What are you Baking the Week of September 17, 2023?

[Mike Nolan]

No specific baking plans here yet. I was thinking of making a hybrid sourdough/commercial yeast version of semolina bread, but Diane wasn't thrilled at the idea, so maybe not.

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[cwcdesign]

I made bread this morning! For the first time in months and I used my Emile Henry long baker which we finally pulled down from the attic.

I made the semolina rye bread from King Arthur, doubled it (except for the yeast which I left at 2 teaspoons and the salt which I used 2 teaspoons instead of the tablespoon it would have doubled to). I left out the onions and the vital wheat gluten I mixed it in the bread machine.

All went well. When it was ½ inch over the rim, I decided to bake it so I wouldn't overproof it and I even did some sort of slashes. When I took the lid off after ½ hour, it had risen beautifully. I took it out after 10 minutes - 5 was too short and I probably could have taken it out at 8 minutes. But then, trouble struck - the directions said to flip it out of the pan to cool and the bread stuck. First thing I realized that the directions to lightly grease didn't mean too lightly - I should have oiled it better. As I struggled to get it out, I broke it - the bottom stayed in the pan. I went off to run an errand and after the pan cooled Will popped the bottom out of the pan. Second lesson learned - leave it in pan for 10 minutes to cool, as I often do.

Good news is that it is really good and I will make it again - Next time I might try it with my sprouted wheat flour from the freezer - it has the same protein as the rye flour.

[BakerAunt]

CWCdesign--I always grease the Emile Henry bakers with Crisco, then sprinkle it with farina (Cream of Wheat). While it can be messy when turning it out--which is why I do so over a towel--there is never any problem with sticking, and it comes out easily.

For Sunday breakfast, I made Cornmeal-Pumpernickel Waffles (my husband's request). We had them with a bit of maple syrup and the blueberry compote that is leftover from when I bake blueberry pie. I froze the six leftover waffles, which will make fast breakfasts on three mornings for me.

In the afternoon, I baked White Whole Wheat Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts, which I adapted from a King Arthur recipe. I cut back the sugar by another ¼ cup (used 3/4 where original recipe uses 1 1/4 cup), and they are sweet enough and of just the right texture. Nothing beats using homemade applesauce! I sprinkled six of the doughnuts with Penzey's Cinnamon Sugar. I set the other six aside and will make a maple glaze for them tomorrow. I was inspired to bake these today because I came across a 1-cup container of unsweetened applesauce that I froze in November 2021 for this recipe.

[BakerAunt]

I needed to use up three overripe bananas, so I baked a new recipe for Banana Oat Muffin, from All Recipes, s on Monday morning. I had been searching for a banana and oats muffin recipe, and I had saved the recipe from a magazine. I altered the recipe by using white whole wheat flour and adding 2 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. I reduced the sugar to 1/3 cup and the salt to ¼ tsp. I deleted the vanilla. The kind of oats was not specified. I used quick oats. I also changed the mixing instructions. I put the dry ingredients, except for the oats in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, I mashed the bananas, mixed in the milk, then stirred in the oats. I mixed in the egg, then the oil, before adding the dry ingredients. I baked in Crisco greased, large muffin cups for 20 minutes. The flavor is excellent, so this recipe is a keeper. The muffins are plenty sweet. Possibly the sugar could be reduced a bit more.

In the afternoon, I baked another batch of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week.

[chocomouse]

Today I made a blueberry galette, using some of the 16 pounds of berries I picked in Maine last weekend. I had a terrible crop from my own bushes this summer, due to the heavy freeze of 24* we got on May 17. I usually pick about 50 quarts, but got only about 10 cups. So my sister and I went to a U Pick farm and had a blast. They deliver you in a golf cart to whatever variety you want to pick - acres and acres of beautiful, huge clusters of berries. They also had a live band, lots of food, and happy, knowledgeable employees. Luckily, Hurricane (turned into a plain storm) Lee had tamed down; we got very little rain, just lots of wind, with gusts around 50 mph. A friend in a camper near us had a tree fall on his car and smash the windshield, but no one was hurt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm glad that you got blueberries, Chocomouse. I shudder to think what a summer without them would be.

On Tuesday, I made frosting for the other half of the Applesauce Doughnuts that I left plain. I used 3/4 cup powdered sugar, 1 Tbs. melted butter, 2 tsp. 1% milk, and 1/4 tsp. vanilla. That made a soft frosting that I could easily spread around each one. I then sprinkled them with some orange and yellow tiny nonpareils for a festive autumn dessert. Yes, I know that autumn does not start until 23 September, but we have had cool, overcast weather for the past few days, and the days are getting shorter.

[Italiancook]

After BakerAunt posted about Banana Oat Muffins, I searched for the recipe on allrecipes.com. In the process, I found a headline for "25 Ways to Bake with Olive Oil Instead of Butter." https://www.allrecipes.com/gallery/baking-with-olive-oil-recipes/

I baked their Olive Oil Bread yesterday afternoon. It took 2 hr. 10 min. Prepping the bread took 28 minutes. The remainder of the time was rising and baking for 40 minutes.

The finished product was slightly larger than a steakhouse boule served at the table. We ate half of it for penne with Rao's red sauce. The bread is delicious. I'm keeping the recipe for an "emergency" when I want bread with minimal effort at the last minute. I don't like foccacia with pasta, so this bread will work for me as a substitute for baking fresh foccacia, which also only takes a couple of hours.

BakerAunt, in this collection of recipes is one for Olive Oil Sugar Cookies.

[RiversideLen]

I did a batch of burger/sandwich buns this afternoon. I'm thinking about oatmeal cookies but not sure if I will get around to it.

[RiversideLen]

I decided to make Chewy Fruit and Oatmeal Bars. It's a recipe that I saw many years ago on the box of Quaker Oats. It's no longer on the box but they have it on their website. I modified it a little, I subbed all the sugar (3/4 cup brown sugar and a 1/2 cup granulated sugar) with 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Instead of using a baking pan and then cutting it into bars, I portioned it out into cup cake liners. I had to guess at the baking time, probably overbaked them a little but they turned out good.

[BakerAunt]

I realized at lunch on Saturday that we would be needing bread for tomorrow. I wanted to bake a large single loaf because right now the freezers are full. I remembered the Chewy Semolina Rye Bread because CWCdesign baked it earlier this week. I made a few more tweaks. This time, I used 1 ½ cups of buttermilk and ¾ cup of water. I added 2 Tbs. special dry milk. Instead of the medium rye flour, I used pumpernickel. I used 2 Tbs. First Clear Flour in place of the vital wheat gluten. I reduced the yeast to 3 ½ tsp. and the salt to 2 ¼ tsp. I did not add the dried onion. As I was kneading it in the mixer, it seemed a bit dry, so I added 1 Tbs. of water. I did not do the topping, as my husband would dislike it. The loaf is lovely, and I look forward to slicing it tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

I knew that the Chewy Semolina Rye Bread is good, and I like the changes I made, but the best change was using pumpernickel in place of the medium rye. Delicious!

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