Chocolate-Raisin Babka

"Does rum go bad when kept for a long time?" I asked the local liquor store.

"No," the gal said, with a small laugh.  "it doesn't go bad.  It stores well."

And that's how my ingredient shopping began for the AB5 Chocolate-Raisin Babka.  You see, rum (yum!) is brushed on top of the slightly cooled loaf!  But I don't drink very often.  However, I have been eyeing this recipe for a very long time, and finally decided to make it.  I had read that "babka" translates as "grandmother," so this sounded like something really special.



Ready to bake!

I purchased a small bottle of rum and some high quality Ghiradelli  semi-sweet chocolate.  I had heard that chopped chocolate melts better than chocolate chips.
Rather than make a full four-loaf batch of this recipe (and use 16 egg yolks!), one loaf was made.  I used the egg whites in an omelette for lunch.





Dough rolled out, filling added


There didn't seem like enough chocolate and raisins in the recipe, so I tripled the amount.

Next time, I'll add some sort of sugar--maybe brown sugar.

The dough was rolled into a log, and placed into a 9" x 5" loaf pan.  With the back of my hand, I patted the loaf pan into an even shape.

Next time, I might use an 8 1/2" loaf pan to make a higher rise.

It felt odd not to brush the loaf with egg wash, but I knew that the rum would be brushed on at the end.

Here's the partially-cooled loaf, after brushing rum onto the top.  The rum really soaked into the crust.

The inside of the loaf looked like a cinnamon-raisin loaf.











This was an interesting bread.  Personally, I think of a very sweet cake-like dessert when I think of babka.  This tastes very much like a bread, but not something you would use for a sandwich.  If I make it again, I will probably make it much sweeter.

Thank you very much for stopping by.  I would love to hear your comments.  Have you made this bread?

Check back soon, I'll be baking soon!

Judy

100% Whole Grain Maple Oatmeal Bread

Maple Oatmeal Bread, mini loaf

There wasn't much time to make this dough, but much time wasn't needed!  That's the beauty of this type of baking.  The most time was spent buying the wheat germ for this recipe and quinoa for the next loaf.

Raisins were added, after hearing reviews of this bread from other group members.  As usual, I rinse my dried fruits to clean them.  This also keeps the fruit from soaking up liquid from the dough.

Dough, next day

The dough was rather wet, but I didn't mind.  I knew that I would be making mini loaves.  

The next day, the dough was stiffer.  It is possible that the raw oatmeal had absorbed some of the liquid.  Still, it wasn't easy to do the gluten cloak.  

We had a lot of plans for the day--building our harvest booth.  So I quickly covered the pans to let them rise, set two timers (one to turn on the oven awhile before actual baking), and went outside to start work on the booth.

I had made half a recipe, and it was just enough for 3 mini loaves.

Ready to rise in mini pans

When the second timer went off, the loaves were put into the oven.  Because they were mini loaves, they would bake sooner.  I kept setting timers for 10 minute intervals, and took them out when the internal temperature said 195 degrees.

Yummy, full of raisins and flavor!

The breads were a really nice snack for all of us building the harvest booth!  Nice crumb and flavor.  My friend, Debbie, said that the raisins really made the loaf!  Even my hubby said that he really liked it.  We all felt the loaf would be great with butter.  Next time, I might add some walnuts.  

I think I'll have another piece right now--excuse me for a minute...

Mmmmm, tastes great with honey butter!

What a great treat to have while we built the booth, and to give a loaf to my friend.  Here's some pictures of our harvest booth: 

Putting up the "walls"

Our crew, the booth all finished.  The "roof" is bamboo mats, so you can see the stars at night.  Peyton, who is 9, is a pro at putting up the lights.  We will be adding Chinese decorations later on, for our Asian theme.

The booth, lit up for night.  We need to add more decorations, a table, chairs, and lots of happy people!  Our friends look forward to this celebration every year!

