Just a quick post because this idea is not mine and in fact I’d never heard of this before, but it certainly bears repeating and sharing!!
What To Do With Garlic Scapes
I love finding new (and preferably easy!) things to do with the produce of my garden. I especially love it when those things teach me how to use something I’m not entirely familiar with; and silly as it might sound, simple as they might be, garlic scapes are one thing I haven’t really found my stride with yet (that and kale, except for using it as a goose and poultry feed – they LOOOOVVVE it!). But this post might just change everything!
It’s a VERY simple recipe and instructional for pickling garlic scapes. I’ll leave it to the Homesteader Supply Blog to explain, but these sound like they might even rival dilly beans!! Now, to leave you all with a link and go harvest the last of those scapes.. Boy I wish I had planted more garlic (but don’t I always…?).
Bagels, Yeast Muffins, and Sweet Stand Mixer Treats
The recipes in this book follow the same simple method as the recipes in the first, using instant yeast and the stand mixer to make your life easy and help you get back to the wholesome traditional foods we all once enjoyed, despite the demands of a time-crunched modern life. Once again, the series offers you a way to make stand mixer bagels, cinnamon rolls, dinner buns, yeast donuts, and even crescents and croissants in the shortest time possible but yielding REAL and DELICIOUS results.
Volume I has gained great praise already, like this very kind and thoughtful review from Amazon buyer V. Kemp:
Finally!… excellent, quick AND flavorful recipes… I love it!
I have always made bread my mother’s old fashioned way… I bought a stand mixer recently to do the kneading for me… her method was a ten minute knead by hand… 2 hr rise… punch down… form… 1.5 hr rise…. and bake for 15 mins at high temp… then 45-50 mins at low temp… to say the least it was a day long project… I purchased this book the other day, and today I tried my first batch of everyday white… and wow… about two hours later, I have delicious, soft, tender, flavorful bread, with a gorgeous crispy crust… I ate almost a half a loaf myself. One batch made me four mini loaves, and twelve Cinnamon buns, without altering the recipe at all, and both were delicious. The fact that I had two successful products in one go makes the price of this book worth it… sorry mom, but your recipe might be a goner… lol
Volume II gives you even more great options to help you fully round out your pantry. Grab your copy today at this special birthday launch price!
From time to time I get questions in from blog readers and book readers asking me to help them out with a situation or clarify something in one of my recipes or in Your Daily Homemade Bread. And since my teachers always told me not to be afraid to ask because if I had a question, chances are someone else does, too, sharing those questions and answers seems to make a lot of sense.
And so, today we start with the first and probably one of the most common questions asked about the stand mixer and KitchenAid bread recipes I’ve published:
Does the Instant Yeast REALLY Get Mixed in With the Dry Ingredients?
Here’s a question from reader BB:
I came across your website and want to try the homemade white bread using my Kitchenaid mixer. My question is this…do I mix the yeast in the water or add it in with “all” dry ingredients? I have baked enough to know that usually the yeast gets mixed with the water first but recipe does not specify so I thought I would ask. Thank you for your time and I can’t wait to try this recipe.
(I believe this question refers to the recipe originally published on the site here, although the recipe is also included in the more comprehensive book along with additional ways to use the white bread dough…like for bread bowls, etc. There is a more complete discussion regarding the use and ease of Instant Yeast, which is used in most all of my stand mixer bread recipes, in my book: Your Daily Homemade Bread: Easy Stand Mixer Bread Recipes: Best Basics.)
This is a completely understandable question because regular active dry yeast does certainly require a period of proofing in liquid to activate it before you can add it to your bread recipe – more measuring, more waiting, more steps. Instant Yeast is a wonderful product because it lets you cut out all that fuss and also cuts out the first long rise and punching down. It literally makes it possible to throw all your ingredients together, knead (preferably with the mixer), and make a virtually hands-free bread, a REAL loaf of bread, with about a quarter of the work and waiting.
My response to the very kind and inquisitive BB was this:
The yeast does not get mixed in with the water. It does not need to proof like regular yeast does. It is correct to mix it in with the dry ingredients and fat, and then add the water to the mix. The reason is that this recipe is using a faster acting yeast (instant yeast, bread machine yeast, or rapid rise versions are all the same and all fine to use). It is specifically designed to cut the time and kneading and to be an easier bread to make.
