This week's challenge was to make a loaf of Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread, Hamburger/Hot Dog Buns and one loaf of Apple Strudel Bread.
I frequently make loaves for sandwiches so that wasn't new but I had not made this particular recipe. I had a little bit of trouble adequately mixing it up. I don't want to overmix/knead so I think I err on not enough mixing. There ends up being all these floury chunks in the bottom after rising. I just discard those when making bread but I need to improve my mixing technique.
It was raining all day so my 3 year old and I stayed home and baked all 3 types. A gray sky was a great time to bake bread. First we made the loaf - rose nicely as you can see from the pics.
BEFORE RISING
AFTER RISING
AFTER BAKING AND BEFORE EATING! Everyone really like this bread.
Next up - hamburger buns! I really hate the buns at the store. I have never been able to find a great bun that wasn't loaded with stuff we don't want to eat. So I was excited to try these buns. Easy to make so far - this is what they look like just after forming and before they rose.
They rose nicely. I think some are going to be mini hamburgers but that will be good for the kids. Here are the finished buns - I think I will make them a little bigger next time but I like how they turned out and they actually resemble hamburger buns.
Next up Apple Strudel Bread. I figured this would be a great after school snack on a cold rainy day (well it is rainy and it did get into the 50s I think - remember this is Arizona). I used all the dough I had left since I wasn't going to have time later to use up the dough and this kind only last 5 days in the fridge. My 3 year old helped spread the apples and 3 raisons. It was supposed to be more raisons but of course someone ate them and only left 3. Why 3? I mean if you are going to eat them - eat them all. Anyway, since I used more dough than necesssary I cut it in half to put in the loaf pan but that made a mess. So I kind of stuck it back together and left it on a jelly roll stone to rise.
It came out well despite my butchering. And was once again another hit with the family. I can't remeber if there was any left before my husband came home - oops. These 3 recipes are winners in our home and I will be making them again!
One last note: all of my stones and most of my other kitchen items are from Pampered Chef. I was a consultant a few years ago and was able to get some great things.
Hope your bread turned out well too!
If you would like to see the other links in this HBin5 Bread Braid just click here!
Happy Baking and Eating.
From the same Master Recipe, I made the Epi shaped bread a week later. This is something I probably never would have attempted before but it was really easy to do and made a nice presentation. It also taste best fresh so I plan on making this next time right before we eat dinner.
And then the challenge was to make Spicy Whole Grain Snack Crackers. Well, my crackers were tasty as you can see by my son's hand grabbing them off the cooling rack instead of the cheese pizza I had just made. The only thing was they were really not what I would consider crackers - they were not really crispy. I made them thin enough. I think that my expectations were just not correct. They would go well with a soup or cheese as I saw some other people do or as little poppers in your mouth as they cool down. I also didn't use enough spice. I really need to be spicing and flavoring my breads better. 
Thanks for visiting and I look forward to many more yummy days ahead.