Whole Wheat Ruby Bread - Beetroot Bread

Whole Wheat Ruby Bread

Why I decided to call this humble beetroot studded bread ,the most noble of  the jewels is no mystery  ...the lovely pink color is self explanatory.  But there is another reason to it and a very valid one too.I am not taking this too far and believe you me, this bread was made for a little girl who is lovingly called Ruby at home and loves all things pink. Not only pink dresses and tiff ins and bottles..the love extends to pink tooth brush to hair brush to strawberries and to the frustrating 'I will only eat pink things today.' 
After her exasperated mother confided in me about this picky eater, we hit upon this grand idea of beetroot bread...After ten days and three loaves of beetroot bread, I was told about how wonderful mealtimes have been all this while.
Beetroot toast with garlic butter and milk
Beetroot bread sandwich with paneer stuffing
Beetroot Bread pakoras
Beetroot Bread with cucumber
and...what not...

It is a baker's delight to discover a loyal customer...the humble baker ,in turn can at least show the love back by naming the invention after that cute customer..
Here goes my Ruby Bread  

Ingredients

· 3 cup wholewheat flour
. 4 tsp sugar
. 1 tsp salt
. 1/4 tsp baking powder

·  1 cup grated beetroot
. 2tsp ghee
. 2 tsp active dry yeast
. 1 cup luke warm milk

Instructions

1. Take a big bowl,put sugar ,flour ,baking powder,and yeast together and give a good stir. Add the grated beetroot and mix. I was aiming for a nice pink color and did not squeeze the juice out. Also I feel the good nutrition would come down if you remove the juice.However if you are looking for a bread with regular color and studded with ruby flakes of beetroot, go ahead and squeeze out the juice,before adding to the flour.

2. Add the milk in batches and give everything a good mix. Place the dough on your working platform and knead for ten minutes.

3. Towards the end of kneading, mix the ghee and salt and knead it into the dough. You can use any shortening of your choice..butter, oil..anything.

4.Cover the dough and leave in a warm spot to prove. Once the dough has doubled in volume(generally forty minutes to an hour) ,gently deflate with your hands and form a loaf by folding the sides like an envelope.

5. Grease a tin loaf(I use 8 x 4 inch) and place the loaf in the tin with seam side down. Keep aside for half an hour to rise till the edge of the tin.

6.Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Now this is optional but worth trying - Just before you place the bread in the oven, gently spray some water on the top of the loaf. Do not use force to apply water ,otherwise the loaf will deflate. This is done to have a moist loaf.

7.Bake for 30-35 minutes..The bread is done when you get a hollow sound on knocking the top of the loaf. 

8.Once you remove the bread from the oven, Immediately brush it with  butter and remove it from the tin. If you leave it in the tin, the steam gets trapped making the bottom of the bread all soggy.

9.Cool completely before you slice the bread. 

 

 

Another Chocolate muffin..Ground oats and Wheat Bran

Ground Oats and Wheat Bran Chocolate muffin

 I can't get enough of chocolate. It is my son's favourite flavour and for me ..the second favourite, coffee being my first love. But hey..who cares what the adults love, it is the toddler who rules the roost. So chocolate it is. I keep trying various ways to make it healthy and wholesome. Here is another winner of a recipe.

The recipe took shape out of sheer necessity. My microwave is broken and I had to use the stove to melt chocolate and butter. One thing led to another and I landed up with another luscious recipe to pack for my little one's snacks for school
The recipe makes six decent sized muffins. 

 Ingredients

 

• 50 gms dark chocolate(I use Amul)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tsp coffee powder
• 2/3 cup cane sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup ground oats(give a quick pulse in the grinder to the quaker oats)
• 1/3 cup Whole wheat
• 2 tsp wheat bran (ordered from Amazon)
• 2 tsp cocoa powder(used Hersheys)
•  1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• chocolate chunks/chips to top

Instructions

1. In a saucepan,heat the milk. When the milk starts boiling, tip in the butter.Once the butter has melted(in a matter of a moment) switch off the gas. Add the chocolate and whisk to a homogenous mixture.Mix the instant coffee granules.
2. Add sugar and mix nicely. The mixture should have cooled by now. If not wait for it cool before you break  in the egg.
3.Break in the egg and give a nice stir to the entire mixture.
4. In a separate bowl,Sieve in the dry ingredients together ie whole wheat flour, ground oats, wheat bran ,cocoa powder,baking powder and baking soda together.
5. Add the dry mix to the chocolate batter in batches and mix gently.

     Scoop out the batter in a greased muffin tray and top it with chocolate chunks. I use chocolate chips generally but when I run out of it ,I conveniently break the amul dark chocolate bars with my rolling pin and use the resulting chocolate chunks.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 170 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Whole Wheat Chocolate muffins

Whole wheat Chocolate Muffins

  

This is my go to recipe for packing a snack for my son for his tiffin or for his any time cake request.I make this pretty often and I am really wondering what took me so long to get around posting about this. It is a healthy one bowl recipe that is so simple to stir up in a jiffy, and it is a very forgiving recipe too. You cant go wrong with this..

