Honey Graham Bread

For this baking group assignment, I decided to make half a batch.  Then, I made smaller size breads, rather than a two pound loaf.  That way, I can freeze them and only take out a bit of bread at a time for toast.

Honey Graham Breads, Before Rising

 

Honey graham crackers are a favorite snack of mine, so I was looking forward to making this bread.  It's a good thing, though, that I took the picture above.  I was also making anadama bread for the Farmers Market.  I thought I kept track of which mini loaf was which, but they got mixed up in the overnight refrigeration.

Anadama Bread?  Graham Bread?

It took me awhile to figure out which was the honey graham bread and which was the Anadama bread, but I did it. Can you tell?  I was able to compare my Anadama breads (the two at the right forefront) to a muffaletta style bread loaf from the same dough.  The Anadama breads have cornmeal in them, so they have a more "coarse, rustic finish" on top.  The honey graham breads had a slight cinnamon flavor.

Muffaletta style Anadama Bread in back

The honey graham bread tasted good, but I might modify the recipe to make it sweeter next time.  It is a nice whole wheat bread to share with friends, when I make this size.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you will leave a comment. Stop by again soon, I'll be baking again!

Seeded Oat Bread, Gluten Free Loaves

Seeded Oat Bread

Wow, what a great bread!  I decided to make this loaf after seeing how wonderful it looked at the website of our co-baker, Guff  at http://oldpopsblog.blogspot.com/ . 

Also, this recipe isn't all whole wheat; I thought my husband would be ok with it.  After over a year of whole wheat baking, he commented that he would like some non-whole wheat breads.  It was a relief to learn that he really loved this bread!

Seeded Oat Bread Dough

This dough was really interesting--chock-full of nuts and seeds.  I made sure to use raw sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds.  I have made loaves with roasted seeds before, and they burned.  It seemed like the baking was considered a second "roasting."

Resting on the Peel

Crunchy, munchy loaves!
That's my newly spiral-bound HBin5 book!

The "letterfold" method of folding helped me make really nice loaves.  I wish, however, I had rolled the loaves on a counter with seeds sprinkled on it--as Guff did.  I found myself patting the seeds onto it.





Although it seems risky for me to bake at higher temperatures in my Thermador oven (burns the oven element out), I just craved those crusty loaves.  It was just thrilled to take these loaves out of the oven!!!

Not much left after dinner!

And now, a Gluten-Free recipe!:

I purchased quite a bit of gluten free flours through the course of this project.  Well, I felt it's time to use those flours again.

I decided to make the Gluten-Free Crusty Boule recipe, but as a loaf.

The dry ingredients were mixed in the rising bucket, before added to liquids

This is dough? 

After combining the ingredients, I mixed the ingredients at high speed for a few minutes. That technique was outlined in another gluten-free bread recipe.  It gave the bread structure.  It couldn't hurt, I figured.

Before the "dough" rises

The bowl was scraped down, and the dough mixed a few additional minutes.  It didn't look like an impressive dough when it was set out to rise.

A nice rise in our warm sunroom!

Wow, what a nice rise.  I've heard that the dough "matures" nicely after rising and overnight in the refrigerator.  It's not the same as dough with gluten, but there's a nice combination of flours--tapioca, sorghum, and brown rice.  You don't get that in baking with gluten, normally.  Most people just stick with the standard wheat flour.



Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you will leave a comment.  Please return soon, I'll be baking again!

Almost Like Rye, But Gluten Free

I've been experimenting with gluten-free flours.  It's a whole different world of different flours to explore.  The techniques are different, and so are the challenges. 

A local mom and pop health food store is selling off their grocery items at a discount, so I snatched up some Bob's Red Mill teff flour to try for this recipe.  I just love rye bread, so I wanted to see how this bread would taste.

Teff dough, just after mixing in Kitchenaid

This dough mixed up slightly firmer than my other gluten-free doughs.  The other gluten-free doughs have mixed up like a loose, sticky paste.  This one held together much more, right after mixing.

Teff dough, after rising

The dough rose nicely.  Still, the texture was much stickier than dough with gluten.

I formed a boule on a piece of parchment, by constantly wetting my hands to shape it.  It's not possible to knead this dough!

