Garam Masala Coconut-Banana Bread

My wonderful friend Bronwyn was here visiting this week and we were inspired to make some vegan yumminess….Well, not too inspired I guess since we never got around to actually making anything. But I did go out and buy about 5 lbs. of bananas, and I did salivate over the fantastic recipe for vegan banana bread from the awesome folks over at Post Punk Kitchen. Then I was looking at the Joe Beef cookbook my husband got (yes, funny, I know — a vegetarian reading a cookbook with “beef” in the title) and came across a slobber-inducing recipe for Cardamom Banana Bread. I decided to play with both recipes, adding my own twist.

Garam Masala is a classic Indian spice mixture of cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, cumin, star anise, and peppercorns. I know it might sound strange to put something with cumin and pepper in a sweet baked good, but the subtle savoriness adds something really unique and delicious to the flavor profile and is balanced nicely by the sweetness of the brown sugar and the coconut milk. Coconut and banana are natural partners, but you could certainly omit the shaved coconut and swap the milk for soy or almond if you’re not a fan. This recipe is vegan.

Garam Masala Coconut-Banana Bread

Ingredients:

– 4 very ripe bananas

– 1/2 c. butter or margarine

– 1 c. packed light brown sugar

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1/3 c. coconut milk, with 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar mixed in

– 2 c. flour

– 1 tsp. baking soda

– 1 tsp. salt

– 2 tsp. garam masala

– 1/2 c. shaved unsweetened coconut (I used a full cup here and I think it was too much — it made the bread super crumbly)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2. Peel bananas, place in a bowl and mash well. Set aside. *Do not mash until they liquefy or baking time will be altered

3. In a large bowl cream together butter (substitute) and sugar. Beat until light and fluffy

4. Add bananas, vanilla, and coconut milk to sugar. Mix well.

5. Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add to wet ingredients. Do not overmix.

6. Fold in shaved coconut.

7. Pour batter into a greased 9×5 bread tin. *You can make muffins if you prefer — just reduce baking time to 30 minutes

8. Bake at 350F for 75 minutes, or until a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

9. Allow to cool 10 minutes in tin, and then transfer to a rack or towel to finish cooling

10. Enjoy!

And about 30 seconds later….

Black Rye Bread

Been looking for a rye bread recipe so bad-ass and robust it makes regular rye taste like Wonderbread? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try making your own loaf of Black Rye. Variations of this recipe are found throughout Russia, Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans, but the characteristic flavor in this loaf comes from rye flour, cocoa, molasses, caraway, and coffee. Sounds weird, right? Wrong! It’s delicious…

This is a very hearty bread, perfect for cold winter weather. Enjoy it like they do in Lithuania, fried in oil and smeared with garlic (kepta duona); the Latvian way, with raspberry or apricot jam and sweet cream (rupjmaizes kartojums); like they do in throughout Scandinavia with sliced cheese, boiled egg and/or pickled vegetables (variations of smorbrod); or just enjoy it simply smeared with butter or dunked into your favorite soup. It’s delicious whatever you do with it.

Ingredients:

Yields 1 small loaf

– 1 1/2 c. all purpose flour

– 3 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder

– 1/4 oz. package active dry yeast

– 2 tsp. caraway seeds

– 2 tsp. salt

– 1 Tbsp. butter or butter substitute

– 1/4 c. unsulphured molasses

– 1 1/2 tsp. brown sugar

– 1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

– 1 c. strong brewed coffee

– 1 3/4 c. rye flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine flour, cocoa, yeast, caraway seeds, and salt

2. In a small bowl mix butter, molasses, brown sugar, and oil into hot coffee (mixture should be quite warm — 100-115F — but not scalding)

3. Add liquid to dry mixture

4. Stir until well-integrated, frequently scraping down bowl, and then mix vigorously for 2-3 minutes

5. Stir in 1 c. of the rye flour and then gradually add remaining 3/4 c. using hands

6. Knead on a clean, lightly floured surface for 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic

7. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place 1 hour, or until doubled in size 8. Punch dough down, knead briefly, and shape into a small oval loaf

9. Place loaf on a greased baking sheet and brush with oil. Slash top of loaf with knife *Optional: sprinkle with oats and caraway seeds

10. Cover and set in a warm place to rise, 1 hour or until doubled in size

11. Uncover and bake at 400F for 25 minutes

12. Remove from baking sheet and place on a rack or towel to cool

Cinnamon Raisin Rolls with Vanilla Icing

Perfect for breakfast, brunch, or dessert, who doesn’t love a good cinnamon roll? These have raisins in them, but you can certainly use this recipe to make plain cinnamon rolls. Similarly, other dried fruits, nuts, citrus zest, or chocolate could be added to the filling.

