Easy Homemade Bread

Blogging after a long long time...

Had been busy with my family and business, that i was finding very less time to write a blog post.

You all are aware that we are going through a tough situation now. Because of this critical situation, we all are forced to stay home. Some of you might be utilising this time to spend with your family, while some others might be feeling depressed. Whatever it is, please stay home and stay safe. Social distancing is very much needed. We can overcome this situation together, by staying separate.

Take this opportunity to brush up your hobbies, spend time with your family and learn new things.

To ease your boredom, i thought to write down an easy bread recipe, so that u can try at home and feed your family. This simple recipe doesn't have lot of ingredients, so as we have very limited resources now because of the lock down, we can try this one out. Baking is a stress buster, bread making is even more relaxing. Moreover, this will give your hands some workout 😊

Lets get into the recipe...

Ingredients

All Purpose Flour/ Maida - 225 gm (1 1/2 cup)
Warm Milk - 165 ml 
Yeast -1 tsp ( or 1 1/2 tsp of normal yeast)
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Milk Powder - 2 tbsp
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Butter (room temperature, not melted) - 1 tbsp

Method

• Take a big bowl. Pour warm milk into it. Add 1 tbsp sugar and instant yeast into it. Mix well and keep it aside for 10 mins. This will bubble up a bit.
• Now, add milk powder, salt and the remaining sugar. Mix well.
• Now add maida, little by little, mixing in between, using a spoon. Use your hand towards the end to mix properly. It will be sticky. Mix for 2-3 mins. Cover and keep it aside for 10 mins.
• After 10 mins, add butter, mix well and take this slightly sticky dough out onto a clean surface.
• Now, you have to knead well by stretching and kneading method for minimum 15 mins. If you find that its sticking to your surface or hands, add little bit of maida, 1 tbsp at a time. Don't add too much of maida at this time, or your bread will become hard. (see video to see stretching and kneading)
• Don't skip this step. Kneading is the key to a soft and tasty bread. This activates gluten which is very crucial in bread making.
• After kneading for 15 mins, your dough will be very soft and not sticky. 
• Now grease a bowl with little oil and place this dough into it. Cover and keep it in a warm place for 1 hour or till it becomes double in size.
• Once its double, take it out onto a clean surface. Dust little bit of maida and just knead for 1 min. We just want to knock out the air trapped in the dough.
• Take a rolling pin and roll the dough till it spreads nicely. Now, from one end, start rolling inwards tightly. Pinch the dough when it reaches the end. Tuck in the sides too. The dough will look like a log now. (see video for reference)
• Place this log into a greased loaf tin, pinched portion downwards. Cover with a damp cloth and keep it in a warm place for 1 hour.
• After 1 hour, when the dough rises, place it in a preheated oven at 160 degree Celsius for 40-50 mins till its brown on the top and cooked completely. When u hear a hollow sound on knocking on the top of the bread, then u can make out that its cooked completely.
• Every oven temperature is different, so bake according to your oven.
• Once its baked, take out and place the tin on a wired rack for 5 mins. Smear some butter on top of the bread.
• After 5 mins, overturn the tin and take out the bread and let it cool down completely. Don't let the bread cool down completely in the tin itself as it will become soggy.
• Slice the bread only after it is completely cool down.
• Enjoy!!

 

Baked Donuts / Doughnuts (No-Knead)

Who doesn't love donuts?  We all do, right? 

I love baked donuts more than the fried ones.... I know, fried ones tastes more yummy than the baked ones. 

But iam a person who try to avoid or lessen the use of unhealthy stuffs in my cooking or baking. Somethings cannot be changed to get the required result, but some ingredients or method can be changed. Thats how i ended up baking donuts....

This is not the first time iam attempting to bake donuts....No....I tried many times and was not at all satisfied with the texture or taste of the end product. But, this one is just right...A sure keeper in my recipe book. So, here iam sharing this with all my friends out here.

The main attraction of this recipe is that, no workout needed for your hand muscles, to make these yummy ones... In short.......No kneading required. Just mix and let the yeast do its work......  Isnt it a relief? 

