Vegan Chocolate Pudding and Oatmeal Bread

I love pudding much more now than I did before I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy at age 12, probably because it is such a huge treat - a 4-pack of chocolate soy pudding is easily $3. Every recipe I looked at was using ingredients that either I couldn't use or I wasn't sure how it would do with soy milk. Then I had a stroke of genius - visit the Silk soy milk website and see what recipes they have! I found a recipe for chocolate pudding, made it, and will definitely make that again! It was creamy, smooth, densely chocolate, not too sweet, and easy. Plus, it used 3 cups of soy milk, and a whole half gallon costs less than $3, so I can certainly make it at home for less than what it costs at the store when I am actually able to find it! This recipe is a keeper!

Chocolate Pudding
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 cups Silk, any flavor (I used Silk original)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp. non-hydrogenated margarine

1. Combine the cocoa, sugar, salt and cornstarch in a saucepan and mix well.
2. Slowly add the Silk, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.  (I added 1/4 c., then another 1/4 c., then added 1/2 c. at a time until all whisked in.)
3. Bring this mixture to a boil over medium heat while whisking constantly. Lower heat to a simmer and cook gently for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until pudding begins to thicken. (It will thicken some when it cools. I took it off heat before it was the consistency of gravy, and cooled it is now the consistency of really thick gravy.)
4. Remove from heat and whisk in the margarine and vanilla.
5. Pour into 1 large bowl or 8 small serving bowls and refrigerate for at least an hour, until thoroughly chilled.
Recipe from http://www.silksoymilk.com/.

I also experimented with oatmeal bread yesterday. Fair warning: the recipe I used from http://www.reciperascal.com/ (the archive storage for breadnet) was not for beginners the way I found it! The recipe directions were very poor, and one ingredient was not included in the directions (listed in the ingredients but the directions never said when to add it). I'm listing my directions, not the original directions for this recipe. It's an easy recipe for a person who understands the basics of breadmaking - with the proper directions! The bread was good. A bit too crusty for my liking, and I didn't watch it and it really browned. The oatmeal the recipe called for putting on the outside looks nice, but it flakes off when you cut it. The interior, though, is definitely the star of the show. It is moist and tender but with great body, firm enough to hold up to a thick layer of jam, but tender enough that your teeth just sink into it and it's feather light across your tongue. It's a light brown, tan color. A and I couldn't discern the honey or the molasses, so I'm not sure why they were each needed since either one would bring the sugars needed to feed the yeast. I will likely try it with just honey to see how it turns out. The "cooked" oatmeal in this bread means it brings a lot of moisture while also bringing a lot of fiber and structure to the bread, and this bread should keep nicely for a few days.

Oatmeal Bread
2 packages dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp loose from the jar)
1/2 c. warm water (120 degrees - 130 degrees - piping hot tap water is usually the right temperature)
1/3 c. shortening
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. boiling water
1 c. quick cooking oats
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. molasses
2 eggs, beaten
5-6 c. all purpose flour

1. Mix together the yeast and the warm water in a bowl. Allow this to sit to activate the yeast.
2. Combine the next six ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring to combine and setting aside to cool to lukewarm.
3. When the oatmeal mixture is cooled to lukewarm, mix in the eggs and 2 cups of flour, and beat well.
4. Add the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough (I needed 3 more cups of flour.).
6. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. (I actually didn't flour the surface but just used the excess flour in my bowl and then didn't need anymore flour.)
7. Place in a greased bowl, turning the dough over once to grease the top. Cover with a towel and let it rise until double in size, 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours.
8. Punch down (this redistributes the yeast and air). Divide dough in half. Cover with the towel and let it rest for 10 minutes.
9. Grease two 9"x5" bread pans and coat the inside with oats (I'll skip the oats part next time). Shape dough into loaves, and place in the pans. Cover with the towel and let rise until double, about 45 minutes.
10.Mix 1 egg white with 1 T water and brush top of the loaves with the egg wash, then sprinkle with oats (I'll skip this part next time too.)
11. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 30 minutes more.

Yeast Breads Make Muscles!

This week my shoulder was almost better, and I could at least use forward strength (as opposed to arm out to the side or back), which meant experiments with yeast breads and kneading! I haven't been posting the recipes because I wasn't 100% satisfied with a couple of the breads I did, although minor tweaking will produce more of what I want, I think. I am also very aware of how many muscles it takes to knead bread dough by hand and how you too could have great looking arms and shoulders if you hand knead bread daily!