You can easily halve the recipe without issue for a smaller batch as I did here. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

Yields 12 large rolls

Dough:

– 2 1/4 tsp. yeast

– 1/2 c. warm water

– 1/2 c. scalded milk (you can simply place milk in microwave for 1-2 minutes)

– 1/4 c. sugar

– 1/3 c. butter

– 1 tsp. salt

– 1 egg, beaten

– 4 c. flour

Filling:

– 1/2 c. melted butter

– 1/2 c. sugar

– 1/2 c. brown sugar

– 2 Tbsp. cinnamon

– 1 c. raisins

Icing:

– 4 Tbsp. melted butter

– 2 c. powdered sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

– 4 Tbsp. milk

Directions:

1. Place warm water and yeast in a small bowl and set aside

2. In a large bowl combine milk, sugar, melted butter, salt, and egg

3. Add two cups of the flour and mix well

4. Add water and yeast

5. Add remaining 2 c. flour and mix well. Dough will seem quite “loose” before kneading.

6. Knead dough on a clean, well-floured surface for 5-7 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.

7. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with oiled cling film. Place somewhere warm to rise for 90 minutes, or until doubled in size

8. Punch down dough. Roll into a long rectangle, approximately 15” by 9”

9. Use a pastry brush to cover surface of dough with melted butter

10. Mix sugars with cinnamon and sprinkle evenly over the dough

11. Sprinkle evenly with raisins

12. Starting at the length, carefully roll up your dough

13. Pinch edges together

14. Slice roll into even segments

15. Grease a baking pan and place cinnamon rolls close together — you want to select a pan small enough that the rolls will be packed together after the second rising and baking

16. Allow rolls to rise. About 45 minutes or until doubled in size

17. Preheat oven to 350F

18. Bake rolls at 350F for 25 minutes

19. Mix together melted butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk (add milk slowly to ensure that you get the desired consistency – eg if you like a thicker icing you will not need all 4 Tbsp.)

20. Pour icing evenly over cinnamon rolls. Serve immediately.

Adapted from The Modern Family Cookbook, 1942

Wildflower Honey Challah

Happy-almost- Hanukkah! Here’s a kick-ass recipe to get the challah-day started… Anyone?

 

Ingredients:

– 3 1/2 c. white flour

– 1 c. wheat flour (optional — can use all white flour, but I like the density and heartiness that the wheat flour adds, though it is not traditional)

– 1 tsp. kosher salt

– 1 1/4 tsp. active dry yeast

– 1/4 c. canola or vegetable oil

– 2 eggs

– 3 Tbsp. wildflower raw honey

– 3/4 c. warm water

– 1 beaten egg yolk, plus 1 Tbsp. water for brushing

– 1-2 Tbsp. sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling, if desired

 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, and yeast

2. Add oil, beaten eggs, and honey

3. Gradually mix in warm water until a soft dough forms. FYI — it will seem very dry and crumbly, but kneading will take care of that

4. Knead dough well on a lightly floured surface, for at least 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic

5. Place dough back into bowl, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size

6. Knead tough again on lightly floured surface. Divide into 3-6 equal pieces (number depends on you and how many pieces you are comfortable braiding — you can also always just coil your dough to form a simple spiral)

7. Roll pieces out into ropes

8. Braid pieces together, working from the outside in

9. Pinch ends together and gently fold under

10. Place loaf into a greased bread tin, cover with oiled cling film and leave somewhere warm to rise for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size

11. Preheat oven to 400F

12. Remove cling film and brush thoroughly with egg yolk, making sure entire loaf is well-coated.

13. Sprinkle with seeds, if using

14. Bake at 400F for 30 minutes, or until rich brown in color and loaf makes a hollow sound when tapped with fingertips. Do not over-bake your challah!