Do try it out and let me know... 


Ingredients

Maida 3 ¾ cups (575g)  
Dried yeast (active or fast action) 2 tsp
Salt  1 tsp 
Milk (warmed) ¾ cup (200ml)  
Butter (melted ) ¾ cup (170g) 
Eggs 4 (room temperature)
Honey ¼ cup ( 80g) 
Vanilla extract 1 tsp 



Method

1. In a large bowl add maida, yeast and salt. Mix well together. (Dont put salt on top of the yeast)
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, honey, melted butter and vanilla extract.
3. Mix the wet into the dry with a spatula until you get a wet loose dough. Cover tightly with cling film and lay a towel over the top. That’s it, no machine needed!! You may have some lumps in the dough but don’t worry, they will disappear. 
4. Leave it at a warm place and let it rise for 2-3 hours. 
5. Once doubled in size, place the dough in the fridge overnight, roughly for 12 hours. The dough will be loose but will firm up when chilled. Don’t try to knead after 3 hours, it needs to be chilled 
overnight. 
6. Next day, to form your Donuts: On a floured surface, roll out your dough to ¼ of an inch thick. Using a round cutter cut out round pieces of dough. To cut the hole in the middle , use a smaller sized cutter. Even the small rounds also can be baked as such.
7. Place them on a baking tray lined with butter paper.  
8. Cover your donuts with a towel and leave to rise again at room temperature for 20-30 minutes. You will know when they are ready, because they will puff up.
9. Gently brush the donuts with melted butter.
10. Bake at 190 degree celcius for 15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, so they don’t get too brown. 
11. Once out of the oven, dip them in the glazes. Do this straight away, because it soaks into the warm donut and creates a lovely crisp glaze. 
12. Enjoy them fresh.

Note:

1.The dough can be kept for 3 days in the fridge.


Vanilla Glaze

Ingredients

Powdered sugar 1 ½ cup (187g) 
Milk 2-3 tbsp 
Vanilla extract 1 ½ tsp

Method

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
2. Whisk until silky and smooth. 
3. If you want it thinner add a little more milk
4. Store the icing at room temperature in an airtight container for 2 weeks. 

For Chocolate Glaze, add 4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, along with the other ingredients mentioned for the vanilla glaze.

Thanks for visiting

Happy Baking!!

S'mores Cookies

A s'more is a traditional night time campfire treat popular in the United States and Canada, consisting of a fire roasted marshmallow and a layer of chocolate sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker. (Wikipedia)


My elder daughter is a big fan of marshmallows and she was telling me to bake s'mores cookies for a very long time. Searched in net and saw that there are many ways to bake them. The traditional one is much different from the ones people bake.

Couldn't get hold of graham crackers, which is to be used in these cookies. But, it didn't stop me from trying these cookies. Tried baking them with easily available ingredients.... So, these are the ones which I baked for her. Do try out and enjoy!!!

Ingredients

1-1/3 cups All Purpose Flour/Maida
1-1/4 cup Crushed Graham Crackers (I used digestive biscuits)
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 Egg
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter (softened at room temperature)
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1/3 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Grated Chocolate (optional )
Marshmallows
Chocolate (cut into little squares)


Method

• In a bowl, mix together the flour, grated chocolate, salt, baking soda and biscuits. Keep this aside.
• Using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, cream together the butter with both kinds of sugar, add the egg and vanilla and mix until combined. 
• Add the dry ingredients and mix until your dough has come together.
• Preheat your oven at 180 degree Celsius.
• Take small portions of the dough, roll it between your palms and flatten it a bit. Place them on a baking tray, lined with baking paper.
• Bake them for about 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges, remove from the oven.
• Place a small piece of chocolate on top of each cookie, followed by a small piece of marshmallow and pop them in the oven, just for about a minute or until the marshmallows start to lightly brown.
• Remove from the oven and immediately top them with another little piece of chocolate. Allow to cool slightly, before removing from the tray.
• Serve and Enjoy!!!

Thanks for visiting

Happy Baking!!