Bread #9 - Country Bread

Since I am way behind on those 25 breads (what was I thinking??) we made bread for thanksgiving.  We pulled a recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook - country bread sorry no link just buy the cookbook it's useful I promise.

Anyhow the bread was served straight from the oven it was a little crusty but you know it doubled in size 4 times not twice ( this is what happens when things are in the oven). But otherwise it was pretty good.  If we made it again I would define you not cook it with a turkey or sweet potatoes.

Bread #8 - Honey Oat Bread

Seems like Honey is a repeated theme in these breads mostly because I just had the ingredients for this one.  The bread turned out good it's not as brown on top as I wanted but it was yummy.  I would probably make it again as it was fast and easy and great just out of the oven.

I followed this recipe pretty much exact except when I was too dry I added extra milk not water.  http://janalinhood.com/honey-oat-bread/

A little selfie in the mixing bowl. 

Bread. # 7 - Beer Bread

This bread was a disaster.  The downfall was the mad matter IPA I used but it's what we had.  I do not recommend this beer for beer bread I would use something else.  

I used this recipe however I only used 1/2 cup bread flour and the rest was self rising flour.  http://www.browneyedbaker.com/2013/04/02/honey-beer-bread-recipe/ 

#babyburf helped me with the bread too. 

Hers the final product.  The texture of the bread was good it had a nice crisp outside and a soft middle but alas that IPA was over powering.  We tasted it and then sent it to Dustin's work for his coworkers. 

Bread #6 - Simple Honey Bread

I am still a little behind making bread so I chose a simple bread to make - I promise these will get more interesting eventually. This one was rather tasty but not so much sweetness from the honey as I thought it would have.  I also like that it made one loaf because we never go through more than two without freezing some.

Simple Honey Bread

Ingredients - 

1 cup warm water

1 package fast acting yeast

3 cups flour bread or fast rising (I used the later and originally this called for 2 3/4 cup but it was waaaaay to wet)

3 tblsp Honey + some to drizzle

1 tsp Salt

1 tblsp olive Oil (I used melted coconut oil instead)

Directions:

1. Mix yeast, water and 1/2 the honey in large bowl allow yeast about 2-3 minutes to activate.

2. Add in remaining honey, salt, oil and mix on low.

3. Gradually add in flour 1/2 cup at a time while mixing with the dough hook or spoon.

4. Knead together so it's all mixed and let rise in warm place about 20 minutes

5. Form into loaf and place in bread pan, drizzle honey on top.

6. bake at 350 for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool.

7. Slice and serve.

Bread #5 - Pretzel Bread

I am behind the game on breads, and Kathleen had been dying for me to make pretzel bread.  So since it was her birthday I made it.  The dough seemed to be waaaay to dry using the recipe I added about a 1/4 of a cup of extra milk to make it more dough like.  

And then when I boiled it - the boiling water was bubbling over.  

The bread seemed waaaay brown too.  

But you know what this was the best bread yet it was delicious!  

The recipe is so simple it's very forgiving, perfect for Easter.  

Everyone here tried different toppings with it and enjoyed it so much we have just a slice or two left.  I am pretty sure I will make this again maybe in bun form.

PS acceptable toppings include butter, ranch dressing, cream cheese, cream cheese and strawberries, and cheese.  Other toppings we wished for beer cheese, nacho cheese, honey butter, and garlic butter.

Here's the link to the recipe note I added the extra milk and used sea salt rather than regular salt.  

http://m.reviewjournal.com/life/food-and-cooking/pretzel-bread-twist-old-standard 

Bread #4 Brown Bread from a Box ;)

So with bread four I totally cheated.  A few weeks ago I spotted a mix in like bed bath beyond or maybe it was kohls even for brown bread and I bought it.  It was that kind you know the kind of mix where you add like three things.  Yup this was one of those breads.  

Overall I felt like the bread wasn't very close to brown bread at least not of the Irish variety.  It was light and fluffy.  It was good hot.  I did enjoy having it make exactly 1 loaf, which with some dinner guests we polished off.  But it wasn't spectacular just ok.  Not sure I would spend the $5 to buy this again, but I liked the quickness of the bread.

