NT Baking Guidance

[Nikki98]

For those of you who are successful with baking, NT style let me in on what you do to make your baked goods taste yummy.

What kind of flour do you use?

What is your favorite fat to use in baking?

How do you make the final product come out good and hearty, without that dense-to much liquid- taste?

And if you had to think of something, what is the most important item/s that can help the home baker

Really I'm struggling in this area . Thanks, Nikki

[saratc]

What kind of flour do you use?

Depending on what I'm doing, I use stone ground whole wheat flour, whole wheat pastry flour, whole rye flour, or sprouted whole wheat, spelt, or rye flour. For recipes that contain a lot of liquid or involves an extended rise/ferment like sourdough, I use the non-sprouted flours. For recipes with little or no liquid like pie, I use sprouted whole wheat or spelt flour. Sometimes I use half and half. For example, Heather (Xenabyte) had a great whole wheat pizza dough recipe that involved mixing water, yeast, sugar, and flour and letting sit for an extended period of time before adding more flour. For that, I use the regular whole grain flour for the soaking part, and then knead in sprouted flour when it comes time to add more flour and knead.

What is your favorite fat to use in baking?

I love coconut oil in just about everything including breads. For pies only, I like half butter and half lard.

How do you make the final product come out good and hearty, without that dense-to much liquid- taste?

Hmmm. I don't think i've had too much trouble with the dense taste. Some recipes involving soaking do take longer to cook. But I seldomly use all soaked flour -- I usually augment with at least half sprouted flour. Also, it's important to remember to sift, loosen, or pour the flours or you end up with too much flour in the recipe, which is a lot more noticeable with whole grain flours since whole grain usually yields a more dense product to begin with.

And if you had to think of something, what is the most important item/s that can help the home baker

Good measuring cups and spoons. MMM, that's all I can think of. If you have something specific you are having trouble with, I'm sure the mamas here can help troubleshoot. Also don't be afraid to use your judgement and augment a recipe. If it looks like too much flour or too much liquid, it probably is.

[Nikki98]

Thanks for the reply saratc.

I have made a couple of Nt recipes (the bannana bread- came out too dense) and the crackers from EFLF which came out bitter tasting: . Anyway I think I am more of a cooker than a baker (baking requires patience and skill- which I both lack). So I want to keep trying-but I hate wasting product and the looks my dear family give me when they bite into yet another one of my baked "suprises".

[quietserena]

In my experience the bitter taste in quickbreads is from too much baking soda. Then again, I'm an amateur baker myself - I only do the basics like bread, but I aspire to one day do fancy things like pastries.

[Nikki98]

Open to any other suggestions.

[Leilalu]

I just recently make the yogurt bread from NT. It was SUPER yummy

But I did find that if you don't take it out when it is just about done, it sinks and gets really dense It was all nice and fluffy and then *poof*

[Prairiemother]

What about soaking the wheat kernels whole for, say, 24 hrs with whey and water, and drying them before grinding them? I remember someone posted a recipe for scones, I think, a while back where they did that with the oatmeal. Not sure whether this soaking is good enough? Anyway, it made really nice oats for oatcakes, pancakes, scones etc.

[Prairiemother]

OK, I have to take back what I said about oats - there's a post in which Gale Force says that they don't benefit much from soaking. Sorry - am going to take her e-course!

[Taedareth]

I have been making the NT pancake recipe using quinoa grain soaked overnight in salty water (it sprouts in 12-14 hours). Then I rinse and grind up the grain in a food processor (comes out coarse, but no matter because the grain is soft from soaking so the pancakes aren't gritty). These pancakes are DELICIOUS!!! I actually changed the recipe a bit though; I use baking powder instead of baking soda because it tastes better that way. And I put in some vanilla and honey. MMmmm