Buttermilk Honey Bread - Part Two

As soon as I posted Part One, the timer went off and this bread was ready to come out of the oven. It makes great toast and sandwiches. Generally I am a fan of cooking with buttermilk.

I was sad to find out, as I set up the Part One post, that the Beth Hensperger book from which this recipe came is out of print. There are two copies on Amazon listed at over $144 and higher. You might also be able to find it on Bookfinder.com. I searched and found a few softcover copies of the book (mine is hardbound) for much less money.

Buttermilk Honey Bread - Part One

We spent Christmas in the North Georgia Mountains and came home today to a completely empty pantry. We needed bread but didn't have any oatmeal or any eggs or anything special, so we had to find a tried and true recipe that required nothing that wasn't in the pantry.

Dylan and I decided to make Buttermilk Honey Bread from my favorite Beth Hensperger cookbook, The Bread Bible. We had the buttermilk and I'm a beekeeper so we always have wonderful honey from my bees.

Often Dylan and I make bread and when he's asleep for nap, I shape the loaves and bake them. Today we started early enough that I was able to show him how to shape the loaves. We cut the dough into two parts for two 9X5 pans. We flattened the dough and Dylan is, in the first picture, using his fingertips to press out the air bubbles.



Then we began to roll up the loaf, sealing each roll by pressing the dough of the roll against the flat dough beneath.



Dylan loved that it got "fatter and fatter" as we rolled.


In the end we pinched the seam tight shut and used the side of our hands to flatten and seal the ends of the loaves.



Here are the ingredients:

3/4 cup warm water
1 T active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 T butter, melted
3 T honey
1 T salt
6 to 6 1/2 cups bread flour

Soften the yeast in the warm water with the sugar. Warm the buttermilk and add the melted butter and honey. Add the yeast mixture after it has proofed for about 10 minutes. Then add the salt and 2 cups of the flour and mix well. Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time and continue mixing. I used a mixer and change to a dough hook after about 5 cups of flour. Knead the bread until it looks right and leave it to rise in a greased bowl, covered with plastic until doubled in bulk. Punch it down, form loaves and allow them to rise until they are doubled. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Every recipe in this cookbook is fabulous.

Christmas Scones

Making Christmas Scones seemed like a great idea this year. These are from King Arthur Flour and have craisins and pecans in them.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup Craisins
1 cup diced pecans
1 cup buttermilk
Sparkling sugar

I didn't exactly follow the recipe. I mixed the dry ingredients in the food processor. I put all of the dry ingredients into the bowl of the processor and pulsed about 12 times. Then I put the butter into the food processor and pulsed about 10 times. After the butter was mixed in, I poured the mix into a pottery mixing bowl and added the pecans and craisins.



I made a well of sorts in the center of the mix and then poured in the buttermilk. Like biscuits, scones don't like to be handled much. I barely mixed the liquid in, stirring with the rubber spatula above only about a couple of minutes.



I patted the dough into two 6 inch circles and sprinkled the top with sparkling sugar that I had bought to use to decorate a gingerbread house with my grandson. Like the recipe suggests, I cut the 8 segments with my bench knife. The sparkles made the scones look so festive. Below you can see them cooling on the rack before being packaged to give away.

Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread - Part Three

Shape the bread into two loaves - I'll have pictures of shaping the loaves in another post. I cut the risen dough into two parts with a bench knife and form the two loaves. This recipe calls for two 9" bread pans. I usually bake in smaller pans, but since I was at my daughter's house and these are what she had, we baked in 9" pans.



When the loaves rise to the top of the pans, bake them in a preheated 375 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes. I almost overbaked these loaves - you can see the dark corner in the fartherest loaf. Cool the bread on a rack.


Slice and enjoy!

Buttermilk Oatmeal Bread - Part Two

Stir in the cold buttermilk, the salt and the brown sugar. Allow the mixture to cool to 115 degrees, although using cold buttermilk usually does the job. I like Sparkman's Buttermilk for it's natural treatment of the cows and its freshness.


Stir in 2 cups of bread flour and mix. Add the proofed yeast and beat until smooth. Continue to add flour, 1/2 cup at a time until the dough begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
At this point, I switch my mixer to the dough hook and continue to mix in flour.At the end of the mixing when the dough forms a ball around the dough hook, it's time to knead the bread.
My grandson is my "chief kneader." Here he is at work:


Knead well until the dough becomes pliable and elastic. Add flour to the board as needed. You should knead about 8 - 10 minutes if you do it entirely by hand. If you have used the dough hook on the mixer, counter kneading can be for about 5 minutes.

Grease a bowl in which the bread dough can rise. Put the dough in the bowl and turn it over to allow the top to get greased. Cover the bowl with a damp dishtowel or plastic wrap. Put in a warm place until doubled in size.