I love cranberries. Love cranberry sauce, cranberry juice, and cranberry bread. A bit back, I tried this recipe for cranberry bread from Blog Chef, and I’ve never had to try another. Just LOVE it.

Cranberry Bread
1 12oz pkg Fresh Cranberries, chopped
3 1/3 c. Sugar
6 Eggs
1 1/2 tsp. Lemon Zest (opt)
1 1/3 c. Oil
3/4 c. Milk
3 tsp. Vanilla
4 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour
6 tsp. Baking Powder
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 c. Walnuts, chopped

Spray 3 – 9 x 5 x 3″ loaf pans with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, combine cranberries, sugar, eggs, zest, oil, milk, and vanilla; set aside. In another bowl, combine flour, baking, and salt; add to cranberry mixture and stir until welled combined. Fold in walnuts. Pour into prepared pans about halfway; bake 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or knife comes out clean from the center. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire rack to finish cooling.

And here it is, cut wide open:

And it tastes as good as it looks, especially warm with a thick layer of butter. Yum.

I love English muffins, and now that I’m making bread, I figured I could find an easy recipe. Apparently, easy is relative when it comes to English muffins, but I did find one that looked good and seems to be one of the most commonly used by newbs like me.

I have modified the recipe a bit according to what I’ve learned about bread baking, and I used butter rather than shortening because I’m not a big fan of shortening.

Recipe is originally from Bread Baker’s Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread.

English Muffins

2 1/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast
1/2 TBL. Sugar
1 c. Milk at room temp
1 TBL. Butter, melted
Cornmeal for sprinkling

Combined flour and salt and set aside. Combine milk, yeast, and sugar; mix well and let sit 3 to 5 minutes; add butter. Add flour and mix until combined, adding more milk if dough is too dry. Kneed about 5 to 10 minutes (until smooth and elastic; dough will be soft, but shouldn’t be sticky), form into a ball, and place in an oiled bowl and roll to coat. Cover and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Place parchment paper on cookie sheet, lightly coat with oil, and sprinkle with cornmeal. Split dough into 6 pieces and form into balls. Place balls on cookie sheet far enough apart to allow them to rise, cover, and let them rise another hour.

Heat oven to 350. Warm a skillet on medium heat and lightly coat/spray with oil. Gently place your hand over one of the muffins and flip into your hand using the paper and peeling it back once in your palm, then place in the pan. Being careful when removing the muffins from the parchment will help them keep their shape. Cook in the skillet a few at a time, 5-8 minutes per side—until nicely browned on both sides. They should flatten as they cook.

When done in the skillet, place on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for another 8-10 minutes. Don’t wait until they are all done in the skillet before moving the first batch into the oven: put first batch in the oven, then cook the second batch in the skillet at the same time.

Transfer baked muffins to a cooling wrack and let cool at least 30 minutes before cutting. Store in fridge in a plastic storage bag. To serve, cut, toast, pile on the butter, jelly, or whatever!

The look is off, but the taste is there, so hopefully it’ll improve as I practice. And it may just be how I put things together when mixing the dough, or the fact that I opted for butter instead of shortening. I’ll play around a bit and let you all know.

The first bread I ever tried to make was a Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread because these loaves cost $4 or more when we can find them. We really like the bread, but not the cost. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to work, even after playing around with it in ways suggested by a friend who bakes bread on a regular bases. I finally put the recipe aside and started working with less fussy breads to learn the process. Once I got those down, I finally came back to this one, determined to get it down.

The first attempt came out okay, but I had forgotten that I had made some of the failed changes a part of the recipe, so the dough came out soft and flat and had a few other issues. The bread was better than previous attempts, but still not quite right.

So I made a second loaf, though I still made some other changes: I went to 1 1/2 for the dough to get a larger loaf (turned out to be not quite necessary to do that, because we ended up with a huge loaf as a result, but, we do love the bread…lol), reduced the salt (BP concerns), and had to watch the water. And that last turns out to be the key to this bread. You have to start with the smaller amount of water, and add a little at a time while doing the first knead to avoid an overly dry, stiff dough.

The result was this….

Here’s the full recipe, with the lower measurements in parenthesis, in case you’d like a smaller loaf than the monster we got.

Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread

4 ½ c. Bread or All Purpose Flour (3 c.)
2 tsp. Salt (1 1/2 tsp.)
1 ¼ – 1 ½ c. Warm Water (110-115 degrees) (3/4 – 1 1/4 c.)
1 ½ pkgs Instant Active Dry Yeast (1 pkg)
1 ½ TBL Sugar (1 TBL)
1/3 c. Olive Oil (1/4 c.)
2 ½ TBL Coarsely Chopped Fresh Rosemary (1 1/2 TBL)

Oil or butter a large bowl; set aside. Combine flours and salt in medium bowl; set aside. In another large bowl, combine 1 ¼ c. (3/4 c.) water and yeast, stirring until creamy (about 5-10 minutes); add remaining ingredients and mix until well combined. Add flours. Add more water as needed. Knead on lightly floured board until smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place in oiled bowl and turn to coat; cover with towel and let rise about 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down; knead gently. Either shape into loaf and place in greased loaf pan OR shape into a ball and place on a parchment-covered baking sheet, cover with towel, and let rise another 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Remove towel, dust with flour. Bake at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until bottom sounds hollow when tapped. Let cool a few minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool completely.