15. Allow to cool 5 minutes, and then carefully remove from tin to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Caramel Custard Bread Pudding

Its going to be difficult for me to describe just how delicious this is without using expletives…..Let’s just say that this is the kind of thing that you may want to eat in private because there will probably be sufficient eye-fluttering and moaning to cause some embarrassment in mixed company. It’s what would happen if creme brulee, caramel, and French toast had a menage a trois…Yeah, it’s that good…

I never liked sweets. Given the choice of a cheese plate or popcorn (or a cocktail) versus dessert, the savory option would win every time. And then I got pregnant. Aside from wanting to put cream cheese on everything, I also craved sugar. Hard core. There was a key lime pie phase, a lemon bar phase, a chocolate-raspberry truffle phase, a peanut brittle phase, and a cinnamon ice cream phase. Not that I was turning down any other sweets available amidst the cravings….I had assumed that once my daughter was born the cravings, and the sweet tooth, would go away. Incorrect. It seems that the sweet tooth that was neglected for so many years is here to stay, and wants to make up for lost time…

Now, despite my newfound love of all things dessert, I’ve never been a big fan of bread pudding; but, my sweet, wonderful sister recently brought me some amazing local eggs and raw milk from the farm she works on, and I wanted to put them to good use.

(Quick note: Sea Island Eggs are a much-coveted Charleston delicacy. Known locally as “Celeste Eggs” they are found on the menus of all of the best local restaurants. Why? Because they are delicious — nothing like the eggs you find in the grocery store. Next time you’re at your local farmer’s market, see if you can find a local egg purveyor. You’ll never be able to go back to supermarket eggs again, I promise.) I also just baked a loaf of bread yesterday, so putting the eggs, milk, and bread together for an easy dessert seemed like a no-brainer, but how to make it more appealing was another question entirely. I considered strawberries briefly — and then, out of nowhere, it hit me: caramel.

One of my favorite sweet things in the world is caramel. I LOVE caramel. Like, love it the way peanut butter loves jelly, like Ricky loves Lucy (bad analogy: my love for caramel is waaaay more affectionate), like a fat kid loves cake…or caramel for that matter… Eating caramel is an other-worldly experience, but for all of the complexity of its flavor it is astonishingly simple to make: milk (or cream), butter, brown sugar. That’s it — three simple ingredients. For this recipe the milk, butter, and sugar are all baked together with the bread, rather than separately making a caramel sauce, so it’s just about as easy as could possibly be.

Ingredients:

Yields 6-8 servings

– 2 2/3 c.  whole milk

– 1/4 c. butter

– 1 c. brown sugar, plus 2 Tbsp.

– 3 eggs

– 1 tsp. vanilla

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 3 c. cubed (about 1”) day-old bread — use the rest of that baguette left over from last night’s dinner, or some crusty French bread, or use my easy recipe to bake your own, but don’t use pre-sliced sandwich bread — your results will be disappointing

– 1/4 tsp. vanilla

– 2 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Cut bread into cubes, removing crusts

2. Toast bread briefly under broiler, until crisp. I tossed mine in about a tablespoon of melted butter, but it’s not necessary

3. Set oven to 350F

4. Scald milk*

*Scalding milk is not a common practice anymore. It used to be crucial when baking, but now that our milk is pretty much all pasteurized there’s not the same concern about bacteria. However, when working with breads it is a good idea to scald your milk to keep the bread fluffy. To scald milk:

– Heat milk over medium-low heat

– Stir frequently

– Cook until just beginning to bubble and steam, but DO NOT boil

– Remove from heat

5. Add butter to scalded milk and let cool

6. Add two eggs, plus one egg yolk to one cup of the brown sugar. Mix well.

7. Place bread cubes in a greased bread tin or a 1 1/2 quart casserole dish

8. Add cooled milk to egg/sugar mixture. Add vanilla and salt. Mix well.

9. Pour liquid mixture over bread cubes

10. Sprinkle cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp. brown sugar over top of bread

11. Set casserole/bread tin in a pan containing about 2” of water

12. Bake in oven at 350F for 50 minutes or until a skewer or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

* Be very careful removing the pan from the oven! That water is HOT — strain it carefully into the sink before attempting to remove your casserole or bread tin from the pan.

