Gluten Free Seedy Loaf

 So yesterday, I got miss sold a brick. an expensive brick. I bought a loaf of gluten free bread from a health food store on the premise (from a overly pushy cashier) it was seedy, soft and fluffy. Rushed home sliced up my special loaf and.... spat it out. ewwww it was like eating dusty, sandy clay topped with seeds. outraged i'd spend £3.50 on dust, and still itching for a good egg salad sammmmich, I took the dough into my own hands a whipped up my own bread...

I had had this warm, fresh out of the oven, and can honestly say its the best bread ive had since becoming GF. actually has  abread texture and is fluffy it is amazing toasted too. oh it just ticks all the boxes. But maybe I'm biased as anything tastes better than the crumbly brick I had earlier, so the bar hasn't been set very high... any way... Bake this.
Ingrediants

• 300g brown GF bread flour mix flour
• 20g coconut flour
• 1 tbsp xantham gum
• 30g sesame seeds
• 15g poppy seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp fast-action dried yeast
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 400ml hand-hot water

Directions

1. Mix the flours with the xantham gum, seeds, and salt in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients.
2. mix with wooden spoon until it forms a sticky dough, then knead for around 1 minute.
3. Transfer to the loaf tin. smooth the top for a nice presentable finish, (unlike me)
4. Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave in a warm place until the dough reaches the top of the tin – approx 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200 C. Remove the cling film and bake in the oven until risen, golden,  around 40 minutes.
6. Tip out of tin on to a wire rack.

 after our supper, me and Beebz headed out for a evening stroll, which turned into a 2 hour walk along the seafront. Just kept on walking. It was a beautiful serene evening.

 On Monday we will be leaving Hastings, the sea, the beach and our flat, as I have taken a new job in the countryside. Its a new chapter in our lives and the first time in 3 years me and Harry wont be living together. But I'm determined to make it work and hopefully it will be like a new adventure.

Once we got back in, I decided that I should really begin the process of packing... the big move is only 4 days away!  but first... some toast, PB and a cuppa.
 Let the procrastination begin.

HOMEMADE BREAD AND BEEBZ GETS A MAKE OVER...

After visiting my salon for a a bit of a dodgey hair chop. Bobbin was looking a little bit small and chilly, so i knitted her a new nautical jumper...

Ahoy there Beebz! doesn't she look chic? Bang on trend with those stripes, girl. Only took a very rainy afternoon to crochet. The pattern i used can be found here.

 Yesterday, whilst twiddling my thumbs during a day of drizzly weather I dusted off the bread maker and was set on baking my own fresh gluten free loaf. the first i used regular GF flour mix but it didn't fair well so i marched out and purchased strong white gluten free flour mix by doves farm, from Holland and Barrats...

First, I poured the liquid ingredients into the bread machine pan: 1 1/4 cup warm water (at 110 to 115 degrees F)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
2 eggs
 Then measured out and added the dry ingredients, adding yeast at the very end.
 2 1/2 cups of strong white gluten free flour
2 teaspoons xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 packet rapid dry yeast or 2 1/4 teaspoons

Then i pressed a button and it started movin' and a bakin' me some homemade warm bread.
I kept peepin' through the widow watching the dough. it was pretty exciting stuff! a couple of hours later the beeper beeped and i had bread. marvellous.
once turned out and sliced it kinda tasted like crumpets... can't wait to toast and butter it up.

Easy peasy herby and cheesey.

I re-made my savoury muffins this afternoon, but in loaf form. We delved in whilst the bread was still warm, smelling herby and the cheese in the mixture was still gooey.
This bread is very addictive so be warned...
Recipe
Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano
pinch of garlic powder
1/2 cup grated cheese (plus extra for topping the loaf)

fresh outta the oven.

•  In a large bowl, blend together the flour, the baking powder, herbs and the salt. 
• Stir in the grated cheese and blend well.
• In a smaller bowl, blend together the milk and the beaten egg. 
• Add the wet ingredients, all at once, to the dry ingredients and combine just until the dry ingredients are moist. Twelve strokes should be enough. Over mixing will cause your muffins to be flat. (i think i over mixed it a bit too much this time.)
• Spoon your batter quickly into the bread tin and bake for approximately 20 minutes. then top with extra grated cheese and bake for a further 10 minutes. 
• Remove from oven and eat! Serve slightly warm with butter.  

Pretzels pronto

There must be something wrong with me, But tonight I wanted something savoury, something crunchy and salty, which is definalty not like me. I needed a salt hit quick...Pretzels were calling.

I have only ever eaten tiny supermarket outta the bag pretzels, so i was looking forward to this challenge, only problem, no yeast to make my dough, dough. Not having quite the right ingredients doesn't stop me. Searched the internet for a while and found me an alternative recipe for baking soda pretz.
Ingredients

• 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tsp milk/ enough to bind dry ingredients to form dough.
• 1 tsp vinegar
• salt and butter (melted) for topping

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, sift together whole wheat flour and baking soda. Stir in milk and vinegar until dough pulls together. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly to form a firm dough.
3. Divide dough into equal pieces. Roll each piece into a long wiggly cylinder approximately 8 inches long. Form into classic pretzel shape. place on lightly greased baking sheets.
4. brush with melted butter and Sprinkle each pretzels with salt, and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 10 minutes. 

I had mine warm with some hummus for dipping.

HAPPY SNACKING.

I'm sure my sweet tooth will be back to cover stuff in chocolate tomorrow.