You may need to add more water than what’s listed; just keep an eye on the dough. If it’s too dry and stiff, add more, but small amounts at a time. I started with 1 1/4 c, but the dough was VERY dry, and I ended up adding at least 1/4 c. more to get a decent dough. It rose beautifully both times, which was a huge problem in my first attempts (the second rise in particular just wouldn’t happen the way it should).

Also be aware, it doesn’t rise “tall” as much as “out”, so you may want to use a loaf pan if you want a taller bread.

And here’s the loaf right out of the oven:

I attempted a more oblong than round loaf. More than likely next time I’ll use a loaf or similar tall pan to get a taller loaf. Regardless, I’m quite pleased with it. And the aroma while it was baking was wonderful. I find working with fresh rosemary a bit of a pain, but love the smell of it. And the flavor was beautiful.

When I first started making bread, I really had some problems with it. I initially started with a Rosemary-Olive Oil loaf, but it just wouldn’t rise/bake correctly.

So I went to something a little less exotic. Wheat Bread. Not whole wheat, but that was fine. The recipe was an easy one, and that’s what I needed. But I ended up with the same problems. So I hunted down information on baking bread, created a tips card, and using that card, I finally had success. The only thing I didn’t like is that the loaves seemed small, and I wanted store height bread.

So then I played with the recipe. First I tried a citrus version recommended by a friend. Didn’t go over so well with the family.

My last playing, though, was to take half the wheat and make it rye, and I increased the amount of dough by going to one and half times the recipe.

And the family loves it and the loaf is…well, here, take a look!

That loaf is fresh from the oven and, even though you can’t see it, was steaming at the time of the picture.

Easy Wheat-Rye Bread

1 1/4 c. Whole Wheat Flour
1 c. Rye Flour
2 1/4 c. All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2c. Warm Water (between 110-115 degrees)
1 1/2 pkgs Active Dry Yeast
3 TBL Honey
3 TBL Brown Sugar
3 TBL Butter, Melted
1 1/2 TBL Milk
1 1/2 TBL Unsweetened Applesauce (opt, but adds moistness)

Oil or butter a large bowl, set aside. Combine flours and salt in a bowl; set aside. In another large bowl, combine water and yeast, stirring until creamy (about 5-10 minutes), add remaining ingredients (I usually add the sugars and applesauce first, stirring in each before adding the next) and mix until well combined. Add flours. Knead until smooth and elastic—dough will feel slightly grainy and a bit sticky, though it won’t stick to your hands—about 10-15 minutes. Make a ball and place in oiled bowl, turning to coat. Cover with towel, set in warm place, and let rise 40 minutes OR until doubled in size. Punch down and knead gently and lightly until smooth; shape into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan**. Let rise 30 minutes OR until about doubled in size. Bake 30-35 minutes at 350. If it browns too quickly, cover with tinfoil. Let cool a few minutes, remove from pan, finish cooling on wire rack.

** A regular loaf pan works; it makes the bread taller and wide. A taller loaf pan would keep the top from going to wide.

The results: beautiful bread:

I actually like the flavor of the rye-wheat combo better than the wheat only. The Chef says it’s okay, like he says the wheat bread is okay; he most definitely did not think the citrus bread was okay. lol

And the smell while it was baking was wonderful.

So I think this might end up being our regular bread from now on. And here’s my tips for anyone interested.

Tips For Baking Bread

1. Watch water temp by using a thermometer. Keep it between 85 and 115 for the best results with your yeast.

2. Allow yeast and water to sit sit at least 5 minutes to activate the yeast; it should be creamy and bubbly and have a yeasty smell.

3. Salt kills yeast. Do not add salt directly to the yeast mixture. I combine it with the flours and add the flours after all other ingredients.

4. If finding a warm place to allow the dough to rise is a problem, try using the oven. Turn it on to 200 degrees and let warm up, then turn it down at least halfway to off (one place recommends turning it off completely, but I’ve found that to result in an oven that’s too cool). Place covered dough in warm oven to rise.

5. Go by how far the bread has risen, not how long it should take. If it’s not doubled, it’s not ready.

6. For the second rise, do not over-knead the bread or add too much flour. Be gentle.

7. Softer doughs rise faster. If a dough seems too stiff, add a TBL of water before the first rise. Don’t add too much water, though.

With these tips, and the fact that my other breads seem to be working out fairly consistently now, I feel just about ready to tackle the Rosemary-Olive Oil Bread. I’ll post a picture if I manage to get it right.

Yes, it’s been a long time. Too long. Just been very busy of late.

And one of the things I’ve been busy with of late is bread making. The bread we like to buy from the store (Nature’s Own) is $2/loaf on sale at our local Kroger. As much as I love the bread and the varieties it has, making my own bread is cheaper. I just need to make a minimum of 3 loaves a week to cover our family.

But I’m struggling a bit. My wheat bread is okay, but I suspect it’s not the texture it’s supposed to be when baked, and my Rosemary Olive Oil bread has the taste but definitely not the texture. I’ve just tried two new breads today and am having the same issue: they just aren’t rising all that much on the second rise.

This is a step forward, really, because my Rosemary bread wouldn’t rise correctly on the first rise.

So I’ve done some research into the specific things I think I may be having trouble with and I now have a tips card to use. Hopefully my next round of bread making will be far more successful and I can post some pictures. Maybe I can even get the Rosemary bread to finally work.

Or maybe one day I just need to get a bread maker.