I recently got the book Turbo Blender Desert Revolution and it says that you need a high-powered blender that can grind grains and heat foods. Shortly after I got the book, the folks at Salton asked if I wanted to test their Harley Pasternak Power Blender.
*taps fingertips together menacingly*
Why yes, yes I would ...
Bwaaa haaaa haaaa!
I already made one recipe from the book, but this time I decided that I would make a recipe that required grinding some grains. Which I happened to have. The book called for soft white wheat berries, and it just so happens that I bought those recently, too.
I messaged one of the authors of the book to ask whether he thought the Harley Pasternak blender would work for his book. He wasn't sure. The book requires blenders that spin so fast that they heat ingredients, and that are powerful enough to grind grains.
So ... did it work?
First, I put some water in the blender, started at low, and cranked the power up to top speed. And ... the water got warmer and warmer and warmer and then it was actually hot. It passed the first test.
But how about turning grains into flour? The first challenge is the ability to make flour. The second is the ability to grind evenly. You don't want to have some flour and some chunky bits. I put 2 1/4 cups of soft white wheat berries in the blender, set a timer for a minute and watched in complete fascination.
Not only did it turn wheat berries into flour, but it did it without needing me to stop and shake the blender or stop and scrape the sides. It was fun to watch, and kind of magical. Wowza.
So, yeah, obviously it can make your morning smoothie.
The controls on this are simple. The lever on the left is for on and off. The lever on the right is for pulsing. And the dial in the center is the speed control. There are no numbers or set speeds - it's just a smooth transition from the slowest to the fastest speed.
As far as the muffins, these were supposed to have a lemon glaze, which I'm sure would have been lovely. But I decided I wanted basic and somewhat savory muffins that could go with dinner. They have a bit of sugar, but they're not super-sweet. No sweeter than some cornbread muffins I've had.
Buttermilk Muffins Adapted from Turbo Blender Desserts by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
2 1/4 cups soft white wheat berries
5 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 2/3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
3 large eggs at room temperature
5 tablespoons butter, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Note: I ended up making 18 muffins instead of the 12 this recipe should have made. I probably could have filled the muffin cups a little more, but since I live at high altitude, I'm always skittish about things rising out of control. These kept their shape nicely, so I probably could have filled them more. It's also possible that other pans have deeper cups than the pans I used.
Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Butter at least 12 cups of a muffin pan. I used baking spray instead of butter, but use what you like.
Put the wheat berries in the blender container and blend at the highest speed until you have a fine flour. This should take about a minute.
Add the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cover and pulse a few times until the mixture is blended, then transfer the flour to a large bowl.
Add the buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla to the blender. Cover and blend at low speed until it is smooth.
Pour the buttermilk mixture on top of the flour mixture and stir until smooth. Divide the batter to fill the muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 12 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the pan set on a wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn the muffins out and let them cool completely.
I bake a lot. I've been wanting a grain mill for a while, to play around with. But I wasn't sure if I'd like it enough to justify buying one.
So when I got a chance to get a Mockmill to work with, I said "yes" in a heartbeat.
And, if you want one, I've got a deal for you. $80 off! Scroll to the bottom of the post for details!
The mill is named after its inventor, Wolfgang Mock, and it had pretty good reviews on bread sites that I trust, so I figured it was a good deal. Mockmill for me, bread for my readers.
Well, okay, the bread is for me, too. But the recipe is for my readers. Right?
The only thing left to do was buy some grains to mill. I picked up a couple of hard wheat varieties to start with - a hard white spring wheat and a hard white winter wheat. I'm going to try some soft wheat, too, and then I'll mess around with other grains.
The mill can grind grain very finely to make flour, or it can grind coarsely, for cracked grains or for things like cornmeal, where you want a coarse texture. Or any coarseness in between. You set the coarseness with a dial, so there's a complete range.
The photo shows the whole wheat flour on the right, topped with some store-bought bread flour.
The mill attaches to the hub of a KitchenAid mixer, so you do need a mixer to use the mill. But since it doesn't have its own motor, it's pretty small and lightweight and easier to store than a stand-alone mill.