Handwise tips:  If you have hand pain, tendonitis, or arthritis or any other pain issues and want to make this recipe:  

I guess the best tip for this recipe is to add the dried fruits into the water/dough, when you are making the dough. And rinse the raisins--you will be surprised how dirty raisins can be.

This bread is one of the breads from the "Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day" book.

The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in this book.  To see what my HB5 baking buddies have made recently, check out welcome-to-the-19th-hbinfive-bread-braid/">The 19th HBin5 Bread Braid
 

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  Come back soon, I'll be baking again often.  I hope you will leave a comment below.  I read every comment, and really appreciate your feedback.


Judy

100% Spelt Bread, Plain and Simple

The assigned HB5 group bread was a 100% whole wheat bread, but we had the option to use spelt flour.  There was only enough spelt flour for one bread, and this seemed a good time to bake it.

100% Spelt Bread, Plain and Simple

The dough for this bread seemed quite loose, even after refrigerating overnight.  Our book says that both whole wheat flour and spelt flour weigh the same.  I wonder if they absorb flour the same way.

The next day, the consistency was like our gluten free breads.  The dough  was hard to shape.  I decided to bake the bread in a loaf pan.  The bread is shown above.  It was a nice bread; we really like spelt!

That's the bread, plain and simple.

 Handwise tips:  If you have hand pain, tendonitis, or arthritis or any other pain issues and want to make this recipe,

1. You might space it out over a few days.  Make the stored dough several days before.  You don't have to bake on the same day, that's the beauty of this dough!
2. A mixer or food processor can help you.  You could put soapy water in it and run it for a few seconds to help clean it after removing the dough.  
3. Then, if you are using a food processor, remove the dough hook/blade so that you can fill up the bowl even more.  Put an empty (cleaned)  container from 35mm film upside down, over the center portion and you can fill it up higher to soak. The water shouldn't leak out!
4. When you shape it, let the dough rest if it resists stretching out.  Wait 10-15 minutes after doing the gluten cloak, and it easily should be able to be shaped.  Good time to have a seat and rest your hands!
5. Soak your tools in your empty dough bucket or a pan when you are finished using them.   That way, you can wash them easily later (or tomorrow!)  Give yourself the permission of time to clean up much later.

This bread is one of the breads from the "Artisan Breads in 5 Minutes a Day" book.
The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the "Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day" book.  To see what my HB5 baking buddies have made recently, check out  HBin5, 19th bread braid


Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope that you will leave a comment.  And please stop by again soon, to see what's baking in my kitchen!

Judy 

Pistachio Twist Bread

Pistachio Twist Bread
For the 16th HBinFive Bread Braid

YUM!  This bread was one of the first assignments for the newly formed "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day" baking group.  It was made with the "braided challah with whole wheat and wheat germ" dough.  I left out the wheat germ, and added flour to make the right consistency.  Rose water flavored the pistachio filling wonderfully.  

We took the bread to a holiday party, and people couldn't stop nibbling it!

For months, I have been craving this bread.  A friend of mine went to Trader Joe's in another city and brought me back bags of shelled pistachios.  I knew just what I was going to do with them!!!

Half a recipe, which is 2 breads, seemed like a good idea.  One for us, and one for a friend.  I usually space out my baking, so one night I put all the dry ingredients (minus the yeast) into my dough bucket. 

The next morning, I added the yeast, and the liquid ingredients.  Why does the dough look so watery?  

I began adding flour to the mixture, trading off between white whole wheat and unbleached all purpose.  Finally, I figured it out (you probably figured it out, too!)--I had added enough water for a full batch.  I added the remaining ingredients to make full batch, and added enough flours to make the dough feel "right."  So I can't tell you the proportion of white whole wheat flour to all purpose that was used in the bread.  But it did come out lighter in color; probably more all purpose was used this time.

Making the filling

The filling was easy to make.  I started by weighing 5oz. of pistachios.  Just enough to make  1/2 Cup of ground pistachios.  Weighing ingredients makes the job go much faster!

