My hints for good everyday bread

I've been making most of the bread for my family for a few decades now. I use variations on a basic bread recipe and method first learned from the cookbook, "The Enchanted Broccoli Forest." The careful instructions and drawings of the bread-making process in that book were extremely helpful back when my kids were babies and I was figuring all this out. If you are new to bread making, I suggest looking through this book.

Two other hints I have relate to ending up with a healthy everyday bread with good texture. First, I always add pureed fruit, in our house it is usually cooked squash or pumpkin, but apple or pear sauce work well too. I've found fruit in bread helps with a soft and uniform final texture, which I prefer (I know soft bread is horrible to some people ;-) ). For three loaves of bread I use 2 or 3 cups of fruit in place of some of the water. Another ingredient I swear by is dark molasses. This also seems to lead to a nice final texture, and I use only a few tablespoons for my usual 3-loaf process.

Incredibly helpful! I would never have thought to add pureed fruit, and I'd never heard of the Enchanted Broccoli Forest before. Thank you for the helpful tips.

I see a 'The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest' from booksellers, do you by chance know if its worth seeking out the original, vs the new one?

We have originals on our recipe shelf. Along with other original publications by the same author. They are excellent. If you find them in a thrift shop, grab with both hands and be prepared to defend.

I am going to give the pureed fruit a try. I haven't ever added pureed fruit to my yeasted breads though I add it all the time to my quick breads. I too like adding molasses instead of white sugar for a nice flavor dimension

Cody DeBaun wrote:I see a 'The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest' from booksellers, do you by chance know if its worth seeking out the original, vs the new one?

Alas, I've not seen this new edition, but might seek it out. The original book was lost somewhere in the chaos of my young adulthood. I've been cooking vegetarian Indian food for years, but lack a good cookbook for vegetarian food of other types.