Thursday, January 14, 2010

Healthy Bread In Five Minutes A Day, Whole Wheat Master and Four Great Ways to Use It!




I've been known to say that fast food at our house means "cheese and crackers" and having made homemade crackers from the master whole wheat recipe from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes A Day, fast food may become more common. These crackers turned out wonderfully. My daughter, Candace and I experimented with a pasta machine first, which we decided wasn't such a great idea and pushed on to the standard method - - a rolling pin.
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Spread a bit of olive oil on the pastry sheet to give the crackers a crunch as well as keep them from drying out. Roll a grapefruit piece of dough as thin as possible. Brush olive oil flavored with fresh minced rosemary, sprinkle with Paula Deen's House Seasoning and paprika.
  2. Cut into desired shapes and move to oiled cookie sheet, placing fairly close together but not touching.
  3. Bake for 20 minutes, rotate pan and bake for an addition 10 minutes.
  4. Serve with cheese, soup or eat as a healthy snack.
  5. Store in a zip lock bag.

What we learned:


The whole wheat artisan free form loaf has been somewhat of a struggle for me. Not the shaping or baking, but the seeds! The seed mixture that is given in the book has a tendency to burn in my oven. My answer is to throw the sunflower seeds out (too much oil in them) and the next batch I make will not have any flax seeds in them either, they just get too brownish black for my taste. I have had great success with shaping my loaf, dipping it into a bowl of sesame seeds right then, letting it rest for 90 minutes, slashing and baking.


I live at a high altitude and the first several batches of dough resembled hocky pucks. I felt really bad about this until a dear neighbor and excellent baker, Bonnie bought the book and had the same experience-- exactly. I have learned that IF you use freshly ground flour you MUST weigh your ingredients. My amounts are different from the books. If you are interested in what they are feel free to contact me. Cristie at TheTableRunner dot com

The final piece to this post on the master whole wheat dough is the epi, or wheat stalk. It has become one of my favorites. It is shown here with a delicious spread made from a homemade pesto (thanks Bonnie!) mixed with cream cheese--neither lasted long, they just seem to be made for each other.

For many wonderful ideas go to the third bread braid of the Google group for
Healthy Bread in Five at Michelle's blog, Big Black Dogs.

39 comments:

  1. Beautiful breads! They look delicious especially the crackers! I didn't get to the crackers this time. I was too busy trying to get the wreath to work.

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  2. mmm... looks so delicious.Can't decide which I like more, I'll have to give it a try and make some.

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  3. Can smell your breads coming out of the oven right now! Good idea about the sesame seeds instead of sunflower seeds .. very pretty!

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  4. I love your bread and can't say which one I like more. They look so delicious!
    Cheers,

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  5. if anyone finds a perfume that smells like baking bread, please, let us all know! These breads ARE delicious. you're an artist, mom!

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  6. That is one delicious looking loaf of bread. Nicely done.

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  7. We shall be eating more "fast food" at our house soon. Thanks for sharing your tips.

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  8. Your epi is GORGEOUS! I feel like such a piker by comparison! :-)) What did you use to cut your crackers? Ravioli wheel? So great! And yes, I did make a few large pretzels, but my husband ate them before I got a chance to photograph them!

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  9. It all looks delicious! Sounds like you and Candace had fun making crackers. I love it when my daughter's in the kitchen with me.

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  10. The wheat stalks are gorgeous and the dip sounds incredible! Wish I'd had a seat at your table!

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  11. Your bread looks perfect, so crunchy on the crust and delightfully airy in the center. Id love some with my soup!!

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  12. Everything looks delicious. I have cracker envy:D
    And, I absolutely love the idea of pesto mixed with cream cheese!

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  13. Your bread looks super lovely! Thanks for the tips about the seeds. I haven't tried any yet but sesame seed will be first on my list.

    Those crackers look fantastic - definitely all about the seasoning.

    And pesto cream cheese spread? You've just made my day.

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  14. I think lowering the temp and cooking for longer may be the answer to great crackers. I will need to try that as yours looks fabulous.

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  15. The pesto spread sounds wonderful with the bread!

    Great tips on the crackers too. After I made mine I wondered if a pasta roller might work - evidently not.

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  16. wow you did great your breads are awesome and the crackers, so thrilled to be in the bread making gp with you lol Rebecca

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  17. I've been so impressed with all the other wonderful bakers in the HBin5 group. What a fun group to be in. I've learned so much today about baking this whole wheat bread!

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  18. Homemade crackers! Wow...they look so delicious..along with everything else. I am so bad with bread...it is really my weakness. Thank you for this post today!..you images are amazing. xoxo

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  19. Hello there daaaaaaahling! I've left an award for you on my blog, come check it out.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    *kisses* HH

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  20. That does look delicious. You have inspired me to check out the club.

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  21. Great job!!! So pretty. Thanks for sharing......

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  22. i love how your crackers came out!! you just inspired me to try it again!!!!

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  23. Your crackers look great! love the seeds on your bread. I haven't added seeds to a loaf yet. Your epi's are so cute.

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  24. that epi you made is gorgeous! i love what you did with all of your breads!

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  25. Thanks for the tip about the sesame seeds. Great post.

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  26. your crackers look delicious.Homemade is always the best! :D

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  27. Your breads came out beautifully, Cristie! I had problems with my crackers, too :) Glad to know I'm not the only one!

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  28. I envious your crackers turned out so well. Your epi is beautiful too. The sesame topped bread looks delicious.

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  29. They have all turned out so well! Congratulations.

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  30. All of your breads are just gorgeous!!

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  31. Next time invite me and my girls! I need to do this at my house.

    Cyndi

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  32. these look just beautiful. i really need to get this book!

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  33. Wow even a non bread lover can really appreciate this. Well done!

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  34. So glad you mentioned your experience with the pasta machine. I was going to try that on my next batch of crackers. I'll also extend the bake time and the oil on the bottom. Your bread and crackers are beautiful!

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  35. this is my very first comment. your daughter is showing me how to do it. don't count on me for bread comments.

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  36. Yummy, yummy pictures! :) First time here and love it.

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  37. Christie, I love all of the helpful tips you added to making crackers, altitude and weighing flours! There are so many factors to baking successfully, and there is a science - you just have figure out the formula!

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  38. Cristie, where are you? I keep looking for another delicious post. Please come back. :)

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