I used to bake all of our bread. But when things at the shop got busy, I'd give up baking and cooking and, well, cleaning, too! Lately the grocery prices have been rising and that motivated me to begin baking again. Also, I discovered the bread at the store contains high fructose corn syrup! Blech!
So, in honor of my refound joy in homemade bread, I'm going to be sharing some of my favorite recipes. I don't often photo my food, so there are no pictures of today's loaf. I'll try to do better with the upcoming recipes.
Dutch Apple Bread1 envelope yeast
2 cups warm (110˚) milk
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 TBSP vegetable oil
2 TBSP honey or sugar
3 eggs, room temperature and lightly beaten
2 apples, peeled and finely chopped (approx. 1cm cubes)
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch allspice
1tsp salt
In a 6 quart mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Add 2.5 cups flour and mix well. Allow to ferment for 30 minutes in a warm place. Then add remaining ingredients, mixing the salt with the flour, and work into a dough.
Knead for 6 to 7 minutes on a lightly floured surface until smooth and somewhat glossy. Return to mixing bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
Divide dough in half and shape each half into a round loaf. Set loaves on a lightly greased baking sheet. Spray with oil and let rise 50 minutes.
Bake in a preheated 350˚ oven for 50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove loaves from sheet immediately and let cool on wire racks.
Yield: two medium sized round loaves.
This bread is delicious straight from the oven spread with butter. We sometimes make this bread in loaf pans; it is really good for chicken salad sandwiches. I love to use Granny Smith of Gala apples in the Dutch apple bread. This is not a sweet bread, rather it is pretty hearty. You could up the honey, cinnamon, and allspice to make it more of a breakfast bread.
Enjoy!