Bread #3 - Cinnamon Raisin Bread

So far I'm loving this project although it does take some planning to figure out when to make the bread if it needs to rise once or twice. 

This bread was by far my favorite bread so far - it's fluffy but not heavy, sweet but not too sweet, and I love the raisins. The bread can be made into runny egg sandwiches, or eaten as snack/dessert, I also think it would be good as grilled cheese although I have not done that yet. 

 I used this recipe almost exactly, except I only needed 6 1/2 cups of flour and then it seemed to be enough and I used only about 1/2 the sugar/cinnamon mixture. It still made three loaves two of which I wrapped in saran wrap and froze for later.  If I made it again I would absolutely have rolled the dough spiral tighter so the air bubble created was smaller but this does not impact the taste as much as cutting it, and appearance.  I also probably would have added in some cranberries or more raisins.  

Bread #2 - Artisan Bread

For bread #2 I had originally planned to make Irish brown bread, but I was missing a few ingredients.  So instead I went with Artisan no knead bread (ps I did knead it).  It was a simple bread however the cook time was long and my bread came out looking like vintage footballs (or so says my husband).  I was so sad and almost decided to toss them in the trash and make a second bread #2.  But we opted to slice it anyway and eat it with our beef stew.  And you know what when dipped in stew the extra crispy crust is not noticed.  The insides were moist and delicious.  So it wasn't such a fail after all. 

Ingredients: 

3 1/2 cups flour 

1 package yeast 

1 tsp salt

1 tblsp sugar

1 1/2  cups warm water (I ended up needing like an extra 1/2 cup because the dough was so dry)

Directions: 

1. Mix water and yeast allow to dissolve for a minute.  Meanwhile mix all dry ingredients, then add water and yeast.  Mix together until a dough is formed. I had to go ahead and get my hands in there and add that extra water.

2. Cover with Saran Wrap and let rest for 8-24 hours.

3. The dough will be sticky and moist when you uncover it.  Add flour and divide into two equal portions, formed into loaves.

4. Place on baking sheet or warm cooking stone (I think I was supposed to grease or flour this but since it good and slick I avoided that).  Cover with a towel and let rise 1-2 hours in warm spot.  

5.  Preheat oven 450.  In a baking dish add 1-2 cups of water place on bottom shelf (I used a lasagna pan).  Then put bread on the higher rack.

6.  This is where I should have been paying attention and I cooked it for 40 per the recipe and thus the dark crunchy crust.  I think perhaps next time I will check it at 25 and 30 minutes.  Remove from oven when crust is Golden Brown cool and serve. 

 

Bread #1 - Homemade White/wheat Bread

So this year I'm experimenting in baking. I'm pretty excited to do this. I haven't spent much time baking other than cookies/cakes so I thought breads might be a good alternative.  I started out by baking a simple bread although I did change it up a bit.  Here's the recipe... 

Homemade half white/wheat bread 

Ingredients: 

6 1/2 cups white bread flour

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tblsp salt 

3 1/8 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
2 packages of yeast
2 eggs 

1/3 cup oil 

Butter

 

Directions: 

1. Mix 2 1/2 cups white flour and wheat flour, 1 cup of sugar, and the salt in a mixing bowl.
2. Heat milk (to not quite boiling).  Cool about 5 minutes.  Mix in yeast and remaining sugar.  
3. Set milk and yeast aside for 5 minutes until the yeast dissolves.  
4. Mix milk and flour mixture together (I used my dough hook and kitchenaid). 
5. Add in 2 eggs and oil.
6. Gradually add in the remaining white flour. 
7. Knead bread until texture looks smooth and ingredients seem mixed. 
8. Let rise in a a warm place covered for about 1 1/2 hours. 
9. Punch down.  Divide into 3 pieces let dough rise another hour or two in the pan.  
10. Bake at 325 for about 30 minutes or until done in the middle. 
11. Butter top when removing from oven. 
12. Let cool and remove from pan.

The bread turned out good however the wheat flour I think made the dough a little bit doughier and the texture different than I planned on.  However it tastes good and we like the crust.