Kitchen

[gloriajean]

Health Bread

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup wheat bran

3 tablespoons shortening (I use coconut oil)

2 teaspoons salt (I just sprinkle some, don’t measure)

1 cup raisins

2 3/4 cups boiling water

3/4 cup blackstrap molasses (or half with honey mixed with the molasses)

I cup whole wheat flour

Around 7 cups King Arthur flour

Soften yeast in warm water. Combine next six ingredients: cool to lukewarm. Add softened yeast and molasses. Stir in whole wheat flour and 2 cups white flour and beat well. Gradually add enough flour to make a soft dough. I knead this in a big tupperware pan until the flour doesn’t stick to my hands. Then I grease another big tupperware bowl and put the dough in it, let it rise till double in size, about an hour or so. I put that bowl over a smaller bowl of hot water to help it get warm enough to rise. (that is my trick). Punch down, divide the dough in half, roll into two balls, cover let rest 10 min. Shape into loaves and put in pans – let rise till double – bake in moderate oven – 350 degrees for 55 min. This is the one my girls grew up on. I’ve already made nine loaves of this at a time when I was giving them out for gifts too.

Oatmeal Nut Bread

2 1/2 cups boiling water

3/4 cup oat bran

1 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup coconut oil or any other good oil

1/4 cup molasses – I use blackstrap

1/4 cup honey

sprinkle some salt

2 eggs

1 cup raisins

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Make yeast mixture by two tablespoons active dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water – let it stand at least 10 minutes for the yeast to bubble and work. Then add to the rest of the mixture when cooled down. Beat or use wooden spoon (that’s what I do, the spoon) 3 cups of flour, I use organic King Arthur, add more flour until kneaded enough, about 3 cups more, or a little less, then I put the oil on my hands and oil another big pan, put the dough in there over a pot of hot water so it’s warm to rise. Cover with a dish towel. After it’s doubled in size, I oil the counter, and I measure with a scale 1 1/2 pounds each of the dough, and make little balls, cover, let it rest 10 to 15 min. then shape into loaves and put in bread pans, I make fork marks in the loaves to cut the air bubbles and that works. Then when that is risen maybe an inch over the pan or so, put in the oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. When out of the oven, I brush the tops and all around with the coconut oil and that keeps it nice and soft. Enjoy!

[Dorothy11]

Both these recipes look great! Thanks for sharing, I'll try them both.

[gloriajean]

I make them alot - and give away for gifts too. Everyone loves them! I make others too, but these two are my favorites so far. Love making breads!!! So much cheaper than buying them.

[gloriajean]

Do any of you have some favorite bread recipes to share? I try to make mine as organic as possible.

[Dorothy11]

One of my favorite bread books is A Blessing of Bread by Maggie Glezer. It's a collection of Jewish bread recipes from around the world. Many have a regular yeast and a sourdough recipe. You don't need to be Jewish to love and enjoy these recipes. Used copies are on Amazon for under $10.

Happy baking!

[Beauty$Junkie]

Re: Oatmeal Nut Bread, is there yeast in this bread? I am confused in the directions. TIA

[gloriajean]

On 12/5/2014 Beauty$Junkie said:

Re: Oatmeal Nut Bread, is there yeast in this bread? I am confused in the directions. TIA

Yes, you may not have read the rest of the recipe which is:

Make yeast mixture by two tablespoons active dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water – let it stand at least 10 minutes for the yeast to bubble and work.

[Poodlepet2]

Florissant, ever since you gave us the recipe for Health Bread a couple of years ago, it's a standard in our house. I have successfully halved this recipe ( for those who are new to baking, you can't always do that- and there are recipes you can't double as well. Even though ingredients are straight forward, and you would think there are no problems there can be! ) I also use SAF yeast which is an instant yeast that doesn't need to be proofed, but I cut the water down to 1/4 cup.######Florissant, I recently discovered dried blueberries, and I use them in place of raisins. They are not quite as sweet, but they are tasty. Allegedly they don't cause spikes in blood sugar and they also help stabilize blood sugar. Burberry tea made from the leaves is allegedly good for stabilizing blood sugar too. Best wishes and hugs, Poodlepet2

[gloriajean]

Poodlepet - That's great that you've been using the bread all this time. Good idea about using the blueberries instead of raisins, I'll have to try that, I bet it's very tasty. What I do is make a bunch of breads, slice and freeze, and take out a half loaf at a time. By the way, I'm confused - who is Florissant?

[Poodlepet2]

Gloriajean, my Kindle changes spellings-even after I put a word into the dictionary-as I have with "mulberries"- which is what I meant to say, not blueberries! I apologize for that! I first heard about mulberries from a friend who is Turkish. It's amazing how food is used there as medicine as much as it is for nourishment. In spite of Turkey being on the ancient spice trade routes, many of the spices we use are considered to have medicinal properties and are not used in seasoning.### I wanted to clarify something. I cut the water down to 1/4 cup, and I reduce everything by half when I make the Health Bread. 2 1/2 teaspoons SAF yeast is equivalent to an envelope of yeast. Poodlepet2