What are you Baking the week of June 7, 2020?

[chocomouse]

I made the usual burger buns today. I also made the KAF English Muffin Toasting Bread recipe. Neighbors gave us a loaf, along with a jar of home-made peach jam - both were delicious. And the bread was incentive enough for me to try the KAF recipe, which I had looked over closely in the past. Mine did not turn out well at all. It was heavy, dense, no holes. The top got brown well before the stated baking time, and it never did reach 190*, although I baked it an additional 20 minutes. The gifted loaf was excellent - light, holey like an English muffin, and flavorful. I believe the big problem is I don't own a stand mixer, just a small, hand-held mixer that is about 40 years old. I've had a stand mixer in the past, but never replaced the last one that died because I rarely used it. But this little hand-held mixer just is not powerful enough for a 3-cup of flour bread; I split the dough and did one half at a time. The directions are to beat at high speed for one minute.... I think I will try making it in the food processor which is much more powerful.

[Italiancook]

chocomouse, I make the English Muffin Toasting Bread in a stand mixer, but I encourage you to try the food processor. I make some beautiful bread in the food processor. Hopefully, I'm not leading you astray. Like you, we really like the English Muffin Toasting Bread. I use it to go all out for breakfast using KAF French Toast recipe https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/french-toast-recipe

Three days before breakfast, I make the English Muffin Toasting Bread, wrap it in foil & tell my husband not to eat any. I do this in the afternoon. I want the bread to stale somewhat, but not too much or get moldy. Two days before, I make Martha Stewart's Classic Eggnog without alcohol. I measure out what I need for the French Toast so we don't accidentally drink it. The day of the breakfast treat, I use the KAF French Toast recipe (minus alcohol) and cook the French toast while bacon fry-bakes in the oven.

You don't have to use eggnog. The recipe offers heavy cream or half 'n half as options.

The French Toast recipe says to cut the bread 5/8" thick, and that's what I do. On my own, I couldn't be that precise, but I have a bread slicing guide from Lehman's. https://www.lehmans.com/product/bread-slicing-guide/

[Italiancook]

CORRECTON: I don't use Martha Stewart's Classic Eggnog recipe. I use her Eggnog recipe.

[chocomouse]

Italiancook, that sounds so good! If/when I can make a better English muffin bread, I will try it for sure. I've made pizza dough in the food processor, which leads me to think it might work for this bread too. I was amazed to see how different my outcome was from the really great bread we were gifted. And also kind of upset -- the lady who made it is not much of a baker, usually making just cookies and brownies.

[Mike Nolan]

I've never had an English Muffin bread that tasted anything like an English Muffin. That doesn't mean they don't taste good, just not like an English Muffin.

[BakerAunt]

I like the recipe for English Muffin Bread in Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads (pp. 52-53). He has directions for mixing by hand, by stand mixer, and by food processor.

His directions are to use the steel blade. Put 3 of the 4 cups flour, yeast, dry milk, and salt in work bowl and pulse to mix. With machine running, add the hot water. Add remaining flour and process for 1 minute. He says that the dough will pull away from the sides of bowl in thick ribbons.

I should note that after the first rise, he mixes in some baking soda.

I had nice holes with this recipe. I did use my stand mixer (easier for me to clean than the food processor). I also substituted in some white whole wheat flour.

[BakerAunt]

Temperatures are back in the mid-70s today, so it was a good day to bake. I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week.

I also baked Zucchini-Cinnamon Chip Bars, using as my base recipe the KAF recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Pecan Bars. I used the food processor, for what may have been its swan song (see thread requesting help). I had 4.5 oz. of zucchini, left from when I made the turkey-zucchini loaf, not the 5 oz. stated. I reduced the oil to ¼ cup, then added buttermilk to make the 1/3 cup. I reduced the brown sugar to ¾ cup. I added 1 tsp. cinnamon and reduced the salt by a third and the vanilla by half. I added 2 Tbs. BRM milk powder and 2 Tbs. flax meal. I replaced the 2 cups of chocolate chips with 1/3 cup cinnamon chips (60g, which is 14g of saturated fat!). I forgot to sprinkle pecans on top.