Speaking of motors, I checked the heat on my KitchenAid's motor while I was grinding, and it didn't seem to be straining at all. I've made breads that stressed it more. So that's a really good thing.
The first time I used the mill, I had a bit of an "oops" moment. The mill jiggled quite a bit while it was grinding, and that grinding loosened the screw that keeps attachments attached to the mixer and then the mill did a nice spin around. Everything was fine except for some spilled grain, but I suggest that you don't go too far away from it while it's running.
I brought the Mockmill to a friend's house and it barely wobbled, so obviously it's a mixer issue and not a Mockmill issue, but the first time or two you use the mill, it's probably best to stay nearby and tighten the screw if it seems to be coming loose. Just to be safe.
Here it is, attached to my friend's mixer:
At my friend's house, we made pasta using half all-all purpose flour, and half freshly-ground whole wheat. It was really good with an eggplant bolognese. Here's the pasta:
Meanwhile, back to the mill ...
As far as cleaning the mill, you really don't need to do much - just brush out the parts you can get to, or if you're going to be putting it away for a while after grinding things like whole wheat that can go rancid, just run some white rice through it to clean it. You can also take the mill apart for a more thorough cleaning of the grinding stones, but that shouldn't be necessary very often - if you use it often. The mill comes with complete instructions on how to take it apart and put it back together, if you need to.
Way back when I first started researching about different flours, I found out that most flours that you buy are either aged or bleached. The natural aging process changes some chemical properties in the flour and strengthens the gluten bonds. Bleaching does the same thing, but in less time, which means the mills don't have to store the flour before they sell it.
Bakerpedia explained it well: "When flour is aged for several months, oxidation restructures the proteins within the flour while starch remains rather consistent. Here, the influence of gluten becomes more pronounced, forming stronger bonds which lead to a more elastic dough. Oxidation also naturally bleaches the flour, creating a lighter colored flour. Aging flour can be costly, which is why chemical methods of ‘aging’ are typical of large scale flour producers."
Aging time for flour also depends a bit on when the wheat was harvested. Grain that's newly harvested would need to be aged longer after grinding than grain that's older.
I also read (somewhere ... can't recall where) that you're best off baking with either aged flour or with freshly-milled flour. Flour that's somewhere in the middle of the process is least desirable. So, I figure it made sense to grind and then make bread right away because I'm not going to be storing flour for long periods of time before using it.
Here's a curious thing. After baking bazillions of loaves of bread, I know how much water I should need for how much flour. It varies a bit by season and brand of flour, but I know what results I should get. And I know that in general whole wheat flour needs more water than refined flour.
But the freshly-milled whole wheat flour didn't need any more flour than if I made this same recipe with white flour. Perhaps it's because the whole grains I bought had more moisture in them than milled flour would have had. I haven't experimented with enough types of whole wheat berries yet to know. But if you're using freshly milled grain, be prepared to make adjustments, if you need to.
Speaking of milling more grains, expect to see more recipes here using freshly milled grains. I've been really happy with the ones I've made so far, and I think it'll be a whole lot of fun working with other grains.
How much do I like this thing? Well, I just ordered some hard red wheat and some soft white wheat to try. I've used almost all of the first bag of the hard white wheat flour that I bought, so obviously I'm having some fun with it. If it was winter, I'd probably have used even more, but mid-summer it's kind of warm to be baking bread. Even so, I'm working on it!
If you happen to make this recipe with store-bought whole wheat flour, plan on using more water. I'm sure you'll need it.
Whole Wheat Sesame-Topped Loaf
9 ounces hard spring wheat berries, milled to a fine flour
4 1/2 ounce (1 cup) bread flour
1 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (one packet) Red Star* Active Dry Yeast
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Egg wash (optional - for a shiny crust and so the sesame seeds adhere)
Toasted sesame seeds, as needed (optional)
After milling the flour (the Mockmill sends it directly into the stand mixer bowl, which is useful) add all of the other ingredients to the bowl.
