Please tell me I'm not the only one who is using this time to indulge in comfort foods! After all, when we are stuck indoors for long periods of time, it just seems natural to spend some of that time in the kitchen.
Yesterday, I made a pot of split pea soup and accompanied it with honey molasses brown bread.
The soup was delicious, but the bread was the star of the show!
You know those little warm loaves that they serve at restaurants like the Outback and the Cheesecake Factory? Well, this was just like that. So warm and yummy!
Isn't it beautiful? It gets the brown color from a little molasses and some tablespoons of cocoa powder.
I used this recipe that I found on It's Always Autumn:
https://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/steakhouse-sweet-brown-molasses-bread-recipe-just-like-outback.html
I did a few things differently, though. I used a combo of white whole wheat flour (King Arthur), and in place of bread flour I used all purpose flour. Also, during the last five minutes of baking, I brushed the tops with melted butter and added some old fashioned oats to the top.
As I began the recipe, I put the yeast and sugar and warm water together and waited ten minutes. Nothing happened. No bubbling. That's a pretty good indication that the yeast is bad. So I had to toss it and start over, and the next batch bubbled beautifully.
Just look at those little beauties!
I put the leftover loaves into a cleaned used bread bag ( Yes, I'm starting to reuse bread bags now. Great Depression, here we come!) and they were just as wonderful today with lunch.
It's been really hard finding flour and yeast in the stores. I even thought I'd try websites the other day, like King Arthur Flour or Bob's Red Mill. Totally gone! So far, I still have a pretty good stash in the pantry. I've been telling people to try small family owned markets instead of the big grocery chains. You can sometimes find things there that you can't find anywhere else.
What comfort foods have you been reaching for these days?
That bread sounds awesome! I shop at Aldi and they had flour and yeast last time I was there. So if you have one it’s worth checking out!
ReplyDeleteHi Chris! After you posted this, I made it to Aldi and managed to snag some more all purpose flour, but they were out of yeast. No worries! I'm working on a sourdough starter now!
DeleteTrader Joe's had everything I needed last week but our Kroger has been out of flour, pasta, canned tomatoes and frozen veggies for three weeks now. I had an abundance of flour. Last week I made 45 minute cinnamon rolls that were delicious. May try that again tomorrow. We live a mile from the best bakery in Portland and their breads are amazing. Someday I'll make my own.
ReplyDeleteCinnamon rolls sound amazing! My sister, who shops at Kroger occasionally, said they've been really spotty with their stocking. Aldi seems to be doing a pretty good job, but their selection is smaller and much of their product is in-house brand. I'm pretty well stocked for a while.
Delete