Serve warm or cold.

I was kicking myself for not having any vanilla ice cream or whipped cream in the house — that would have been unbelievable. I topped it instead with a little bit of powdered sugar and a splash of raw milk. So good I had two pieces and had to stop myself from eating more…

It also occurred to me that adding chopped apple, pear, or banana into this would be absolutely insane. In a good way. Or chunks of dark chocolate?!? Craziness! It might be too much to handle…

Adapted from Farm Journal’s Country Cookbook, 1959

Best Blueberry Pancakes

Blueberry pancakes are the perfect lazy Sunday breakfast, though, I would gladly eat these for dinner any night of the week…These pancakes are substantial and yet somehow light at the same time, and showcase one of summer’s best fruits.

 

Ingredients:

Makes about 1 dozen pancakes, depending on size

– 1 c. flour

– 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– 1 egg, beaten (or 1/4 c. applesauce)

– 1 c. milk (or almond milk) — 1/4 c.  more can be added if you desire thinner pancakes

– 4 Tbsp. melted vegetable shortening or butter

– 3/4 fresh blueberries

*ingredients in parentheses are for vegan recipe

 

Directions:

1. Heat skillet or griddle over medium heat

2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar

3. In another bowl, add milk to beaten egg and mix well

4. Stir melted shortening or butter into milk-egg mixture

5. Combine flour and liquids at once and beat until perfectly smooth

6. Fold in blueberries

7. Grease griddle

8. Using a soup ladle or 1/4 measuring cup, pour batter into center of heated pan

9. Bake until you see air bubbles appear on the top of the batter, then flip until both sides are golden brown

10. Continue with remainder of batter

11. Serve immediately with maple syrup, fruit reduction, honey, butter, or jam

12. Enjoy!

Adapted from The Modern Family Cookbook, 1942

Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen

Kuchen is the German word for cake, though it is used to describe an assortment of desserts and pastries. This recipe for Peach-Poppyseed Fruit Kuchen is indeed cake-like, but truly has more in common with bread. With coffee or tea this lemony kuchen makes a perfect summer breakfast; with fresh whipped cream it is a lovely light, and health-conscious, dessert.

Ingredients:

– 2 1/2 c. flour

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 2 Tbsp. sugar

– Zest from one whole lemon

– 3/4 tsp. fast-action dried yeast

– 1 egg, beaten

– 2/3 c. warm water

– 2 Tbsp. poppyseed, prepared dessert filling (available in the baking aisle of most grocery stores)

Topping:

– 1 lb. fresh peaches – about three large fruits (though really you could use any stone fruit in this recipe and it would be fantastic)

– 2 Tbsp. butter

– 2 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

Directions:

1. Put the flour in a large bowl. Rub 2 Tbsp. butter in with fingertips, until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.

2. Stir in the salt, sugar, zest, and yeast.

3. Add the beaten egg, prepared poppyseed, and enough water to make a soft dough.

4. Knead well on a clean and lightly floured surface for at least five minutes — dough should be smooth and elastic.

5. Put the dough back in to the bowl and cover with a piece of oil cling-film. Let rise at least 1 hour, or until doubled in size. It is very important that you place the bowl somewhere warm or the dough will not rise.

6. Once risen, tip dough out onto a floured surface and knead well again. Press dough into a buttered spring-form pan or a loose-bottomed flan tin. I used a 9” pan, but if you have a larger one (like 11”) I think it may better suit this kuchen to be a little thinner.

7. Halve, stone, and thickly slice the peaches. Arrange them over the top of your dough.

8. Leave uncovered to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes, or until doubled in size

9. Preheat oven to 400F

10. Brush the fruit with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar

11. Bake in oven at 400F for 15 minutes

12. Remove from oven, cover with foil, reduce heat to 350F and bake for another 35-40 minutes.

13. After finished baking, removing from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Using a knife or thin spatula loosen the edges and remove kuchen from tin.

