No Knead to Stress
Life is full of stressful things.
Slow drivers. Paying bills. Bigger than little boys that won't stop whining.
I could go on... but I won't.
When I am stressed out I do one of two things: I clean or I bake. Most stressful days baking wins. There is something theraputic about taking ingredients from the cabinet, carefully measuring from my labeled tins and jars, mixing, stirring, beating... portioning cake batter or shaping cookies or kneading dough. And when the wooden spoon has been licked clean, the mixing bowl is washed, dried, and stored for another day, and the kitchen fills with smells of chocolate or bready goodness, the stress just melts away.
Sifting through a pile of paper clippings the other day- scraps of magazines and haphazardly strewn recipes- I found this loaf bread recipe- whole wheat, no-knead, perfect for a slice of cheese and a pile of shaved turkey with a little spicy mustard.
In a large mixing bowl combine all the ingredients.
Mix on high speed for 3 minutes.
Generously grease a bread pan and the plastic wrap.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and cover tightly with the greased plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for about 90 minutes.
Uncover the risen dough and put it in a preheated oven set to 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Halfway through baking make a tent with aluminum foil.
When the bread is golden brown on top take it out to cool. After 5 minutes invert it onto a rack to cool completely.
No Knead Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- ¼ cup orange juice
- ¼ cup melted butter or vegetable oil
- 3 tablespoons molasses or maple syrup
- 1 package dry instant yeast
- ¼ cup milk (original recipe calls for nonfat dry milk; if you have that already in your pantry, then good for you!)
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a bread pan and the plastic wrap you will use to cover the rising dough.
- Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Mix on high with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes.
- Scrape the dough into the prepared pan and cover with the greased plastic wrap.
- Let the dough rise for 90 minutes.
- Uncover the risen dough and bake for 30-35 minutes, tenting with foil halfway through.
- When the bread is golden brown, take it from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 257Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 16mgSodium: 72mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 5gSugar: 8gProtein: 7g
Original recipe courtesy of King Arthur Flour
Yes, I agree, baking can be very therapeutic! I guess you kill two birds with one stone, since you will be washing the dishes and cleaning up after baking anyway!! We all love seeing our delicious end product when they're out the oven! mmm!!
This looks great, and so quick! It's on my List.
Oh super! Yeah, for yeast bread it was super fast.
Ahhh cleaning and baking to clear the mind... I admit Ido it too. Maybe we should start a group.
We probly should.
angry bakers anonymous....
When I get stressed I clean...I wish I cooked! This bread looks delicious...
Hope you are having a fantastic weekend so far!
Thank you! Yeah I'm an angry baker... I clean when I'm really pissed. I think that's when I'm most productive. 🙂
Your pictures are beautiful in this post. I've been reading a lot about no knead bread lately and you made it look really easy...it's easy, right?
I wish I would clean and not eat when I get stressed. I'm going to have to try that on my next stressful day. I think my house will be cleaner and my clothes will fit looser! 🙂
I second the stress cleaning habit inspiration! If only I could reach for a broom instead of that secret stash-bag of chocolate chips in the back of the cabinet, my not-supposed-to-be-skinny jeans would be much easier to wiggle into 😉
Skinny jeans are ruthless. You know I caught a minute of a tv clip the other day for a cleaning workout. Like squats while you wash dishes and elliptical moves off cleaning cloths on the kitchen floor. If I could get past feeling like an idiot and just crank the music, it might actually work. But then what would I write about?
I am particularly fond of scrubbing my kitchen floor on my hands and knees when I'm pissed. But I don't sing nice songs like Cinderella. Maybe it's the lemon cleany smell that calms me? I dunno.
This bread is really easy. EASY easy easy! Dump, mix, grease, pour, rise, bake. Eat 🙂
Heather this bread is gorgeous! What kind of mixer do you have? I know a lot of them call for the mixers with the dough attachment. Is that the one you use? Because I just have a regular stand mixer with the basic attachments for like cake making...Let me know if I should be brave and attempt.
Announcement: I do not own any fancy kitchen gadgets!
I did this with a hand mixer, regular beater attachments. It was so easy and the hand mixer worked out really well. No bravery required. Try it!!!
This bread looks delicious 😀
Love not NEEDing to knead 😉
Thanks for a great post!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Latest: Colossal Caramel Peanut Monster Cookies
Thank You!
It's beautiful!
If my modest kitchen is sans electric mixer, could I still manage this one?
Yes. Stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. You'll have to mix longer than 3 minutes. This made the most delicious sandwiches. And remind me to buy you a hand mixer next time I have an excuse to give you a present 🙂
Wow! I've never made a recipe like this! I will have to try it--thanks for posting!
Oh try it with some of your handy local flour! Let me know how it goes!