Recently, I was able to buy orange water.  That was the first choice in the recipe).  I was curious how it would taste, compared to the rosewater I used last time.

After adding the orange water, the mixture became a thick paste.

Rolling out the dough.  Placing globs of filling on the dough makes it easier to spread out a thick filling.  Can you see a picture in the blobs?

The dough is then rolled into a log, and twisted into a spiral.

Here's 2 twists, put aside to rise.  Notice that I put timers on each of them.  Love that dollar store--I picked up timers that I can use on differently-timed baking projects.  The microwave timer tells me when to turn on the oven!

The finished loaf.  But it's stuck to the pan, and felt flimsy.  I set a timer for 5 minutes to let the loaf firm up.  

Then, using my bench knife, 

I loosened the loaf on all sides.

Instead of lifting the loaf, I lifted the Silpat by the diagonal corners to transfer it to the cooling rack.  After all that work, I wasn't going to risk a loaf falling apart!  From the cooling rack, it was easy to slip out the Silpat.   

Ta da!  The loaves are now cooling on the racks.  With the rest of the dough, I made hot dog buns.

What a great day of baking! 

Handwise/Time Saving tips:  If you have hand pain, tendonitis, or arthritis or any other pain issues and want to make this recipe, you might space it out over a few days:

Make the HB5 stored dough several days before you plan to bake.  Make the filling on a different day, so you can concentrate on making the filling and cleanup of food processor on that day. 

When you are mixing the dough--If your hand problems respond to warmth, mixing with your hands may be a wonderful option.  The water you add is about 100 degrees, and it's a very wet dough.  It's pretty easy to mix, and no kneading.  I always love to put my hand into the warm dough to mix it!  You can get a better idea of when the dough is "just right," too!  That was especially important this time, when I added too much water.

Let the dough rest if it resists stretching out.  Wait 10-15 minutes after doing the gluten cloak, and it easily should be able to be patted into a larger circle or rolled out.  Good time to have a seat and rest your hands!

Find what kind of rolling method works best for you.  You might pick up the dough and have gravity stretch it for you.  You might use an OXO-type rolling pin.  Or a pastry roller may be easier for you to use, with the angle of the roller coming from above.  I think the pastry roller is the easiest to use. 





You don't have to bake several items on the same day.  However, the hot dog buns form pretty fast and cook quickly.  It's nice to do it all while the oven it hot!

Soak your tools in your empty dough bucket or a pan when you are finished using them.  Soak your baking pan with soapy water after you remove the bread.  That way, you can wash them easily later (or tomorrow!)  Give yourself the permission of time to clean up much later.
______


Thanks for stopping by to visit!  I hope you will leave a comment below.  Maybe you can add a handwise or time saving suggestion that will help others?

About the HBinFive Baking Group
The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. To see what my HB5 baking buddies have made recently, check out 16th HB5 Bread Braid.

Gluten-Free Parmesan Pretzel Sticks

Gluten-Free Parmesan Pretzel Sticks

Our assignment, for our "Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes," baking group, was to use the gluten-free cheddar sesame dough to make breadsticks.  It took me awhile to remember to do this project, because I kept thinking about the dough that got dropped from the loaf I made the prior week!

It was 4 days past the "bake by" date, when I remembered the rest of the dough was in the garage refrigerator.  I wasn't sure it would work, but I thought I'd give it a try. I put a lot of time and money into that dough already, and wasn't going to waste it if possible.  

The dough seemed fine, except that it was a bit watery.  Adding a bit of rice flour thickened it up nicely...

I started out by sprinkling my workspace with rice flour, so that I could roll out the dough:

I then rolled out the dough and cut it with my bench knife:

The handle on the bench knife makes it easy to grip it, and then move the sticks to the baking pan:

I seasoned the pretzel sticks with a bit of kosher salt and grated parmesan cheese.  They looked great after baking!

