What are you baking the week of March 25, 2018?

[Mike Nolan]

Here's this week's thread

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[BakerAunt]

This cold Sunday afternoon, I'm baking Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the double batch of dough I mixed up last week.

[Joan Simpson]

Today I baked a loaf of Cinnamon bread from KAF site,mixed as normal but added mashed potatoes instead of flakes.When I patted it out to sprinkle cinnamon mixture I wasn't thinking and did it like cinnamon rolls well when I realized it I should have cut them for rolls and bake but noooooo I scrunched it up and got that long snake in the bread pan,I was using a 9x5.It baked fine but had a crease half way across the bread so it was like a bump on each end.After it has cooled I cut and it's fine tastes like a cinnamon roll and the swirl stayed together,no separation.Cinnamon rolls stay on my brain I guess lol!Anyways all is good.I did as ya'll said and left in the pan to cool awhile,it helped.

[BakerAunt]

Great save, Joan! You could have said it is "pull-apart" bread! Seriously, I've seen recipes where you do cut the bread in slices, then pack it into the bread pan.

This morning I baked Orange Marmalade Oatmeal Crunch Bars and threw in a cup of mini-chocolate chips. (Recipe is posted on this site.) These make a kind of granola bar, some of which I'll send in my younger stepson's care package.

I baked a new recipe this evening, Rye Soda Bread, from the KAF baking site. It's unusual in that it uses equal parts of pumpernickel, Irish wholemeal flour and AP KAF flour, as well as the Harvest Grains blend:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/rye-soda-bread-recipe

I made two changes. I soaked the Harvest grains in 1 cup of the buttermilk for an hour before adding it and the rest of the liquid ingredients to the dry ones. I also cut the salt from 1 tsp. to 3/4 tsp. I baked it in a 9x4x4 inch pan because I wanted a taller, less wide loaf. It smells wonderful, and I'm looking forward to trying it for breakfast tomorrow. I chose to use currents and to add the optional 2 tsp. caraway.

Addendum: The recipe makes a tasty, crumbly (typical of soda bread), not particularly sweet bread. It will be great for the days leading up to Easter. There is still a bit of crunchiness--probably from the seeds--but I am glad that I soaked the Harvest Grains for an hour in half the buttermilk before I started.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.

[skeptic7]

Friday the 23rd I baked more hot cross buns. These were from "From a Baker's Kitchen" by Gail Sher, very nice recipe but could use a little more butter. I tested a new version of a pastry cross and it worked! This recipe had 2 tbsp oil, 6 Tbs water and 1/2 cup flour and a little lemon extract. Heat the oil and water together, add 1/4 tsp lemon extract. Stir in the flour and beat well -- the idea is to develop the gluten a little so it will stick together. I tested this on 12 of the hot cross buns and it was perfect. The cross merged with the crust so it didn't break off when touched, it wasn't hard and tough, it was noticeably lighter than the crus so it stood out. It doesn't contain milk or butter which might scorch. It piped nicely out of a plastic bag and was relatively cohesive and stuck to itself.
I ate quite a few and gave the rest away

[wonky]

Today I baked 8 loaves of oatmeal/molasses bread, one of my most requested breads. Tomorrow I plan on making 4 loaves of blueberry infused cranberry bread, and 4 loaves of pomegranate infused cranberry, both highly requested also. This along with the 12 loaves of cinnamon swirl, 4 loaves of lt. whole wheat, and 4 loaves of lt. whole wheat with molasses will complete my sisters order. I will deliver it to here this weekend. I don't plan on baking next week, but I am sure I will change that plan, as I always do.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm gearing up for my pre-Easter Hot Cross Buns baking marathon starting Thursday. This year I think I'll be making at least 2 batches of the Hot Cross Buns from the KAF Whole Grains book, because we have 3 new neighbors, all with several kids, and I think I may try one batch using a gluten-free recipe for some GF people at my wife's office, plus I'll send in some of the whole wheat ones.

Was at a banquet this evening and one of the other guests at our table was talking about a Finnish brown bread she had recently, one that was made with rye flour and molasses. I see several recipes for this on the Internet, she's going to try to get the one she had for me. She said it was sweet, but not like Boston brown bread, which she's also had. She thought it had some seeds in it, I see recipes that have both caraway and fennel in them.