Mix on slow speed using the dough hook until all the ingredients are mixed. It's fine if the butter is still in large lumps - the stand mixer will obliterate it during kneading.
Increase the speed to medium (I used 4 on my Artisan mixer) and knead for 10 minutes.
Cover the bowl and set aside until the dough has at least doubled - about 1 hour.
Meanwhile, spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray for added insurance that the bread will leave the pan. This isn't required, but it's good insurance. I've had some breads stick to the bottom of some pans, and it never makes me happy.
When you see that the bread has risen, heat the oven to 350 degrees. This will give the oven enough time to heat fully before you put the bread in the oven.
Remove the dough from the bowl and form it into a log-like shape that will fit in the bread pan, with the seam side down in the pan.
Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap (you don't want to impede the rise) and set aside until the dough rises about an inch over the top of the pan - about 30 minutes, or about half of the first rising time. Remove the Brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash, if you're using it, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Slash the top of the loaf and bake at 350 degrees until the top is nicely browned and the loaf is fully baked, about 50 minutes. You can test the doneness with a thermometer poked into the bread, It should reach at least 205 degrees.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing or storing.
*If you use another brand of yeast, you might need to soften it in the water before mixing. Red Star is a brand that I know for sure can be mixed directly into the dough.
Trivia
I mentioned that Wolfgang Mock invented the Mockmill, but didn't say why. First, he tried whole grain bread that a friend made, and liked the flavor better than white flour. Second, he felt it was a much healthier choice. So, he started milling his own grains, but got tired of hand-cranking. He tried some electric mills, but didn't like them. So he decided to design his own, with an eye at making it easy to use and attractive.
Friends asked him to build mills for him, and it became a hobby that turned into a business in the 70's. Yup, he's been making these things for a long, long time. Mostly in Germany, but now he's working on selling them to consumers in the US.
His goal is to make home-milling as popular as, well, stand mixers, I guess.
This is a sponsored post for Mockmill; I received a mill at no cost and I get a revenue share for mills purchased using my code.
Poor whole wheat. It's so often misunderstood. Some people think of whole wheat and assume it's got to be dense and chewy.
It doesn't have to be that way.
When my buddies at 37 Cooks hooked up with Bob's Red mill, we got two types of flour to work with - organic all purpose white, and organic whole wheat.
Of course I had to make at least one loaf of bread. And I figured I might as well make a whole wheat loaf.
If you want a seriously soft and fluffy whole wheat bread, this is the one for you. It's soft, it's fluffy, it's light, it's squishy. And it's nice for sandwiches or toast.
The dough is very loose and sticky, so I suggest kneading with a stand mixer, if you have one. If you knead by hand, the stickiness of the dough is going to make you want to add flour to keep it from sticking to the work surface and to your hands.
It wouldn't be awful if you added a tad more flour, but try not to add too much.
If you like, this is the type of dough you can knead in bowl using a large dough scraper to move it around. It really is that loose and goopy.
Whole Wheat Sesame Loaf
1 cup lukewarm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 cup Bob's Red Mill organic whole wheat flour
1 large egg
2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
Toasted sesame seeds, as needed
Put the water, yeast, and whole wheat flour in the bowl of your stand mixer and let it sit at room temperature for an hour. Yes, I'm serious. Let it sit and bubble.
Add the egg, bread flour, salt, honey and butter.
Knead with the dough hook until the dough is elastic. It will be sticky and very soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for an hour. It should be doubled in size.
Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray. Use a dough scraper to transfer the dough to the loaf pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top (this will help keep the dough from sticking to your fingers) and use your fingers to press the dough into the pan so it fills it mostly evenly. It's fine if the dough doesn't fill completely into the corners.
Sprinkle more sesame seeds on top, if you like. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the dough rise until it reaches the top of the pan or slightly higher - about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
When the dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake the loaf at 350 degrees until it's nicely browned and it reaches 200 degrees in the interior - about 40 minutes.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.
I received flour from Bob's Red Mill through 37 Cooks.
