My NEW Homemade Bread in a Jar! 52 Method 7 Day 9 Grain Bread Mix

 
Today for Mix Monday and cooking with food storage I thought I'd share with you the newly perfected recipe I've developed for bread mix! I know...don't pass out. However, this is one that has been a long time coming and well...very convenient to have around! I really love being able to put 4 cups of this mix in a quart-size mason jar and know that it is perfect for one gorgeous 10-inch loaf of bread, or a dozen homemade hamburger buns, or hot dog buns. It's great for pizza, breadsticks, pretzels and anywhere I need dough!

 Chef Tess Original  9 Grain Bread Dough Mix

Yield 20 cups mix (5 loaves of bread)

1 c instant potato flakes

1 c granulated honey or sugar

1 c instant non-fat dry milk

1T Salt

1 c   Powdered Butter

3 c 9-grain flour (fine milled 9 Grain Cereal) or Oat flour

13 c  high gluten flour or Whole Wheat Flour*

4 cups of mix in a quart size mason jar with an oxygen absorber is shelf-stable 3-5 years and will make 1 loaf of bread or a dozen rolls.

*This wheat flour is fine milled hard red wheat flour. You can make the mill your own if desired by milling whole white wheat in your finest mill setting.

Baking Directions:

To prepare one loaf, combine 4 cups mix with 1 tsp  instant yeast and 1 1/3 cup cool water*. Knead 3-5 minutes by hand. Mix according to directions. Put in an ungreased gallon size bowl and allow to rise (covered) 1 1/2-2 hours. hours. Form into a loaf and place in a greased 8-inch loaf pan. Allow rising 1 hour or until doubled in size. Bake 425 degrees 15 minutes. Reduce heat and bake 350 degrees 20 minutes.

OR...Chill dough in the fridge in a  gallon size covered container until ready to use after your first knead. Up to 7 days.

* 2 cups water if whole wheat flour is used.

Overnight no knead bread: Combine 4 cups mix with ¼ tsp instant yeast and 1 1/3 cups cool water*. Mix well, about 3 minutes. Allow raising 8-10 hours in a covered container. Form into a loaf and allow to raise 2 hours or until doubled in size. Bake 425 degrees 15 minutes. Reduce heat and bake 350 degrees 20 minutes. If this sounds like your cup of tea, you will love the 4 Ingredient No Knead Bread as well.

*2 cups water if whole wheat flour is used.

For 5 loaves: Combine full mix with 6 2/3 cup
s cool water and 2T yeast. Knead 5-7 minutes. Form into a ball and put in a food-grade bucket in the fridge up to 7 days. Punch down dough daily. Use anywhere I call for 5 day bread dough throughout this blog.

There you go. Make some great bread my darlings!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Righteous Morning Muffins...9 Grain Carrot Cake

All right. I admit it. I have a viscous weakness for carrot cake. Evil little confection. How can something so chuck full of vegetables be so danggum evil? What is it about that fluffy spiced carrot and nut confection that makes me go weak in the knees? Sigh... Cuss. Cuss.  It's a tedious balance between love and hate that I have for carrot cake.   If I believed in reincarnation, I'd think I was a rabbit who lived at the nut house in a former life. Seriously. I bet I'd have been cute. Ya know...with a button nose and some floppy ears and all the carrots and nuts I could eat. Do rabbits eat nuts? You thought I was talking about the loony-bin huh?  Well. There's a special place reserved for me there too...with nice rubber wallpaper. {black and white polka-dots on it}...
Here's the deal-i-ohhhh. I love carrot cake, enough that I thought I needed to make it for breakfast. Not that there's anything wrong with carrot cake for breakfast right? In Chef-Tess land, all things are possible. Sniff the air in Chef Tess Land. It sells like carrots and spice...and a little bit of crazy. 

I went back in the blog and realized...yup. I'm carrot cake girl. Look at them:
Carrot Cake Breakfast pudding,
 Low Fat Carrot Cake Cookies,
 Cranberry Carrot Cake With Lemon Cream Sauce
Sourdough Carrot Cake with Warm Cream Cheese Lemon Sauce
Snackin' Dino Carrot Cake
Caramel Filled Carrot Cupcakes with Toffee and Candied Pecans
I need more for breakfast right? (This is where you nod your head and just agree. It's safer that way.) I need less fattening good-for-me carrot cake. I need carrot cake that won't make my "bum" look big. Seriously. Is it so much to ask for? In working with my 9 Grain Baking Mix I realized I had created my own solution. This is a low fat, whole grain muffin with added corn bran, flax seed and chia seed so I get my fiber and my omega-oils. They are sweetened naturally with a zero carb natural sweetener. They are a moist delicious solution to my carrot cake obsession. See. I knew it could be done. 

