Monday, October 05, 2009

Baking weather at last!

The problem with August & September for me is that they are just too hot to run the oven too often. I like to bake bread. My favorites being cheese breads. But I really don’t like having the oven on for an hour when it is 90 degrees or more outside.  Most of the summer I stick with na’an and other flat breads because I can make them on the grill or on the stovetop.

But it’s baking season now!

I have a loaf of cheddar cheese bread rising and plans for an apple & cheddar loaf this weekend.  I also want to  make feather puff bread, which has cottage cheese in it & sounds like it might be good with apple butter. (I’m making apple butter next week after we go to the Apple Festival. Apple butter & applesauce & variations on them are about the only thing I can successfully make in a crock pot). Then there is my beloved pepperoni & pecorino bread which makes the best grilled sandwiches

I spent the summer experimenting with various flatbread recipes to get a round that was the thickness, softness and chewiness that I prefer. The next  couple of months will be spend on finding the right sandwich bread. I was raised on Wonder. My boys also prefer the fluffy white stuff.

I’ve tried to get them to eat multigrain or whole wheat bread. Goodness knows I have tried. I can’t tell you how many multigrain loves have molded on the top of my fridge. Peanut butter, which is their main sandwich, doesn’t work so well with that sort of bread in their opinion. Its ok for the rare turkey or ham sandwich but not for peanut butter. So my goal is to make a fluffy multigrain bread.  I have some fluffy white sandwich bread recipes that I think I will slowly alter to include more grains until I reach “eww gross!” point.

This is my cheddar bread recipe.  I halved a recipe for 2 loaves because we don't eat that much that quickly & then tweaked the flour & sweetener.

2 cup bread flour
3/4 c whole wheat flour
1 heaping teaspoon yeast
1 teas sea salt
1 c and 3 tbls warm water
2 tbls oil
1/2 tbls honey
6 oz cheddar in small cubes, 1/2 to 1/4 inches


Mix flour, yeast,& salt together in large bowl. In small bowl mix water, oil & honey together. Add to flour mix & stir. Knead for 7-10 minutes until smooth. I use a stand mixer & this takes 5-7 minutes usually. Let dough rise in warm place for about 1.5 hours. Punch dough down & knead in cheese cubes. Grease a loaf pan & put the dough in it. Let it rise in the pan for about an hour. Preheat oven to 350 and bake bread for 40-45 minutes.  Cool on rack out of loaf pan. It;s good warm & great toasted

11 comments:

The Four Week Vegan said...

I bet your house smells so good. Fresh bread is one of my favorite things :)

SciFi Dad said...

I've never had chewy flatbread before... I've always thought of flatbread as more of a cracker consistency.

Laura said...

oooh I would LOVE to try this bread! DH hates cheese though...jerky!

Jennifer (Jennilyn) said...

Mmmm...I love home made apple sauce! It's like just eating the middle of an apple pie. :) The cheese bread sounds yummy!

Aunt Becky said...

I love, love, love to bake. I need to learn how to make a simple, white bread.

Samantha Gianulis said...

i <3 baking weatger too, which we just got here in southern california, and i hope it stays. last week i did banana bread with nutella, and a ton of soups.
pumpkin bread next. yay fall!

Liz Mays said...

All of those breads sound delicious! I like homemade bread but I'm lazy.

JAS said...

Sounds yummy. I'm going to try it. My daughter loves anything that tastes like cheese.

KristinFilut said...

Holy cow! Yum!!!

Following from MBC!

Momrempel said...

Checking in from MBC and now following you:)

stacie said...

The cheddar bread sounds really good. I am going to have to pick up the ingredients this week. Try it!