I've been so busy baking bread for my upcoming book, I haven't posted anything here for a while. But sometimes bread happens.
This loaf is made with spelt, which is in the wheat family. It's got gluten, but it acts a little different from the gluten in regular wheat - it forms quickly, but it can be a little fragile, so you don't want the knead the heck out of it.
To be honest, the flax seed was a last-minute addition. I wanted a little something extra, but I didn't just want seeds on top. Flax seeds seemed perfect.
Spelt and Flax Loaf
1 cup room temperature water
2 1/4 teaspoons Red Star* active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
9 ounces (2 cups) Spelt flour
4 1/2 ounces (1 cup) bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup flax seeds
Combine all the ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until the dough comes together and you can see that it is beginning to get elastic. This takes very little time, so don't walk away.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.
When the dough has doubled, spray a 9x5 loaf pan with baking spray, flour your work surface, and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Turn out the dough and knead it briefly, then form it into a log about 8 inches long. Place the log in the prepared baking pan, seam-side down. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside until the dough has risen about an inch over the top of the pan.
Remove the plastic wrap, slash the loaf as desired, and bake at 350 degrees until nicely browned, about 35 minutes.
Remove the loaf from the pan and let it cool completely on a rack before slicing.
*Other brands of active dry yeast might not work well. The Red Star active dry has smaller grains than some other brands, and can be blended directly into the dough. If you're using another brand, let the yeast soften in the water before adding the other ingredients. Instant yeast should also work in this recipe.
Ah, it's cookie season, and I've started making cookies.
This time, I decided to make some crisp chocolate cookies, and for the heck of it, I used white wheat flour. Cookies are never going to be the healthy option, but using white wheat flour is an easy way to make them a little healthier.
Why melted-elf? Well, I decided to add some Hershey's Kisses to the tops of the cookies. I bought them with another idea in mind, but that didn't pan out. So I had the bag of kisses hanging around. After I put them on top of the cookies, I accidentally nudged one and it reminded me of a elf hat - but a melting elf hat.
I mean, it's possible that elves could melt, right? Anyway, I thought it looked sort of cute.
So I decided to do the same thing with all of the cookies.
And that's where I came up with the name.
Melted-Elf Chocolate Cookies
1 1/4 cups white wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (I used Black Onyx)
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
25 striped Hershey's Kisses
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a medium bowl. Stir to combine.
In a separate bowl, with an electric hand mixer, (or in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment) beat the shortening, sugars, and salt until fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the flour mixture and stir to combine.
Using a 1 1/2-inch scoop, portion the dough onto the cookie sheets, leaving space between them - they will spread. (I own a freakish lot of scoops in different sizes, but the 1 1/2 inch scoop probably gets used the most. It's perfect for most of the cookies I make. Not too tiny and not too big.)
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes, or until the cookies are set on the edges.
Remove the cookies from the oven and place a Kiss in the center of each cookie.
Transfer the cookies to cooling racks. As the Kisses melt a bit, push them sideways a bit to enhance the "melting" illusion.
Let the cookies cool completely before storing. The cookies themselves will be fully cooled before the kisses harden again. If you're in a hurry, you can refrigerate the cookies to set the Kisses. Or just let them rest at room temperature, until the Kisses harden. Then you can stack and store them.
I received a selection of Sweet Creations by Good Cook products for the purpose of making cookies. Mmmmm. Cookies.
Sooooooo ...
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, and it just so happens that I bought those recently, too.
First, I put some water in the blender, started at low, and cranked the power up to top speed. And ... the water got warmer and warmer and warmer and then it was actually hot. It passed the first test.
by Bruce Weinstein and Mark Scarbrough
blender from Salton at no cost to me.
Cookistry went on hiatus for a while, but I'm back and blogging. Possibly sporadically, but I plan on updating it more than in the previous years. Thanks for reading!
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with baking spray. Use a dough scraper to transfer the dough to the loaf pan. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top (this will help keep the dough from sticking to your fingers) and use your fingers to press the dough into the pan so it fills it mostly evenly. It's fine if the dough doesn't fill completely into the corners.
