Home bakers anyone?

Umm, I love to bake, but I don't bake my own bread. I have done so, but don't do so routinely. I love to bake cookies, mainly, and have recently worked on my pie crusts. I don't know if you are interested in sweets, though.

Do you use a bread machine, or do you workout those forearm muscles?

I mainly bake the lazy way, letting the dough ferment and rise 3 times, and doing a 10 second stretch and fold in between. Also I started baking from dough starters, which makes it an incredibly easy process that can even fit my workday!. I tried going the low carb route in breads, but felt it's really not worth the effort. So as long as I can eat 2 slices daily of the bread I make, I'm good.

My recipe for a wholegrain muesli loaf:

Ingredients for the Loaves
makes two loaves of about 500 g each:

250 g wheat flour (bread flour)
250 g whole grain spelt flour
325 ml water
150 ml full fat yogurt
‘Muesli mix’ of about 125 grams in total of dried cherries, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, golden raisins and rolled spelt flakes in equal quantities
8 g sea salt
6 g instant yeast

This recipe is easy and quick and requires no kneading. Put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well with a spoon or a spatula for about 1 minute. Of course you can be creative and add your own muesli mix of dried fruit, nuts, seeds and this way make it your own favorite loaf. The amount of moisture in this recipe makes for a rather sticky dough. It’s meant that way but if you want it less sticky I suggest you put in a little less water (25-50 ml less). Cover the bowl with clingfilm and put it in the fridge until the following day.

Preheat your oven at 220ºC / 430ºF. Take the dough out of the fridge and turn it out onto your floured work surface. We are now going to give the dough one or two stretch and folds to develop it a little further. Cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes. Divide the dough into two equal parts and shape them as you like. I quickly and very roughly make oval shaped loafs, I fold it to give the loaf some tension and then roll it carefully with both hands to get the required shape.

Slash the top of the loaves with a lame or bread scoring knife. To get a nice crust, try to create some steam in your oven by putting a small metal baking tray on your oven floor when you preheat the oven and pouring a half cup of hot water immediately after putting the bread in the oven. Release some steam by setting your oven door ajar (perhaps with the help of a wooden spoon or oven mitt) 5 minutes before the bread is ready. If you are going to create steam with a baking tray, you maybe also want to turn your oven temperature a bit higher, because you are going to lose some heat in the process. Bake the loaves for 35 to 37 minutes. Leave to cool on a rack. These loaves keep well in the freezer. You can slice them before you put them in, grab a few slices in the morning and take your ‘breakfast in a bread’ with you.

I posted a No Knead, No Yeast Oatmeal Wheat Bread. I mentioned that it needed tweaking. But, if you already bake bread you'll probably make something great. Sliced very thin it's 18 carbs and 140 sodium. My next loaf I plan to reduce some of the baking powder by 1/3, would cut some sodium. I also plan to try it as a breakfast type loaf using dried fruits and raisins. Let me know if you come up with a good "tweak".

Oh interesting. Yes, might play around with that!

Mainly the point for me is to be able to eat bread as good as I can make it, which will be better than store bought. And I know what goes into it! Also the sodium is far less than in store bought loaves. So then I eat two very good slices of bread a day. And my entire family is grateful for good bread too.