These were soooo addictive, and we just loved them!  My husband has requested that I make them again!  He calls them the best ever pretzel sticks, so that's what I am going to call them. 

Handwise and time saving tips--

I think that these pretzel/bread sticks use your hands a lot, and may not be possible for some people with hand pain.  So I'd like to focus on organization tips, which may be helpful to everyone:

I think it's important to take some time, when setting up, to think about putting what you need around you.  Minimize the stopping and starting to find things...


See the trash bag that's hanging from the counter?  It's hanging from a purse holder.  Someone gave that to me to hang my purse from a table in a restaurant.  I use it for "dry trash."  I've repurposed it here, so I don't have to run to the trash under the sink all the time.


I also try to keep a container for eggshells and other wet trash.  Sometimes, it's just an empty container from large yogurt.

Measuring ingredients on my scale is really fast for me, so that's one of the first things I pull out when I bake.

Of course, it's helpful to have a large kitchen where you can plop a card table and throw stuff on it for improptu baking!  We don't eat in our kitchen, so this is my extra baking room.  My cookbooks are behind the table.

I like putting some flour in this shaker, before I put the larger flour of container away.  It's helpful for me in sprinkling flour onto dough or the mat.  I like it so much that I think I will find a larger shaker for my all purpose flour,  which I use more, and use this one for whole wheat.

If you mix with a food processor, add a small amount of soapy water and run it to clean the blade. Then, remove the blade and put a small waterproof tube, such as from a 35mm container, over the opening.  

You will then be able to fill up the food processor a lot more to soak:

 


I like to keep a dough bucket or bowl of soapy water nearby for my used tools.  I throw them in the soapy water as I go.  That's important for me, because my dishwasher isn't efficient for a lot of my utensils:

We have a dish drawer.  While people oooh and aahh over it, it's not easy to use.  It fills up quickly! Most of the time, we hand wash and use it as an expensive dish drainer.  

So soaking helps speed up cleanup! 


Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you will leave a comment or tip below. 

If you would like to see what my bread baking friends have done with this recipe, click on this link:  15th Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes Baking Braid

Whole Wheat Banana Bread and Muffins

Whole Wheat Banana Bread and Muffins

I love bananas!  They are my "go to" snack.  I grab one, eat it, and the banana keeps me full for quite awhile.  I love banana bread, so I was wondering about this whole wheat version from "Healthy Breads in 5 Minutes a Day."

My local grocery store marks down their very ripe bananas on Mondays.  Just perfect for banana bread!  I am nicknamed "the muffin lady" in this store, so sometimes they will save ripe bananas for me.

The dough seemed quite wet.  It reminded me of the Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread.  


I created some steam in my microwave oven, where I would let my dough rise.  I put a post-it note at the top of the dough, so I could see the amount of rise.  Several hours later, you can see that the dough really did rise!  Success!

I wanted a rectangular loaf that would be easy to slice.  I found a folding technique in "A Blessing of Bread--Recipes and Rituals, Memories and Mitzvahs" by Maggie Glezer.  Ms. Glezer has wonderful interviews with long time bakers who share their baking techniques.  I just love reading stories of the bakers!  And they share their wonderful tips!!  One bagel and bread baker shared his folding method for a loaf of deli rye bread that would be sliced for sandwiches.  I used it on the Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread and just loved it!  I will repeat it here, it's so wonderful.

Start with a thick rectangle of dough. Then,

      "To shape the loaf, fold opposite edges in to the center of the dough and press the dough to even its thickness (1,2 below).  Roll the dough up from a long (not the folded) end (3,4) to make a log that is about 3 inches in diameter and 9 inches long.  (Basically, you want to make a short fat log so you will have big slices of bread for sandwiches.)  Roll the log back and forth to even it, then place it seam side down on the peel or board."

Then cover the loaves with plastic wrap to rise.

As you can see in the picture below, this method creates a uniform rectangular loaf.  I like the shape better than a regular oval or letter fold technique:

We liked this bread.  It reminded us of the Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread.  We first ate it on Friday night, and found ourselves snacking on it all weekend!

