Recently, I found a list of resolutions/ goals I made last year on my 30th birthday for my thirty-first year. Some of those resolutions I kept, others I did not. I saw one resolution on the list that I had all but forgotten about: learn to bake bread. I decided that I still want to learn to do this (I HATE store-bought, non-bakery bread) and now was the perfect time to learn.
This was my first loaf: sourdough from a mix I have had for a long time. It is excellent, but still I wanted to see if I could do it without a mix.
This was my second loaf: white artisan sandwich bread. The exterior is very crunchy – nearly cracker-like – but it has a good flavor.
Overall, it was much easier than I imagined and I look forward to trying more experiments. Currently I am working from a book called Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day & I have enough dough in the refrigerator for three more loaves. Yay!
Here is another baking experiment – my first experience with whole wheat pastry flour:
I tried a recipe last week for blueberry crumble bars. The recipe called for whole wheat pastry flour, but I used almond flour + self-rising flour, which was all I had. They were SO GOOD & were gone in about two days (I took some to work). The only problem was that they were very crumbly (pretty much had to eat them with a fork) and I was looking for something a little more cohesive. So today I tried the recipe using the recommended flour (and less milk & sugar) and strawberries instead of blueberries. They are okay, but the blueberry bars were so much better. You can taste the wheat flour in these. Still, it was fun to experiment and I’m sure these will be eaten before too long!
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