14. Transfer to a serving plate and sprinkle extra sugar over top, if desired.

15. Serve warm or cold, cut into slices. This is especially good warm with some sweet cream butter slathered over it…but then again, what isn’t?

 

Adapted from The Bread Book by Sara Lewis

Blackberry Shortcakes with Lemon Biscuits

I was so excited to find what appeared to be ripe, gorgeous local blackberries at the market the other today. Upon getting them home however, I discovered them to be horribly sour. Like, so sour as to almost be inedible. I assure you, my disappointment was immense… Since they couldn’t very well be eaten alone, I figured that the best thing to do was to make something sweet and delicious out of them. Inspired, I decided to do a spin on the classic strawberry shortcake. I love citrus in desserts, and berries with citrus are one of my favorite flavor combinations, so I decided to add lemon zest to the biscuits. The result was a bright, and surprisingly light dessert, and incredibly easy to make.

Ingredients:

Yields 6 Shortcakes

Berries:

– 5 c. blackberries

– 2/3 c. powdered sugar

– 2 Tbsp. water

 

Biscuits:

– 3/4 c. chilled buttermilk

– 2 Tbsp. lemon zest

– 2 1/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar

– 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

– 1 tsp. baking soda

– 1/4 tsp. salt

– 6 Tbsp. chilled unsalted butter (3/4 stick)

– 1 Tbsp. raw or demerara sugar

 

Directions:

Berries:

1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan

2. Stir over medium heat until berries soften and become syrupy — about 10-15 minutes

3. Remove from heat and let cool. Berries should be served at room temperature. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and refrigerated.

 

Biscuits:

1. Preheat oven to 425F

2. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper

3. Combine buttermilk and lemon zest in a small bowl

4. In a large bowl mix flour, brown sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt. Be sure to break up any large clumps of sugar

5. Cut butter into small cubes and add to four mixture

6. Rub butter into flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs

7. Add the buttermilk mixture and combine with a fork until just blended. Dough will be sticky and may seem “loose” but don’t add more flour!

8. Transfer dough to a clean, lightly floured surface. Knead 4-5 times, but be careful not to overwork (over-handling will make your biscuits tough)

9. Pat dough out until about 3/4” thick

10. Using a 3” cookie cutter (you could also use a greased drinking glass or mug if you don’t own a cookie cutter), cut dough into rounds

11. Combine dough scraps, pat out, and cut into rounds until no dough remains. You should have 6-7 in total

12. Place rounds on your lined baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar

13. Bake biscuits at 425F for 15 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean

14. Cool slightly — about 15 minutes

15. Using a serrated knife, cut each biscuit in half. Spread blackberry mixture over each bottom-half, dividing equally. Place top half of biscuits on blackberries, then top each with an equal portion of the remaining blackberry mixture.

16. Top shortcakes with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. Serve and enjoy!

Adapted from Bon Appetit, June 2009

Orange-Almond Blueberry Muffins

I’m so super-excited — I finally bought a copy of Country Wisdom & Know-How! In case you don’t know, it’s a collection of small booklets that were published during the 1970s, “during the ‘back to the land era’ when hippies were homesteading  and gas and energy prices were sky-high.” (Sound familiar?) Each booklet addressed some simple skill or piece of country know-how — this book covers everything from how to attract hummingbirds to making your own beer and wine, from drawing maple syrup to making milk soap, and everything in between. I seriously want to try to do everything in this book. Okay, maybe not killing and skinning a rabbit….And I don’t I don’t foresee myself breeding livestock anytime soon…but pretty much everything else I definitely want to do! There are also a ton of wonderful-sounding recipes in here, one of which inspired today’s blog entry.

