NEW RECIPE: I’m loving this new, lightly sweet apple bread. It’s usually dessert with my breakfast and my favorite part is the crispy, sweet top. There are lots of apples, two medium Granny Smiths to be exact, and just enough sugar to make it lightly sweet. For this super easy recipe, just click here.
(If you’ve never lined a loaf pan with parchment paper, you can see how – just click here.)
Here’s another no knead bread that I love. It’s crunchy on the outside and on the inside too! I make it with two kinds of flour (whole wheat and white) and then I add a half cup of cracked wheat to the dough. The result is a fabulous high-fiber bread with a golden crust and a delicious nutty interior with lots of crunch.
Cracked wheat is made by milling raw wheat berries into smaller pieces, preserving the nutrient and fiber rich bran and germ layers. So this delicious loaf has extra fiber and protein, and cracked wheat is also a good source of iron.
If you like hearty, farm-style bread with extra crunch, you will love this recipe. I have never been able to find cracked wheat at the store so I order it online, solely to make this recipe. Cracked wheat is a series of uncooked, hard, dry pieces and looks like this:
I have also made the same recipe with steel-cut oats but it does not have the flavor or texture that this one does. I use the overnight version to allow the uncooked cracked wheat time to soften. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
There’s something about summer and hot dogs. ☀️ Summer officially starts a week from today but the sun’s shining so it’s hot dog time in my house. You haven’t lived until you have a hot dog in a fresh, homemade bun. You’ll spoil yourself forever and never have to suffer through those homemade ones where the ingredient list is longer that your quarantined bangs.
I make these soft buns using my white bread recipe, the one with the egg – it’s an easy one-rise recipe that you can make in an hour. The sheen comes from brushing the buns with a beaten egg wash just before baking. Freshness makes all the difference so if you don’t eat these yummy buns right away, I suggest slicing and freezing them for the next time. They freeze really well.
We don’t eat hot dogs very often but when we do, they are always on a homemade bun. My husband likes to add only spicy brown mustard but I like yellow mustard, sweet pickle relish, and sauteed onions. 🌭 What ever way you like your hot dog, it will be so much better on a homemade bun. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I was craving a good hamburger so I made sesame seed buns from scratch and they were ready in an hour. I can’t find whole wheat flour right now so I used my white bread with egg recipe. Just before baking, I brushed the buns using beaten egg yolk with a little water and sprinkled on the seeds. You can brush with egg white, egg yolk or even a beaten egg. Let me tell you, these were some awesome burgers! I used lean ground beef and I cooked the patties in a hot cast iron skillet. I seared them first so they were beautifully browned and tasted like they just came off the grill. (I should have taken a picture but I was hungry ?)
I had all the trimmings on hand, including lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, mustard, mayo, and ketchup. WOW! I may never cook a burger on the grill again. I also made oven fries since I had a russet potato. I peeled and sliced it into fairly thin wedges, tossed them in olive oil, salt & pepper, and roasted them in a 425 oven on a baking sheet for about half an hour. Next time I make this classic American meal (and there will be a next time) I will post it as a recipe so everyone can enjoy delicious hamburgers at home. I never made a burger in a skillet before so I even surprised myself.
Meantime, if you want to make the best and easiest sesame seed hamburger buns, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I love these soft, whole wheat buns. This is the exact same recipe as my simple whole wheat bread but it’s shaped into buns and it’s faster than the loaf. If you’re a fan of my whole wheat loaf, you must try making these buns. It’s a quick and easy recipe that takes only an hour from start to finish. With summer coming and burgers about to be made on the grill, you can now have a healthier option for hamburger buns. As for sandwiches, it’s always a healthier sandwich when you use whole wheat bread.
These rolls are so soft, you might forget they’re whole wheat but if you’re not a fan of whole wheat… no problem. These turn out just as well using my simple white bread with egg recipe. Either way, these are quick, easy and delicious buns for healthier sandwich and burgers. Click here for the recipe.
And here are my hot dog buns, made from the same recipe, only made into long buns. They are also soft, whole wheat buns for a healthy alternative to store bought buns. I tried store bought whole wheat hot dog buns and they were terrible – dry and heavy. These are light as a feather but again, if you want to make them white, just use my simple white bread with egg recipe. But since my soft whole wheat loaf is so popular, I hope you’ll try these healthier whole wheat hot dog buns. Click here for the recipe, – Jenny Jones
Can’t find yeast? Need to make bread? Here is a bread recipe that uses no yeast, instead using baking soda and buttermilk for a fast and easy loaf, good for sandwiches or toast. When I say “fast” check this: without yeast there is no rising time so the whole recipe, start to finish, takes 35 minutes!