I decided to make both a freestanding boule and a loaf.  A foil loaf pan was used because they are slightly smaller than my standard ones.  I was only using one pound of dough, so I wanted a smaller loaf pan.

The breads look nice, but I'm dissappointed that the boule came out a bit flat.  I might be to blame, though.  I had a number of things cooking (including some of our dinner), and so the breads went into the oven a bit late.

However, I wonder if rising the dough in a small, cloth-covered basket would help the bread keep it's shape?  I'd have to sprinkle the cloth with gluten-free flour or cornmeal, to make sure they don't stick.  Something to try next time....

And how did it taste and look inside? 

The bread tasted great, the caraway seeds added a lot of flavor.  The crumb looked nice, also.  I'd make this bread again if the teff flour weren't that much more expensive than regular rye flour.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!  Please leave a comment.  What have you been baking?

Stop by again, soon.  It's fun to share baking.

Judy

Anadama Bread

This was a surprisingly tasty bread.  Not dry at all!

I made the dough as loaves, which were baked at 350 degrees.  I sprayed the tops with water before baking.

Focaccia with Garlic Shards, Artichokes and Feta

There's a note on my book that says, "good" at the top of this recipe.  I'm guessing that someone else in our baking group made it, and liked it.  Since it came up as our baking assignment, I just had to try making it.  We had this focaccia bread for dinner tonight.

A half batch of HBin5 master dough was made.  As usual,  I used white whole wheat flour instead of regular whole wheat flour.  We didn't have any marinated artichokes, but we had artichokes canned in water.  So I added some olive oil to some artichokes and let them marinate for awhile.  The olive oil was drained to saute the garlic and to drizzle on the focaccia bread just before baking.

Instead of adding rosemary, feta cheese was added during the last 5 minutes of baking so that it wouldn't burn. The focaccia bread was already pretty full of toppings, so the rosemary would have been too much.




Focaccia Breadd with Garlic Shards, Artichokes, and Feta

It was really good!  We were so excited to eat it, I forgot to take a picture of it when it first came out of the oven.  This is the only piece saved--for my lunch the next day!

We'd highly recommend trying this recipe!  You will forget that it's whole grain.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave a comment before you go, I'd love to hear from you.  And I hope you will return soon, I'll be baking again!

Judy

Buckwheat Bread



Buckwheat bread

I thought I would jump ahead in our HBin5 baking group schedule to try buckwheat bread.  There's all kinds of flours in my fridge, and they want to be used (yes, my ingredients talk to me!  :)

This week I baked a bunch of muffins.  I also made sour cream coffee cake because there was some sour cream in the fridge, which was asking me to make it into something yummy.  My hubby is happy with all the sweets, so I can probably sneak in a whole grain bread for dinner tonight.

Buckwheat is pretty interesting.  It's actually a fruit!  I usually keep some around the house.  It makes a good pilaf with mushrooms and a hot cereal.  It can be used in gluten free baking.  However, this recipe includes wheat flour.

There were a couple of changes to the recipe.  White whole wheat flour was used, to make a finer texture.  Fine granulation groats were used, which is what I had around the house.  The dough seemed watery after mixing.  I guess the buckwheat soaked up much of the water overnight in the fridge.  It was firmer the next morning.

Michelle, our baking group leader, mentioned that she was able to find lined baskets recently at a dollar store.  I had read about one famous baker who bought many of these for rising baskets, instead of the expensive brotforms.  I immediately went to the store, and snapped 4 of them up!


$1 lined basket, for the dough rising


I made a half batch of dough, which is about two pounds.  I'd like to make a foccaccia bread recipe with half of it on Sunday.  Therefore,  only one pound of dough was used for this loaf.

I floured the basket liberally with whole wheat flour and to do the gluten cloak on the sticky dough.

It looks a little lonely in the basket!  It will be interesting what happens during a 90 minute rise.



After the rise in the lined basket


Well, it did get a bit larger during the rise.  But how do I get it onto the peel so I can slide it onto the hot stone? 

This might not be as much of an issue with a larger loaf. It would probably be easier to roll out of the basket.