I'll add a note to this post after we try it for dessert tonight.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Has anyone ever tried making English muffins from an English muffin bread recipe? Conversely have you made bread from an English muffin recipe. How much effect does shaping and griddling have versus baking a pan loaf or even a free form.

I made a sourdough yesterday. It's interesting. The recipe calls for a sponge to be made of starter, flour an water. My starter is 100% hydration but the flour and water added are at 50% so not sure what the hydration would be for the sponge. I upped the water to 66.67% in the sponge but left it the hydration at 50% when adding the flour and water to the sponge. I baked it in a bread pan that was probably too small but it looked good. I'll cut into it today. It might be too slack to do a free form although stretching would help some. Also would there be a benefit to a third rise? I remember doing that with some breads at the bakery. We'd get the dough after the first rise and make rounds and let them rise. Then we'd take those, degas them, shape them into their final shape, let them rise, and bake them off.

I think, except for baguettes and brioche, most loaves had three rises. But that was a long time ago.
So much to try!

[aaronatthedoublef]

I've only used the food processor for the Stella Park bread and it works well there. But getting the dough out without cutting my finger is a huge challenge. Ms. Parks wants to cut the ingredients together quickly so the metal blade is required. But it also heats up the dough in a way a stand mixer does not. So far it has not hurt the dough but my kitchen has been cool (65) each time I made it. Now it is at 75.

I will make some this weekend with my KitchenAid just to see how it comes out and because I think I can handle a bigger volume.

[skeptic7]

Yesterday, I made a spinach pizza one of my regular recipes, but the pan pizza crust was made with all white flour instead of whole wheat. It was bouncier and rose higher. I had to start the pizza crust the night before and refrigerate it over night, and made the filling at 6:30 in the morning, backing it at 8:30 am in order to avoid the summer heat.
Today is somewhat better, it was 65 degrees at 7:00 am, but I'm going to have to do the bulk of my cooking in the early morning for many months.

[chocomouse]

Today I made a dark rye bread. I didn't really have a recipe, but used 1 cup of bread flour, 2 cups of medium rye, 2 cups of AP, and the last of an old KAF rye bread improver/base, about 1/2 cup, that needed to be used up. I also used pickle juice in place of most of the liquid, and added a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten. It didn't rise much at all; my kitchen was cool, but I let it rise for 2.5 hours so it did get a little puffy. After a half hour in the oven, I checked it and was astounded to find how high it had risen. I usually get great oven spring, but this was amazing! It was a good three inches above the top of the bread pans (I made two 9 x 5 loaves), when prior to baking it hadn't even reached the top rim of the pans. I'm eager to see the crumb, and taste, when I cut into it tomorrow.

[cwcdesign]

Aaron, I thought no the biggest difference between English muffins and English Muffin Toasting Bread is that the bread is a batter bread, no kneading - just beating in the mixer- scooping the dough into the pan and a quick rise then into the oven. English muffins is more of a regular yeast dough. The recipe I’ve been wanting to make is from the Baking Steel website. His favorite dough is a variation on Jim Leahy’s No knead. Then he puts the Baking Steel on the stove top to griddle the muffins. He has a video.

[Italiancook]

After thinking about it all day, and eating too many chocolate chips this afternoon wishing they were cookies, I baked KAF Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars. Second time. Recipe suggests letting them cool overnight before cutting. From the first time, I know this product's flavor needs that. Initially, I thought they sunk in the middle, but I just read the last instruction paragraph.

After removing from oven, I was supposed to press down the risen edges with a spatula to achieve a flat top. I didn't do that, so my edges are thicker than the middle. I'm going to cut these after lunch and flash freeze them serving pieces before putting them in bags. I want a go-to in the freezer when the urge for chocolate chip cookies arises. I used 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips, 1/2 cup cinnamon chips and 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped.

[Joan Simpson]

I baked an apple pie today,now waiting to cool before cutting this afternoon or tomorrow.

[kimbob]

Omg, Joan! I just took an apple pie out of the oven, too! We're on the same wavelength. Lol

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