We Couldn’t Keep Up With the Bread!

At some point in middle school the Sheffner family did away with regular sandwich bread. Mama Angela decided to dabble in bread-making, and our lives would be forever changed. Dan and I would run home from school and enter a house filled with the smell of freshly baked bread. We would devour that warm soft bread, so my mom had to make several loaves a week. At one point I remember seeing all of these loaves and thinking...my TU Tri Delta sisters, here it comes...”We can’t keep up with the bread!” Through the years, Mama Angela would explore all kinds of recipes from focaccia to gluten-free bread to baguettes. The bread I made is her OG bread. The one that made all the kids at the lunch table wish their mom baked bread. It’s a whole grain sandwich bread that tastes like a treat each time you take a bite. The ingredient list is long, and the process looks tedious, but as long as you have a standing mixer it’s not too bad! I wonder how Paul Hollywood feels about using a mixer to knead the bread. I digress, there are two proofing periods: The first was in an oven, so I made sure to preheat the oven on the lowest temperature and turn it off before placing the dough in there. I then kept the oven door ajar to make sure the environment was just right to get the dough to rise (Thanks, Mama Angela for the tip!) The second proof was done in the bread pan. The recipe didn’t say to put it in a warm place, so I kept it on the kitchen table. I think it was too chilly in the kitchen, as it took double the time to rise! However, the bread came out a perfect golden color with even coloring. As soon as it was cooled, I sliced the bread for Saad and me to try. Wow. One bite, and I was rushed back to my childhood. The bread tasted just like it did when my mom baked it oh so long ago. I would definitely make this again, and I hope that once we have moved I will be able to get into a habit of baking bread once a week. I am already turning into Mama Angela, so why not go all the way? I recommend setting aside at least half a day. With all of the waiting, you can certainly multi task, so it is definitely not a waste of time. Plus, you end up with the best bread ever. Special thanks to my mom who gave me the recipe, gave me a bread-making lesson, and gave me almost all of the ingredients. I still need to give them back! 

STRUAN FIVE GRAIN BREAD Makes one large loaf Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups high-gluten bread flour 3 TB uncooked coarse corn meal 3 TB rolled oats 3 TB brown sugar 2 TB wheat bran 1 1/4 tsp salt 1 TB fast acting or instant yeast (or 1 1/4 TB active dry yeast mixed in 4 TB warm water) 3 TB cooked brown rice (I used Trader Joe’s frozen brown rice packets that you can cook in the microwave to save time!) 1 1/2 TB honey 1/3 cup buttermilk 3/4 - 1 cup water, as needed 1 TB poppy seeds for top of bread (optional. I did not do this) 1. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients including the yeast 2. Add the rice, honey, and buttermilk and mix. 3. Add 3/4 cup of water and squeeze the mixture until it becomes a ball. Add more water, as needed, to keep the dough pliable 4. Now it’s time to knead the dough for 15 minutes. You can either do this by hand or use the dough hook on your standing mixer. I opted to use my KitchenAid mixer. Mary Berry is all about good shortcuts, so I think she would approve. The finished dough should lighten in color, have all the grains evenly mixed, and become more elastic and tacky. It should NOT be sticky. When you push the heels of your hands into the dough, it should give way but not tear. If sticky, add some more flour. If it flakes and crumbles, add some more water. 5. Place the dough into a large clean bowl that has been wiped or sprayed with oil. Cover with a damp towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm place to proof for about an hour to an hour and a half. The dough should be about double in size when proofing is complete. 6. The section for rolling the dough into a loaf was cut off on my mom’s recipe, so this is what I did: Punched the center of the dough and then formed into a log, tucking the ends of the log underneath. I placed the loaf into a greased bread pan with the seam at the bottom. 7. Cover the loaf with a damp towel or plastic wrap for the second proof. This should be another hour or hour and a half, until the dough is cresting over the top of the pan. 8. Bake the bread in a preheated 350 degree oven for 45-55 minutes. The loaf should have a dome that is a dark gold. Sides and bottom should have a uniform medium-golden brown color. There should be an audible thunk sound when you tap the bottom of the loaf. 9. Allow the bread to cool outside of the pan at least 40 minutes before slicing. Recipe courtesy of my mom.