Bread | Grumpa Joe's Place

Baking Day-Bread & Brownies

Posted on 15/09/2020 by Grumpa Joe

Being on a Keto diet has made me wish for things like bread, pastries, pasta, and all things that I ate while growing up. Earlier in the week I got the bug to research some recipes for Keto breads made from coconut flour. I found one or two that I liked and watched a video or two about making the breads. I picked up one hint from a baker which made perfect sense to me and today I tried his idea. Basically there is no yeast in Keto breads, there is no real sugar for the yeast to process and to make the bread rise. Keto breads are somewhat flat and are denser than regular breads. His secret improvement came about because there are so many eggs in the bread that the bread tastes “eggy” by adding the yeast you give the bread a more yeasty taste. It works.

I made one fatal error in making this loaf, I set the oven time for 55 minutes when I should have taken it out at 50, or even 45 minutes. The crust is very dark brown but the bread is baked through. The crust is very crunchy and grainy. The inside is a little dry near the crust but okay at the center. Another error was in using too large a bread pan. It will be better with a 3 by 7 pan, I used a 4 by 8. The batter was spread too thin and thus my slices are only two inches tall.

After baking the bread I immediately started a recipe for keto brownies, also made with coconut flour. This is the third time I have made brownies and this time I paid attention to not make the mistakes of the previous batches. One major mistake was in over baking the recipe, i.e. too long in the oven. Like the bread, my early batches of brownies were too dry around the edges and very nice in the center. This time the batch came out of the oven looking great all the way to the outer edges. I was surprised when I cut it. It is very rich with a creamy chocolate center.

In the major leagues that is batting one for two or .500 batting average, I would make millions if this effort was in the National League.

And that is all I’m going to say about that.

Filed under: Biography, Cooking, family | Tagged: Bread, Brownies, Coconut Flour, Keto | Leave a comment »

Tradition, Ah the Aroma to Die For

Posted on 07/05/2011 by Grumpa Joe

This year the urge to bake bread for Easter became overwhelming. The aroma of fresh bread permeated my brain and olfactory senses. I dreamed of big loaves of white bread. Childhood memories of slicing a huge slab from a fresh loaf and smearing it with thick gobs of yellow butter played in my mind. I had to do it. At one time I baked bread often. Many times the dough was flat. The number of times I killed yeast escapes me, but killing yeast became my trademark. Either the water was too hot, or not warm enough. Sometimes the water was just right, but the bowl too cold. A lot of dead dough went into the trash.

This year, my determination to make the yeast perfect dominated the process. The persistence paid off, the dough rose to the occasion. Here is how I did it:

1. Place two tablespoons of tepid water in a clean soup bowl.

2. Mix in tow packets of dry yeast and stir

3. Place the bowl in the microwave and heat it for ten seconds. This heat the bowl as well as the mixture. Set is aside

4. Place a greased mixing bowl into the micro and heat it for thirty seconds. We don’t want to chill the yeast when we pour it into the bowl.

5. Continue with the remainder of the recipe.