I've been collecting dark rye recipes for a while, I'm going to be trying to make a black bread that doesn't use something like coffee, cocoa or caramel to color the dough dark.

(Note: I had posted this in the wrong thread, so I moved it and two other posts to the current week's thread.)

[BakerAunt]

Bumping up the March 25 thread.

Mike: there is a thread here from the Baking Circle, in which we helped Luvpyrpom bake Finnish rye:

Finnish Rye Bread and Yeast Thread

If you search "Finnish" on this site, there is also a recipe from Laura4Paws.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.

[skeptic7]

I did whole wheat Hot Cross buns with fruit, this is one of my favorite recipes developed from combining a lot of different recipes and every trick suggested for whole wheat baking. This particular version has dates, apricots, cranberries, candied orange and candied lemon which is perfectly safe for dogs due to the lack of raisins. I'll also have to give some to a friend who is allergic to raisins poor soul. I didn't try any tricks with the cross this time. I like this the way it is.

[chocomouse]

I made two loaves of KAF's Dark Pumpernickel Onion Loaf, with some slight modifications. The recipe is on the bag of organic pumpernickel, and probably also on the website. I used the brown sugar option, no caramel color, decreased the salt, and potato flakes instead of potato flour. I added quite a bit of water, since I prefer to work with higher hydration than usually called for.

[skeptic7]

Wonky;
What is your whole wheat cinnamon swirl bread like? I am impressed that you cooked so many loaves of bread. A large batch of Hot Cross buns can consume an entire evening if not more. Do you do much of your kneading by machine?
Your sister seems to go through a lot of bread!

[wonky]

skeptic...I normally make my own recipe for white bread when I make cinnamon swirl. I have made light whole wheat/cinnamon swirl, but not for quite some time. When I make lt. w/w, I usually use my own white bread recipe, but add extra liquid, usually milk, a little extra butter, and obviously a portion of whole wheat and just proceed with with swirl. I roll out the dough to pan size, paint it with beaten egg, wait about 5 minutes for the egg to set up. I then sprinkle on the cinnamon/sugar, and use my hands to press it into good contact with the egg and dough. I then roll it up, pinch the seams and proceed as normal.

The reason my sister orders so much bread, is that she and her daughter, my niece, are certified midwives, and I am a certified midwife assistant. She has moms in labor for extended periods of time, and the husbands are also there. We generally feed them toast, sandwiches, and yogurt, which means she goes through a lot of bread. We had 15 babies from March 14th through yesterday alone. Our next biggest month will be July, when we have 20 babies due.

The hot cross buns are for my SIL and brother's Easter celebration, which will be on April 7th, as this is the only time they can get all of their children together. I will be making two double batches of the buns, so she can send some home with her children.

[BakerAunt]

I baked a new recipe this morning: Havremel Flatbrod (imagine a diagonal line to the right through the o) or Oatmeal Flatbread, from the recipe in Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Small Breads (Simon and Schuster: 1998), pp. 107-108. He attributes this Norwegian recipe to Norma Wangsness of Decorah, Iowa.

I made the included variation that substitutes in 1 cup of whole wheat flour. I found that I needed an additional 2 Tbs. regular flour in order for the dough to come together. I also gave it a rest of 10 minutes before kneading it. I rolled out the dough as think as I could--the thinnest I've ever managed, but the 8 minute baking time was not enough, so clearly my very thin ones are not as thin as what Bernard and Norma manage. I found that 14-15 minutes is needed so that they will crisp. I did bake them on parchment paper on heavy baking sheets. I rolled each of the six pieces of dough into a rectangle of about 27x33 cm. (metric is SO much easier for cracker measurements!). These are a very slightly sweet, crispy oat-wheat cracker.

I wish that recipes would state if the product is supposed to be crisp. Just saying "golden" does not help, particularly when wheat flour is incorporated.

An unusual direction in this recipe is that the teaspoon of baking soda is dissolved in the 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk, which makes if foamier.

It made a large batch. I may make them again, depending on what we think when we eat our way through them.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

Wonky--I'm sure your homemade breads are most welcomed by these women and their families.

[Joan Simpson]

You amaze me Wonky!

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