Adventures in Breadmaking: White Sandwich Bread

I made a batch of the original boule dough from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and made a loaf the the White Sandwich Bread.  We ate it fresh with a meal, and didn't even get a chance to try it for sandwiches, but it was really good.

With what was left of the dough, I made the original recipe and ended up with a nice loaf that had a funny air bubble on top.

Adventures in Breadmaking: Couronne and Pain d'Epi

This week I continued with Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by making Couronne and Pain d'Epi.  Couronne is a ring-shaped bread.  Pain d'Epi, or wheat stalk bread, is shaped like a stalk of wheat.  I need to work on my shaping technique still, but the Pain d'Epi was really good.  It was crunchy on the outside and light and chewy on the inside.

Couronne 

Pain d'Epi

Adventures in Breadmaking: Ciabatta Bread

I got the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois for Christmas last year and have been working my way through the different recipes.  The book has a base recipe and then additions and different shapes/sizes for different types of bread.  This week I tried Ciabatta Bread.  It is oblong-shaped and rather flat.  We ate it with the chili I made.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

This is another recipe from allrecipes.com.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
• 2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups raisins
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• GLAZE:
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

 In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, divide in half. Roll each into a 15-in. x 7-in. rectangle. Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle with water. Starting with a short side, roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam side down, in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves. 

I've made this with and without the glaze--it's great either way!  Like all homemade bread, it dries out quickly, but makes wonderful toast with honey; it also works for french toast. 

It's obviously been awhile since I updated this blog, because now I realize I already posted this recipes.  Oops! 

Adventures in Breadmaking: Whole Wheat Bread

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this bread making! This whole wheat bread recipe was on the side of some North Dakota Mill whole wheat flour.

4 cups Dakota Maid whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups Dakota Maid bread flour
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
2 1/4 cups warm water
2/3 cups dry milk ( I used warm milk in place of the 2 1/4 cups warm water. Well, I meant to, but I forgot until I had started pouring the water in, so I ended up with about 2/3 cup milk and the rest water.)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup shortening, melted (I used butter)
1 T. salt

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water. Add remaining water, dry milk, honey, shortening and salt. Beat in 1 cup whole wheat flour. Add remaining wheat flour.

Turn out on counter and knead, adding enough bread flour to make a soft dough. Place in lightly greased bowl and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 45 minutes).

After first rise

Punch down dough, divide and form into two balls. Cover and let rest about 5 minutes.

Separated into two balls of dough

Roll each ball on lightly flour-dusted surface into a 10" by 6" rectangle. Roll up jellyroll fashion and pinch ends together. Place in two lightly greased 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" or 9" by 5" loaf pans, with seam sides down. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans immediately . Cool on wire rack.

I was happy with how this bread turned out. I need to keep remembering that because homemade bread does not have the preservatives that commercially available bread does, it does not last as long. When I took the half loaf of bread that was left out later in the week, it was starting to get moldy already. Sigh. So, when I make two loaves of bread, I'll put one in the freezer until I'm ready to use it.

The finished product

Adventures in Breadmaking: Trial and Error and Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Our second week of bread making, Barry picked Sunflower Nut Bread and I picked a Simple Oat Bread recipe. After our first week, I realized we would need a few more things to enhance our bread making experience: another bread pan as I only had one and many recipes make two loaves, pastry brushes for brushing oil/butter/egg white on top of loaves of bread and bread flour.
Imagine my surprise when Barry came to tell me the brand new bread pan had exploded in the oven. That was a fun mess to clean up. At least it exploded away from the bread and there was not glass embedded in it.


We were a little disappointed with our results this time as both loaves were rather dense and heavy. They were still edible, but were not what we were hoping for. I suspect that since the yeast expired in May 2011, it just wasn't doing the job anymore, so I bought some fresh yeast next time I went grocery shopping.

I used the fresh yeast to make Cinnamon Raisin Bread, using a recipe from allrecipes.com.

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (105 degrees to 115 degrees)
• 2 cups warm milk (110 to 115 degrees F)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups raisins
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• GLAZE:
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoon milk

In a mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add milk, 1/3 cup sugar, oil, salt and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Add raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/4 hours. Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, divide in half. Roll each into a 15-in. x 7-in. rectangle.

Combine cinnamon and remaining sugar; sprinkle over dough. Sprinkle with water. Starting with a short side, roll up tightly, jelly-roll style. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam side down, in two greased 9-in. x 5-in. x 3-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. Combine glaze ingredients; drizzle over loaves.