Chef Tess' Righteous Morning Carrot Cake Muffins

2 cups 9 Grain Baking Mix 

1 cup granular erythritol (sugar free natural sweetener)

1/3 cup corn bran

2T Flax Seed

2T white Chia Seed

2 tsp Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend

2tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cup water

2 cups fine shredded carrot (about 2 large carrots)

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large half gallon size bowl, combine the baking mix, erythritol (sugar will work in it's place), corn bran,seeds and spice blend. Add the vanilla and water. Stir until just combined. Fold in the shredded carrots.  Fill 12 muffin cups 3/4 of the way full. Bake in 350 degree oven 20-22 minutes until muffins are golden brown and spring back when you touch them lightly (don't burn yourself.). 

Serve warm or wrap when they cool and store them in an airtight container. Yield 1 dozen muffins. (see nutritional info below)

There you go. Make righteous morning muffins carrot cake muffins for breakfast. You know I love you right? See...I really do. I shared my carrot cake. That's an act of supreme love right there.  Now I need to go pick out some nice rubber wall-paper.  Get your printable recipe kitchen wall paper here.

Nutritional information for 1 muffin.

Calories: 104

Total fat: 2.2 g

Cholesterol: 15 mg

Sodium: 20 mg

Potassium: 192 mg

Total carbohydrate: 18.7g

Dietary Fiber:   5 g

sugars: o.0 g

Protein: 4.5 g

Always My Very Best,

Your Friend Chef Tess

Savory 10 grain, Quinoa and Herb French Onion Muffins

My friend Stephanie F. made some quinoa muffins for me to taste recently and I loved the idea of making a whole grain muffin using cooked quinoa in the batter so much! The little chewy pieces in the muffins add a great chewy texture as well as a great amount of complete protein and fiber. So. Thank you darling Stephanie's for the idea!  I decided to use some cooked quinoa (How to Cook Quinoa Tutorial) and some of my homemade French Onion Soup Mix to prepare some rather righteous muffins (If I do say so myself). They're lightly sweet but have just the right balance of hearty grain and onion. You get just a hint of French herbs when you make the soup mix with Herbs de Provence instead of parsley. I always make it that way. 

Serve them hot with crisp cool salad or a bowl of soup and you'll be happy. I promise. I can also promise that Ace ate 5 muffins in one sitting and had so much fiber that he...um...never-mind. 

Chef Tess 
Savory 10 Grain, Quinoa and Herb French Onion Muffins
3 cup Chef Tess 9 Grain All Purpose Baking Mix
1/2 cup granulated erythritol (zero calorie natural sweetener)
2 cup cooked quinoa (measure one cup after cooking)
1/4 cup homemade  French Onion Soup Mix 
1 1/3 cup water
2T garlic or lemon infused olive oil
1/2 tsp  Chef Tess Romantic Italian Seasoning

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine baking mix, erythritol, cooked quinoa and onion soup mix in a quart size bowl.  Add water and mix just until combined. Scoop into oiled muffin tins, each muffin 3/4 way. Bake in a hot even 20-25 minutes until golden brown and muffins spring back when touched gently. In a small bowl, combine olive oil and Chef Tess seasoning. Brush the tops of the muffins with the olive oil combination. Serve warm. Keep any left overs in the freezer for later use. 

There you go. Make some warm divine muffins of love and glory. Try not to pass out. 

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

My 9 Grain All Purpose Baking Mix for Muffins, Pancakes and Cornbread

In anticipation of my upcoming class on April 28th called "Grain Mixology" and how to use pre-blended grains from Honeyville Grain. I'm going to be sharing some of my favorite things. One of which is this  9 grain mix. In the past, I've shared my recipe for a homemade baking mix that I call "All Purpose Baking Mix" here . As delicious as that mix has been to use, I'm going to have to say good -bye to it for a long time. Not that there's anything wrong with baking with white flour or even soft white wheat flour in that recipe, I just have found a new love with my new whole grain version of the mix that has given me light muffins, fluffy pancakes and hearty homemade corn bread that I can honesty call a light tasting, whole grain, no sugar added, almost fat free delight to eat. You control the ingredients. I use soymilk powder in mine that is non-gmo and delicious. You can also use almond milk in place of the liquid if you would like. All I know, is that I've been eating these sugar free, low fat muffins most of this last week. I've made variations on the recipe and used the base mix. They're moist. I'm hooked. 

Chef Tess 9 Grain All Purpose Baking Mix
 for Muffins, Pancakes and Cornbread

9 cup  9 grain flour (9 grain mix milled into flour in my grain mill)

1 cup instant non-fat dry milk or soymilk powder

1 cup  egg powder

1 cup granulated erythritol  (zero calorie natural sweetener)

1/3 cup baking powder

2T salt

Basic 9 Grain Muffins: One dozen large muffins: pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Combine 4 cups 9 grain baking mix with 1 ¾ cup water. Mix until a smooth batter is created.  Line a standard size muffin pan with 12 muffin liners and lightly mist the pan with a non-stick spray. Scoop muffin batter into muffin pan divided evenly between twelve muffins.  Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and muffins spring slightly when touched.

