EGGLESS SLOW-CO0KER HERB BREAD

 Where have I been? I never in my many years of cooking/baking ever thought about making bread in the slow cooker. I never ever so any recipes until I decided to try a recipe I had torn out of a local grocery store's monthly magazine from 2013. Even though I had torn out the page, it still hadn't registered with me to try making bread using the slow cooker.

That said, last week the page/recipe caught my eye and interest. Since then I have made the bread twice using my two slow cookers. The smaller one is a 3 - quart size and the larger one is 5 - quarts. I used to have a 6-1/2 - quart one but I traded it to my son for his 5 - quart one which was too small for them. I have also done some research and found other recipes and read about the process. 

The reason I made it twice was because the recipe called for a 4 - quart slow cooker. The first time I made the bread I used the 5 - quart cooker. The bread turned out okay. It just didn't look like the picture from the magazine. When am I going to learn, nothing you make looks just like the picture that comes with the recipe. My loaf was thinner because the dough had more room to spread out than the picture. The second time I used my 3 - quart cooker and the loaf was much thicker since it didn't have as much room to spread. The bottom line is the size of the cooker will determine the thickness of the bread.

The important thing, I guess, is the bread tasted great both times. I think I will be making a loaf a week probably for us since Wayne especially likes it. I told him I could make it and omit the herbs, but he said he liked the herbs. The other fabulous thing as far as we are concerned is it is mostly whole wheat flour.

This homemade bread (yes it makes the house smell so good) is so easy to make. Total prep time is at the most 20 minutes/rest time 70 minutes/cooking time about 2 hours.

EGGLESS SLOW-COOKER HERB BREAD

1       cup warm water, about 110 to 115 degrees F

1       tablespoon sugar

1       (1/4 - ounce) package active dry yeast (I did use quick-rise)

1        teaspoon salt

1        tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

1/8     teaspoon dried oregano

2        teaspoons herbes de Provence

1/4     teaspoon black pepper

2        tablespoons olive oil

1-1/2  cups whole wheat flour

1/2     cup all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, combine the water, sugar, and yeast. (The first time I made the bread, I dissolved the yeast in the water in a 2 - cup measuring cup.) Stir to dissolve yeast.

Let sit for 10 minutes to proof.

Stir in salt, rosemary, oregano, herbes de Provence, black pepper, olive oil and

then both flours that you combine first.

Form a ball and

knead on a clean floured surface, adding more flour if needed to prevent sticking.

Once a smooth ball is formed,

place in a lightly greased bowl, covered with a towel.

Let rise for 1 hour. (I have a bread proof setting on my stove so let mine rise in the oven.) 

About 10 minutes before the hour is up, preheat slow cooker on HIGH.

Punch down dough and

reshape into a ball.

Place dough on a piece of parchment paper and

put in slow cooker. (Read above discussion on size of cooker.)

Cook in slow cooker on HIGH for about 2 hours.

The smaller slow cooker might need to cook for 2-1/2 hours.

Remove from slow-cooker and cool on wire rack.

Here is the loaf I made in my 5 - quart cooker. You can't really tell from this picture and I didn't take another picture of it outside the cooker because it didn't look like I expected it to look. You can imagine though that it was thinner (about 2 to 2-1/2 inches thick) since I used a large cooker and the dough had more room to spread as it rose and baked.

 

NOTE: If you want to check on bread after about 1-1/2 hours, lift lid straight up and wipe dry with a towel. Do not allow the moisture to drip on the top of the bread baking as you lift up the lid.