First up, chocolate bread. Yep, chocolate bread. This is not exactly a sandwich bread, and I think it is better toasted than straight up, but cut off a fairly thick slice, toast it medium darkness, and slather it with jam or peanut butter, and oh my goodness, what a delight! I suspect that this would also be a very good bread pudding and could make an interesting crouton or bread crumb since the chocolate is not overpowering. I've made this before with hand kneading, and I felt that I had to work in too much flour to keep it from sticking terribly to the counter and to my hands (and flour draws out moisture, making for a more dry, dense loaf). This time, I used my kitchenaid stand mixer to knead it. Don't use the dough hook for the parts of the recipe that say to mix the ingredients in a mixer, use the beaters or paddle attachment, but then switch to the dough hook for kneading, and knead the dough with no additional flour. If you do that, I recommend that when the dough is put in the greased bowl, spray the top of the dough with nonstick cooking spray or rub your oiled hands over it - flipping it was tricky to say the least! I did think that the dough was a bit moister and more airy, so I will do it this way the next time. I did also have the brilliant idea of substituting strong coffee for the cup of water in the recipe, and I'm looking forward to trying that this week! This loaf would also be good studded with tart dried cherries, chopped walnuts, mini chips, etc.

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup baking cocoa
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if you have the jar of yeast)
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk (I used Silk plain soy milk)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butter or margarine
1 egg (1/4 c. Eggbeaters for me!)

1. In a mixing bowl, combine 1-1/4 cups flour, cocoa, sugar, yeast, salt and baking soda.
2. In a saucepan, heat the water, milk, chocolate chips and butter; stir until chocolate is melted. Cool to 120 degrees F-130 degrees F.
3. Add wet ingedients to dry ingredients; beat on medium speed for 2 minutes.
4. Add 1/2 cup flour and egg; beat on high for 2 minutes.
5. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough. II use all the remaining flour, and it is like sloppy play doh.)
6. urn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. (Or use a dough hook and knead for 5-6 minutes, no additional flour needed.)
7. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
8. Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape into loaves. Place in two greased 8-in. x 4-in. x 2-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
9. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until browned. Remove from pans to cool on wire racks.
This recipe came from either http://www.allrecipes.com/ or http://www.recipezaar.com/, I can't quite remember which.

Next was a basic white bread recipe. The biggest problem I had with this recipe was that I baked it for the full time plus an extra few minutes, and both loaves still had a slightly doughy section running through the whole loaf. Frustrating! The bread was still good, doughy section removed. S in particular loves having a thick slice toasted and spread with jam or with butter and cinnamon-sugar. It's a more dense bread, but it had a nice raise, a nice flavor (albeit mild, it is just a simple white bread), nice color (browned well on the top), and it has kept well for several days. This one I will make again, but the baking time will be more like 45 minutes instead of the recommended 25-30 minutes. I did put a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack of the oven to keep the oven a bit more moist, a trick I learned long ago for aiding in rise (the top doesn't harden as quickly, allowing for rise) and in the moistness of the loaf. I might also try this recipe with bread flour to get a chewier, stronger loaf.

White Bread
2 packages (1/4 oz each) active dry yeast (4 1/2 tsp of loose from the jar)
2 c. lukewarm water
1/2 c. sugar
1 T salt
2 eggs, beaten (I used 1/2 c. Eggbeaters)
1/4 c. vegetable or corn oil
6 1/2 - 7 c. all purpose flour

1. Place water in a bowl. Add 2 tsp of the sugar to the water, then sprinkle the yeast on top. Set aside for 5 minutes to let the yeast activate.
2. Combine the activated yeast, remaining sugar, salt, eggs, and oil.
3. Stir in the flour, 1 cup at a time. Add just enough flour to form a pliable, soft dough.
4. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.
5. Place dough into a greased bowl, making sure all the sides are coated. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp cloth, then place in a warm place (70-80 degrees) until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.
6. Punch dough down. Divide in half and shape into two loaves. Place in two greased 9"x5"x3" loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
7. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 (yeah, right, I need to bake for 45!) or until golden brown. Remove from pans; cool on wire racks.

Recipe came from http://www.cookingbread.com/.

Bean Catch Up!

Tuesday morning C was sick, then I headed off to work, so no beans Tuesday. I made up for lost time Wednesday! I tried Idaho Fudge, New England Baked Beans, and Pinto Bean Bread. I have to give thumbs up for all three recipes being easy. The fudge never set, but the flavor is rich and chocolatey, so I'm wondering if my beans had to much moisture (I took them straight out of the crockpot where they were cooking) and will try it again. The baked beans were good and smelled amazing, although S still prefers Bush's baked beans. The bread was very good and smelled absolutely incredible; I will be making this bread again! Each loaf has a cup of mashed pinto beans, adding lots of vitamins, minerals, and protein without making a bread that sits like a lump in your belly.

