Moon and Stars Bread

One of the upcoming assignments for the Healthy Breads in Five Minutes a Day baking group is this Moon and Stars bread.  It's made with the "master" dough.

For the dough, I used half white whole wheat flour and half regular whole wheat flour for the whole wheat portion.  I had purchased several bags of white whole wheat flour at a recent Trader Joe's visit.  I like the way it "bakes up."

I made a double batch of dough.  This assignment works well for me right now.  I had promised some breads to some people--my gardener, my roofer, my accountant.....  I like making this master dough because it's so quick to put together.  The crescent moon shape is so pretty, and the sesame seeds are the stars.  It makes a nice presentation!

I used the letter fold method of making a smooth taper.  It works so much better than making an oval.  In addition, I used parchment paper instead of cornmeal.  When the shape is important, as in this bread, I would prefer using parchment paper.  My breads have been known to "catch" on the peel and become slightly misshapen when using cornmeal. 

Can't wait to try it, and give some breads away!

To see what other members have made this month, check out this link for the other baking blogs:

http://www.bigblackdogs.net/2008/02/hbinfive-membership-list.html