So while it can be tough for us more traditional cooks to buck something our mothers or grandmothers (maybe your father or grandfather!) taught us, in this case it is most definitely the right thing to do! Embrace the change and this great product and enjoy this easier way to make it possible to eat well traditionally while keeping up in this busy modern world!
About The Popular KitchenAid Bread & Stand Mixer Bread Book:
Best KitchenAid Stand Mixer Bread Recipes
“If you have a KitchenAid® or other stand mixer in your kitchen, you have the one essential tool necessary for baking wonderfully fresh, wonderfully flavored bread on a regular basis. Included here are eleven stand mixer bread recipes plus two dinner roll options covering all the basics from traditional white to rye, wheat, and an excellent multigrain bread, too. In addition, you’ll learn eight additional ways to use the basic white bread recipe to easily create anything from bread bowls to cinnamon buns. This is a carefully selected collection of the most popular bread basics to bring you a solid dietary base without becoming overwhelmed. A complete discussion of the basic stand mixer bread method is included, along with a thorough discussion about the right yeast to use (there’s a specific type that makes this method work!). Also included is a quick talk on the subject of substitutions and sweetener flexibility to help adjust recipes to suit your dietary needs and preferences, including what is and is not possible. …A complete collection delivering reliability, flexibility, flavor, and FRESHNESS to your table, leaving behind all the unnecessary and undesirable preservatives, chemicals, and conditioners that you’ll find in commercial breads (including many that call themselves “homemade”).”
And What A Nice Review Already!
“Mary has written the simplest bread book. The white bread was so easy, I thought I had done something wrong. I was not expecting the fluffy, heavenly rolls that I MADE! My kids devoured them. I’m trying everything in the book.” (Many Thanks to Momma Chix!!)
For a limited time over the next few days Daily Bread and its collection of 12+ basic KitchenAid mixer bread recipes will be featured as an Amazon Kindle Countdown Deal. That means that it will be available for seriously reduced prices, but that the price points will also be changing (incrementally raised to full price again over the next few days). It’s best to get in and buy early – the earlier the better for you.
It’s an opportunity that can’t (because of Amazon policy) come around again for at least 90 days, and maybe not at all…so get while the getting’s good, and please tell your friends so they can get in while it’s good, too!
Click the link to see the book and details. While on Amazon, use the “Look Inside” feature for a complete Table of Contents listing the discussion topics and different recipes. When you do buy, your thoughtful review would be greatly appreciated, and makes a real difference to other searchers and buyers so they can find the stand mixer KitchenAid bread recipes they are looking for, too. (And who knows, like a couple of other readers, perhaps I’ll be asking you for your permission to use your review for other promotions!! …In fact, if you’d like to give me your permission ahead of time, please use the Contact Me page or email me and just let me know that you’re good with it, and which username you used so I can identify the review.)
Here it is! The announcement all you homemade bread lovers have been waiting for! (Who could NOT be a homemade bread lover!?)
My new KitchenAid (R)Â and stand mixer bread recipe book is live and available on Amazon! Get it now for under $3.00 – yes, for less than the cost of a decent loaf of bread!
This book truly does simplify the process and delivers more than just a KitchenAid version of a traditional recipe – it’s a completely different method that is a complete time-saver. It requires very little hands-on work and works up much faster than traditional homemade bread recipes.
There are a variety of recipes from the Everyday White Bread many of you have come to know and love to multigrain and wheat options, too.
Read more about Your Daily Homemade Breadhere or go straight to buy your copy now:
We’re in New England. Hot Chocolate is an absolute “must” for us. And with four kids, I go through a lot of it. The only trouble is, because we grow nearly all of our food here (with the exception of those staples like flour and sugar, etc.), I don’t actually go to a store all that often. In fact, I hardly ever do even for those things; I actually order most of my staples online from WalMart.com. I know we all have a love-hate relationship with Wal Mart but let’s face it – their prices beat almost everyone else, they employ large numbers of Americans, and if you spend $50 you get free shipping – so my staples cost me no more than a trip to the store; probably less considering the time I don’t lose and the gas I don’t burn.
But I digress. The short story is that I always seem to be out of hot cocoa mix. And then there is the added issue that I am buying something with unnecessary ingredients like dry milk, corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and artificial flavors, amongst other things that you personally may or may not be concerned with (for an example of what you’ll find in a leading brand hot cocoa mix like Swiss Miss, check this out).
