Bread-maker Oatmeal Bread - a no egg recipe

It is late March in Los Angeles.  We are in the midst of the only Worldwide Pandemic that has been seen in generations.  We are "Sheltering in Place" staying in our homes to avoid getting and spreading Covid-19, a disease that is extremely contagious and that kills 2-3% of the people who get it. 

In these times of quarantine, I find myself cooking so much and looking back at our blog which was started to save and share family recipes and memories.  How we came together and cooked for each other will be a memory our family won't soon forget. I feel blessed to have food and bread machines and family.  Now seems like a good time to share again. 

This recipe was adapted from the Bread Machine Baking cookbook to accommodate a lack of certain ingredients.  Unlike at any time in my generation, it is difficult to shop and things like eggs run out quickly.  A quick trip to the store is not taken lightly so we adapt.  The adaptation was a success.  This hearty bread is crunchy on the outside and lighter-than-expected spongy on the inside.  The oats popped up as a nutty detail to chew.  It was good paired as a sandwich with savory insides salami and cheese as well as a sweeter snack with honey.

Bread Machine Oat Bread

1 cup Water
2 1/2 teaspoons Yeast
3/4 cup Steel Cut Oats
1 tablespoon Melted Butter or Vegetable Oil
1 tablespoon Molasses
1 tablespoon of Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 cups of All-purpose Flour

Place the water in the bread-maker
Stir in the Yeast
Add the Steel Cut Oats and let sit for 10 minutes to soften the oats.
Add the rest of the ingredients in order.
Select basic, standard, or white bread on the machine and select start.

Bread Machine Cornbread

I experimented with a Yogurt Cornbread in the Breadmaker.  It turned out sweet, more chewy than a non-yogurt cornbread on the sides, but pretty tasty, and pretty much like a sweet cornbread on the inside.  The flour on the edges are due to my breadmaker's quirks.  The reviews were positive, though.  After two helpings, my daughter said to post it!

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Corn Meal
1/2 Cup Sugar
1 tsp Salt
1 Cup Plain Yogurt
2 TBSP Melted Butter
1/2 Cup warm water
1 tsp Yeast

Breadmaking Again

Again, I attempt a bread-maker bread. This one tastes very good, but is filled with bad for you goodness with extra eggs, sugar and butter.  The texture is crisp and crusty on the outside and more flaky on the inside.  The recipe is close to the Brioche recipe that I make sometimes. It's OK to experiment.

Here is the recipe:

3 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1/3 Cup of Sugar (a bit less than this, really)
1 tsp Salt
3 Large Eggs
3/4-1 Stick of Unsalted Butter - Melted and Cooled
1 Cup Water
1 TBSP Yeast

Add these ingredients to the breadmaker.  Mine works Dry ingredients first, but some machines use the wet ingredients first. I add the yeast on top of the wet ingredients. Set to Basic or White Bread and push start.

Bread Machine Sandwich White Bread

I wanted a good sandwich breadmaker bread for lunch today.  I found a good Sweet Mexican bread recipe, but it seemed too sugary for a tuna sandwich.  I dialed back the sugar, added some yeast and it yielded a nice loaf with a thick crust, that sliced cleanly, and held together well for sandwiches.

Here's the recipe:

• 3 cups flour 
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tbsp sugar  
• 2 teaspoons yeast 
• 1 cup milk  
• 1/4 cup melted butter  
• 1 egg  

Layer the ingredients as your breadmaker suggests, mine uses dry ingredients first as listed.
Set to basic bread setting.

It was no Breadmaker Brioche, but I will surely make this one again.