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Sunday, January 10, 2010

Is a Successful Fail, Really a Fail?

SO chilly this morning! One would think I'd go straight for my oat bran, but no. For some strange reason, I haven't been wanting oat bran lately! I tend to eat the same thing over and over and not get bored for quite some time (I am sure you will notice this!) and I think that my oat bran phase may be passing. We'll see. Instead, I had a repeat of yesterday!

Hah! Look familiar? I rest my case.

It's tippingggg!
Yep - I wanted this for breakfast so badly! I think I'd forgotten how delish blueberries were. We actually picked these this summer, and froze them. I finally ran out of cranberries, putting the kibosh on my cranberry kick and found these in the freezer! Nuke 'em for thirty seconds and they get all juicy and yum. In the bowls and cups? Said blueberries, Brown Cow greek yogurt, half a banana, Kashi, pumpkin pie spice, and a lovely drizzle of maple sizzurp. Accompanied by spelt bread and Timothy's Irish Cream flavored coffee from the Keurig. This is a goooood flavor, if you're into that :)
And thennn? Baking time. Yesterday I made my spelt bread [see that rendezvous here] and today was time for take two of traditional whole wheat bread. Last time I made this, I got three delicious loafs, but three delicious small loafs. dense loafs. Not awful dense. In fact, even my mom enjoyed it, and she hates whole wheat: but since I overworked it, it didn't rise to its' potential (teehee, pun totally intended...) This time, I knew better! I would NOT overwork this dough! This bread would come out just like last time only, even better! er...I hoped?
Okay, sort of. I pretty much had success, besides one minor (really. minor.) detail.


I decided I would halve the recipe this time, for one and a half (hah!) loaves. I really thought it would work; one normal sized one, one mini one. I don't really make sandwiches out of it, I like to eat it plain! or toasted! Which is why I wasn't too upset last time when the loaves were so small. However,  normal sized piece of bread would be a wee-bit less embarrassing to bring to work with me all the time...


Shhh! Don't wake the babies!
However, I really should have just made one large goshdarned loaf. I am too stubborn. I put one in a 9x5 pan, and freeformed the other. All of the dough seemed too big for the 9x5, and I think it would have been, but I could have just had a larger free-formed loaf. Oh well. It rose much better this time (I was careful not to overwork it) and it baked beautifully, coming out much lighter in texture, but still with a nice crust (I.Love.Crust.) I did make more alterations to the recipe than I did last time, but it still worked! It rose almost surprisingly well considering some of them, haha.


Whole Wheat Bread

  • 1 3/4-2 1/4 C. Bread Flour
  • 1 1/4 C. Whole Wheat Flour
  • 1/4 C. Rolled Oats
  • 1 T. Active Dry Yeast
  • 1/2 T. Salt
  • 1/2 C. Soy Milk (or real milk, whatever floats your boat)
  • 1/2 C. Water
  • 1/4 C. Maple Syrup (I used S.F. syrup - last time, I used honey, you could also probably use molasses)
  • 1.5 T. butter/margarine/buttery spread (I used Olivio)
  • 2 T. egg substitute (honestly, I would have used an egg...but didn't really want to go about halving an egg.)
Combine 1 C. bread flour with 1/2 C. WW flour, yeast, and salt in medium sized bowl.
Heat your milk, water, syrup of choice, and butter of choice until warmed, and combine with dry ingredients.
Add egg substitute - note I use a KitchenAid mixer with a dough hook rather than a bread machine or kneading.
Add the oats and remaining WW flour, combine.
Add enough of the remaining bread flour until the dough is soft and not too stiff.
Place in a greased bowl, turning once to coat the top; cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled; about 45 minutes.
Once risen, punch down and let rest 10 minutes.
Place into greased 9x5 loaf or free-form a loaf, then again cover and let rise until doubled in a warm place, about 50 minutes.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-40 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool on a wire rack, but definitely enjoy a piece warm!

About 3/4s of the way through the baking process, I usually take them out an brush with egg whites and sprinkle some oats on top, or sesame seed or something. Up to you, though :)

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