Fresh bread on a Sunday morning

There is nothing better than the smell of freshly baked bread on a Sunday morning or any morning.

It has become a tradition in our house that every a few Sundays I wake up early and bake bread. In the summertime, I use an outdoor oven I brought with me from Lebanon, and in the winter, I use my indoor oven in the kitchen.

A lot of people may find making bread a daunting task, but it is not. All it takes is the will to make, a little time and a good recipe that you like.

I developed my recipe from the urge to duplicate an old recipe for Mashateeh or flatbread that peasants used to make in the old days in the Middle East. After a few tries, I got to where I like both taste and texture.

It includes flour, yeast, water, oil, salt, and cracked wheat. I mixed it together in a large electric mixer and I let it do the kneading as well. It takes about 15 minutes. I cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour. When it is ready, I shape it by hand and bake it.

I use non-GMO flour to keep the bread on the healthy side. I buy it online. Sometimes I buy the wheat berries and grind them at home for a fresh taste. I also buy Emmer or Einkorn, hard wheat flour, as well. Emmer and Einkorn are ancient wheat that is rich with nutrients and have not been modified. Click here for more in Emmer and Einkorn. 

For non-GMO flour, I use King Arthur organic all-purpose flour. I buy it form Amazon to save on shipping.

Now, my kids help with trying their hands on shaping the dough and watch intently until it comes out of the oven. They love it too. Click here for more photos.

Here is the recipe I use to make bread. It works for me. Try to use it and modify it to your liking. 

Bread recipe

7 cups bread flour: including one cup of Spelt flour, one cup of Millet, one cup emmer and one cup of barley flour, all non-GMO and three cups of non-GMO all purpose flour. You can adjust these measurements to your liking. Some people do not like the taste of hard wheat or barley. If that is the case, you can skip it.

3 cups of warm water

1 cup of cracked wheat or cracked barley 

1 cup of olive oil

1 tbs yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbs sugar

1 tbs of Kaak spice (optional)

1/4 cup anise seeds

1/4 cup sesame seeds

Place yeast and sugar in warm water and let it develop for a few minutes in a mixer.

Turn on the mixer; add oil, 5 cups of flour, cracked wheat, anise seeds, sesame seed, and salt. Let it mix well. Change to the dough hook and add the rest of the flour gradually. The machine will knead the dough for about 15 minutes until it becomes elastic. Keep the dough a little bit sticky, it would yield better bread. Cover it for about two hours with a towel until it rises. Shape bread to your liking using oil and sesame seeds. 

Bake until golden brown.

For baking:

Preheat oven to 510 degrees F. I do not use convection setting because it dries out the bread instead of baking.

It is best if you have a separate bake and broil heating source.

Bake using bottom heat for about 8 minutes at 500 degrees F

Broil on high setting for about two minutes or until golden brown. Keep an eye on the bread on this setting because it is very hot and you could burn the bread easily.

I use a steel metal for baking. I shape the bread with my hands using oil and sesame seeds, and when the oven is hot, I place the dough on the hot metal sheet to bake on the first rack for 8 minutes and then I transferred it to the third rack, two racks under the broiler, to brown.

Note: Two things make good bread: How well it rises and hot oven temperature. Bread tastes better on old fashion heat instead of convection heat.

Fresh bread on a Sunday morning