Bread Rounds in the Slow Cooker

Very little effort, NO kneading, flexible timing, a soft crust & I can use the back porch to bake bread in the summer. - - - I use a pair of 2 quart slow cookers, mine are the 3 heat setting Rival. It does take a bit of planning but I can have enough fresh baked bread for 2 sandwich rounds every day, twice a day if I stagger the baking. (Or buy more slow cookers. Can you have too many slow cookers?) - - - Because of the low cooking temperature, the bread slowly toasts instead of burning if you forget about it. (Hubby turned the timer off & I forgot about the bread. An hour later, the bottom half was pale toast but quite edible.)

• Ready In: 24 hrs
• Serves: 4
• Yields: 4 sandwich rounds

Ingredients

• 1  cup bread flour or 120  g bread flour
• 1  cup whole wheat flour or 120  g whole wheat bread flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄8 teaspoon  yeast
• 2⁄3 cup water

Directions

1. Measure & mix all of the dry ingredients.
2. If you do not have whole whear bread flour, substitute 4 teaspoons (12 g) vital wheat gluten for an equal amount of whole wheat flour.
3. Divide into 2 containers.
4. Add 1 container, less 1 tablespoon, of the dry mixture to 1/3 cup water. Stir until moistened.
5. (You must reserve the tablespoon of the flour mixture. The wet dough self kneads overnight. If the dough is too dry it will not self knead. Reserving the tablespoon maximizes the amount of flour that is "kneaded".).
6. Let sit, covered, 8-30 hours. (I usually start a batch when I take the last one out of the crock pots, about 20 hours.).
7. Stir down, adding the reserved flour mixture.
8. Spoon into 2 greased ramekins. (Anchor Hocking makes a 2 cup one that fits nicely into my slow cooker.).
9. Place on a rack in the COLD slow cooker. (I use a canning ring, but anything that lifts it off the bottom of the slow cooker will work.).
10. Let rest 1 - 3 hours. (I generally do 1.5).
11. Turn slow cooker on HIGH & bake for 75 minutes.
12. Cool. Slice. Enjoy.
13. This can also be "baked" in an egg cooker. 1 sandwich round in the time it takes to steam 7 eggs.