Whole Wheat Cranberry Brown Sugar Bread

I still don't feel confident in my bread-making skills whatsoever, but I'm going to continue trying until I get it right. I found this delightful recipe from pinterest (where else?!), and thought I'd give it a go! The loaves came out a bit flat, but delicious nonetheless. The bread-making process itself is so joyful!


What you need:
2 pkg yeast
2 tsp sea salt
½ cup warm water (110-120 degrees)
4 cups lukewarm water
6 tbl brown sugar (divided)
6-8 cups whole wheat flour (divided)
½ cup dried cranberries

Make & Create:

 In a large bowl, place the yeast, salt, and warm water-- blend together and let sit for 5-7 minutes.

Add in lukewarm water and 2 Tb of brown sugar.

Then add about 5-6 cups of your flour, pouring and stirring in one cup at a time, until the dough becomes like a gooey-lava texture.

Cover with a cloth for about 2-3 hours, allowing it to rise.

Next, throw the dough out onto a floured surface. Work the extra flour into the dough and knead well. (It gets a bit messy...)

Divide the dough into 2-3 pieces.
Flatten out the dough-balls, sprinkle brown sugar and cranberries evenly overtop, then fold in the sides of the dough and pinch the end-seams. Make a few slits in the tops of the dough.

Transfer them to your parchment-papered baking sheet, place aluminum foil over top, and allow them to sit for about 30 minutes before transferring them into the oven.

They'll remain in the oven for about 50 minutes. Take the foil off of the top for the last 10 minutes so that they can brown up a bit.

Enjoy!

Pioneer Woman's Buttermilk Biscuits

I was craving a tried and true egg sandwich with some real biscuits, so I decided to make some of my own for the occasion. Of course they're made of wholesome wheat and sweet buttermilk, so there was simply no way of them turning badly. These are also fantastic with some butter and Vegemite, if you venture for an Aussie snack of sorts. And of course, biscuits are always best with tea!




Ingredients:
4 cups white-whole wheat, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt (3/4 tsp table salt)
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup chilled shortening
1/3 cup cold butter (5 1/3 tablespoons) cut into pieces
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons melted butter



To Make:
1. Preheat your oven to 450F.

2. In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Stir together. Then add the chilled shortening and cold butter pieces.
3. With a fork, cut in the shortening and butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Pour in the buttermilk and mix gently with a fork until just combined. The dough will be a little sticky, not overly dry or crumbly.
5. Lightly flour a clean surface. Lightly dust your rolling pin with flour. Turn the dough out of the bowl and roll to a 1/2 to 3/4-inch thickness, depending on how thick you'd like your biscuits to be.
6. Cut rounds with a biscuit cutter, or with really anything round like a bowl, and place them on a baking sheet.
7. Bake for 11-14 minutes, until golden brown. Do not underbake or the biscuits will be doughy. Brush the tops with melted butter.


Enjoy!! :)