Bread, Buns and Dough

These recipes are for normal ovens.

Basic Bread

Ingredients:

  • 350ml warm water
  • 500g strong wheat flour (white or whole or mixed)
  • 10g dried yeast
  • 10g salt
  • 2 teaspoons bread spice mix (ground fennel, coriander, cumin, nutmeg)
  • 75g mixed seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, linseed, ...) (optional)

Prepare dough kneading together all ingredients for at least 10 minutes. Add seed mix toward the end. Cover and let rise for at least 1 hour. Knead again, transfer the dough into a bread basket covered with flour. Preheat oven to 220°C and when ready tip loaf onto a baking sheet or stone and bake for 45 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 200°C.

Kartoffelbrot

Ingredients:

  • 400g potatoes for mashing (~4 small-ish ones)
  • 300g strong wheat flour (white or whole or mixed)
  • 7g dried yeast
  • 7g salt
  • 1 teaspoon bread spice mix (ground fennel, coriander, cumin, nutmeg)
  • 2 tablespoons oil

Peel potatoes, cut into rough cubes, and boil in unsalted water until soft. Drain reserving some of the water and mash potatoes. Let cool to room temperature and add 3-5 tablespoons of the water to make a smooth mash.

Add yeast, flour and remaining ingredients and knead together for at least 10 minutes. Cover and let rise for at least 1 hour. Knead again, flour outside, and transfer into a bread basket covered with flour and let rest for another 15-20 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C and when ready tip loaf onto a baking sheet or stone and bake for 45 minutes. After 15 minutes, reduce heat to 180°C.

For best crust, add empty dish at bottom of oven, and add some boiling water when putting in bread.

Sonntagsbrötchen

Ingredients:

  • 300ml warm water
  • 500g strong white wheat flour
  • 10g dried yeast
  • 10g salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • sesame or poppy seeds as topping (optional)

Combine all ingredients in kitchen machine on slow. Add ¾ of the water right away, while adding the rest over time. Knead on medium speed for at least 10 minutes into a strong dough.
Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
Form about 10 - 15 buns, optionally dip top in seeds, and place on a baking sheet thinly covered with butter or oil. Cover and let rest for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 240°C with a casserole or baking sheet with water. When ready bake buns for 20 minutes.
Immediately afterwards, while still hot, spray buns with water.

Recipe adapted from here.

Milchkapsel

Ingredients:

  • 260ml warm milk
  • 450g strong white wheat flour
  • 65g unsalted butter
  • 8g dried yeast
  • 5g salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

Combine all ingredients and knead into a strong dough. Cover and let rest for 30 minutes, knead again and let rest for another 30 minutes.
Place dough in loaf tin, cut the surface lengthwise, and brush top with milk.
Bake for 45 minutes at 180°C. When done let cool slightly before removing from tin and cooling on a cooling rack.

Recipe adapted from here.

Dutch-style Whole Wheat Bread

Whole Wheat Bread
Moist, tasty whole wheat bread.

Ingredients:

  • 300 ml cold water
  • 8 g salt
  • 1 envelope of yeast
  • 500 g whole wheat flour

Put water, salt and yeast in mixing bowl, then add flour and knead for 10 minutes on low speed into a soft, moist dough. Let rest for 45 minutes in a warm place (about 25°C), then give it a quick knead to punch out the air. Let rest for another 45 minutes. Place dought in a rectangular bread pan, and let rise for another 30 minutes while preheating the oven to 220°C. Place bread in oven, and reduce the heat to 200°C. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown, remove from the pan, and let cool on a wire rack.

Swabian Spelt Bread

Ingredients:

  • 250ml boiling water
  • 100g spelt flour
  • 200g spelt flour
  • 200g whole wheat flour
  • 10g dried yeast
  • 200ml warm water
  • 10g salt

Prepare pre-dough by placing the spelt flour in a bowl and dowsing it in boiling water. Stir with a whisk until it forms a slightly rubbery dough (sort of like porridge). Let cool down.

Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, add the pre-dough, and knead well (use a strong kitchen machine). You may need to experiment with the amount of water depending on the flour you use. If the dough is too liquid, add some more flour. Once kneaded into a smooth dough, let it raise for 3 hours in a warm environment (I pre-heat the oven to <50°C, then turn it off). Once or twice during the 3 hours of proofing gently fold the dough. At the end, give it a short kneading, and form 2 small loafs of bread on a baking sheet.

Let sit for another 10-20 minutes, cut a cross in the top, then place at bottom rack in pre-heated oven at 230°C.
After 5 minutes, add a bowl of water in the oven. Remove after about 10-15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 200°C and bake for another 45-50 minutes. Let cool before slicing.

Pfannenkuchen

Ingredients:

  • 200ml milk
  • 200ml water
  • 250g flour
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon of salt

Put all ingredients in a shaker bottle and mix well until there are no more clumps. The dough is supposed to be quite liquid to make thin, crêpe-style pancakes. Bake out in pan with butter.

Zucchini Waffles

Ingredients:

  • 40ml milk
  • 1 egg
  • 100g flour
  • 4g baking powder
  • 40g grated cheese
  • 1 medium zucchini, finely grated
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • garlic, finely chopped
  • salt, pepper

Mix milk, egg, flour, baking powder into a smooth batter. Blend in cheese, zucchini, onion and garlic, and season to taste. Bake in oiled waffle iron till golden brown.

Semmelknödel

Ingredients:

  • 4 dry white buns or baguette (about 250g)
  • 2 eggs
  • 150 ml milk
  • 1 onion
  • 30 g parsley
  • salt, pepper

This is not really a bread, but a dumpling side dish to use old white bread.
Cut bread into small cubes and place in large bowl. Finely dice onion and chop parsley. Sweat the onion and parsley in a pan with some oil without browning them. Add milk and gently heat up but do not bring to a boil. Pour over the bread and combine everything together well. Let soak for at least 15 minutes.
Scramble the eggs and knead into the mix. If too dry add some milk, if too wet add bread crumbs. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large pot bring lightly salted water to a boil. Form tennis ball sized Knödel and gently place them in the water. Immediately reduce heat, cover and let the Knödel soak just below boiling for about 20 minutes. Do not boil or they will disintegrate.