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Slow cooker herb bread gives you fresh bread without turning on your oven.
Don’t Heat The Kitchen–Slow Cooker Herb Bread
You don’t have to give up having freshly baked bread in the summer months! Stay cool and use your slow cooker to bake a nice loaf of bread.
Yes, you can bake in your crock pot. My sister has baked in hers for years. When she told me she did, I have to admit I was in disbelief. That is until I tried it myself using her go-to banana bread recipe. After I tried it, I was a total believer.
Herbs
This slow cooker bread lends itself to many herb flavors.
I used chives because I like them and they were growing in my garden profusely. The bread didn’t have a strong chive flavor because I always go easy with herb flavorings. However, I will add more the next time since the flavor was too subtle.
If you want to use herbs such as basil, rosemary or thyme, I’d advise going lightly with those the first time you make this. They are rather strongly flavored herbs and too much can really spoil the flavor–turning something nice to something that tastes medicinal.
If you find you want a more prominent flavor, then by all means add a bit more herb the next time you make it.
Browning
Where the bottom of the bread will brown, the top will not. If the pale shade doesn’t bother you, then you’re set to go.
For my taste, I like a little browning for eye appeal. What I did was brush the top with a bit of olive oil and pop it. under the broiler for a couple of minutes. That did the trick–at least for my taste.
This bread has a nice moist texture that would be great made as dinner rolls. You could divide the dough into individual rolls and “bake” them like that. Personally, I’d stick to using a smaller slow cooker if you’re going to make this into rolls. A 5 quart round cooker would be the perfect size.
The Recipe
Slow Cooker Herb Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 1/4 tsp rapid yeast
- 2 1/2 cups bread strong flour or all-purpose (plain) flour
- 2 tbs honey
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbs chopped fresh chives thyme or rosemary
Instructions
- Mix the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Let it stand 5 minutes and if bubbles form, the yeast is active.
- Using a stand mixer with the dough hook, mix the yeast mixture and the remaining ingredients until a soft dough forms. Let the machine knead for about 5 more minutes until the dough is soft and elastic. This may be kneaded by hand if you don't have a stand mixer.
- Line a slow cooker (I used a round 4 qt) with parchment paper. Form the dough into a ball and place in the lined slow cooker.
- Set the cooker to high and cook for 1-1 1/2 hours. The bread is done if it makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom.
- As the top won't be brown, you can pop it under a hot broiler for a few minutes to brown the top.
Nutrition
