My Favorite Bread Recipes

Friday is the first day of my weekend and a catch up day for household activities. My favorite Friday activity is cooking (but we all know that is my favorite activity in general). I also enjoy baking. Low protein muffins and bread are the quickest way to drop your levels (and lots of apples, lots and lots of apples!).

Folks, we have to be thankful that a healthy low protein meal for us is actually white bread with butter for almost no phe. We may develop diabetes but at least our levels will be low. Avocado toast with pepper or Frank's Red Hot Sauce are also delicious combinations.

This week I fired up the bread maker. My favorite bread recipe is Trish's Best White Bread for bread machines. I stole this recipe from Cambrooke Foods but their wheat starch and baking mix are some of my favorite products to cook with so it works.

I have actually memorized this recipe by now. Sometimes I add rosemary and olives, sometimes raisins, and sometimes I leave out the metamucil as it tends to make the bread more dense. Because I do not follow the written recipes I occasionally forget ingredients. Today, I forgot the yeast and realized two hours in. I mixed it in and the bread seemed to turn out fine.

If you don't have a bread machine, invest in it. These things are amazing! Throw everything in and four hours later you have a fresh loaf of VERY low protein bread. The house smells delicious and the bread is soft and warm. I also use it to make dough for pizza or calzones, too. I asked for a bread machine in 2011, which was the first year I was living on my own. At that point in my life I was independently managing my diet and working to keep my levels quite low. I just started my first "real" job as a nurse and needed to be on point as I was on a surgical trauma floor. I got the bread machine and used it at least once a week. The loaf of bread would carry me through my three on, four off schedule and through the night shifts I was scheduled for as a new nurse.

Below are the recipes I suggest. One is for bread machines and one if you do not have a bread machine. I have found wheat starch to be key for the best low protein breads and pizzas. I have yet to try my own homemade pasta but that is on the list.

Bread Machine Recipe

• 1 1/2 cups baking Mix

• 2 1/2 cups wheat Starch

• 1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

• 2 Tbs sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 1/2 cups plus 3 Tbs water

Throw in bread machine and cook. I set the bread machine to light in color and loaf size large.

Best Homestyle Bread (for the oven)

• 1/4 c very warm water (105-115)

• 1/2 teas granulated sugar

• 1 package active dry yeast (not quick rise). You could actually get away with 1 1/2 teaspoon, which would be 74 mg phe compared to the 120 mg. Either way it is not bad as it split through the whole loaf.

Pour water into a small bowl or large coffee mug; add sugar, then yeast. Stir briefly, then let sit for ten minutes (mixture will develop a good "head" of creamy foam on top). Meanwhile, mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl:

• 1 1/3 cups baking mix (I use Cambrooke's but Wel-Plan is another that comes to mind)

• 1 2/3 cups wheat starch (again, Cambrooke is great)

• 1/4 c metamucil (if you want light and fluffy for the texture, put a little less but the added fiber is quite beneficial for us PKU'ers)

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

When yeast mixture is ready, pour into a large mixing bowl. Then add:

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup applesauce

Mix together yeast, water, applesauce just until well combined. Now stir in premeasured or preweighed dry ingredients all at once, mixing vigorously for a few seconds until smooth. The dough will be VERY sticky but do not give up yet!

Cover bowl of dough with plastic wrap or moist, warm towel to prevent drying out. Warm oven to 120 to 130 degrees by turning on to 350 degrees for one to two minutes then turn off. Place covered dough in oven and let rise for 30 minutes.

Remove dough from bowl to a kneading surface dusted with baking mix. Knead dough for a full 3 minutes. Add baking mix while kneading if needed to prevent from sticking to hands and kneading surface.

Place dough in lightly greased loaf pan. Cover with cloth and place in warm oven (120 to 130 degrees). Let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, or until dough is about 1 inch above top of pan at its highest point, then, remove from oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Remove cloth and bake bread 15 minutes. Brush bread with melted butter and continue baking 15 to 25 minutes.

Remove and place on cooling rack until cool enough to dig in.

Per slice: 13 mg phe, .2 gm protein, 82 calories

Molasses and honey modification

Replace the 1 cup warm water with only 3/4 cup warm water. Add 2 tablespoons dark molasses and 3 tablespoons honey along with the water.