aptk's blog

Before I go any further I want to talk for a minute about my sourdough starter. This is a very "wet" starter, and I measure by cup rather than by weight. It resembles the flour paste we used to make as kids.

I have been called out!! I posted a collage of some of my recent favorite breads, and was challenged to show my results. So I'm going to try it! I am also including the recipe I used. And if it's not one of my original throw things in bowl efforts, I will post a link.

The recipe included with these dinner rolls, is my most dependable basic white bread recipe. This will make one regular loaf of bread, or a dozen good size rolls. It shapes well too.

Top Row (left to right)

     Deep Fried Stuffed Traditional Tortillas, Basic yeast white bread, Sourdough Orange Cranberry Cinnamon Rolls, Olive Parmesan Focaccia

Middle Row (left to right)

     Garlic/Spinach Cut/Twist Focaccia, Sopapillas, Cherry Pecano Yeast Bread, Buttery Rosetta Yeast Rolls

Bottom Row (left to right)

     Artisan Sourdough Mini Boule, Pepperoni Pizza, Traditional Alaskan (Yukon) Sourdough, and White dinner rolls

I increased my recipe by 50%, hand shaped two circles, used a spinach and garlic filling. It filled my pizza pan. Can't wait until dinner to taste it. If it tastes as good as it smells, it'll be yummy!

We often cut it into bread sticks with a pizza cutter, this one had an excellent texture and flavor. Crisp, crunchy crust, chewy on the inside and gooey on the top, almost like a sauce-less pizza!

This bread is so tasty that I couldn't wait to share the recipe. I'm listing the ingredients in the order that I used them, and am including the exact brands that I used.

Ingredients:

1 c. warm water   (from tap)

2 Tbs. honey   (Don Victor with comb)

2 1/2 tsp. dry yeast   (Fleischmann's Active Dry)

1 tsp. salt   (Morton's Iodized)

1 cup unsalted nuts and seeds   (Salad Pizazz No Salt Raisin Nut 'N Sunflower)

2 Tbs. Walnut Oil   (Hammon's Roasted Black Walnut Oil)

I must be an idiot because there is no way I can get a picture to load without using a new blog post. I repeatedly get a message that says the web page has expired.

So here's the crumb shot, this is quite possibly the best tasting bread I've ever baked! And yes, I did use scissors to make my scores. I'll make another entry on the recipe I used.

What I'm looking for is some small loaves that would be the perfect size for two people at a single meal. This is my first attempt. I also want to develop a scoring method that results in a loaf that looks like a flower (the one on the right). These are straight out of the oven and on their way to the cooling rack.

It's a Honey Whole Wheat bread with unsalted seeds and nuts (sesame, pumpkin and sunflower seeds; almonds, cashews and walnuts). I'm anxious to cut one of them open and see what it looks like. The smell is awesome, so I'm sure the flavor will be good.

Perfect on this winter stormy night!

I was trying for croissants, ended up with butter everywhere, divided the dough into six pieces, tried to roll it into a ball, shaped it with an apple corer, gave each an egg bath and sprinkled sesame seed in the center. Looks like crap but tastes absolutely wonderful!