Homemade Honey Wheat Bread & Chilli in the Crockpot

The best bread and chill crockpot recipe I have had to date! This bread was amazing and EASY! We ate one loaf during the week and froze the other two! I would highly recommend these recipes!

Bread Recipe:

Makes three Loaves 

Ingredients

• 3 cups warm water (110-115 degrees) 
• 1 ½ tablespoons yeast
• ¼ cup sucanat or packed brown sugar
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour, plus 1/2-1 cup more as needed (if dough is too sticky and for dusting the counter)
• 3 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour 
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed
• 1 tablespoons salt
• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten, optional
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• a cold stick of butter, optional

Instructions

1. In your kitchen aid mixer bowl, add warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir until combined and let stand 10 minutes. Should become foamy on top, if the yeast was activated.

2. Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, whisk together flours, flaxseed, salt, and vital wheat gluten (optional).

3. Add olive oil into the yeast/water mixture. Don't stir. 

4. Using the bread hook, add flour mixture slowly (about 1 cup full at time) on a low setting in Kitchen Aid Mixer and then let it knead for about 10 minutes. Add a little more flour if it's too sticky. Stop and take it off the hook every few minutes to assure it's mixing well. (I do this about 3-4 times.)

5. Place in large greased bowl. Turn dough ball around in the bowl to get it greased all around. Then cover the bowl with a smooth dishtowel. Set bowl in a warm place and let it rise until doubled in size, about an hour.

6. Punch down the dough in the bowl. Then, divide evenly into three equal parts on a lightly floured surface.

7. Roll out each portion of dough with rolling pin to remove air bubbles. Then, roll up each one into a loaf size and put into a greased pan seam-side down. Spray tops of loaves with baking spray.

8. Cover and let rise again only until it's doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Note: Do not let it over rise or the bread will deflate when it bakes!

9. Bake loaves on the middle rack at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until top is golden brown. (Important Cooking Note: If you preheat the oven first, it takes about 25 minutes to bake. But, if you let your bread rise in a 170 degree oven like I do, then simply leave the bread in and turn the temp to 350 degrees. This method takes about 30 minutes. To test for doneness, look for golden brown tops and tap the tops. If the loaves sound hollow, then they baked through.)

10. Let loaves completely cool in the pan on a wire rack. Optional: Take a cold stick of butter after it's done, and run it over the top as soon as it comes out.

11. Then gently turn the loaves out and slice on a cutting board. Tip: Using a bread knife, saw back and forth and don't press down on bread.

Here is a quick and easy chill recipe!

Chilli Recipe:

Slow Cooker Chili

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours, 10 minutes

Yield: 6 - 7 servings

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced
• 2 (14.5) oz cans diced tomatoes with green chilies*
• 3 (8 oz) cans tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water or beef broth
• 2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (15 oz) can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• Serve topped with:
• Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese, sour cream, chopped red or green onions, cilantro, roasted peppers, or hot sauce

• Optionally serve with:
• fresh cornbread or biscuits, baked russet potatoes, saltine crackers, tortilla chips or the bread you just made above!!

 

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large and deep non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add onion and saute 3 minutes, then add garlic and saute 30 seconds longer. Pour onions into a 6 or 7 quart slow cooker. 
• Return skillet to medium-high eat, add beef and cook stirring occasionally until beef has browned. Drain most of fat from beef, leaving about 2 Tbsp in with beef (this is optional, I think it ads flavor but you can drain it all if you'd prefer). Pour browned beef into slow cooker. 
• Add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, 1/2 cup water or beef broth, chili powder, cumin, paprika, cocoa powder, sugar, coriander and season mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Stir mixture, cover with lid and cook on low heat for 5 - 6 hours. 
• Stir in dark and light red kidney beans and allow to heat through, about 10 minutes (if you want the soup to have more liquid you can add in another 1/2 cup water or beef broth). Serve warm with desired toppings (I say the cheese and sour cream is a must, everything else is optional).
• *If you don't like heat then you can use canned tomatoes without green chiles since they are a little spicy. 
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Tip: You can freeze the bread and chill!

It was as Simple As 1-2-3!