Monday, December 18, 2017

Stir & Pour Foccacia - MYO Yeast Bread Mix Series

Stir & Pour Bread Mix Variety
What if I was to tell you that you can make a huge variety of Homemade Yeast Breads with less work than making Just-Add-Water Pancakes from a Mix?

A Homemade Yeast Bread that can be made - start to finish - in less than an hour with no kneading, and about 5 minutes of hands-on time?

It's true!

And it's DELICIOUS!

Over the next couple of weeks, I'll share a series of delicious breads - all made from this super-easy mix! Be sure to subscribe to see them all! Subscription options are at the bottom of my blog page.

It all started when I found this great blog post from Heavenly Homemakers. Her bread is Whole Wheat with a Vegan option, and is adapted from "Cooking Guy" on Youtube.  HIS bread requires an expensive stand mixer and uses cream and eggs (and HE is VERY CUTE and THREE YEARS OLD!).

I tentatively adapted the recipe, and made a 1/2 batch. I poured it into a cookie sheet & baked it. When it came out, I thinly spread it with Buttery Spread & cut it into Bread Sticks. I sprinkled 1/2 of the sticks with Garlic Salt, and the other half with Cinnamon Sugar and set them on the table by the children. I quickly put the baking dishes in the sink and returned to the table just in time to see the last child devour the last bite. I knew I had a hit!

I liked the ideas from Heavenly Homemakers & Cooking Guy, but I adapted their recipes my needs (vegan, no mixer, white bread) to to look like this (for one batch):

Pour & Stir White Bread - Single Batch
(Scroll Down for multi-batch mix!)
In Bowl, Combine in this order:
2 1/2 Cups Warm Water (That not-even-a-tiny-bit-hot water demanded by fussy toddlers for baths ; )
4 Cups Flour (Unbleached, All Purpose)
2 Tablespoons Sugar
2 teaspoons Yeast
1 teaspoon Salt
Stir well till it looks smooth. This should stir easily - almost as easily as cake batter. If it is thick, add a splash more water. It stirs up quite easily, and doesn't require long mixing or beating - just stir till it looks smooth - about a minute.
Cover loosely (I just put a paper plate or pot lid loosely over the bowl!) and wait 1/2 hour.
While you're waiting, preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.
When the 1/2 hour has passed, pour into a baking pan that has been oiled or lined with parchment paper (Parchment paper is more effective under larger pieces to prevent sticking, but for nonstick Muffin tins, I simply oil)
Bake 20-25 minutes till done. NO NEED TO WAIT FOR A SECOND RISING!
Remove from oven, cool slightly, serve as desired.

In the following days, I made a few different varieties - all ready to share!
And the ideas are still coming!

But then being intrinsically lazy - um - I mean - EFFICIENT - I decided it wasn't easy enough! I mean, what's all this with mixing FIVE ingredients every time I want to make Bread?!

What a hassle! ; )

So, I did some calculations and made a large batch mix.

So, NOW whenever I want to make bread, I just add water & stir!

Here's the Mix:

MYO Stir & Pour Yeast Bread Mix
In a Gallon Container (Zippered Bag or Canister) THOROUGLY combine by shaking. I recommend that you layer the ingredients in rather than dumping the whole bag of flour in at once OR stir it thoroughly with a spoon, to ensure even distribution of ingredients:
One 5# bag Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 Cup Sugar
3 Tablespoons Yeast (This is the one I use, but any should be fine)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Salt

Bread Mix Ingredients - Flour, Sugar, Yeast, Salt



Combine in 1 Gallon Container, Label, Shake
This mix can be stored in a cool, dry place (like a pantry) if you'll use it fairly quickly- I'd say about a month storage time should be reasonable. If you'll use it more slowly, you'll need to store it in the fridge because of the active yeast. (We have been known to leave our bulk active dry yeast in a cool dry place for 3 months with no ill effect)

To Use:
Combine in large (2 1/2 quarts or more) bowl
4 level Cups Mix
2 1/2 cups warm water

Stir Till Smooth


Stirring should take less than 1 minute

Stir well till it looks smooth. This should stir easily - almost as easily as cake batter. If it is thick, add a splash more water. It stirs up quite easily, and doesn't require long mixing or beating - just till it looks pretty smooth - about a minute.
Cover loosely (I put a paper plate over the bowl!) and wait 1/2 hour. (or cover with a slightly vented lid & leave in fridge till you need it - I used mine the next day for one batch, & it worked great!)
While you're waiting, preheat oven to 425 Fahrenheit.

Dough rises a lot in 1/2 hour!

When the 1/2 hour has passed, pour into a baking pan that has been oiled or lined with parchment paper (Parchment paper is more effective under larger pieces to prevent sticking, but for nonstick Muffin tins, I simply oil). NO NEED TO WAIT FOR A SECOND RISING!
Bake 20-25 minutes till done.
Remove from oven, cool slightly, serve as desired. 
All varieties bake at 425 Fahrenheit, for 20-25 Min




Foccacia:  
Line Two edged 9" x 12'"cookie sheets (mine are from the Dollar Tree!) with Parchment paper. Pour half a batch into each pan. Spread with Spoon to cover bottom of pan. Lightly oil dough before baking & sprinkle with your favorite Foccacia Seasoning. I like to use a light sprinkling of Rosemary, Circles of Onion sliced paper-thin, and Salt. Bake. Cut in Squares with Pizza Cutter.

(It's interesting that my daughter, who objected to the use of Rosemary OR Onion on this recipe LOVED this Foccacia so much that she wants it for every meal now : )

Pour Dough into pan & spread it with spoon





Cover with favorite toppings before baking




Beautiful Golden Foccacia coming out of the oven


Slice in squares with Pizza Cutter





Try a Piece of Delicious Foccacia, fresh from the Oven



Have another! They're really good!






So, there ya have it - a yeast bread that is easier to make than just-add-water pancakes, and produces an amazingly delicious variety of breads!

Stay Tuned for the Whole Series!

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4 comments:

  1. Yummy! That looks great; we love foccacia bread but I do often start with a pizza crust mix. I like the idea of being able to make it myself.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Love to Learn. Pinned.

      Delete
  2. Yum, I've never tried making this bread before--great recipe. Thanks for sharing at Party in Your Pjs.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We love to make focaccia. I usually add garlic and rosemary, will try onions next time.

    ReplyDelete

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