#squaw bread

[fortykillz]

Lunch doesn't get better

[thehomesteadporch]

Moist & Hearty Squaw Bread

Many years ago when I was a teenager, I went for a hike in the hills of Malibu, CA and found the most delicious, brown squaw bread at a little roadside stop. Not much more than a country gas station store really, but this delicious, rich and hearty bread forever stuck in my memory. It has a delightful almost nutty texture, is slightly sweet, most and dark. I sat in the car and ate half a loaf with butter and felt that there was nothing I could have added that could possibly have made it any better.

Since then I've never seen another loaf like it in a store. The closest I could come to the distinct flavor and texture would be the oatmeal brown bread rolls from Cheesecake Factory, and those have just a hint of the goodness I remember from my teen hiking trip.

Squaw bread has a rich history in Native Mississippi cultures, and on some platforms (namely Pinterest) it could even be blocked due to the common belief that the word squaw is derogatory. While this can be true in some contexts, in its historical origins, the term is perfectly innocent, as current dictionaries also correctly indicate: squaw comes from a language of the Algonquian family in which it meant "woman.' Going back to its roots, the word is an ancient and thoroughly decent word. For that reason I didn't change the name of this historical bread.

Because of it's whole grain ingredients, I would consider this a healthy addition to any bread recipe collection. Although it's just about perfect with just a healthy spread of butter, I imagine it would make a pretty good sandwich or morning toast with nut butter or cream cheese on top. With soup on the side it would be complete dinner meal.

I promised myself one day I would figure out a recipe to make this memorable loaf, and today was the day. I combined several recipes with what I could remember of this magical loaf and here's what I came up with. It did not disappoint!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 packet dry yeast

2 Tbsp. brown sugar

2 Tbsp. molasses

2 Tbsp. honey

2 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1 tsp. salt

2 c wheat flour

2 c all purpose or einkorn flour

1/2 c rye flour

Combine water, yeast and brown sugar in mixing bowl. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until bubble form to make sure yeast is fresh and active.

Add molasses, honey, butter, cocoa powder and salt and stir.

Add flours and knead with dough hook until dough begins to form around your hook and pulls away from the bowl. If dough is too wet, add all purpose flour. Dough should still be moist, sticky and not too dry.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a bread pan with parchment or spray with oil and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Carefully drop dough inside, sprinkling more cornmeal to cover sides and top. Cover with a shower cap or cling wrap for about an hour, until doubled in size.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and it sounds hollow when tapped. Turn out on to a wire rack and resist the urge to slice it until cool so it can finish steaming.

Of course with the house smelling outrageously delicious with the scent for rich, fresh bread, I had to help myself to a thick slice of warm bread, smothered in butter just as soon as it cooled.

[vlomography]

A puree of brown sugar, raisins and honey gives a musky sweetness to this rye-whole-wheat blend. This is bread for its own sake -best enjoyed simply, perhaps with a dab of butter.

[shareshelfsf]

A puree of brown sugar, raisins and honey gives a musky sweetness to this rye-whole-wheat blend. This is bread for its own sake -best enjoyed simply, perhaps with a dab of butter.

[fromzeepewithlife]

anyone ever had this stuff???? it’s freakin,,,

Good,,,

[5bites]

Delish sandwiches at Board and Brew in Del Mar, CA! I was warned there would be a line and it was worth every minute of the wait. I got the Tub'O Tuna which was topped with tons of avocado amazingness. Make sure to get something on the squaw bread! -Sally

[healthyhitsthespot]

Egg-salad sandwich on squaw bread!

Babysitting today was quite an accomplishment. I didn't sit down for hours and hours! I did laundry, cleaned the house, and washed and put away all the dishes. I cleaned the little ones room, and made the kids two big meals, one of which was pasta (I had a small bowl too to taste but didn't have my camera! Darn!). I think I burned more calories babysitting today than I did at the gym (joke)! After hours of cleaning I decided to take a break and snack on this nectarine. It was soo good and juicy! I love summer produce!

Snack

When I was finally off after about 8 hours, I went home and put together some dinner. It was everything I was craving and I was 100% satisfied! Mmm-mmm good!

Dinner

Open-faced egg salad sandwich and a side salad with fresh tomatoes and italian dressing

The egg salad had 2 hard-boiled eggs and about 1 tbsp. of mayo + s&p. I put it on a piece of toasted squaw bread! Sooo good!

The salad just added to the whole thing and filled me up just right. This was such a good, simple dinner! Now I'm just working on my other blog at WordPress. I'll letcha all know about that when the time comes! For now, I'm definitely keeping busy!