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

[chocomouse]

Today I made Baker Aunt's Orange Marmalade Oatmeal Crunch bars. Thank you for the recipe! Delicious and the perfect consistency; I've struggled to find a granola bar with the right texture, not to hard, not too sweet. I used strawberry preserves that needed to used up, and white chocolate chips. I think they'd be even better with raspberry jam and chocolate chips.

I also made the KAF recipe for Soft Wraps. We used them instead of hot dog buns for our Cheddar Wurst sausages, and it worked well. They are easy to make but a little time consuming. I need to learn to roll the dough even thinner. I also overcooked (dry-fried) some of them. The flavor is still good, but they are too crunchy to wrap around a hot dog.

[BakerAunt]

Chocomouse--I'm glad that you enjoyed the granola bars! And thank you for posting about your variation. I had not thought to try them with jam, but now I will put that on my "to bake" list.

I've also made the Soft Wraps, and we like them a lot. I substitute in some white whole wheat flour, some buckwheat flour, and add a Tbs. of ground flax meal. To roll them out, I use a little wooden rolling pin that came with a ravioli tray. It's not very long and is thin, so it is easier to roll out the small flat breads.

[BakerAunt]

This evening I baked another experimental mixed grains bread in my Emile Henry long baker. The recipe started out as a KAF one with the Harvest Grains Blend and some semolina flour. This time, I used a mixture of bread flour, Harvest Grains (first soaked in buttermilk), and equal parts of whole wheat and dark rye flour, with 2 Tbs. of potato flour and 2 Tbs. of flax meal. Although the dough was wetter than what I usually do, it still baked up nicely, and the aroma brought my husband down from upstairs to see what was in the oven. I'll add a note tomorrow on taste and texture.

[Mike Nolan]

Today I made one batch of gluten-free Hot Cross Buns and a batch of whole wheat Hot Cross Buns for my wife's office. I'll make more batches tomorrow for neighbors.

[Mike Nolan]

Today I'm making Vienna Bread and a batch-and-a-half of Hot Cross Buns (a total of 48 1.5 ounce rolls, one 16 and four 8's.) I"m putting a cream cheese frosting cross on them.

My newest neighbor will get the 16 rolls one, and I think one of the Vienna Breads, she's got family in town for Easter.

[BakerAunt]

I am also in the process of baking wholegrain hot cross buns. This recipe started out as one from the L.A. Times, then I started substituting in some whole grains and making other changes, so it is now definitely my own. Indeed, I still find myself changing it. I've not yet decided if I will make 16 or 18 buns. I usually smear frosting over the top instead of piping a cross. I may use some decorating sugar to make the cross on top of the frosting.

[Mike Nolan]

The gluten-free ones went over well, there are two people at my wife's office who can't eat wheat, they don't get to share in the office treats very often.

Here's the GF recipe I used: GF Hot Cross Buns

If I make these next year, which seems quite likely, I may cut back on or leave out the cardamom and substitute nutmeg for the allspice.

[wonky]

BakerAunt, Skeptic and Joan...Skeptic, I am sorry I forgot to answer your question about kneading...yes, probably 90% is done in my KA Pro, but I usually finish with a short 2 minute or so hand knead, just because I like to feel the dough, and make certain it is just how I want it to feel. Joan, why do I amaze you? I am sure you are a superior baker. BakerAunt...thank you for your kind comment. I have had some of the mom's request to buy loaves, which I really love. When I delivered the loaves to my sister today, there was an order of 8 loaves taped to her cabinet for one of the mom's.I will work on that next week.

I have been asked by several people to offer a bread baking class. So far, I plan to use the Home Ec room at the high school, that has 6 kitchenett's. I will probably supply all if the product, and ask that those that have KA/s or Bosch etc. machines to bring those. Also, will probably ask them to bring bread pans, or pans for dinner rolls, which ever they want to make. This is still in the planning process, so am not sure of all the details. Probably will limit the class to 12 participants, so that we have oven space etc. I will have some hand outs, with recipes, and tips etc. We will see how this proceeds.If anyone has ideas or comments, I would love to hear them.

[BakerAunt]

Mike--my husband made it clear years ago that he does not want cardamom in hot cross buns. To be fair, I had some particularly fresh cardamom one year, and even I thought it way too much and it overwhelmed the cinnamon. I use nutmeg in its place, and in this recipe I don't miss it. However, when it comes to my Swedish coffee ring, they will have to pry the cardamom out of my hand. In that case, I think it blends nicely with the almond paste.

Wonky--That's exciting that you may be teaching a group of future bakers! I believe that this world would be a much better place if more people baked bread. It teaches patience and process, and the nutritional advantages are stupendous. You might want to start people who have never baked bread with a simple hand-kneaded recipe. I recall Aaron saying that when he teaches challah baking, he wants to stress to the students that they can bake bread even without the expense of a mixer, and it is good to get a sense of how the dough feels. Also, as we've noted, not everyone has a KA that can handle a bread dough. Or perhaps you could offer a "by hand" class and a "mixer" class.

I'm still hoping to do a hand kneading lesson for my younger stepson when he gets a chance to visit us. I plan to follow Mike's recommendation and teach him to bake either the Austrian Malt Bread or Paddy's recipe for Clonmel Kitchen Double Crusty Bread.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

The challenge with the Clonmel recipe is that it's huge, 5-6 cups of flour. It just barely fits in my 4 1/2 quart KA. But that's actually somewhat of an advantage when teaching kneading by hand, you can really get into it.

It's nearly a no-fail recipe and you can adapt it a lot of different ways, substitute butter for oil, bake the bread in a loaf pan or free form, add some whole wheat or rye flour, substitute honey for the sugar, etc, and they all should come out just fine.

I've cut the salt in that recipe by half or more lately, can't say I've noticed much difference in taste, it is a bit more airy.

[Joan Simpson]

Wonky you amaze me in the amount of bread you're baking at one time.I do love to bake but my knowledge in a lot of this is very minor to some of ya'll.I love baking but have a husband that does not care for bread....what is wrong with him.Me ...I love it all.

[Mike Nolan]

Joan, maybe you just haven't found the right type of bread yet.

[Joan Simpson]

Mike my husband doesn't like bread,he'll eat Nature"s Own Honey Wheat and that's it.I have made bread that is very close to that bread but he has never ate any bread that I've made.He'll eat cookies,cake,pastries,but loaf bread or rolls no.So I make the bread and share with all my kin folks and friends and that's what I love to do.He'll smell it and say that smells and looks good lol.I would never buy bread if he'd eat what I make and it's truly lots better than what I buy for him.I bet he's never ate over 6 cinnamon rolls.Go figure grrrr.

[BakerAunt]

Joan--Clearly he's addicted to all those additives and preservatives, not to mention the caramel color, in the store-bought stuff. 🙂

• This reply was modified 6 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BevM]

I have baked Libby's Pumpkin Roll for tomorrow. It is a recipe found on Libby's website that I have been making since at least 2003 and a family favorite. I also have KAF's Soft dinner rolls ready to bake in the morning. They are in the freezer and I will take them out to thaw tonight. I've done this in the past and they turn out great.
Happy Easter to everyone.

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