Just What I Kneaded!

I spent much of Saturday pottering in the kitchen. As well as 2 loads of laundry, putting marzipan on the Christmas Cake, and making a ragu for dinner, I tidied up my cookbook stand. I love this sturdy metal stand [birthday gift 2015 from my dear friend Christine] But I confess that I tuck bits of paper behind it, and things really needed sorting out.

I found two £5 tokens I had mislaid, some Tesco vouchers [half expired, half in date] and a number of recipes which I had at one point considered making but not used.
I was pretty ruthless with the recipes- but one caught my eye on the way to the recycling bin. So I dug out my trusty Kenwood Chef [Christmas gift from Bob, 2004] 
I tweaked the original recipe, and I was really pleased with the result - I used half-and-half white flour and chapatti flour
Homemade Bread In The Slow Cooker 
Prep time; 20 mins, Cook time; 2 hours, Total time; 2 hours 20 mins

Ingredients

1 envelope of active yeast

1 teaspoon sugar

¼ cup warm water

1 egg

¼ cup vegetable oil

1 cup lukewarm water

1 teaspoon salt

¼ cup sugar

3½ cups plain flour

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Instructions

IMPORTANT: Do NOT pre-heat your slow cooker.

In a small bowl, combine the yeast, ¼ cup warm water, and 1 teaspoon sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes .

In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg, oil, 1 cup lukewarm water, salt, sugar, and yeast mixture and beat with an electric mixer on low for about 2 minutes making sure to scrape the sides down as you go.

Next, add 3 to 3 ½ cups of flour to the mixture and continue beating with the electric mixer on low until it is well incorporated and gets "gummy". Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and add a little flour at a time while kneading for 5 minutes by hand until the dough becomes smooth and elastic [I did everything in the Kenwood with the dough hook]. The dough will be a little sticky. This is normal. Form into a ball.

Line a 5-quart slow cooker with parchment paper. Place the ball of dough in the centre of the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for 2+ hours. Not slow cookers are the same, so after 1½ hours, check your bread for readiness. The bread will feel firm when you gently press down on the top. If it isn't done, check it every 30 minutes for readiness. 

NOTE: It will not be brown on top. That's normal. Remove when done and brush with melted butter. Let the bread cool completely before slicing. 

I was really pleased with the resulting loaf. But I have realised you should never turn your back on the Chef when it is kneading. I went to sort something on the cooker, and when I turned round, I realised the food mixer was vibrating across the worktop and almost ready to throw itself on the floor! [I did re-stage this shot for the camera]

In terms of a fast, cheap loaf, it is pretty good. The big bag of chapatti flour was reduced - and worked out at 15p/kg. That's less than half of the usual price of plain white flour in most supermarkets. My only change next time would be to reduce the amount of sugar - it was a little too sweet for our taste.