Oven Baked Bread, Without Kneading!

Hi Guys,

Can't believe I checked out of bloglandia for so long! Lately life has been going a million miles a minute and I just haven't had any spare time. I have been trying to catch up with all the happenings but aty this point I am so far behind if I haven't said hi in a while I am coming. Since I haven't been doing much in the way of crafting or DIY I thought I would share a guest post from earlier in the year.

The post first appeared at With a Blast

Now I must admit, I am not a fan of cooking but I love to bake and one of my favourite things to bake is bread. Before you say baking bread is hard and annoying and time consuming, what if I told you all you have to do was chuck it in the bread maker and then get on with your normal routine then come back to it when you're ready to bake?

That's exactly what I do. Using my bulk bread maker recipe which you can find here

Ingredients - Add to bread maker in the exact order.

3&1/2 cups of Bread Maker Mix - recipe for bulk mix here

2 tsp of Dried Yeast

1 cup of Mixed Dried Fruit

1 tsp of Cinnamon

1&1/2 tbs of Olive Oil

1&1/4 cups of warm water (just slightly warm to touch, water that's too hot will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise 

Now I think you all know how to pour stuff into a bread maker but I like to use the dough setting rather than the bread so I can have these rustic free form loaves. Once the bread maker is set, go shopping for an hour or more, your bread will sit quite happily in the bread maker until you're ready to come back to it.

First spray down the tray, really well or use olive oil to oil the spray. I like quick and easy so I just use the spray, and dump the dough onto the tray.

Wrap it in plastic wrap but allow room for the bread to rise, leave it in a warm place then go and have a coffee or do something fun.

Come back in half an hour and it should have doubled in size.

Bake it in a moderate oven 180 Celsius or 350F for approximatly 30 mins. Be aware that this does depend on your oven, mine is brand new and it's exactly 30 mins, my old oven was dying and running very hot I found 22 minutes was enough in that oven. Isn't that bread just awesome.

Then slice it up and watch it disappear in front of your eyes. My 5 kids can eat 2 loaves of this for afternoon tea between them. (I admit two of them are teenage boys and never seem able to fill their stomachs)

Truly delicious and almost no work! you can shop and sit around drinking coffee because this is pretty much a waiting game and don't forget to check out my bread maker mix, it is seriously the best thing......since sliced bread. (bad joke lets all groan together)

 Or come and follow me at any or all of these places.

    

Mel xo

How the heck does she afford to feed all those kids? - Bulk Muffin Mix

Last time I shared my bulk bread maker mix, I mentioned that people say dumb things, so for those looking for a few ways to feed larger families I thought I would share mine. Bulk mixes aren't a new idea, but the first time you try them you'll be sold. Remember if your not feeding a huge family you can always half the recipe but these will last for around 6-8 months. I have never had an issue things go quick around the mansion.

Ingredients:

• 16 cups of Plain Flour (also called All Purpose in other countries)
• 6 cups of sugar
• 6Tbs Baking Powder
• 4 tsp Salt
• 4 tsp Cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients into a large container, then get ready to make muffins in a snap!

I do heaps of different flavors, using whatever I have on hand:

• 1/2 cup of choc chops
• 1 grated apple and 1/2 cup of Sulatanas
• 1/4 cup of whit choc chips & 1/4 cup of dried blueberries
• 1 Tbs of Poppyseeds 1 tsp lemon essence & a Tbs of lemon zest (change to how you like your lemon we love it

So here's how I make them up

2 &3/4 cups of Muffin Mix

1 cup of Milk ( I use light milk but full cream will work)

1/2 cup of Canola Oil

1 Egg 

Preheat oven to 190 Degrees Celsius (400F)

Spray muffin tin (I use a 12 tin tray)

Mix all of the above until just combined

Add desired flavors

Measure 1/4 cup of mix into each muffin cup

Bake for 18-20 minutes

Now you may noticed mine are a little cracked...well so am I, but this is due to my oven being a little off and baking is an exact science.

My taste tester really doesn't mind!

So there you go a quick, easy and cheap way to fill those lunch boxes up. For the price of 1&1/2 boxes of pre purchased muffin mix, you have around 15 mixes, with no preservatives.

DIY Delight or Disaster? It's an easy, cheap way to give your kids real food that is preservative and chemical free. Delight!

Be Delighted Every Day, Follow Mellywood's Mansion!

How The Heck Does She Afford To Feed All Those Kids? - Bulk Bread Maker Mix

Morning All,

Sometimes people suck! No I haven't woken up on the wrong side of the bed but sometimes people are so rude when you might not fit the 2.4 kid average. If you choose to have one like some of my friends, you'll get the never ending "when are you having the next one?" or if you have a whole bunch like me, strangers and barely known acquaintances feel free to make judgement or ask questions like "how on earth can you afford to feed all those kids?" Sometimes it's curiosity, other times it's just a bit catty.

Sometimes I'm nice but more often I will respond in my usual smart alec way, a favorite response is "We only feed three of them each day but keep it on rotation so no one goes more than two days without food!" By the way, my Mum hates it when I talk like this when she is around, sorry Mum!

But for those of you who are just curious or are interested in some thrifty ways to feed a large group, I make a lot of diy mixes. I'm starting with my favorite and probably most versatile mix, the bread maker mix.

Recipe:
26 cups of Plain Flour
1 cup of Sugar
1 cup of Nonfat Dry Milk Powder
4 Tbs of Salt.

To make the dough
3&1/2 cups of Bread Mix
2 tsp of active Dried Yeast
1&1/2 tbs of Olive Oil
1&1/4 cups of warm water (make sure the water is just warm to the touch, if it's too hot you will kill the yeast and your dough won't rise.)

This has a shelf life of around 6-8 months I've never had it go bad but the only time I don't bake is over Summer.

Place it in the bread maker and set to dough or if you want a loaf, white bread loaf. When making dough once you shape it it must be covered in plastic wrap and left to rise to about double in size before baking.

If your making dough the average cook time is 20 mins or until golden brown, in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius or 350F

And you can make a multitude of things like

Pizza, please give Julian's fresh vegetables from the garden a round of applause, each batch will make 2 deep dish crusts or 3 thin.

Scrolls, I fill these with whatever is on hand, just flatten it out to a rectangle add filling roll up and cut.

Suggestions:

Cream cheese & sweet chili sauce

Cheese and spinach

Left over pizza toppings

Ham and Chutney

Apple and sultana for a sweet version.

Not pictured but I also add 3/4 of a cup of Dried fruit cinnamon and make buns, add garlic or herbs and shape into a french roll or chocolate chips as a fun afternoon snack. Really it's up to you.

DIY Delight or Disaster? Oh this is a true delight, it saves me heaps. I generally don't make plain bread because, let's be honest, it's cheap enough but all the specialty loaves are usually very expensive and these loaves end up costing less than a dollar to make. Also while most of us love the idea of making and baking our own breads, it's a lot of work using this in the bead maker is as simple as set it and forget method. DELIGHT!

Thanks for reading,

Mel xo

Be Delighted Every Day, Follow Mellywood's Mansion!