Handwise tips:  If you have hand pain, tendonitis, or arthritis or any other pain issues and want to make this recipe,

• Make the dough several days before you bake.

•  

• Shlep once, bake twice!  Our group tends to make a recipe a week, and posts about them every two weeks.  I don't like pulling out my five-pound containers of flour. Filling up a smaller container more often is bothersome.  Some time and energy is saved by measuring out the dry ingredients for both recipes at once.   You can easily measure out the flours and salt.  I measure by scale, which I think is faster than measuring by cups.  It's more accurate, too--a cup is a cup, no matter whether you fluff the flour or pack it in. Just be sure to label what's in your container!

• A mixer or food processor can help you.  You could put soapy water in it and maybe run it for a few seconds to help clean it after removing the dough.  
• Then, if you are using a food processor, remove the dough hook/blade so that you can fill up the bowl even more.  Put an empty (cleaned)  container from 35mm film upside down, over the center portion and you can fill it up higher to soak. The water shouldn't leak out!
• Let the dough rest if it resists stretching out.  Wait 10-15 minutes after doing the gluten cloak, and it easily should be able to be shaped.  Good time to have a seat and rest your hands!
• I used a muffin scoop and a small spatula to remove the dough for muffins.  For some people, that's easier than squeezing the muffin scoop handle.
• Maybe making a loaf on 2 separate days.  You don't have to bake it all at once.
• Soak your tools in your empty dough bucket or a pan when you are finished using them.  That way, you can wash them easily later (or tomorrow!)  Give yourself the permission of time to clean up much later.

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  I hope you will leave a comment below.  Maybe you can add a handwise or time saving suggestion that will help others?

About the HBinFive Baking Group

The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the HBinFive baking group, check out BigBlackDog.

Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread and Muffins

Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread and Muffins

Our assignment for the Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day baking group was to make 1/2 batch of Whole Wheat Mixed Berry Bread.  Then we were to bake either a loaf or muffins.

Substitutions:  

1. Used white whole wheat flour
2. Made a 1 1/2 pound loaf, instead of a 2 pound loaf, leaving  enough dough for 9 muffins.  I wanted a loaf for dinner, as well as muffins for my hubby's snacks.

I made the dough a few days before baking, using a four-berry frozen fruit mixture of strawberries, blueberries, boysenberries and raspberries.  Isn't this a pretty dough? :

After making the dough, I put it in the

    










microwave to rise.  First, I put 1/4cup of water to heat in the microwave for a minute.  That creates warm steam, which helps the dough to rise.  

It's hard to tell if my dough has risen very much, if I don't make a whole batch.  So I put a post it note at the top of the dough when I set it to rise. 

Two hours later, you can really tell if it has risen!

First, I made the loaf bread.  I found this dough to be somewhat sticky, so I kept adding more and more flour as I worked with it.  

I wanted a rectangular loaf that would be easy to slice.  I found a folding technique in "A Blessing of Bread--Recipes and Rituals, Memories and Mitzvahs" by Maggie Glezer.  Ms. Glezer has wonderful interviews with long time bakers who share their recipes and baking techniques.  I just love reading stories of the bakers!  And they share their wonderful tips!!  One bagel and bread baker shared his folding method for a loaf of deli rye bread that would be sliced for sandwiches.  Start with a thick rectangle of dough. Then,

      "To shape the loaf, fold opposite edges in to the center of the dough and press the dough to even its thickness (1,2 below).  Roll the dough up from a long (not the folded) end (3,4) to make a log that is about 3 inches in diameter and 9 inches long.  (Basically, you want to make a short fat log so you will have big slices of bread for sandwiches.)  Roll the log back and forth to even it, then place it seam side down on the peel or board."

Then cover them with plastic wrap to rise.

