Carb Loading

In an attempt to shoo away another round of cold weather and snow, or at least the frustration that it brings (Barb, after reading your comment, I feel your pain), I fired up the oven for an afternoon of baking. And an afternoon of baking it was.

Carbloading

I’m constantly modifying my bread recipe, and I feel like I’ve found a decent base from which to explore different adaptations.

Today, I started with:

  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 2+ Tablespoons of black strap molasses
  • 2 Teaspoons active dry yeast
  • 1/2 Teaspoon of ground up caraway seeds

Next, I mixed in the following ingredients with the liquid, and whisked/stirred until a consistency of yogurt:

  • 1/2 cup gluten flour
  • 1/2 cup rye flour
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/8 cup wheat germ

Then I added:

  • Approx. 3 cups white flour
  • 1/2 Teaspoon salt

The rest is pretty much standard bread-making instructions (knead for 10 minutes, let rise twice, proof before putting in oven that has been preheated to 400ºF, bake for 30-35 minutes or until done — I like to spray the oven with water a couple of times during the baking to give the crust a bit of a crunch).

That was the bread. As you can see, there were a few more things besides the bread. Jane Brody has a good zucchini bread recipe, and the peanut butter cookies, though not as good as Virginia’s grandmother’s recipe (are they ever?), have still been approved for household consumption.*

Carbloading

What can I say? I am a fan of wheat.

*And, as much as I’d like to dive into all this baked goodness, we’re actually going to be feeding a group of people.