Spinach Sandwich Bread step by step recipe

Hello September! The season I like the least... But who knows?! Maybe this year it appears to be the second summer. I have decided to cleam my to-do list and post the recipe you were most interested in. So many questions I have got on my Instagram account about this one.... And it is definitely worth it!

This year I was lucky to visit Le Cordon Bleu short courses to learn among all the rest how to bake my own bread. Apart from the other recipes we were making a spinach sandwich bread which looks so good that you just can't stand :) Very aromatic, spinach green and so fluffy you will definitely like it. Let's go!!!


Ingredients:
135 g  flour (I use spelt flour)
80g fresh spinach
2,75 g salt
5,5 g sugar
5,5 g fresh (compressed) yeast
17 g butter
15 ml  water room temperature 

additionally for decorating:
softened butter for the mould
1 egg yolk for brushing
seeds, sesam (*optional)


Get all the ingredients ready and weighted. Wash the spinach leaves and drain then well so that the liquid is gone.

Place all the ingredients except butter and water into a bowl of a blender. Mix them well adding water little by little.

 The dough should get smooth, have nice green colour and be sticky.

 Then transfer the dough into a bowl of the stand mixer with a dough hook. I adopted this recipe to non-professional kitchen equipment, because my stand mixer for example is not that powerful to combine spinach with flour into a dough.

In a stand mixer using a dough hook mix the dough on a higher speed and add butter. Mix until well combined. The dough has to be about  25 degrees Celcius. Mine was 26, so I left it a bit longer to cool down.

 Cover the bowl with a plastic film and leave for 45 minutes to rest.

 Form a ball and let it rest for 20 minutes.

 Shape the dougn into a long form like shown in the pictures below. At first, make a flat oval out of it, then flip one side towards you.

 After that flip the opposite side over it and stick well together.

 Then form a long form bread.

Put it into the form and brush with some egg yolk. If you want you can sprinkle some seeds on top of it. Or just leave it as it is. Or my version: take the scissors and bruch them in egg yolk a bit. Then make small cuts in the dough in each side lengthwise. Prove for 1 hour at room temperature.

 Bake at 145 degrees for about 30 minutes.

 Enjoy your colorful bread when it cools down! And don't forget to smell it! So lovely!!!!!

From home-made to gourmet!

#gourmetbalance

Wholemeal Oat Lactose Free Ginger Cookies

These 4 days off were so lazy and cozy that  when we came back from the gym yesterday and spent our afternoon watching movies all I wanted was a quick healthy snack. And so I baked these amazing cookies. I even did not expect them to be so cute :) And they were sooo tasty. Moreover, lactose free wholemeal and reduced in sugar. Only two of them are currently waiting for my morning coffee time tomorrow. So I will keep it short: just bake them!

Ingredients:

yields 9 cookies

1 cup wholemeal spelt flour

1 cup oatmeal flour
1 heaped tbsp oat flakes

1 tsp baking powder

1 banana

1 tsp mixed spices (or ginger cookies spices/or just mix cardamon, anis, cinnamon, muscat nut etc.)

2 tbsp honey

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp demerara black sugar

Preheat oven to 180°С. Prepare your baking sheet, lining it with baking paper.

In a bowl mix dry ingredients. Add mashed banana, oil, honey, oat flakes and Demerara sugar. Mix the dough well and form 9 balls of equal size. If you prefer smaller form you will get more of them (nice benefit for quantity :). Press the balls to form a cookie. I used a HOME-MADE stamp for it and it looked just awesome!!!

Bake the cookies 15 minutes until golden edges. Tastes perfectly with whole milk. Unless you are lactose intolerant. Then for tea/coffee time - perfect match!

Enjoy!

 

Easy Ginger Bread Christmas cookies

Ho - Ho - Ho ! ! ! Merry Christmas, my dear gourmets! Wishing you to open new tastes, flavors, people, cities and places every day. Because this brings us new emotions and encourages us to explore further.

We are closer to new year than ever and this has its own charm. Only four days left to enter new chapter of our lives. According to Ukrainian tradition Santa brings us presents on the 21st of December every year. So in comparison to all Germans who have already packed and granted the presents, in Ukraine it is all to come. Therefore I believe a good ginger bread cookies recipe will make only a magic addition to all the presents you are gonna pack. Or at least fulfil your house with an irresistible scent of upcoming party.

 Ingredients:

150 g white flour

120 g whole wheat flour of your choice

100 g butter (for vegan version may be replaced by coconut oil)

70 g brown sugar (or 100 g rice syrup)

4 tbsp honey

1 egg

1 tbsp Christmas spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, anise)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

Take butter out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to bake so that it is room temperature. 

Preheat the oven to 175°C. Mix butter with sugar (or rice syrup) and honey. Add an egg and mix well. In another bowl combine all the dry ingredients: flours, spices, salt. Then add dry ingredients into butter-egg-mix. Roll the dough to 2-3 mm thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut it with cookie cutter of your preferred form. I used stars and hearts this time. 

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes. Cool completely (about 30 minutes).

I packed them into small bags. They can be a nice present or just delicious addition to your tea time:)

Have a wonderful start of the year and enjoy the holidays!!!!!

Christmas Carrot Pie

Holidays are coming. And the smell of hot wine is in the air. Ginger cookies, Stollen - traditional Christmas Pie in Germany, baked maroons, a wide range of cute little sweet-Christmas-stuff is out there in the nearest bakery round the corner. But what can be better than a home-made pie?! Especially, when the main ingredient seems to be not so typical for bakery.

Carrots! Yes, carrot pie with a sweet note of Christmas flavors. Healthy, easy and soooo tasty.

Don't be scared when you see the list of ingredients. The instructions are very simple. If you have children, do not hesitate to bake a pie in cooperation with them. They will help you with pleasure.

Ingredients:

5 middle-sized carrots
5 eggs
2 tbsp ground peanuts
4 tbsp whole grain flour
2 tbsp wheat bran
1 banana
3/4 cup raisins
150 ml milk
Winter ground spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, cloves, ginger - 1/2 tsp each.
Water to plump up the raisins

Firstly, preheat the oven to 180°C.
Secondly, boil the water. We should plump up the raisins so that they are soft, juicy and plump. Put your raisins in a small bowl, and cover with boiling water. Let them steep for about 10-15 minutes and then drain them thoroughly.

Meanwhile to take a big bowl. Wash the carrots, peel them and grate them all into a bowl. Add one mashed banana for sweetness, ground peanuts for nutty smell and taste. I added 2 tbsp of wheat bran, but if you don't have any, you can add 1 extra tbsp of whole wheat flour instead. I prefer to add some bran into my dishes in order to increase fiber intake. It has a lot of benefits for our health as well. But, anyway, this ingredient is optional. Add other ingredients: 4 tbsp of whole grain flour, spices, 150 ml of milk and drained raisins. Finally it's eggs' turn. Mix it all very thoroughly. Pour the mixture into a previously buttered form. You can bake muffins from this mixture as well. It's up to you;)

Cover the form with a sheet of foil. Bake this delicious pie 15 minutes at 180°C, then reduce the heat to 150°C and bake 40 minutes. Take of the foil and let the pie get nice brown color for another 10 minutes. Your house will smell like Christmas and you will hardly keep patience when you take the pie out of the oven.

I used some pistachios and white yogurt to serve.
Have a nice Christmas time and enjoy the company of good friends sharing your tasty results :)