As you can see in the picture below, this method created a uniform rectangular loaf:

I had enough dough left for 9 muffins.  This was just enough to make muffins in the muffin pan my mom gave me when I moved out to my first apartment.  I treasure this muffin pan, as the lack of shine shows a lot of wonderful baking done by my mother and myself:

I put lots of raw sugar on top of the muffins.  When they baked, the sugar made a nice, crackly crust on top.  My hubby is enjoying taking them to work to eat with his coffee.  It's much healthier than many other snacks!

Here's a picture of the interior of the whole wheat mixed berry bread loaf.  Really pretty colors:

We enjoyed this bread in our sunroom with our dinner.  I made the optional honey butter, but it tasted great without it.  

We also had chop salad, baked potatoes (baked along with the breads to save energy!), citrus salmon grilled on cedar planks (The recipe came with the cedar planks, yum!) and cherry pie (special treat for my hubby).

 

 Handwise tips:  If you have hand pain, tendonitis, or arthritis or any other pain issues and want to make this recipe,

1. You might space it out over a few days.  Make the stored dough several days before.  You don't have to bake on the same day, that's the beauty of this dough!
2. A mixer or food processor can help you.  You could put soapy water in it and run it for a few seconds to help clean it after removing the dough.  
3. Then, if you are using a food processor, remove the dough hook/blade so that you can fill up the bowl even more.  Put an empty (cleaned)  container from 35mm film upside down, over the center portion and you can fill it up higher to soak. The water shouldn't leak out!
4. When you shape it, let the dough rest if it resists stretching out.  Wait 10-15 minutes after doing the gluten cloak, and it easily should be able to be shaped.  Good time to have a seat and rest your hands!
5. You might use a muffin scoop and a small spatula to remove the dough for muffins.  For some people, that's easier than squeezing the muffin scoop handle.
6. Maybe making a loaf on 2 separate days.  You don't have to bake it all at once.
7. Soak your tools in your empty dough bucket or a pan when you are finished using them.   That way, you can wash them easily later (or tomorrow!)  Give yourself the permission of time to clean up much later.

Thanks for stopping by to visit!  I hope you will leave a comment below.  Maybe you can add a handwise or time saving suggestion that will help others?

About the HBinFive Baking Group
The HBinFive Baking Group, started by Michelle of Big Black Dogs, is baking through all of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. For more information on the HBinFive baking group, check out BigBlackDog.

 

Recipes made from Soft Whole Wheat Sandwhich Dough

The baking assignment for this group was to make 3 recipes with the Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf dough. This is an enriched dough, which means it includes ingredients like eggs and honey. I used half white whole wheat for the whole wheat portion of the recipe. This was a WONDERFUL dough, it felt so silky!

If you want to be part of this group, sign up at http://www.bigblackdogs.net . Michelle leads up this wonderful group of bakers. We bake twice a month, baking through the recipes of "Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day."




Soft Hot Dog Buns

First, I made hot dog buns. I rolled the small pieces of dough into logs. I like rolling challah strands, so I rolled them that way.

My husband was excited about having fresh hot dog buns for the giant kosher hot dogs he bought at Sam's Club that day. He wanted to make sure the buns were long enough so he brought a hot dog to me so I could make the buns the right length!

I put egg wash on top and then sesame seeds.

They were delicious!













Soft Whole Wheat Garlic Bread


My yoga teacher, Dixie, is undergoing cancer treatments. She always eats healthy, and I like the idea that healthy bread I make contributes to her recovery. I had made a bread with garlic cloves on top for her, and she liked that. Garlic is said to promote good immunity. Plus, I add the extra ingredient of love and thoughts of good health for Dixie when I make bread for her.

I thought I would use this dough to make a whole grain loaf, with garlic. I used one pound of dough. Although I ended up using a whole head of garlic, the mellowness of the honey and eggs of the dough hid any sharpness of the garlic. I made a mini (1/2 pound size) loaf for ourselves, and we just loved it.

First, I smashed the garlic cloves with a cookie spatula I had just purchased. A knife seemed hard to handle, and this worked perfectly. Smashing the garlic helped me to peel the garlic easily.



