Comforting

So I've really been in the mood lately for something comforting. Foods, movies, books, whatever . . . I decided today that I wanted to do some baking of some sort today but didn't feel like doing something I've done a million times before. I grabbed out a book I found a few months back that is both great for recipes and a really great read, Homebaking by Jeffery Alford and Niaomi Duguid. As I flipped through that pages I came across Almond Milk Bread, and although I've made bread before I've never done this one and the decription sounded delicious! So Itook the afternoon to make it and now I'm patiently waiting for it to cool enough to cut into. It smells great, but mine didn't rise up the same as in the picture. It's something that happened to me before and I think it's becasue I'm allowing them to get too warm in my oven while rising and the shock of the cooler air in the house deflates it too much before I can get them back into the oven to bake. However it doesn't affect the taste and I'm sure R. doesn't care what it looks like, as long as it's edible!

Almond Milk Bread

1 cup whole almonds

2 1/4 cup milk

2 tsp dry active yeast

4 tbsp room temperature butter

4 to 5 cups all purpose flour

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/3 tsp salt

melted butter

Grind the almonds into a powder using a food processor (I've got a Magic Bullet and it worked great for this!). In a pot combine milk and the almonds, simmer until thickened. Pour into your mixing bowl and cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and sugar and allow to sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl cup up bits of butter and toss with 1 cup of flour, add to milk mixture along with 2 cups of flour. Mix together untill smooth. Gradually add in up to 2 cups of flour until you have a smooth yet slightly sticky dough. Place dough into a clen bowl, cover and let rise for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Divided dough into half, shape into loaves in tins and allow to rise for an hour more.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Place tins into oven and bake for approximately 25 minutes until they sound hollow when tapped. Turn out immediately and allow to cool 30 minutes before digging in!