Baking Bread

I don’t know what went on in my head this weekend, but I went on a bread baking kick.  The credit goes to my mother for being an effective teacher of the properties of yeast.

Recipe #1 – Homemade Brown Bread

This was a random recipe that I found in an older cookbook, and I chose it because I had all the ingredients in the house.  It calls for old-fashioned oats, molasses and brown sugar, and it makes two loaves.  It has a rich, oatey flavor and is not overly sweet.  The verdict from the kids?  Two huge thumbs up.  Tad ate two slices of this as toast for breakfast and would have had more.  Ane also loved this, and had it for breakfast yesterday morning.

Recipe #2 – Irish Freckle Bread

This was a sweet bread that I made to go along with our early St. Patrick’s Day dinner.  The recipe called for raisins, but said that dried cranberries, currants, or chocolate chips could be substituted for the raisins.  I went with the dried cranberries, because I love them and neither of the older two kids are fond of raisins.  The verdict?  Well, I would make it again with a few tweaks.  First, this finished bread was still gooey in the middle and not completely baked.  The recipe calls for baking it in a 10 inch springform pan, and I only have a 9 inch.  I don’t think it spread enough to bake completely in the pan.  Plus, I’m not sure it really needs the springform pan.  If you arranged it tightly enough on a baking sheet, I think it would bake up all right and have enough room to spread and bake evenly.  (Mom, tell me if I’m way off base here.)  Second, while the Webmaster, Ane and I all love the dried cranberries, the boys wouldn’t eat.  Next time, I’m just going all out and making it with chocolate chips.

Now, what to bake next…

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2012 at 12:58 am and is filed under Being Crafty.
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