Look what I made! I decided to experiment with my faster no-knead bread and make olive bread. I’ve been making the plain bread regularly with 100% whole wheat flour and for a softer loaf, I also make it with 2 cups of whole wheat and one cup of bread flour. I’ve had olive bread before and loved it. I had a jar of olives handy so I made this loaf yesterday with my 2/3 + 1/3 flour mixture and WOW! It’s moist and soft enough for sandwiches and so delicious. I even had it for breakfast. (the crispy crust is the best part!) Olive bread is a way to include heart-healthy olives in your diet. If you haven’t tried the no knead method for bread, it’s amazingly easy.
I first posted my faster recipe for plain bread (click here) and then another recipe for my whole wheat version (click here). Now I have this fabulous olive bread and I am posting the recipe here because it’s so simple. To make my no knead whole wheat olive bread, you would follow the method used in my whole wheat version but with the ingredients below:
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup bread or all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt (reduced from original version due to salt in the olives)
3/4 cup chopped, patted dry kalamata olives
1 1/2 cups of cool water
UPDATE: March 3, 2016: I just posted the entire recipe in the Breads category so now you can just click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I used to think you could only buy crusty dinner rolls at a bakery but wait ‘til you see how incredibly easy it is to make your own homemade rolls from scratch. And forget everything you thought you knew about baking bread. Here’s what you will NOT have to do:
1. Proof your yeast.
2. Take the temperature of your water.
3. Knead the dough.
4. Rise the dough twice.
5. Rise it in a warm spot.
6. Get stressed about baking with yeast.
All those things are history! Once I learned that you could bake amazing crusty bread at home with no kneading and almost no work, I set out to make it as fast and easy as possible. I’ve already shared my method for making the fabulous crusty bread that bakes in a Dutch oven.
No dutch oven? No problem. If you want to make the no knead bread that bakes in a Dutch oven but you don’t have one, you can make the same dough into these beautiful crusty rolls. All you need is a baking pan. This method is so easy and it’s foolproof. Don’t worry about the water temperature – just use hot tap water. Don’t worry about kneading the dough – you don’t have to. It’s basically like this:
You mix the dough together, cover, and let it rest for 3 hours.
You shape it into 8 rolls and let them rest for 35 minutes.
You take the same 35 minutes to heat up your oven.
You bake the rolls.
You eat the rolls!
And if you like sesame seed rolls, just brush them right before baking with egg white and sprinkle with sesame seeds and look what you get:
By the way, you can start this dough the night before and let it stand on the counter top overnight for 8 to 24 hours. The only difference is you would use cool water. Then in the morning, shape the rolls and after the 35 minute rest and oven warm-up, you can bake them. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
We already know that homemade bread is something to be treasured but THIS bread? This bread deserves its own category. I would call it “The Kind of Artisan Bread You Thought You Could Never Make at Home,” but you can. And when you see how incredibly easy it is, you will make it just like I do… often. Even if you have never baked and the thought of baking with yeast scares you, you can make this bread. This recipe is foolproof. But you will need a Dutch oven – one that’s oven-safe and has an oven-safe handle.
A genius baker named Jim Lahey invented the process of baking bread in a Dutch oven. His original method was to stir together a simple dough, let it rest overnight for 12 to 18 hours, and bake the bread the next day. Steam is created inside the pot to mimic the professional bread ovens that create steam and that’s what gives bread that beautiful golden, crispy crust. I remember the first time I made this overnight bread, I couldn’t believe how it turned out.
And here’s the good news: It doesn’t have to be overnight because with this faster recipe, you can make the bread the day you want it and it takes less then five minutes of prep. And there’s no kneading! The main difference is that with the overnight method you use cold water and with this faster method, it’s hot water (up to 130° F will not kill the yeast). I’m thrilled to be sharing this fantastic and faster no knead bread. You can do this! Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
p.s. Can you make it with Gluten-Free flour? Click here.
Who knew croutons were so easy to make? Once you try homemade croutons made with fresh ciabatta bread you will be spoiled forever. You could use a different kind of bread but… why? Okay, maybe sourdough, or maybe a loaf of French bread but make sure it’s fresh. They say to use day old bread but I respectfully disagree. Fresh bread will make fresh croutons. The big surprise is how incredibly easy it is to make them at home. Five minutes prep, twenty minutes in the oven, and you have big chunks of toasty, crunchy croutons for your salad, or soup, or (your choice here).
I like croutons to taste like bread so my recipe is super simple – just olive oil, salt & pepper. But you can always add spices and herbs of your choice, like fresh garlic, fresh parsley, dried oregano or basil, onion powder, garlic powder, or parmesan. If you’re a bread person like I am, and a crunchy food person too, you will love this easy recipe. I especially like croutons or breadsticks with my salads and in my kitchen, homemade is the only way to go. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I love bread. And I love flatbread, especially when I can make it at home in 30 minutes. Some flatbreads are unleavened but mine is a yeast dough but there’s no rising time with this simple recipe and you cook the breads in a hot pan in 2 minutes. They puff up so pretty while you cook them and sometimes if they puff up a lot, I’ve got a pita pocket. If you can serve them fresh out of the pan, you will never ever want store bought flatbread again. I love the smell of homemade bread and when you make flatbread, your kitchen will smell amazing.