Adventures in Breadmaking: Cranberry Walnut and French Baguettes

My husband and I have ongoing discussions about bread. He prefers the cheap white stuff while I like whole wheat. We both like the expensive artisan style bread with the crusty outside and chewy middle, but who wants to regularly spend $5 on a loaf of bread? So we decided to make Saturday our bread making day. Every week, we'll each pick a type of bread to try. Stir, knead, rise, bake, and then evaluate the end result.
For our first attempt, Barry picked Cranberry Walnut Bread. We adapted this No-Knead Artisan Style Bread from allrecipes.com by taking a reviewer's suggestion of adding dried cranberries and walnuts to the dough instead of the rosemary, thyme and sage.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt (I used only 1 tsp. as other reviewers suggested)
  
• 1 2/3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme (optional)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh sage (optional)

1. Combine the flour, yeast, and salt in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the water and herbs, if using, and mix well. The dough will be very sticky and shaggy-looking. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside at room temperature for 18 to 24 hours.
2. Generously flour a work surface. The dough will have risen and will be covered in bubbles. Transfer the dough to the work surface and dust it with flour. Fold the dough in half, and then form the dough into a ball by stretching and tucking the edges of the dough underneath the ball.
3. Liberally flour a kitchen towel (do not use terrycloth). Place the dough ball on the floured towel. Cover with another floured towel. Let the dough rise for about two hours [see footnote].
4. Preheat an oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Place a lidded Dutch oven or deep heavy duty casserole dish (with lid) into the oven to preheat.
5. Carefully remove the hot baking dish from the oven. Remove the lid and gently turn the dough ball into the ungreased baking dish, seam-side up; shake the dish so the dough is more evenly distributed.
6. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake until the crust is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the loaf from the baking dish and let it cool on a rack before slicing.


I chose French Baguettes, also from allrecipes.com, adapted to bake in the oven rather than a bread machine.

• 1 cup water
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour (We didn't have bread flour, so I used all-purpose)
  
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast (I used active dry yeast)
  
• 1 egg yolk (I skipped this step because I didn't have a pastry brush to brush on the egg yolk)
  
• 1 tablespoon water

1. Place 1 cup water, bread flour, sugar, salt and yeast into bread machine pan in the order recommended by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle, and press Start.
2. When the cycle has completed, place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in bulk. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3. Punch down dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll into a 16x12 inch rectangle. Cut dough in half, creating two 8x12 inch rectangles. Roll up each half of dough tightly, beginning at 12 inch side, pounding out any air bubbles as you go. Roll gently back and forth to taper end. Place 3 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Make deep diagonal slashes across loaves every 2 inches, or make one lengthwise slash on each loaf. Cover, and let rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes, or until doubled in bulk.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon water; brush over tops of loaves.
5. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

Non bread machine directions:
Combine water, sugar and yeast to proof. Add salt, then flour and knead until no longer sticky. Place in bowl and rise 30 minutes. Follow recipes directions above to the end.

We liked the flavor of both of these breads, although we expected them to rise more. The Cranberry Walnut Bread was chewy in the middle and crunchy on the outside. The baguettes were miniature, and unfortunately we only ended up eating one out of two baguettes. The second one we didn't get around to using right away, and it became hard as a rock.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

I had some zucchini from my mom and blueberries in the freezer, so I decided to make this Blueberry Zucchini Bread from allrecipes.com.

A certain four-year-old in this house likes to sample baked goods when they're fresh out of the oven.

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries (I used frozen)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans. (I don't have mini loaf pans, so I used one bread pan and also made a dozen muffins.)
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

Rhubarb Bread

I had enough rhubarb left in my little patch that I decided to try some rhubarb bread. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com.

1 cup milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I did not add walnuts)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together milk, lemon juice and vanilla; let stand for 10 minutes. (I made one loaf of bread and 8 muffins with my batter.)
   
2. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, oil and egg. Combine the flour, salt and baking soda, stir into sugar mixture alternately with the milk mixture just until combined. Fold in rhubarb and nuts. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Sprinkle this mixture over the unbaked loaves. (I ended up not putting the topping on; it tasted fine without it.)
   
4. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

Irish Soda Bread

I made this last week for St. Patrick's Day. The house smelled amazing while it was baking! I adapted this recipe from allrecipes.com.


1/2 cup white sugar
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 cups raisins (I used less, a little less than 2 cups)
1 tablespoon caraway seeds (I did not use caraway seeds)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (I used milk with lemon juice instead of buttermilk)
1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch round cast iron skillet or a 9 inch round baking or cake pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, combine flour (reserving 1 tablespoon), sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, raisins and caraway seeds. In a small bowl, blend eggs, buttermilk and sour cream. Stir the liquid mixture into flour mixture just until flour is moistened. Knead dough in bowl about 10 to 12 strokes. Dough will be sticky. Place the dough in the prepared skillet or pan and pat down. Cut a 4x3/4 inch deep slit in the top of the bread. Dust with reserved flour
3. Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for 65 to 75 minutes. Let cool and turn bread onto a wire rack.

Banana Bread/Muffins

This recipe is also from the Joy of Cooking. I usually make muffins rather than bread as the kids are more likely to eat muffins.

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking power
5 1/3 T. unsalted butter (I use salted butter, and use less salt instead)
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas (about 2)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans (I NEVER add nuts, but I do sometimes add chocolate chips.)

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inche (6 cup) loaf pan.
Whisk together flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 2 to 3 minutes. Beat in the flour mixture until blended and the consistency of brown sugar. Gradually beat in eggs. Fold in bananas and nuts until just combined.
Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.
For muffins: Bake for 15-20 minutes until toothpick comes out clean. Makes 12 regular size or 24 mini muffins.