9 Grain Apple-Pecan Spice Muffins with Crumb topping:

Pre-heat oven to 350  degrees. Combine 4 cups 9 grain muffin mix with 1 ¾ cup water, 1 1/2 cup shredded apples, ½ cup chopped pecans,  1 tsp vanilla, and 2 tsp Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East spice blend. Batter will be thick. Divide between 24 well oiled muffin cups. Top with crumb topping*. Bake 22-25 minutes.

*Crumb topping: ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup 4 grain rolled mix (or quick oats), ½ cup granulated erythritol, 3T melted butter, 1T water. Combine until chunky.  Sprinkle generously on top of muffins.

Peanut Butter and Jelly 9 grain Muffins 

Combine 4 cups of the 9 grain baking mix with 3/4 cup peanut butter powder. Add 2 cups water. Stir until well combined and let batter sit about 10 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a muffin pan. Scoop pan to almost full with batter and then lightly mist the top of the batter with oil. Make an indent in the top with your thumb. Fill with your favorite jam.

Crumble topping is optional...but it's just yummy. Combine 1/3 cup 9 grain mix, 1/4 cup Erythritol and 2T melted butter or flavored olive oil.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Basic 10 grain Pancakes:

Combine 1 cup 9 grain mix, 1 Tablespoon whole grain Teff and ¾ cups water. Cook on a hot griddle that has been lightly oiled. I love them with a devilish drizzle of Choke Cherry infused Honey. It's just evil. 

Basic Sweet 9 grain Cornbread Muffins (with Peach Mango Jalapeno filling)

Combine 1 ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup yellow cornmeal and ½ cup granulated erythritol in a quart size bowl. Add ¾ cup cold water and combine well.  
Filling (optional): Make a small  well in the top of the muffin and add a tsp of homemade Peach Mango Jalapeno jam or jam of your choice. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Divide between 12 well greased muffin cups. Bake 18-22 minutes until golden brown.

Basic Savory Bacon, Cheese Corny  Cornbread Muffins:
Combine 1 ½ cup 9 grain baking mix, ½ cup yellow cornmeal and 1 tsp Chef Tess all purpose seasoning in a quart size mixing bowl.  Add ½ cup of your favorite cheese, ¼ cup real bacon bits, minced onion ½ cup Freeze dried corn.

 Add 1 ½ cup cool water to the dry ingredients and allow to sit for 10 minutes (to hydrate the corn). 

  Divide between 12 well oiled muffin tins. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 18-22 minutes until golden brown. Optional delightful touch...paint the tops of these little gems with a little melted butter or olive oil and then sprinkle generously with BBQ rub of your choice. I prefer D-dog's.

I made a few other variations on the muffins...but I think this is enough for one post. Yes there will be more to follow. 

Get the printable version Here.

There you go. Make more muffins!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess

Homemade 9 grain Tortilla Mix

 Since I'm teaching a class this morning at Honeyville Farms on how to make many different kinds of tortillas, I thought I'd share this quick and easy recipe for 9 grain tortillas here on the blog! I realized that though I had the sprouted wheat tortillas, the Corn Masa Tutorial, homemade corn tortilla tutorial, and the Flour Tortilla Tutorial, I had never done a basic multi-grain tortilla here for folks to enjoy. I'm sorry about that.  I am! There's no excuse. Plus,  I live in the Southwestern USA...and we eat a lot of Mexican food. Many of  my dearest friends are here from Mexico and we share some good love, good food and good laughs! One of those dear friends named Alba taught me how to make tortillas in the traditional Mexican style. It's a little different than the way I grew up but they always turn out tender, flaky and never need extra flour on the counter top to keep them from sticking! The secret is boiling the water and having it boiling when you add it to the dry mix. That's a big secret.  It never fails however...that my life as a baker ends up with me making a lot of dough balls. How is that? 

Chef Tess 9 Grain Tortilla Mix
Mix ingredients:
3 cups Mountain Mills Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups 9 grain flour (it can be made by running 9 grain mix through a grain mill on the finest flour setting)
1 cup organic Spectrum shortening OR powdered shortening
1 T baking powder
1T real salt 

To make the mix: Combine dry ingredients. If you use the organic shortening, you need to cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender or a stiff wire whisk until it's in small pea-like sized pieces. 
Yields 2 mixes, 3 cups each. Each mix will make 8, 10 inch tortillas. 

To Prepare: Bring 1 cup of water to a boil. Put tortilla mix in a heat-proof bowl and pour boiling water into dry mix. Stir with a spoon until well combined. Let dough sit 5 minutes and then knead by hand until supple (about 1 minute). You will not need flour on your counter top. Boiling the water will partially cook the starches and cause the dough to be more workable and is the most traditional method for making flour tortillas. 

Preheat a griddle while you are rolling out the tortillas, about 3 minutes. Cook the tortillas on one side and then turn over.

 Place in a covered pot or tortilla warmer to keep them moist an pliable. 

 Enjoy!

There you go! Make some homemade tortillas! 9 grain tortilla mix Printable Recipe. If you missed the class, you can get the Printable Class Notes. Love. Love. Love.

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess