Bread Loaves
Here are some of my loaves, linked to their recipes
Panettone!
Such an adventure, it gets it's own page.
Apple Walnut Oatmeal
I made this recipe, substituting whole wheat for half the high gluten. I chopped the apples more finely than they suggest and given how they mixed in wouldn't leave them coarsely chopped (as the reciped recommended). The texture came out a softer (less chewy) bread than I normally like (admittedly, again, I substituted out WW for half the high gluten flour), but still made a damn fine grilled cheese (and grilled ham and cheese). Also good with just peanut butter.
No Knead Everything Bread with Sourdough Starter
I've made this recipe before, originally with AP and then with the high gluten. It is so wet, I'd recommend the latter. This time, I omitted the commercial yeast altogether and added sourdough starter. I used 200 g. of starter in place of 100 g. each of water and flour. I also doubled the amount of everything blend in the dough I left it to rise overnight (ca. 13 hrs, mostly because I was lazy getting up this morning). For the first time with the recipe, I was able to shape it (usually it is too wet) and score it.
Baking again! Do-nothing sourdough
My start had a little neglect during the construction -- esp. right at the end, I wasn't feeding it as I should. So last week, I fed it and tried to make sourdough (with a recipe that can work with unfed as well as fed) and it was a flop. I tried feeding it up and had a second flop. So I gave it some extra love and attention and feedings and today made this recipe again (adding KAB's Super 10 multigrain blend in for part of the Whole Wheat and adding the KAB's Harvest Grains blend for a little extra texture)
It rose nicely and I turned it out on the green mat my sister gave me (to match the kitchen).
I got a folding screen to create a kitty-exclusion zone in the laundry area for things like rising and cooling.
Of course the cats had bigger fish (or should I say squirrels) to fry...
Boiled Cider Rye Bread
This is my first attempt at a basically 100% rye flour bread (it does take 29 g. fed starter, so ca. 15 g. wheat flour in 837 g. of medium rye flour). I had seen this recipe in the Breaking Bread: A Baker's Journey Home memoir/cookbook, but was intimidated by it. It popped up on the KAB website and I thought I'd give it a try, totally prepared for failure. It did call for 6 g. instant yeast and I added that given my worries about a it becoming a brick.
It puffed nicely at the first rise but as I degassed it, I could really tell the difference between it and wheat dough -- much less stretchy. I weighed the two loaves, but made one oval and one round boule (three reasons: those are the brotoforms I own; I prefer oval loaves for sandwiches; I thought they might better fit on the parchment/baking stone if one was narrower).
There's a video of making it (though I didn't start watching until they were rising in the brotoforms). He floured his surface during shaping, but I used a lightly greased surface. I did like his using a large cookie sheet as a peel as it gave more surface area (needed with two loaves). My loaves had less flour on them coming out of the brotoform (since I hadn't floured my surface when shaping), so I sprinkled them with some more to make the cracks more pronounced (I used wheat flour, which I had in a convenient sprinkling container, for this and for the brotoforms, though I agree with the video I probably should have used rye to represent what flour was used within the loaf). Below is it right before it went in the oven (my cracks aren't as pronounced as in the video; you can see my flour sprinkler between the loaves).
Post-bake pictures below. The cracks were more pronounced afterwards. Good tender structure. Not so open, but that's to be expected from rye and it was soft and moist. Nice flavor -- the cider wasn't explicitly noticeable but probably contributed to the undertones (and to the color).
Sourdough Boule
It sometimes seems like King Arthur assumes that no one's starter is very vigorous -- many of their sourdough recipes call for a lot of yeast added along with a fed starter. This recipe called for 1.5 tsp. + 227 g. fed starter. Since it was a new recipe and I didn't want to eliminate the commercial yeast altogether, I added 3/4 tsp. Still, on the 2nd proof (which called for 1.5-2 hrs), after 45 mins it was so large I went ahead and baked it. I used a mix of sprouted pumpkin and sunflower seeds in the bread itself, along with the malted wheat flakes. Nice nutty loaf.
Same loaf made with about 1/4 whole grain flour blend + only 1/4 tsp. commercial yeast.
Panettone
I finally made a panettone with a texture closer to what I like (light, soft), albeit not quite there. I think it was the addition of potato flour (or in my case, potato flakes put through a food processor for finer texture). I used this recipe, substituing KA's "Yuletide" fruit blend for the ginger and apricot.
Do Nothing Sourdough +
So here's my favorite "Do Nothing Sourdough." As usual, I added about 60 g. of the Super 10 blend in place of some of the whole wheat, but this time also added ca. 60-70 g. Harvest Grains blend for a little extra texture and nuttiness. As it tends to be a wet dough, I didn't up the moisture even though I knew the grains would absorb some of that, esp. overnight. Neverthess, it rose beautifully, handled well, and clearly got a nice oven rise. The flavor was great. This will become a standard add-in.
Whole Grain Bread
My general principle is to try a recipe once as is before modifying it. I totally violated that with this recipe. Working from some of the suggestions in the comments in part, here's how I altered the basic recipe.
In terms of ingredient changes: I used 357 g. warm water, 200 g. sourdough starter discard, started with 190 g. AP flour (and added just a heaping tbsp or so part way through the knead in my mixer to get the right feel to the dough), 65 g. Super 10 flour blend from KAB, 40 g. Harvest Grains blend from KAB, and cut the yeast to 2 tsp. Everything else remained the same. It had a rather high sugar amount but decided to try it and figured it would help make good toast.
As KAB notes the instructions are for a middle school aged baker and that one could just dump everything in and mix/knead, I leaned towards that way. I stopped part way through the machine knead and added a little more AP flour to help the consistency. On the 2nd rise/proof, I went 45 mins but would probably go even a little longer next time.
That said, it came out great -- soft with a good texture for sandwiches (made a great BLT with a tomato fresh from a friend's garden). Less chewy than my personal preference, but a fine sandwich bread.
The discoloration on top is from the oiled wrap I laid over the pan during the proof.
The recipe came in the catalog as part of a bundle offer. I had everything I need to make this without buying the bundle (I used red whole wheat in place of white and the bottom half of my Emile Henry Bread/Potato pot for this and it was perfect). This makes a gianormous loaf! It is a fine-textured bread, good for sandwiches. One slice cut in half will do for a normal sized sandwich. The recipe called for both 2 c. of fed starter + 1.5 tsp. yeast. As I had never tried this recipe before, I didn't want to completely eliminate the yeast, but the amount seemed over the top. I cut the yeast in half (3/4 tsp) and it still proofed in the recommended time. The recipe seemed a little sloppily written (it just says to mix until soft dough forms but does not mention kneading (I did knead) and the ingredients list mentions using some of the six-grain mix to sprinkle on top (which I did) but that's never mentioned in the instructions. It took the full 50 min. of baking (I did tent the top for the last 10 mins.). Good flavor. The honey is unnoticeable but probably adds to the overall flavor. The grains do make a nice addition to the texture.
After the overnight rise, it was not nearly risen as described (I had given the hour's proofing before putting in the fridge). I let it rise two hours outside of the fridge before baking and probably could have let it rise still another hour as it split a little. I tented it for the last five minutes. A closer texture than many sourdough -- as the recipe promised, good for sandwiches -- moist and chewy and crisp crust (I used the suggested steam).
Sourdough Beer Bread
I've made this before as the recipe is written, with the optional yeast. It was good, but rather a slack dough and all white flour (+ malted wheat flakes and, of course, beer). I wanted to try it with some whole wheat, so substituted in 100g for the regular flour and didn't adjust the liquid and skipped the additional yeast. I gave it the full three hours proofing (this time in an oblong rather than round brotoform). You can see it held its shape better, got perhaps a better oven rise, and still the interior was a nice texture, soft but with a good chew and a nice crust. And a great malty flavor.
I had made this King Arthur recipe before with AP flour (as the recipe had called for) and found it so high hydration that it was an unworkable dough. After the first rise, I'd just basically pour it into the dutch oven and gave up on trying to use my lame to slash the top.But the final product was nevertheless tasty and even requested by officemates. I noticed in a recent catalogue that KA was now recommending the same quantity of high gluten flour (I note on-line they say either AP or high gluten) and suggesting a (smaller) bread pot. I decided to give it a try (pictures below).
After the first rise, I was concerned the bread pot would be too small but trusted it would work (and thought the more rounded shape of the pot would give the slack dough a nice shape). The dough was slightly more workable (with a bowl scraper) than it had been with AP flour, but no real shaping could occur.
After the 2nd rise, it had come above the bottom of the bread pot and I could see a couple of places were the dough had stuck on the lid when I took it off. I was very concerned at that it was going to be a disaster but didn't think at this point I could really shift pots. So I sprayed the lid with Vegalene to avoid too much sticking, and followed the directions (spritzed the top of the dough with water, sprinkled everything topping on, and slashed with my lame -- you can see that left a small mark after baking) and put it in the oven.
Good news -- it did not stick to the top! It did, however, get a bit compressed in its oven rise and squashed out along the rim and over a handle ( you can see that in the left hand pictures below). I was glad it didn't stick to the pot. In the future, I'd stick (no pun intended) to my 4.2 qt dutch oven. Nice crisp crush, good, spongy texture.
Not nearly as sweet as pumpkin quick bread, but lightly spiced with ginger and cardamon and a nice light texture. The rolls went right in the freezer for Thanksgiving.