And then there is the issue that I have this abundance of milk from those over-achieving little backyard Jerseys. An awful problem to have, I know. At any rate, it seems silly to me to be paying for a product with dry milk in it, which I’m not overly thrilled about, and wasting the perfectly good, healthy that milk I need to do something with anyway. And so I decided to go old-school and find an easy homemade hot chocolate recipe that is made with milk and minimal extraneous ingredients. After tweaking a few, below is what I came up with. It’s great for homesteaders, but of course it’s great for anyone who is just looking for a simplified homemade hot cocoa recipe. It uses only a couple common pantry staples, so odds are excellent that you already have everything you need at home.
Homemade Homestead Hot Cocoa Recipe
What we’re basically looking at here is a 2:1 ratio of powdered sugar to baking cocoa (powder). Using this basic ratio, you can make up your hot chocolate mix ahead of time in as large or small a quantity as you want for easy make-ahead use (a great recipe to add to your Make-Ahead Mix arsenal!).
The following recipe is enough to make a prepared half-gallon batch of homemade hot chocolate with milk. But what I like to do is crack out a quart or half-gallon mason jar and just keep alternating and filling until I have a jar full of mix ready for later use.
An easy, creamy homemade hot chocolate made with real milk and a couple common staple ingredients.
Ingredients
2 cups powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 cup powdered baking cocoa
½ gallon milk
Instructions
Pour milk into a large saucepan. Add powdered sugar and cocoa powder. Heat and stir over medium heat until steaming. Do not boil!
*You may also prepare this in a crock pot (on high or low, but obviously low will take longer and do keep an eye on it so that it does not boil when on high) and keep warm on the "Warm" setting.
**You may also add a teaspoon of vanilla extract if desired.
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Make-Ahead Creamy Homestead Hot Cocoa Mix
If you want to make a prepared make-ahead homemade hot cocoa mix, simply combine 6 cups of powdered sugar and 3 cups of powdered baking cocoa in a large (2 quart) canning jar or large container (yes, it will fit, but you may have to shake gently as you add ingredients to settle them). Shake to combine through until the mixture appears evenly distributed throughout.
Alternatively, if you are giving as a gift and you like the “sand art” appearance of the layers, alternate the cocoa and the powdered sugar, but do not shake. Do be sure, though, to include shaking as the first step in any attached instructions you give. You can cut the recipe in half to prepare in one-quart canning jars.
To prepare hot chocolate by the cup from the prepared mix, add 2 to 3 large teaspoons cocoa mix to a cup of hot milk. To make a batch, use 3 cups mix to each 1/2 gallon hot milk.
I hope you enjoy this recipe, and it brings you many warm winter mornings and afternoons! Incidentally, this is an excellent recipe to use with any of the grown-up hot chocolate recipes in A Drink for All Seasons: Winter and the Holidays.
Although my Best KitchenAid Bread Recipe is my everyday standby, sometimes I want something slightly different, such as when I want a nice white loaf to accompany a pasta dish or a soup or stew (although, the “Best” recipe is also an excellent choice for breads and stews, and when formed into rolls it makes excellent dinner rolls, too).
For those times, I turn to this delicious, reliable, and easy KitchenAid or stand mixer French Bread recipe. Like my standby, it uses instant or rapid rise yeast (bread machine yeast is the same thing and works, too), requires no hand kneading, and requires only one rising period, so it sets up fast. Start it before you start your main course and by the time you get through prepping your main dish you’ll be ready to bake and serve this loaf along with it.
You’ll find the recipe here along with 12 other recipes (from that excellent Everyday White Bread to whole grain breads, wheat, crescent rolls, bread bowl instructions….). Every one of them use the same VERY simple stand mixer bread method; this is not just the same old traditional recipe put through the KitchenAid, this is actually a different recipe with different (shorter!!) instructions designed especially for the stand mixer. For under three bucks you’ll have a solid, reliable, simple collection of breads that you can use every day – as easy as using a bread machine but better because it is real oven-baked bread that doesn’t have that “machine” flavor.
This recipe makes two sizable loaves, but if you don’t think you can use that much bread you can freeze the dough once shaped (before baking) for use another day. You could also bake the bread and freeze the baked loaf. Or you could shape the second half of the dough into personal-sized loaves for sandwiches or grinders. Or you could cut the second loaf into cubes to make homemade croutons.
As always, do Enjoy and if you liked this post, Subscribe so you don’t miss a beat!
