you may need to use ½ to 1 teaspoon more than called for in the recipe; for others you might be able to use a little less.
Don’t overlook the “blurbs” at the beginning of each recipe. We often used them to note or emphasize an important step or ingredient.
We have included nutritional analysis at the end of each recipe to be used as a general guideline. The information was calculated on an average medium loaf containing fourteen ½-inch-thick slices of bread.
All of our recipes can be baked in the oven instead of in the bread machine. For those who want to work the dough with their hands and bake a more traditional loaf, we suggest you place the ingredients in the bread pan and set the machine on Dough. When it beeps that it’s done, turn the dough out onto a floured countertop and knead it for 1 or 2 minutes. Place the large loaf in two greased 8½ × 4½ × 2½-inch loaf pans. Place the medium loaf in a greased 9 × 5 × 3-inch loaf pan. Place the small loaf in a greased 8½ × 4½ × 2½-inch loaf pan. (Or in the case of a free-form bread, shape the dough as desired and place on a greased baking sheet.) Cover dough with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 to 45 minutes.
You can bake most loaves at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. Breads with a thin, crisp crust, such as French and sourdough, should be baked at a higher temperature, 400 to 450°F, for approximately 25 minutes.
And one final suggestion: If your machine doesn’t have a Preheat cycle, warm all cold liquids prior to mixing.