It’s a sticky dough so you will need a well-floured surface. I used to let the dough rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes but this recipe, with no rise and only a 10-minute rest, tastes exactly the same. The ones after rising, though, did puff up a little more while cooking so if you want pita breads, try putting the dough in a small greased bowl, cover with plastic, and let it rise in a warm spot for 30 minutes. You’ll still have flatbreads in less than an hour. But the fast ones puff up really nicely too as you can see in the photo.
What can you do with flatbread? Well… there’s pizza, gyros, sandwiches, focaccia, dip it into things (like my beef stew!!!) or hummus, or for a bread person like me, just eat it plain. I made some this morning and had half of one just plain and rolled up some egg salad in the other half. Deeelish! For my Quick & Easy Flatbread recipe & vidieo click here – Jenny Jones
If you think this beautiful bread looks good, wait until you taste it! You’ve never had cinnamon-raisin bread like this. It’s a braided loaf and each of the ropes in the braid is filled with delicious tunnels of brown sugar and cinnamon. And guess what? You can make this amazing cinnamon-raisin bread without butter. I created this loaf out of necessity. I was so frustrated trying to make a spiral loaf of cinnamon bread. Every time I sliced it, there were big gaping spaces in the bread so I finally decided to try a braided bread.
Making a braided bread, like egg bread or challah, is pretty easy. You just cut the dough into thirds, roll the three pieces into long ropes and braid away. What I’ve done is just flatten the ropes and fill them with a little softened butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. (I’ve also used transfat-free margarine, which is my butter of choice so either way works) I didn’t know what to expect when I tried it but the results were amazing!
When I sliced the bread for the first time, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was inside and how the brown sugar & cinnamon filling actually created tunnels of cinnamon throughout the bread. It’s a different pattern with every loaf but there is always a beautiful stream of brown sugar & cinnamon tunnels throughout the loaf. So I’m calling it Tunnels of Cinnamon Bread. It’s beautiful. It’s delicious. And I’m so proud of this very special bread. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I can’t remember the last time I bought bread at the store. I’m finding easier ways to make my own delicious and healthy homemade bread and this may be the easiest and fastest. I’m done with proofing yeast and rising dough twice. This is my go-to bread that I use for sandwiches, French toast (it soaks up the eggs in seconds!), and soft bread crumbs.
A few things to keep in mind when baking bread: 1) An instant read thermometer really helps to measure the temperature of the milk. Too hot and you’ll kill the yeast – too cold and it won’t grow. 2) Other additions should not be cold, like the oil and egg. If I’m short on time to warm up a cold egg I have been known to put it in my apron pocket and let my body heat warm it up. Note to self: *Next time, let your partner know about the egg before he hugs you goodbye!
This is one of my most popular recipes, probably because it’s so easy. Well, it’s also because it’s a really soft wheat bread, perfect for sandwiches or toast. I tried making it with 100% whole wheat flour but without much success. It didn’t want to rise and it was too dense and heavy so it needs some bread flour in the mix.
I’m calling it simple whole wheat bread because it really is… and it’s fast. Start-to-finish: 90 minutes! This is as easy as it gets to make homemade bread so I hope you’ll try it. Did I mention that your kitchen will smell terrific too? Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
There are no words to describe the fabulous flavor of this traditional Polish holiday bread we call Makowiec. The filling is a distinctive combination of ground poppy seeds, orange and lemon peel, and ground toasted almonds. I love this bread! I grew up with it! It’s perfect for afternoon tea or as a light dessert.
My recipe is pretty easy to make but you will need to grind the poppy seeds and I found an easy way to do that. I bought a spice & nut grinder (Cuisinart) and it grinds the poppy seeds and the almonds. Until I discovered the grinder, the only way to grind the seeds was to use an old fashioned meat grinder that you clamp to the counter and crank with your hand. I tried a food processor and a blender but neither one did the job. But it’s really easy with the spice grinder.
The bread is sweet and the filling is to die for! After baking, you can drizzle the loaf with a glaze or another option is to brush it before baking with either melted butter or with an eggwash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. My recipe requires only one rise and if your filling seeps out a little when it’s done, that happens a lot so don’t fret over it. It will still taste great. My how-to video for this awesome bread will be up next week. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Is there anything better to have with a salad than garlic bread? I love it! And since I make my own garlic bread all the time, I keep it simple and fast. What I usually do is preheat the oven (actually, I make mine in a toaster oven), prepare the bread, which takes less than 5 minutes, and I set it aside. Then I make my salad and dinner. When it’s ready for the table, I pop the garlic bread into the oven. Then I warm a plate, line it with a cloth napkin, and bring the fresh warm garlic bread to the table because fresh out of the oven is the best way to have it. And oooh, that smell!
I like to use thick slices of sourdough bread because you get a soft, golden top and nice crispy edges. And any day that I bake a loaf of bread, that’s always a garlic bread day. If you’ve ever had homemade garlic bread on homemade bread, well… I’m pretty sure you had three slices! My easy recipe makes two slices so double it up if you need more. Line your baking sheet with foil and there’s no cleanup.
There are lots of things people add to garlic bread like herbs or fresh parsley but I don’t think it’s needed. Try my version and let me know if you agree. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
