Toast bread

In addition to the fact that bread is the head of everything, it can also be of completely different types, so that even the most fastidious gourmets will find their favorite variety. In addition to delighting the taste buds, some breads seem to have been created to save time. Toast bread and a toaster are a pair designed to make life easier for housewives. Not just because a special machine has already cut the bun or “brick” into beautiful, thin and even slices. Toast bread is like a new stage in the development of familiar bakery products. It will perfectly cope with the role of an independent dish as a breakfast, it is enough to send it to the toaster, and then add a small piece of butter to the still hot slice. Or jam. Or peanut butter. Or chocolate. Or almost any filler that is in the refrigerator. There are incredibly many options for toast and sandwiches made on the basis of toast bread. However, like other dishes where you can use this versatile product.

Characteristic differences of toast bread, its calorie content and composition

As already mentioned, the product is sold already sliced. Most often it has the shape of a square with rounded corners. Such bread differs from other types of significant porosity of the structure, as well as a thin crust. It is not at all like the crust of a fresh, ruddy “dinner”, which crunches when cut and chews for a long time. The porous texture is achieved due to the large amount of egg and milk protein, as well as gluten.

The simplest, classic toast bread recipe usually includes the following ingredients: water, wheat flour and improvers, dry or regular milk, yeast, sugar, vegetable oil (rapeseed, olive or sunflower), salt and baking powder. On an industrial scale, the bulk of all volumes of toast bread is made from these products, without any culinary delights. Of course, there are more interesting options – with spices, seasonings, seeds, dried fruits, candied fruits, cocoa powder.

The calorie content of 100 grams of the product is 285 kcal, it also contains 7,3 g of proteins, 3,9 g of fat, 22,5 g of carbohydrates.

In addition to energy, measured in calories, the product is rich in useful substances, minerals and vitamins, which together have a positive effect on well-being and health. It contains coarse dietary fiber that normalizes bowel function. It also contains pectins, stearins, organic acids, fatty acids: stearic, myristic, palmitic, gadoleic, oleic, linoleic.

Toast bread contains vitamins B1, B2, B4, B6, B9, B12, PP, K, E, lutein and zeaxanthin, various macro- and microelements:

• phosphorus;
• zinc;
• iron;
• selenium;
• sodium;
• calcium;
• potassium;
• copper;
• manganese;
• magnesium.

Of the essential and non-essential amino acids, the product contains glycine, serine, aspartic acid, arginine, lysine, histidine, tryptophan.

How to make toast bread at home

Are you already tired of the usual “lunch” and want to try something more original? Or do you need to cook unusual sandwiches, sandwiches, toasts for a friendly party? An excellent recipe for toast bread with cocoa will help out. Ingredients:

• 280 ml of water;
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder;
• 1 teaspoon salt;
• 20 grams of sugar;
• 400 g wheat flour;
• 6 g dry yeast;
• 40 ml of olive oil.

Dry yeast is mixed with 120 grams of flour and warm water, stirred well and allowed to stand for 15 minutes in a warm place. After that, oil, sugar and salt are added to the dough, and it is divided into two approximately equal parts. One of them contains cocoa. Unused flour is also divided in half and added to two parts of the dough, which is then kneaded by hand. You should not add more flour, otherwise the dough will turn out to be too dense, and if it sticks to your hands, they should be greased with oil. Both parts of the dough are wrapped with cling film, placed in a deep bowl and placed closer to a hot stove or oven. For fidelity, you can wrap it with a warm blanket or sweater. Under these conditions, the dough should rise about 2 times in 1 hour.

After an hour, the workpiece needs to be kneaded a little more and divided into 16 equal pieces: 8 white and chocolate each.

It is better to take a rectangular and deep baking dish. It is smeared with oil, oiled baking paper is placed on the bottom, after which 8 pieces of future bread are laid out in a checkerboard pattern, and on top of the second layer, also alternating dark with light, the remaining 8, light to dark, and vice versa.

The form with the workpiece is removed in a warm place until it rises even more. For 15 minutes, the dough is baked at a temperature of 200 degrees, after which the degrees are reduced to 180, and the bread reaches another 25 minutes.

It is not worth cutting the product hot – it can lose its appetizing appearance and structure. It is cooled directly in the form, covered with a clean kitchen towel, and then cut into thin slices. The resulting toast bread has a thin soft crust, an airy texture and a pleasant cocoa flavor.

You can cook the product not only in the oven – for the lazier, there are recipes for toast in a bread machine.

Use of the product in cooking

Toast bread is considered a semi-finished product, a preparation of bakery production. Eating it raw is wrong, although who can forbid it if you really want to. However, fried in butter, in a dry non-stick frying pan, or in a toaster, a slice of toast still has a deeper flavor and a nice crunch. The product can also be baked in the oven.