When berries are in season I go through quarts of them every week. At this point in the summer I’m sure my husband’s starting to get sick of berry-somethings for breakfast every morning….Anyway, I had about three pints of blueberries in my refrigerator when I came across the recipe for Classic Blueberry Muffins in the book. I always like to modify things and make them my own so I first decided to add some nutmeg and shaved almonds to the recipe. Then I started thinking about how nothing enhances the flavor of blueberries more than cinnamon and orange. Berries and citrus are pretty much always outstanding together. Some pairings (Strawberry + Lime, Blackberry + Lemon, Grapefruit + Raspberry) go especially well together, but my favorite combination has to be blueberry and orange. The orange adds an edge and a brightness to the blueberry that is sublime. Yes, sublime…So by the time the muffins were done they had gone from Classic Blueberry to Orange-Almond…typical. I have included vegan alternatives in the recipe if you’d like to make an eggless, non-dairy version of these muffins. Either way, they’re delish!

Ingredients:

– 1 3/4 c. flour

– 1/2 c. sugar

– 1 Tbsp. baking powder

– 1/2 tsp. salt

– 1 tsp. cinnamon

– 1/2 tsp. nutmeg

– 4 Tbsp. butter or butter substitute like Earth Balance

– 1 egg, beaten, or 1/3 c. unsweetened applesauce

– 2/3 c. milk, or almond milk

– 1 tsp. vanilla extract

– 1 c. blueberries

– 1/4 c. shaved almonds

– 1 Tbsp. orange zest

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F

2. In a large bowl, mix your dry ingredients together — flour through nutmeg

3. Cut in the butter (substitute)

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, egg, and vanilla (or almond milk, applesauce and vanilla)

5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just moistened

6. Gently fold in the blueberries, almonds, and orange zest

7. Fill greased muffin tins (recipe makes 12 medium-sized muffins)

8. Bake for 20 minutes at 375F, or until a toothpick or a knife inserted into the center comes out clean

9. Cool and remove from muffin tin. Enjoy!

How to Make Bread by Hand

I was really intimidated at first by the idea of making my own bread, but now that I have been doing it for a while I really enjoy it. There is something almost therapeutic about baking — especially about baking breads. The precision and patience it requires is almost zen….and kneading the dough helps to work out a little aggression too! I’ve never used a bread machine and bake bread by hand at least once a week — though sometimes as often as three times (my husband has been known to eat bread with every meal…). This is a really good basic recipe for a farmhouse-style loaf that you can make with white or whole wheat flour, and is a great bread for beginning bakers. Don’t be daunted: making your own bread is really quite easy, much better for you, way cheaper, and how cool is it to be able to say that you bake all of your own bread?! Give it a try!

Ingredients:

– 2 2/3 cups white or whole wheat flour
– 1 tablespoon butter, butter substitute, or oil
– 1 tsp. sugar
– 1 pinch salt
– 1 tsp. active dry yeast
– 3/4 – 1 cup warm water

Directions:

1. Measure flour into a large bowl

2. Add butter or oil. If using butter cut into small pieces and work in to flour with your hands until it resembles fine bread crumbs:

3. Mix in salt, sugar, and yeast

4. Add water slowly while stirring with a spoon. Use 3/4 c. if working with white flour, 1 cup if using whole wheat. It is very important that the water be quite warm as this is what begins to activate the yeast.

5. Flour your work surface.

6. Move dough onto floured surface and knead vigorously for 5 minutes. Dough should become smooth and elastic. You may have to continue to add more flour to prevent dough from sticking

 It’s hard to take a picture of yourself kneading bread!

7. After 5 minutes of kneading, shape dough into a ball and return it to your bowl. Cover with oiled cling-film or a damp dishtowel and place somewhere warm. Again, warmth is very important as you dough will not rise properly if you place it somewhere too cool. Let rise for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

8. Remove from bowl and knead for 2 minutes. Don’t worry — your dough is supposed to shrink back down as you knead it!

9. Place dough in a lightly greased 9in x 5in bread tin. Cover with oiled cling-film or towel and let rise for another 30 minutes or until it reaches the edges and top of the tin.
Before:

After:

10. Remove film or towel, sprinkle top with flour, and bake in a preheated oven at 400F for 25 minutes

11. Let cool for 5 minutes then flip out of tin and finish cooling on a towel or wire rack:

12. Slice and enjoy!

Toasted with some hot pepper jelly….Hello!