Slow Cooker Herb Bread

Dreamer in Ontario's Note:

This bread recipe gets baked in your slow cooker. No heating up the kitchen with your oven! The recipe comes from Salton Multipot Slow Cooker and was found on www.canada.com. I've made this once so far. For my first time I omitted the herbs and substituted a cup of whole wheat flour for 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. I used the full 3 hours to "bake" it as the crock pot I used is an older one which seems to cook at a lower temperature than the newer crock pots. The top of the bread remains soft but the sides become crusty. Step 1 should read "without the crock" not with the crock. I've tried submitting a correction for this mistake.

• Total Time: 3 hrs
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs 30 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 loaf

• 2 cups lukewarm water, divided
• 1 (8 g) package active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornmeal
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, approximately
• 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon milk, approximately

Directions:

1. Preheat slow cooker unit, without the crock, on high.
2. Grease slow crock very well and line the bottom with a greased round of parchment paper.
3. Sprinkle interior of crock with cornmeal.
4. Stir yeast and sugar into 1/2 cup of the water, set in a warm place and let stand for 10 minutes or until very foamy.
5. Place flour in large bowl and mix in the herbs and salt.
6. Make a well in the centre and add the yeast mixture, remaining water and oil.
7. Mix by hand until a ragged dough forms.
8. Knead the dough on a well-floured surface for 8 to 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic (add up to 3/4 cup additional flour as needed to prevent sticking).
9. Place dough in the crock and brush the top with the milk.
10. Let stand in warm place for 5 minutes.
11. Place crock in slow cooker unit, cover and bake on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the dough springs back when lightly pressed on top and the sides of the loaf are browned.
12. Carefully remove crock and place on dry surface (otherwise crock may crack), allow to stand for 5 minutes, turn crock upside down and give it a sharp, quick shake to release loaf.
13. Cool completely before slicing.

Reviews

[Shelby Jo]

This bread was really good! I was so intrigued by this recipe, not knowing how on earth it would cook in a crockpot but it worked well. The bottom of the bread was a little burnt and hard, but I just sliced it off and the rest of it was fine. (probably my fault -- I was scared of taking it out too soon...) Overall the bread seems a little more dense than bread you would buy at the store, but not too dense. The herbs are very nice and not too strong. Thanks for posting!

[Kristine at Food.com]

Important note from Dreamer in Ontario:
"The first step of the instructions should read 'Preheat slow cooker unit, WITHOUT the crock, on high.' rather than with the crock. If you do it the other way, you may injure/burn yourself or break the crock if it's left in the unit to heat up."