On the peel

The loaf deflated slightly when I put it on the peel.  Hopefully, the oven spring will help the rise.  The loaf was sprayed with water and then scored with my super sharp knife.  The loaf baked in a 450 degree oven, with steam, for about 30 minutes.

 

Buckwheat Loaf, cooling on the rack



Here's the buckwheat loaf, cooling on the rack.  It did rise some more in the oven, but not much.












Buckwheat Bread

It was a nice surprise to hear my hubby say "good" when he bit into a slice of bread.  It didn't have a whole wheat taste, but was still whole grain. There was a slight mouthfeel of the groats, which was really nice.

Another loaf was made, with the remaining dough, the next week.  This time, the proofing basket wasn't used. 



Buckwheat Bread, which rose on the peel

There really wasn't a big difference in rise between the two methods, in this case. 

This bread really grew on me.  It's really good with flavorful cheeses and soups.  We served it with sesame chicken recipe that had a mustard-apricot sauce:



Sesame Chicken, hot out of the oven

"Sesame Chicken"
3 1/2 to 4 pound chicken, cut into pieces and patted dry.

1/2 cup apricot (could use plum jam or honey)
1/2 cup mustard (Dijon or French)
2-4 TBSP untoasted sesame seeds (or more if desired)

Mix jam or honey with mustard. Spread mixture on chicken. Coat with sesame seeds and place in a 9x13" baking dish. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for approx 1 hour. I then cover, and cook a bit longer. If you don't cover it, it gets too brown. Cook until tender and golden brown. Serves 4-6 people.

I couldn't find my dijon mustard, which is usually used in this recipe.  Instead, I used a mixture of French's mustard and the "Ben's Sweet and Hot Mustard" that I won from our co-baker, Guff, who has a blog called Old Pop's Blog.  He was kind enough to share his mustard with a giveaway, and I was the lucky person to win it.

The chicken was delicious, and we have enough leftovers for another meal.  I don't really like hot foods, so the mixture of the two mustards was just right.  We laughed when we later found the dijon mustard!  It was meant for us to try Ben's mustard in this recipe!

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will leave a comment.  I'll be baking again soon, would love to see you again.

Judy

 

Baked French Toast Casserole

French Toast Casserole, with Egg Bread

Baked French Toast Casserole

This is great for brunch.  It's easier than preparing French toast right on the spot.  I think egg bread makes it taste sweeter than white bread. 

Serves 8-10.

(recipe can be easily halved for a 9" x9" pan)



Small piece of egg bread, cut thin

 Egg bread (or challah)-- 12 smaller or 8 larger pieces, sliced into ¾ inch slices  
8 large eggs
2 cups half and half
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
Dash salt


For serving:
Maple syrup, warmed
½ cup to 1 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Fresh fruit (like strawberries), optional

The night before:
Spray the pan well with butter-flavored spray, or grease pan with butter. Cut slices into one inch cubes. If you’re in a hurry, tear the bread into small pieces. However, the cut cubes look nicer. Place bread cubes in bottom of the pan. The idea is to cover the bottom of the pan evenly.

In a large bowl, combine the eggs, half and half, milk, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Beat with a rotary beater or whisk until well blended but not too frothy. Pour mixture over the bread slices, making sure all are covered evenly with the milk-egg mixture. You may want to press down on the bread cubes, to make sure they are all covered with milk-egg mixture. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

The next day:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees(F). Remove casserole from refrigerator and place on counter while the oven preheats, about 15 minutes. Place the casserole, still covered with foil, on the middle rack. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25-30 minutes—or until the casserole is puffy and brown.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing into squares. Serve topped with warmed maple syrup, chopped pecans, and optional fruit (berries are nice). 

Topped with maple syrup, pecans, and strawberries!

Feel free to adapt this recipe to your tastes!  You may want to use more or less egg bread, or different flavorings.

I hope this recipe helps make your brunch even more special!  It's really easier to put together the casserole the night before, and just put it into the oven.  That way, you don't have to make the batter and fry the slices at while everyone is waiting.  You can be preparing other breakfast items in the meantime.

Come back soon, I'll be baking and creating again.  I hope you will leave a comment below; I'd love to hear from you.

Judy