I have used brown sugar and date syrup here and it is just sweet and not super sweet. Feel free to increase the sugar if you like more sweeter muffins.
Also I have used coffee to give more depth to the chocolate flavour, feel free to omit it if coffee is not your thing. I have not used any vanilla here as I do not like adding artificial flavours when the goodies are meant for children.
If you have a vanilla bean or a good vanilla extract(not essence), go ahead and use it ..it will add a lovely flavour.
This recipe is so fast that you ought to start by first switching the oven for preheating and your batter will be ready in the muffin cups within five minutes to pop in the oven..

Ingredients

 

·   80 gms dark chocolate(I use Amul)
. 1/4 cup butter
. 1/2 cup sour curd

. 1 tsp baking powder
. 1/4 tsp baking soda

. 1/4 cup sugar
. 1/4 cup date syrup
. 2 eggs
. 3/4 cup whole wheat
. 1/4 cup ragi flour
. 1 tsp instant coffee 
chocolate chunks/chips to top

 

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Instructions

1. Melt chocolate and butter together in a mixing bowl in the microwave.
    This should take roughly a minute in the microwave. Stir to ensure that there are no lumps.Mix the instant coffee granules.
2. Add sugar and date syrup. Mix nicely
3.Break in the two eggs and give a nice stir to the entire mixture.
4. Sieve in the dry ingredients ie atta, ragi,baking powder and baking soda together.Mix gently.
5. The mixture will be very dry. Add the curd and mix. This is not a very flowy batter and has to be scooped out into the muffin cups.It is not of pourable consistency. Scoop out the batter in a greased muffin tray and top it with chocolate chunks. I use chocolate chips generally but when I run out of it ,I conveniently break the amul dark chocolate bars with my rolling pin and use the resulting chocolate chunks.
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Orange scented Whole wheat bread with Apricot swirls

Orange Scented Whole Wheat Bread with Apricot Swirls

 


Glorious Sunrise 
casting Orange onto clouds
Warmth of a routine day soon
Golden skies shimmer
in the afternoon
Red blood sunset
wistful the heart gets
charcoal black night
Off go the lights

This gorgeous loaf is very aromatic and sweet. It can easily pass off as a cake and may not be essentially a breakfast item but would work very well for the evening tea..specially if you have a few friends visiting for an evening cuppa...Love laughter..loaf..what else do you need to make your life beautiful? The bread is very zesty and has a very strong orange after taste which compliments the core of sweet apricot preserve very well.

Ingredients

·  2 and 1/2cup wholewheat flour
. 1/2 cup All purpose flour 
. 2 tsp active dry yeast
. 1+3 tsp Sugar
. 2 tsp salt
. 2 eggs
. 1 orange- zest and juice
. 2/3 cup lukewarm water

. 1 tsp cinnamon powder
. 5 tsp apricot preserve
. 1/3 cup brown sugar

. 

Instructions

1.In a big mug, heat half a cup of water in the microwave for ten seconds, stir in one spoon of sugar and yeast and keep aside for ten minutes.

2. In a big mixing bowl, mix the flours,sugar, salt,orange zest and juice and eggs. Add the frothy yeast mixture and combine everything together .
   3.Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on your work surface. Knead it for good ten minutes till it becomes smooth and elastic.. Put the dough in a greased bowl and keep it covered for an hour or till the dough doubles in volume.

4. Take the dough out, gently deflate it with your hands.Divide the dough into two parts and roll them into rectangles.

 5.Leaving an inch of border on the sides, spread the Apricot preserve and sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon powder over it. Now roll it tightly like a jelly roll. 
                          

6.  Place the rolls in greased loaf pans and wait for forty minutes to an hour to rise and double up in volume.
7.Preheat the oven  to 200 degrees for ten  minutes and bake the bread at the same temperature for half an hour.
8. You can brush it with oil  to get a nice shine on the crust once you bring the bread out of the oven.
   

                       

Walnut and Cranberries bread with Ragi and Oats Flour

Walnut and Cranberries Bread with Ragi and Oats' Flour

  The rains are here. 
I stood at the window all morning watching the rain drops dance on the roof tops of the neighbouring houses.
 The birds babbling while taking showers, the butterflies cornered under a shade...
the dog refusing to join his little human friend in the open..the ginger cat scowling...
the bathed greenery around , the cool fragrant air filling up my nostrils...
And then I heard my little one waking up and blinked.
Another day had begun ..
But echoes of my heartbeats were still rhyming with the raindrops ...
One good morning hug from the little sleepy head and the thought crops..
I am holding my own heart in my own arms  .

