Peace of Bread

This Week in Bread

Such a yummy week in our kitchen. We tried Wisteria's recipe again, the honey wheat bread, and it was our best attempt yet. Rose up so nice and light. Not long after we put the loaves in the oven, Jane peeked through the window and yelped in delight; the one in the loaf pan had risen even more, a lot more. We were really proud of that loaf!

The other one, though, we baked on the baking stone again, and I have to find out how to transfer a rustic loaf from the bowl it rises in to the baking stone without deflating it. That has happened every time. The bread tastes good but the crumb is much heavier and denser.

Next we tried Joann's potato starter recipe. I think I overproofed on the second rise, because it has a really long rising time and I didn't plan well when starting out. But the bread turned out okay, and we had it for dinner last night on panini sandwiches, which: SO GOOD. Goat cheese, arugula, and proscuitto on homemade bread...oh my!

Second Recipe

This week we tried Wisteria's recipe. It is similar to the Old Order Amish Bread recipe, but with honey instead of sugar and butter instead of oil. It tastes sweeter. Ours came out very heavy and dense. We know we didn't get something quite right because the dough never got really elastic. Laurel's Kitchen says the dough shouldn't break when you stretch it out, but ours did break.

Even so, it was quite tasty.

Wisteria's Everyday Bread

3 tsp yeast
2 cups warm water
3 TBLS honey (I don't measure, just pour some, but this morning it was about 3 TBLS)
4 1/2 cups - 5 cups flour (I use a mixture of whole wheat and white changing amounts according to what will go on the sandwiches. Tomato sandwiches call for a whiter bread.)
3 TBLS melted butter
1 tsp kosher or sea salt

I mix all this up in my mixer(use a dough hook) and add flour and knead until it isn't sticky and pulls away from the sides into a ball. I let it rise under a flour sack towel with chickens painted on it that my friend brought me as a happy. Once it is doubled I dump it on a board and knead it and shape it into a roll. I punch the narrow ends into the bread and plop it into my greased (with butter) pan. I let it rise again and put it in a preheated to 365 degree oven. Cook until the outside is browned and crunchy and the bread sounds hollow, about 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a rack to maintain perfect crunch, chewy goodness.