BREADS & DOUGHS | MELISSA'S FAMILY RECIPES

Did you know that Challah is specifically a sweet bread and is amazing as French toast? Or that what makes dinner rolls so yummy is that they have 1/2 a cup of sugar in them? Also, a hotly debated topic between Silas and me was discovering whether or not Monkey bread is a bread or a pastry. Silas was right. It’s a pastry, but I put it in the breads section … because of it’s name and it’s pretty much made like a bread.

Anyway, I started learning to make bread ten years ago and what made is so tricky is that I grind my own wheat with a NutriMill Wheat Grinder and I use Hard White Wheat for everything. It is available at my local bulk food store. Why is that important? Because if you are using All Purpose Flour you might need more flour in your recipe and you probably don’t need to let everything rise on your counter over night.

Even though Sally Fallon from Nourishing Traditions says that the reason our ancestors did long rises and soaked their grains was because they knew about probiotics and the “harmfulness of grains” I have come to a different conclusion. It comes down to practicality.

When you are working with freshly ground wheat, you HAVE to let your dough rise overnight to maintain any form of gluten & shape or the dry bran will cut right through it. It also needs to be a wetter dough and starts really rather shaggy. As you occasionally fold it and it rises overnight, it softens into what you would typically think of as a ball of dough. Still, you have to shape it with wet hands instead of adding flour to the counter. This goes back to fresh bran cutting up all that gluten you tried so hard to build.

Lastly, I don’t give any shaping techniques or “How to Start or Maintain a Sourdough” information because it is something I just teach my kids here. These are simply recipes.

With that being said, here are my basic bread recipes.

Challah Bread or Rolls
Sourdough Dinner Rolls or Hamburger / Hotdog Buns
Sourdough Cast Iron Pizza & Sauce
Sourdough Bagels & Flatbreads
Monkey Bread
Banana Bread

Here is the picture I use for my “Breads” divider page in case you want one too.

(Each picture will take you to that specific recipe. Save each recipe image. I like to print them and keep them in a three ring binder with plastic sleeves and divider tabs.)

I have also created a KITCHEN BASICS GUIDE for young women. If you are starting to build up your kitchen supplies, don’t waste your money on sets. Just get the best of the basics.