Idaho Bean Fudge
15 oz can pinto beans (black beans may be used), rinsed and drained
1 c. cocoa powder
2/3 c. butter or margarine, melted
1 T vanilla extract
4 c. powdered sugar
1 c. chopped walnuts
In a blender or food processor, puree beans with butter until smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
Add cocoa, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Beat 3 minutes until thoroughly mixed. Stir in nuts.
Spread mixture evenly in a 9x13 pan. Refrigerate until chilled and firm.
Recipe from teh US Dry Bean Council.

New England Baked Beans
1 lb dry navy beans or 4 15-oz cans of navy beans (I would use the cans, I cooked my beans in the crockpot and they were still pretty firm)
8 oz bacon, cubed (I skipped this part)
2 c. chopped onions
2 tsp minced garlic
1/3 c. unsulphured molasses
1/3 c. packed light brown sugar
2 tsp prepared mustard
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp ground allspice
2 bay leaves
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Cook the beans according to package directions.
Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Transfer beans and enough cooking liquid to barely cover into a large baking pan, 3 qt casserole, or oven safe pot. Stir all ingredients into the beans.
Bake, covered, for 1 hour for dry beans 30 minutes for canned beans. Uncover and bake 4-6 hours, stirring every hour.
Recipe from the US Dry Bean Council.
Alternate crockpot directions that I came up with:
Cook the bean according to package directions.
Transfer beans and enough cooking liquid to barely cover into a 4-6 qt crockpot. Stir all other ingredients into the beans.
Cover and cook on low for 4-8 hours, this recipe seems to be flexible. If you are working, omit the bacon and use a timer either on your crockpot or a light timer you've plugged your crockpot into to start the crockpot while you are at work. The bacon isn't safe to leave out unrefrigerated and not cooking for the whole morning, but the beans, onions, sugars, and spices will be fine.

Pinto Bean Bread
2 c. lukewarm milk (I used plain Silk soy milk)
4 1/2 tsp yeast (2 packets)
2 c. pinto beans, mashed (it takes about 2 1/2 cup of pinto beans to get 2 c. mashed, just rinse and drain the beans then run through a food processor or blender or mash by hand)
2 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 T shortening, melted (do not use oil)
5-6 c. flour (my beans were a bit moist, so I needed closer to 6 - 6 1/2 c.)
Stir together the milk, beans, sugar, salt, shortening, and one tablespoon of the flour.
Stir in the yeast and wait for it to proof, about 5 minutes (you'll see foam form).
Stir in the flour to make a kneadable dough. Knead 5-10 minutes until satiny and smooth, adding more flour to your work surface to keep the dough from sticking. (I found this dough to be very sticky and added in almost another cup of flour. The dough was smooth and elastic, not nearly as firm as Play Doh, much more firm then chocolate chip cookie dough.)
Place in a large greased bowl, flipping the dough over to put the now greased dough side up. Cover loosely with a clean cloth, dampening it lightly if your air is dry. Let it rise in a warm (70 - 80 degrees) place until dobule in size (45 minutes or so).
Punch down (take it out, put it on a lightly floured surface, fold it in thirds like a wallet, turn it 90 degrees, repeat, do this half a dozen times - you are redistributing yeast and other ingredients). Put it back in the bowl and let it rise until double again (another 45 minutes).
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two loaf pans.
Put the dough on your work surface (no flour needed), cut it in half, and shape into two loaf shapes, then put the shaped dough into the greased loaf pans.
When the oven is heated, bake for 30 - 40 minutes (I needed the full 40 minutes). The original directions says "or until thumps hollow on the bottom" which makes me say "um, they're in glass loaf pans, how am I supposed to tap the bottom of the bread?" At 30 minutes, the loaf was tan in color. At 40 minutes, the loaf was a light brown color. I let it cool for 10 minutes, then turned it out of the loaf pan, let it cool for another 10 minutes, then sliced it. The bread was still a bit steamy but was thoroughly baked, so I'll do the 40 minutes bake time again.
Original recipe was found on Recipezaar by wildheart, but I changed the milk to soy milk and added the more exact instructions.
If you slice it thinly enough to fit in the toaster, it would make good toast. I put some margarine on a 1" thick slice and broiled it until lightly brown, then spread homemade strawberry jam over it. It was steaming, warm, hearty but tender, very good flavor and texture. If you know the beans are in there, you can faintly detect them. Otherwise, you'd never know. This recipe is definitely a keeper for us.