I don’t buy bread anymore. I make all the bread we eat here. There are six of us, so that means I make homemade bread just about every day. That may sound like a lot but we really like good bread around here. I also think we tend to go through quite a bit just because it’s homemade, and it’s so good! (Please allow me to say so myself–I’m not trying to brag, but it’s homemade bread, and it’s hard for that not to be good 😉 ).
I’ve been making all of our bread for a number of years now…probably at least three. I don’t really remember the last time I bought bread. Up until about six months ago I relied heavily on my bread machine. I hardly ever actually baked the bread in the machine. We all liked it so much more if it was baked in the oven and had that more traditional flavor. Most often I would use the “dough” setting on the machine, then take it out and let it rise, then bake it in the oven. It was pretty darn good stuff, but not exactly like Grandma made. That process did take quite a bit of time, too, and only made one loaf at a time. Most days I was doing it twice to have enough bread to feed the family. Still, it was so much better than bread from the store shelves, and I always knew its exact age and exactly what I did and didn’t put into it.
Then one day towards the end of the summer, right before school started and my busiest bread-baking time of the year commenced, my bread maker gave up on me. I had put it through its paces but still I had only had it a couple of years, so I was kind of on the fence about investing in a new one. Bread machines are quite handy, but expensive. I already owned a Kitchenaid mixer (a hand-me-down from my mother-in-law, bless her, which had lasted through years of her ownership, professional cake-making, and at least 10 years with me…I don’t even know how old it is!). I had made bread with it before, but never seemed to quite get the knack enough to make it a simplified, everyday process. My sister told me to forget the bread maker and just use the Kitchenaid like she did, but I didn’t want to give up the “set it and forget it” routine I’d developed with my bread machine and the dough cycle.
I figured what I really needed was a reliable stand mixer bread recipe that didn’t have too many steps and that could still be done in a relatively short amount of time, without a lot of floury kneading. Like I said, I was (am) making bread just about every day of the week, and I didn’t have time or patience for dealing with or cleaning a flour-dusted surface every day, for multiple kneading and rising steps, or for remembering far enough ahead of time to begin such a process.
To cut to the chase of the story, I played with some bread recipes but then finally figured out that what makes bread machine bread simple is the fast-acting yeast (sometimes called instant yeast, sometimes called rapid rise, and all the same thing as the bread machine yeast). Fast acting yeasts actually let you cut out an entire rising, punching, and kneading process. When I figured this out and combined the method for rapid-rise yeast with a good bread recipe I had, I came up with a real winner that is the absolute heart of our meals here at home.
What I ended up with was an excellent kitchen aid recipe for white bread (or stand mixer bread recipe if you don’t have the Kitchenaid brand–we’re not snobs here 😉 that takes only a few minutes of active time to make, that is excellent for everything from toast to sandwiches to French toast and more, and that I can let my mixer whip up and knead for me while I cook supper or muddle through the dishes. Incidentally, it’s a versatile recipe that you should have no trouble cutting part whole grain, oats, or whole wheat flour into, too. And today, I share it here with you!
Best Kitchenaid Bread Recipe - My Everyday Standby
Author: Mary Ward
Recipe type: Yeast Bread
Cuisine: Traditional White Bread
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2 loaves
Finally! An excellent, easy KitchenAid or stand mixer bread recipe that really allows the mixer to do all the mixing and kneading for you.
Ingredients
6½ Cups All-Purpose Flour
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 Tablespoon Salt
3 Tablespoons Lard (can substitute shortening)
1½ Tablespoons Instant Yeast (Rapid Rise or Bread machine yeast may be substituted in equal amounts)
2½ Cups Very Warm Water (around 120F to allow the yeast to act)
Instructions
Place all dry ingredients and the lard in the KitchenAid mixer.
Using the flat beater attachment, mix dry ingredients and lard through. Use the "stir" or lowest setting, for just 1 to 2 minutes until the dry mix looks uniform.
With the mixer still running, pour in the water and mix just until dough is wet through, shaggy, and sticky--just 30 seconds to a minute.
Stop, remove the flat beater, and place the dough hook onto your stand mixer.
Set to speed 1 or 2 and let the mixer run, kneading the dough, for 6 to 8 minutes.
After kneading, stop, remove the dough hook and let the dough rest in the Kitchenaid mixer bowl for 10 minutes.
Grease 2 bread loaf pans. Shape dough into 2 loaves*, place in pans, and cover with a clean, damp towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled/about an inch above the rim of the pan.
Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes.
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*I find this bread rises best and has the best texture if it is pressed out flat on a floured surface and then rolled up, starting with one short end, and then shaping the rolled ends to loaf shape. Now, I know I complained about daily flour messes, but I keep an old cookie sheet on hand dusted with a bit of flour just for quick things like this. I happen to stash it in an unused wood cook stove, but a long tupperware with a cover or a covered jelly roll pan or something similar could easily accomplish the same thing and be stored with your pans or baking goods.
…And so long as you are flattening the dough, take one of the loaves and before rolling cover the flat surface with a good dose of cinnamon sugar (heavy on the cinnamon), then roll it up, pinch/shape the ends and Voila! You have a delicious cinnamon-swirl loaf for morning toast, too. Now that you have this easy stand mixer bread recipe, you, too can have fresh homemade bread your way, every day!
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Easy and delicious, and better yet, versatile–excellent traits for a recipe to have. And boy does this peanut butter granola recipe have them!
Homemade granola serves as one of the staples in my house, because it offers up whole grains (and white bread eaters like us could use a hidden, healthy does of whole grains) and also because we can use it in many ways. My son makes it his breakfast cereal; my husband takes it to work to top his homemade yogurt for a dose of energy when he takes his coffee break in the morning; and the others frequently grab a bag for their lunchboxes to munch trail mix-style.
So yes, our granola gets around and it’s nice when I can find a way to add some variety to that, such as a new granola flavor (to date we’ve done your typical, regular granola, a chocolate version, and now we’ve added this peanut butter variety as well), it really helps to keep the household happy. This particular recipe has helped to keep me happy, too, because it is the simplest and fastest granola recipe I’ve experienced to date. I swear the whole process takes no more than 20 minutes.
Credit Where It’s Due…
The original Peanut Butter Granola recipe I found, of course, on Pinterest and it originated at Shape.com. That recipe, however, was tiny and was never going to do for my family of 6 (we’re talking a 1 cup batch here, folks). That kind of boggled me because granola keeps very well on its own. Homemade granola is very easy to store and if you’re taking the time to make it anyway, why not make enough to make it worth it? Realistically, it might add a half a minute or two to the process, but then you’ve got it ready and waiting for a while…or for a day and a half if you’re my crew (perhaps when the novelty wears a bit we’ll stretch it to three days…yes, it’s that good).
So to cut the story short (too late!?), I modified the recipe to something that seemed sensible to me, and now what I have for you is this 8-cup recipe for:
Big Batch Peanut Butter Granola
1 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Cup Honey
2 Tsp Cinnamon
2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
8 Cups Oats
Preheat the oven to 325 F and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Combine peanut butter and honey in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute and 20 seconds, just until the peanut butter melts.
Stir well to combine peanut butter and honey.
Stir vanilla and cinnamon into the peanut butter mixture.
Add peanut butter mixture to oats and stir until all oats are coated and mixture is worked through thoroughly.
Spread onto prepared baking sheets and bake at 325 for about 10 minutes.
When edges just start to brown, the granola is done. It will crisp as it cools and you will have a nice, crunchy (but not cut-your-mouth crunchy) granola when it cools completely.
Tips & Notes:
I would consider adding 1/4-1/2 cup chopped peanuts just for a bit more crunch and texture, although it’s excellent all on its own. If you do, it’s possible you might need to add a touch more peanut butter.
I would also suspect Crunchy Peanut Butter would work well to add more crunch and a bit stronger flavor. I typically don’t keep it around, but I’d bet it would be very good.
Local honey is best as, well, it’s local and hasn’t polluted the world getting to you, but you also get all those wonderful benefits of local honey, including building immunity to allergies.
Store in a sealed container, such as a Tupperware cereal container or 2 quart Mason Jars with covers (my favorite pantry look 😉 ). Will keep for a long time stored this way. I can’t say how long, it never lasts long enough for me to know!
Do enjoy, and do let me know what you thought of this recipe–or if you have any of your own suggestions or modifications to share, please comment below!
I love finding new (and preferably easy!) things to do with the produce of my garden. I especially love it when those things teach me how to use something I’m not entirely familiar with; and silly as it might sound, simple as they might be, garlic scapes are one thing I haven’t really found my stride with yet (that and kale, except for using it as a goose and poultry feed – they LOOOOVVVE it!). But this post might just change everything!
or a 
