Beer Bread (low sodium and whole-grain)

This is a quick bread that’s easy to make after work.

3 cups assorted whole-grain flours (I used 1.5. cups whole wheat, 1/2 cup coarse rye, 1/2 cup oat bran and 1/2 cup cornmeal last time I made it)

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp dried herbs

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)

1 12-ounce beer

1 package of rapid rise yeast

1 T honey or molasses

Mix flours, baking powder and seasonings together in large bowl.  Pour beer into microwave-safe measuring cup and microwave until warm (approximately one minute).  Add yeast and honey to the beer and set aside for a few minutes.

Add beer mixture to flours and stir to combine.  Spoon into greased loaf pan.  Let sit for 10 minutes.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

 

 

Pumpernickel Bread

A dark bread with complex flavors.

2 packages of yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1 tsp honey

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup black coffee

2 T molasses

2 T vinegar

1 ounce dark chocolate

2 T butter

2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 cup coarse grind rye flour

1 cup regular rye flour

1/2 tsp salt

Combine yeast, water and honey and let sit for 10 minutes.

Combine water, coffee, molasses, vinegar, butter and chocolate in a saucepan and heat until chocolate and butter are melted.

Combine flours and salt.

Place wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Add two cups of the flour mixture, mixing well.  Mix in as much of the remaining flour as you can.  Then spread some of the flour on a clean surface and knead in as much of the flour as possible. Knead for 10 minutes.  Let rise in a covered greased bowl in a warm place overnight or for several hours.

Punch down the dough and form into a round.  Place on a greased cookie sheet and dust with cornmeal.  Let rise in a warm place for an hour.  Slash an X in the top of the bread and bake for 50 minutes at 350.

No sugar, No flour Granola Cookies

These are super easy to make and quite tasty!

2 T butter

2 T peanut butter

2 T unsweetened apple or pear butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1 egg white, beaten

Dash of cinnamon

1/2 cup dried currants

1 heaping cup old-fashioned oatmeal

Melt butter, peanut butter, and apple butter in the microwave.  Add extracts, cinnamon and beaten egg white.  Stir in currants and oats.

Put in refrigerator to chill — once chilled, form into balls and cook at 350 for about 8 minutes.  Enjoy!

No-sugar banana pudding

Warning: like all recipes without added sweeteners…this won’t be particularly sweet   But I think it still counts as a dessert.

Ingredients:

2 T cornstarch

1 1/2 cups milk/cream or mixture

2 beaten egg yolks

1/2 T butter

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

2 ripe bananas

Mash bananas in a microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for two minutes or until really mushy.  Line bottom of bowl with bananas.

Meanwhile, place cornstarch in saucepan and heat over medium heat.  Gradually stir in milk.  Cook until thickened and bubbly.  Cook for two minutes more.  Remove pan from heat.  Stir half of milk mixture into beaten egg yolks.  Return egg mixture to saucepan.  Bring back to a gentle boil and cook and stir for two minutes. 

Remove from heat and stir in butter and extracts.  Layer on top of bananas.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill. 

It’s very tasty served with graham crackers, though that renders it not quite sugar-free. 

(See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_crackers for some interesting info…)

 

Hello Blogosphere!

I have recently begun cooking and baking with an eye towards reducing my use of salt, white flour and added sweeteners.  The task is fairly simple when it comes to main dishes:  add a lot more spices, cut out the salt and serve with whole grains (like this amazing barley:  http://www.bobsredmill.com/product.php?productid=3637&cat=105&page=1).  Baking is much harder, however, for several reasons.  First, salt (or baking soda/powder) does more work than flavoring in cooking.  It is often responsible for the dough rising, especially in baked goods without yeast, like quick breads, muffins and pancakes.  Second, most baked goods contain a lot of added sweeteners, leaving fruit as the only dessert I could serve my strictly sugar-free friends.  (I have no plans to eliminate sugar from my diet — primarily because chocolate without sugar is inedible and life without chocolate is unliveable).  Finally, most ”whole-grain” recipes still contain a large amount of white flour, and adjusting to all whole grains takes somes some experimentation.

I decided to use a blog to post some of my successes in baking with less salt, white flour and sugars, in the hope that it would be useful to other bakers interested in baking, unrefined.