I made the Buckwheat and Mushroom Stromboli from the KAF site. The filling was delicious, but I didn't care for the dough. It was so soft and tender, and very difficult to work with. It has bread flour, buckwheat, and spelt flour, which should make it tender, but I tore big holes in it as I shaped it, although I knew it needed special handling. I also didn't like the feel of the soft dough in my mouth, and am not too crazy about the flavor. I will use the filling recipe again, but make a different dough. I'm thinking to use my pizza dough, with some semolina to give it some "chew", or maybe an unsweetened dough for a braided savory loaf. The filling would also make a great pizza topping!

Although I enjoyed our vacation, I am glad to be back in the kitchen baking. Today I baked my Barley Whole Wheat Buttermilk Bread.

Thank you, Joan.

I tried a new recipe today for Whole Grain Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies, which I changed around and tried to convert into a bar cookie. I'll post about it in the dessert thread.

On Thursday morning, I baked Seeded Crispbread, a Scandinavian recipe I baked last year and to which I posted a link at that time. This time I used the finely ground cornmeal, and the recipe came out better than with the medium grind. As I did last year, I replaced the flax seed with 2 1/2 Tbs. flax meal, since the human digestive system cannot break down flax seed. These make a nice, low in saturated fat, cracker, and they are very easy.

On Friday, I baked the Easy Italian Honey Whole Wheat Breakfast Cookies again, as I enjoy having one at breakfast with my coffee after eating my steel-cut oats. This time, I still left the vanilla at ½ tsp., and I still added 3 drops of Fiori di Sicilia, but I also rehydrated 2 tsp. of Penzey’s dried orange peel with 2 Tbs. of water. I’m still working on the flavoring, as I am rationing my vanilla, and I rarely have an orange around the house that I can grate for zest. I'll add a note tomorrow on the taste.

Today I baked English muffins, using the recipe we used in my class at KAF 2 weeks ago. I made a couple of small changes: I used white whole wheat instead of AP for one cup of flour, and buttermilk instead of regular milk; I also made 8 muffins instead of 9 because that is what will fit on my built-in griddle. They came out great!! They rose twice as high as the ones we made at KAF! Much lighter, same good flavor. I had a little trouble finding the right temp on the griddle, as it is labeled 1-10, not in degrees F. The thermometer said 200* but I think the insides should have been cooked a little more, they were a tiny bit gummy. I've noted the cooking temps, and will make some adjustments next. My only disappointment is that they are not very holey - and that is the same problem I've always had with my English muffins. Oh well, they still taste better than store-bought.