Then, I chopped the garlic with my bench knife. This was really faster than using my knife, too. It brought back old childhood memories of my mom chopping fish with her chopper! I still have that old chopper somewhere, I should dig it out! It's the "original food processor" of our family.

Here, I've rolled out the dough and put the chopped garlic on top.



Then, I rolled the loaf and put it in a loaf pan--seam side down.


I had some egg wash, left over from the hot dog buns. Why not put a golden color on the garlic loaf? I'm glad I did, because it just made the loaf look so tasty! The crust was delicious, too.

Here's a picture of the one pound loaf and the 1/2 pound mini loaf:














I saw Dixie at our next class. She LOVED the bread. She said the garlic wasn't too strong; very mellow, actually. "The bread is delicious, nutritious, and great with winter soups or stews," Dixie said.

This one is a keeper! I made a similar bread for Dixie to try with the master dough. I rolled that one out and sprinkled it with garlic and olive oil. She will pick her favorite one, and I'll name that bread after her!

Some else in the class said that Dixie gave them a garlic clove to try, that was baked in the bread. They absolutely loved the clove, with all the flavors baked in. I plan to try baking a loaf with freshly ground flour for our class. This is a small, wonderful class. They love healthy eating, most people around here prefer sweet or fried foods. So it's fun to share and get their opinion!



Whole Wheat Apple Strudel Bread

I hadn't wanted to try making this bread. I made a similar bread with challah dough. Peeling the apples and rolling out the dough just feels like a lot of work! People ask me to make it, but it's a lot of work. Here's a picture of that bread:





This recipe is rolled into a log and placed into a tube pan. The apples keep pouring out, and it's messy. The recipe I made this time was easier to manage, and fit into a loaf pan.






I decided to make the Apple Strudel Bread when I realized there was an Arbor Day holiday coming up. What a wonderful recipe to commemorate the day--it has apples and walnuts. Both come from trees!

I rolled out the dough, and put the diced apple, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and sugar on top. I only had one apple, so I used that. I had my doubts that not peeling the apple would work, but I was willing to try it.

There was just enough filling. I think that next time, I will use 2 apples and cut the amount of raisins and walnuts slightly. I wish I had prepared a larger loaf pan. I was concerned that the bread would spill over to the oven; it didn't. :)

I baked the loaves until they reached over 180degrees. I felt the bread when it was firm, but the interior measured only 130 degrees. Since it only baked about half the time that the recipe called for, I decided to bake the recipe longer. I had heard comments that this recipe had a lot of wet spots and liquid. However, since the top was already brown, I covered the loaf with foil to keep it from getting too dark.

I am glad that I baked this until the temperature seemed right, it was just perfect. No wet spots, no runny apple!

My hubby gave it a "10," which we give to fabulous recipes. He said, "This is bread? It tastes like cake!" He said it reminded him of my mom's apple strudel. Here's a picture of my first attempt at making my mom's strudel:




Mom made it without a recipe, using her own cookie dough recipe. She learned this recipe from a neighbor, Tillie Miller. Tillie used 1/2 inch of oil to bake the strudel, but my mom had to change that when her cholesterol went up! My sis and I stood by mom with measuring cups 2 separate times, both of us have different recipes. And my mom's recipe changed as she had to give up certain foods. Everyone loved mom's strudel. This is probably the 1970 version of mom's strudel recipe; in the end, it became a raisin pie. Mom's arthritus kept her from doing individual pieces. I haven't been able to duplicate any of mom's strudel recipes--yet!



Here's a picture of the interior of the apple strudel bread. We ate it first on Friday night. This is all that is left by Saturday evening! It was really good!



I'm glad to learn that the unpeeled apples worked ok. I'll try using unpeeled apples in my original recipe, also!








If you would like to see the other recipes made by other people in this group, just click on this link:

HBinFive is hosted by Michelle
of Big Black
Dog