This is basically my version of Irish soda bread so don’t expect it to taste like yeast bread. It might remind you of buttermilk biscuits. I used it for a salmon sandwich yesterday and had it toasted today with breakfast. Most soda breads don’t use eggs but I found that adding the egg makes it lighter and rise more; otherwise, it turned out more dense.
And I tried it with both real buttermilk and with a substitute of milk + white vinegar and I preferred the real buttermilk version. On the bright side, buttermilk should be easier to find than yeast these days. So bottom line, you’ll get the best result using real buttermilk and the egg but if you want to avoid the egg there are lots of Irish soda bread recipes available online for you to choose.
Bread made with yeast is ideal but for anyone in quarantine who can’t find yeast, this is my best version of bread without yeast. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
Where’s all the bread? The shelves are empty these days and most of us can’t buy bread. That’s why I’m here! ? If you’ve never baked bread before, I’m here to say you can do it. My bread recipes are very popular because they’re easy. You’ll see a lot of comments like, “This is the first time I’ve ever baked bread and I’m never buying store bought again.”
To help first time bread makers, I’ve put together a list below of some of my easiest and most popular bread recipes. The silver lining in the bread shortage is that you might like your homemade bread so much, you may never go back! Everyone, take care and be well.
Simple Whole Wheat Bread (pictured above)
Faster No Knead Whole Wheat Bread
Kohl’s sells a Dutch oven from Food Network for around $60 (oven safe to 500°F). The ideal size, 5-quart, is on sale now (March 21) online for $48. THIS IS NOT A PAID ENDORSEMENT, JUST SHARING INFORMATION.
This is no ordinary focaccia. It’s not the soft kind that you bake in a pan. This is focaccia the way I like it: thin and crispy. It’s like a slice of pizza without the pizza stuff. I have only been able to accomplish this using a baking stone and a pizza peel, and a very hot oven. That’s how they make those great pizzas at Italian restaurants. They use very hot ovens, and slide the pizzas in using a wooden peel like this.
Parchment paper is a must for two reasons. One, it makes pressing the dough into a circle easier because the dough sticks to the paper. And two, it makes it a breeze to slide the dough onto the hot baking stone. The parchment will turn dark from the high heat as you can see in the recipe photo. My focaccia recipe is quicker than most, taking only 90 minutes start-to-finish. As long as I don’t need my oven for cooking dinner, I can make this incredible focaccia and time it to be ready to eat with our salad.
You can make traditional rosemary focaccia or use a store-bought blend of Italian herbs. I actually use both. I mix them into the dough for lots of Italian flavor, and then put a little more on top. Some of the spices on top fall off but the dough has enough flavor inside to make up for any of that. I like the result better with bread flour so that’s the only one I use.
Another good thing is that if you don’t eat it all (what are the chances, really?) you can re-crisp it the next day directly on the oven rack at 350 degrees for about 8 minutes. It has never taken me more than 90 minutes to make this fabulous crispy Italian focaccia. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
It seems like everyone in the world is making no knead bread and it’s no wonder. I make it all the time myself. I have my favorites like multi-grain and 10-grain but today I made a whole wheat loaf and it’s just so good and so easy. I often use the overnight method because it’s ready for baking first thing in the morning.
Whole wheat Dutch oven bread doesn’t bake as tall as the white version but it’s still delicious and hearty, like the farm breads I grew up on. If you haven’t tried it yet, I urge everyone to try some of my high fiber no knead breads, like this no knead whole wheat loaf. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones
I only make this holiday bread once a year (okay, maybe twice ?) because it may be called bread but let’s face it… it’s dessert. Here are a few progress photos of how to make my Spiral Chocolate Cinnamon Christmas Bread. First, you divide the dough in half, roll & press each half into a rough 9 x 9-inch square, and spread the chocolate/butter mixture all the way to the edges.
Next, you cover each half with the brown sugar/cinnamon/cocoa mixture, all the way to the edges.
Now roll each of them up, starting at the right and left edges, rolling them towards each other. It’s a little messy but that’s okay. Oh, one more thing. You can also scatter about 2 tablespoons of chocolate chips on each half before rolling them up.
The fun part is twisting the logs into a loaf. Bring the logs together (it doesn’t matter where the seams go) and twist them together 3 or 4 times (like you’re wringing out a towel) to make a spiral, but messy, loaf. Tuck the edges under and plop it into your parchment paper-lined loaf pan.
Bake for 30 minutes but after 15 minutes, put a foil tent on top to avoid over-browning. I hope these photos are helpful. For the recipe click here. – Jenny Jones