There are an incredible variety of options for preparing the toasts themselves and dishes from them. Toasts are rubbed with spices and olive oil, grilled with caramel, sandwiches are prepared with various fillings:

• cheese;
• sausages, sausages, ham, dried or smoked meat;
• nut paste;
• jams, jams, confiture;
• feta and sun-dried tomatoes;
• butter and berries;
• peanut butter;
• sauces and dressings;
• pickles and capers.

True, the culinary imagination does not end there, because you can cook sandwiches with any food that is in the refrigerator.

In addition, there are a huge number of recipes using toast bread. Salads, pies, bread casseroles, edible “baskets” for all kinds of fillings, snacks, scrambled eggs and omelettes, cold sandwiches, rolls are prepared with it.

For example, for a family evening, you can cook “bread nests” – a baked crispy snack. To do this, you need 4 slices of toast, 100 g of cheese, ham, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon of milk and melted butter. The crust is cut off from the bread, it is slightly crushed with a rolling pin and greased with butter on one side. It will be convenient to use a muffin mold – pieces of bread are put into it, forming bumpers. The ham is cut into strips or cubes, the cheese is rubbed on a fine grater. Filling is prepared from eggs and milk. The filling is placed in bread, poured with an egg-milk mixture, after which the “nests” are sent to the oven and baked for 10 minutes at 180 degrees.

A hearty option for breakfast for the whole family – hot sandwiches with scrambled eggs, meat and cucumber, cooked in an electric grill. For 1 piece, take 2 slices of bread, meat (for example, ham, boiled pork, sausage), green onions, pickled cucumber, melted cheese, 50 g butter, favorite sauces, and for an omelette – 3 chicken eggs, 50 g cream and salt each taste.

Eggs, salt and cream are mixed and fried in a pan, stirring constantly, so that the omelet is cooked in the form of free-form pieces. Toasted bread is smeared with cheese, sliced ​​​​meat is spread on top and sprinkled with chopped green onions, covered with a thin layer of sauce, slices of cucumber and scrambled eggs are placed on top.

The sandwich is covered with a second toast, smeared with butter on top. The electric grill is heated to 200 degrees, and a sandwich is fried in it, pressing the lid strongly. After the appearance of a golden crust, the dish is ready, you need to eat it hot, whole or cut in half, in the form of triangles.

Product benefits and disadvantages

Of course, the constant use of any kind of bread in large quantities will not bring much benefit to a person. The product is high-calorie, can provoke weight gain and an increase in blood cholesterol. In addition, when toast is fried, reactions between carbohydrates, sugars and amino acids occur on its surface, resulting in the formation of acrylamide, a carcinogenic substance. Two or three toasts a week are unlikely to do much harm to health, but eating them every day is not recommended. Burnt slices of bread should not be eaten at all, precisely because the burnt parts contain harmful acrylamide. Therefore, when preparing toast using a toaster, it is better to choose the minimum roasting mode so that the bread is simply dried. Another danger may be the composition of the dough from which the product is prepared.

In addition to traditional ingredients, manufacturers use a variety of additives, from natural and harmless preservatives to carcinogenic synthetic azo dyes.

Also, improvers like Amilox or Mazhimix are added to flour and dough. The concentration of the substance in the product in an amount of more than 1 percent may cause respiratory problems.

However, everything is not so sad if you do not eat burnt toast made from toast bread with a dubious composition. Moreover, bread, due to the content of vitamins and minerals in it, is a useful source of carbohydrates for a person, respectively, energy and vitality. Vitamin B1, which is rich in the product, is involved in the metabolism of essential amino acids, has a positive effect on the functioning of the nervous and cardiovascular systems. Vitamin B2 contributes to the normalization of vision. Vitamin B9 is indispensable for cell division in the bone marrow and intestinal mucosa. Bran bread for toast contains a high amount of coarse dietary fiber, has a beneficial effect on the digestive process and prolongs the feeling of satiety. A product baked from whole grain flour is rich in fiber, which is responsible for removing toxins from the body and cleansing the intestines.

Toast bread is a product that most consumers associate with neat, thin square slices and a “perpetual” shelf life. In fact, this type of bread can often actually last a little longer than simple varieties like “dinner” bread, thanks to the preservatives and stabilizers in the ingredients.

Its characteristic features are well known to both children and adults: a thin golden crust, airiness and porosity, a light aroma of milk. This type of bread products is great for preparing breakfasts and snacks, snacks, salads. And hot sandwiches in some states have become part of the national cuisine.

When choosing a brand of bread, you need to take into account that the surprises on the label in the form of various “E-shek” are not always harmless to humans, so the ingredients listed in the composition should be carefully studied and determined whether all additives are allowed by law for consumption. Proven manufacturers who value their reputation usually make bread for toast from natural and healthy products: it does not get stale for a long time, has a uniform elastic structure and a pleasant yellow-golden color.