Back to the bread. It is a very healthy and a hearty bread and fairly easy to put together too. One must remember to knead well and not take any short cut with the kneading part. If dumping everything in one bowl in one go ,makes you feel very messyand the dough becomes difficult to handle then I would suggest to add the lukewarm milk in batches .Stir in one fourth of a cup at a time,  knead it into the flour, followed by another one fourth cup of milk and kneading again till you finish the entire cup of milk. 
I love cinnamon flavoured bread but you can omit it if it does not excite you. You can put other nuts of your choice instead of  walnuts.
This recipe makes one 9x5 inch loaf.

Ingredients

· 1 cup wholewheat flour
. 1 cup oats flour
. 1 cup Ragi flour

·  1/3 cup sugar or less if you want
. 1/4 cup lukewarm water
. 2 tsp oil
. 2 and1/2 tsp active dry yeast
. 2 tsp cinnamon powder(optional)
. 1 and1/2 tsp salt

. 1 cup lukewarm milk
. 1/2 cup walnuts chopped
. 1/2 cup cranberries

Instructions

1.Take a big mixing bowl. Put lukewarm water, stir in sugar and yeast . Give it a good mix and keep it aside.
2. After ten minutes the mixture will become foamy. Apart from Oil, add everything else. Continue stirring till everything comes together.
3.Take the dough out of the bowl and put it on your work surface. Knead it for good ten minutes till it becomes smooth and elastic.Add the oil and knead for another five minutes.Remember it is the kneading that will develop the gluten and give the bread a soft texture. Put the dough in a greased bowl and keep it covered for an hour or till the dough doubles in volume.

4. Take the dough out, gently deflate it with your hands and form a loaf.
    Put the loaf in a greased bread mould and wait for it to rise.
5. Bake the risen loaf at 200 degrees  for half an hour. or till the bread sounds hollow when tapped.When done immediately take it out of the oven and brush it with oil to seal in the moisture and give the crust some sheen.
6.Cool well before  slicing.

Whole wheat potato stuffed buns

Whole wheat buns with potato stuffing

  

May is the month

Of sunshine and Flowers

Birds in their nests,

And one or two showers.

Games to play and kites to fly

Or just looking at the sky.

We could spend a year this way

If the year were made of May...

Ingredients

 for the bun

·   3 cup wholewheat flour
. 1/4 cup lukewarm water

. 1 and 1/2 tsp salt
. 2 tsp sugar
. 2 tsp active dry yeast 
. 2 tsp olive oil

. 1 cup lukewarm milk
. chilli flakes, chopped coriander, carom seeds,onion or garlic powder-optional flavouring for the bread
                          

for the stuffing
. 3 large boiled potatoes smashed
. 1 carrot grated
. 1/2 cup cooked green peas(I defrosted my safal peas in the microwave
.  2 green chillies (minced)
. 1 onion chopped fine
. 1 tsp grated ginger
. 1/2 tsp coriander powder
. 1/4 chilli powder
. salt to taste
. 1/2 cumin seeds
. asoefetida  a pinch
.1/2 tsp garam masala
. 2 tsp oil
                              

Instructions

1.Take a big mixing bowl, stir sugar and lukewarm water and yeast and keep aside for a few minutes. The yeast will froth up with bubbles in a few minutes. If that does not happen, the yeast is not good. Discard and begin afresh.
2. To the frothy yeast mix, add the wholewheat flour, and lukewarm milk  and give it a good stir. Add the garlic powder ,chilli flakes ,coriander leaves etc if using. I picked up a red onion powder while doing grocery shopping last week. While adding, it gave a very promising whiff of flavour but could not be detected in the final product. I used onion powder and chilli flakes, you can use flavours of your choice or leave it as it is. Add salt and more lukewarm milk if the dough feels tight. Add olive oil and knead for another five minutes. Keep this dough covered, in a greased bowl for an hour to double up.
3. For the stuffing, heat oil in a wok on fire. To  the hot oil, add cumin seeds and asoefetida. Once the cumin starts crackling, add onions and cook till soft. Add ginger, chilli, coriander powder and garam masala. Let it fry for a couple of minutes and then add salt. Follow it up with Potatoes, carrot and peas. Mix till there is no moisture and all the flavours are well combined.Take it off the heat and cool for later use

4. Take the dough out, gently deflate it with your hands. Shape the dough into a log and divide it  into 12 pieces.
5. Take one piece,shape it into a disc with your hands, drop a spoonful of the stuffing in the mid. Bring all sides together to form into a ball.Do the same with rest of the pieces and place on a greased baking tray. Rest these for thirty minutes.                      

6. Preheat the oven at 180 degrees and bake the buns for roughly half an hour at the same temperature. Brush them with olive oil immediately after taking them out from the oven. Sprinkle some black pepper on the tops for an extra zing to the buns.