I had made this before as written (with all AP flour), but this time used 113g whole wheat + 149g AP flour + 2 extra tbsp of water. It's funny that I look back at my original review of the recipe on the King Arthur website and everything holds true despite the flour changes: although I was working with discard (it calls for commercial yeast as well), it had risen so high after 45 min on the second rise that I put it in and while I tented after 20 min, it looked a little pale at 40 but luckily wasn't quite to temperature so untented and baked 5 more mins and it came out a beautiful golden color. It is a very nice recipe.
This may become a go-to for school year baking. It takes very little time commitment. While I really like KAB's No Knead Sourdough, that one is made entirely with refined flour, but this bread has a nice portion of whole grain flour. I used about 50g of KAB's Super 10 Blend in place of some of the whole wheat flour and it came out great. The dough was a tad wetter than I expected (and even stuck in one place to a well-floured brotoform line), but still fairly easy to shape and came out tasting great. Nice crust. Bakes on a stone at 475F. The recipe did say it would get dark (I did use the optional diastatic malt powder) but it didn't taste overly browned. Good texture. Nice sandwich bread.
BELOW is the same bread but done in an oval brotoform with unfed starter (and still no commercial yeast). It only took about two more hours of raising time.
No knead with heirloom grains
After the disappointing crust of the multi-grain country loaf, had a good, crisp crust. Good nutty flavor.
A nice bread, but I was surprised how it came out. It bakes on a stone with steam and then you take the stone out and crack open the oven and cool the bread in the oven as it cools. I expected, therefore, a heartier crust. But it has a good open structure, soft but not too soft.
I usually cheat and add a little citric acid to up the tang, but thought I would give this recipe a try. My starter is vigorous, so it only took 3 hrs. on the first rise of the second day and two after shaping it. While it had a nice tang, I found it too soft and fluffy for my taste. I prefer the chewiness of the no knead sourdough (made with bread flour).
Made with amber beer and malted wheat flakes. The dough was a lovely caramel. My brotoform proved to be almost too small for the final rise. It was a very soft, puffy dough, so flattened out as soon as released from the brotoform.
I did use the optional additional yeast, but it might have worked better without. Still a nice, open texture, soft interior, and great taste. A little of the bitterness of the beer came through and a nice umami taste. I'd make this again.
Clearly in a raisin mood. This bread starts out with a biga. The biga not only rises but really relaxes overnight. I rose it in a brotoform and baked it on parchment on a sheet pan. Nice bread.
Hazelnut Golden Raisin Baguettes
Both the touch of pumpernickel flour and the optional fennel add a good flavor.
This is my second time making these and, while I like them, I realize my issue is that they don't have a real baguette interior. The texture is not open enough. But it is a nice bread. Nice and moist, good structure.
I was looking for a recipe to use some leftover sour cream and saw this one. I really liked the pumpkin yeast bread recipe (another ingredient I would more normally associate with a quick bread) so I wanted to try this and it is fantastic. Like the pumpkin yeast bread, I like that it is not so sweet as a quick bread but has a subtle flavor. It is tender with a nice crumb. I used TJ's Almond Meal (which is ground with the skin on), so there is very slight flecking in color.
Because this recipe is made with commercial yeast added, you can use your discard starter in it (which I did this time). I followed an earlier version of this recipe, using a heritage grain flour mixture where now the recipe calls for whole wheat. Great sandwich bread.
So here's an example of when you forget to cut a hash mark in the top of your loaf (also forgot to sprinkle the oats on it). And probably should have left the lid on for 50 min instead of 45. But still good inside.
Basically an overnight, no knead. When I uncovered the dough in the morning, it smelled like beer. A nice, tasty loaf. Chewy and moist, lots of flavor.
I've made this before I liked it; this time it tasted a little too sweet (perhaps because of all the sourdough I've been eating). Good texture.
This has become one of my absolute favorites. I probably wouldn't have made it without covid as it is an involved process.
I've been using First Clear flour and Deli Rye Flavor in addition to the pumpernickel, but running low on both so we will see how it goes with just bread flour and perhaps a touch of citric acid.
Another mom favorite. The recipe is actually for fig and walnut, which also sounds good, but it was Christmas time so went with the cranberry variation. Done on a baking stone.
The recipe actually also calls for chocolate too, but skipped it by request. Still good.
Chewy (made with bread flour) and a great oven rise, even after a three hour warm-up rise in the pan after coming out of the fridge.
I usually add a touch of citric acid to up the sour taste (my start is around two and half years old, but I still add the extra sour).
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Excellent - another repeat. I use golden raisins, which I like better than regular ones.
The dough is wetter than the recipe suggests and is unshapable but still quite tasty. The high hydration makes for a moist loaf. And who doesn't love everything bagel topping -- mixed in here as well as on top.
I love this bread! Not too sweet, great texture, just the right amount of spice.
Also pictured at the right, white no knead
Brioche Loaf
Baked at KAF's cooking school in Vermont