Great taste, superior performance and affordable ingredients make White Lighting Blend a go-to for a wide range of savory baked goods. Excellent for pan bread, baguettes and boules, it's readily adaptable for use in enriched loaves and buns, pizza, and other flatbreads.
Equipment needed: Measuring cups and spoons or kitchen scale. Large zip-lock bag or stand mixer with paddle attachment.
This strong-but-steady starter is a stable, consistent performer. Used in all the White Lightning bread, bun, and pizza formulations on this site, it's easy to make and, if properly maintained, will last indefinitely.
Included are instructions for putting starter to sleep and waking up sleeping starter.
Yield: about 2 cups "Sleeping" sourdough starter.
Time to make: 45 minutes active, spread over 4 days.
Using the same ingredients and processes that produce a very tart loaf, a slight shift in strategy transforms sour to not-sour. This bread finishes faster, has a drier crumb, and can be easily modified for personal preference.
Yield: one, 8 ounce (225 gram) loaf.
Time to make: 30 minutes active. 1 hour proof. 60 minutes baking. (see notes)
Sometimes described as a way to dispose of extra sourdough starter, these English Muffins are far too sophisticated to be thus diminished. They're infused with tartness - which you can control, see instructions below - and tenderized by the biology of natural leavens. Most importantly, they're chock-a-block with nooks and crannies, and they taste exceptional!
Yield: Six, 2-ounce English Muffins.
This home-made take on the French classic will likely not be as pretty as the ones purchased from a Parisian bakery (mine are always too pudgy), but it's a lot more accessible. Made using One-Shot Sourdough and a blend of the 9 Grains Flours, this baguette is not only gluten-free, but subtly tart, tender in the crumb, and crunchy in the crust.
Yield: One 16-ounce baguette
Formulated to emulate a rich and popular wheat-based soft bun, these brioche style treats are tender, tasty, and filled with condiment-holding bubbles. They can be eaten the day they are made or frozen and thawed ad lib. The recipe produces a slightly under-baked result which transforms into the bumpy namesake on cooling. A darker, less-rough-surfaced result may be obtained by extending bake time.
Yield: Eight, 3 ounce buns.
Time needed: 1 hour active. 3 hours dough proof and rest. 30 minutes oven dwell.
These potato-softened buns are a delight for children and seniors alike, providing a welcome, tender wrap for your favorite tube steak. This dough can be portioned into burger buns or loaf bread too, all of which taste great, hold up to the chewiest, most mustard-drenched meat treats, and freeze easily.
True love in the form of soft crumb and tender crust, this bread is a gluten-free treasure. The secret is an ingredient called tangzhong, which roughly translated is "water roux". This is a small amount of flour that's gelatinized by cooking in a mix of water and milk. Added to bread dough it dramatically tenderizes, softens and moistens the finished loaf. As is the case with many 9 grains inventions, a great variety of flavors can be obtained by choice of flour for the tangzhong.
This take on the classic French treat does not try and duplicate the wheat-based original, but rather, improves on it, with extra chocolate and whole-grain flour. The recipe is a multi-stage project that succeeds best with careful technique and patience.
Yield: Four, 3-ounce rolls
Time to make: One hour active. 4 hours proof, 30 minutes oven dwell.
