enJOY it by Elise Blaha Cripe

thoughts on the 40 loaves.

I have to say, it's a joy to be done with this project.

It served it's purpose and then some. I made 40 different loaves of bread. I tried detailed and complicated recipes and super simple recipes. I tried different flavors and loaded up on carbs. But most importantly, I got very comfortable making bread. And that, it turns out, was the whole point.

Less than two years ago, baking bread seemed like a foreign and scary concept to me. (Much like growing plants did two months ago when I tried not to cry in the Lowe's garden center.) Of course, the best way to get past something that intimidates you is to immerse yourself in it. 

You've got to bake the bread.

I read a few books. I read a lot of recipes. I invested in decent tools. I took photos. I took notes on what worked and what didn't and what I'd change.

But really, I just but the effort in and baked the bread.

In the next few weeks, I absolutely want to get a post together with bread baking tips. But today I just want to celebrate that the 40 loaves were all baked (though it took an extra five months longer than I originally intended!) and share some of my favorites from the bunch.

After all this, I realized that my most favorite bread is usually pretty plain. It's the type that comes out in a basket at nice resturants still warm and tastes excellent with just a bit of salted butter. The first two loaves below are exactly that and the others serve a wide-range of needs. All of these will be baked again, most before the summer is out.

• "x bread" (I made up this name)
• no-knead bread
• cinnamon pull apart bread
• walnut bread
• english muffins
• soft pretzel tots

And all the other loaves plus my thoughts & recipe adjustments can be seen here. Thanks for following along on this adventure!

40 loaves / french bread.

Bread no. 40 : french bread recipe below.
 

Adjustments : I halved this to make just one loaf and then my changes are shown below in italics. Thanks so much Jill for sending the recipe!

Notes : it's like the end of an era. 

Review : good. Probably could have used a bit more salt. The wheat switch might have de-flavored it a bit. Perfect with a bit of butter though.

+

2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1 c. warm water
1 c. cold water (I skipped the cold water portion and went with all warm)
1pkg yeast
6 c. sifted flour (as mentioned, I halved this recipe and used 2.5C white flour and .5C wheat)
1 egg white.

Combine oil, sugar, salt, cold water. Combine yeast & warm water in small bowl. (I stuck the sugar in with the yeast and water) Add to 1st mixture beating vigorously. Beat in flour. Knead. Cover w/ cloth and let stand 1 - 1/2 hrs until double in size. Press down and let stand 15 minutes. Then divide in two, shape into tapered loaves, and put on two greased (large) cookie sheets. Let sit another hour until double. Beat egg white and brush on top of loaves then slice tops with 1" long slits every 2 inches.  Bake @ 350 for 45-50 minutes. (Mine only needed to bake for about 37 minutes.)

40 loaves / cardamom rolls.

Bread no. 39 : cardamom rolls (from this bread recipe).

Adjustments : cut the sugar in half. Replaced more than half the white flour with wheat flour which wasn't so much a healthy decision as a necessary one; we ran out of white.

Notes : DUDES. So close to the end of this bread baking adventure. I have 100 thoughts on this, but I'll save them for the wrap-up post. I made these because Paul wanted cardamom bread and he wasn't here when I made it last time. Used a different recipe and decided to turn this dough into little crescent rolls for something different. To make them, I just rolled out the dough and used a pizza cutter to create small triangle shapes. I rolled them (big end to small point) and baked for about 12 minutes.

Review : LOVE the little roll shapes. So easy to eat and a great breakfast. Thanks to my sugar cut-back and wheat flour addition they were a little ... nutritious tasting. Next time, I would either cut the sugar by less OR add some wheat flour. Not so much of both. Loved the sliced almond addition though. That's a keeper.

40 loaves / english muffins.

Bread no. 38 : english muffins.

Adjustments : mixed the sugar in with the water and yeast to get the yeast to bubble faster and halved the recipe.

Notes : I am so close to the finish line of this project and it's going to be so nice when it's complete. Paul recently talked to a friend at work about my job and the blog came up. When asked what the blog is about (I know, I cringe just thinking about it), Paul mentioned the bread project and said I was having trouble coming up with the last few recipes. "English muffins!" suggested the friend and ta-da - English muffins were made!

Review : I am so pleased with how these turned out. They are different than store-bought and don't have quite as many "craters" on the inside, but still, so good. Almost biscuit like, but better. The recipe called for these to be cooked on a griddle over the stove and I used our grill pan. That was a fun experiment and something I'd like to try again for sure. And if you need suggestions for what to put on your English muffins, we loved honey for something sweet and egg salad (for those post-Easter hard boiled eggs).

40 loaves / rosemary rolls.

Bread no. 37 : rosemary rolls.

Adjustments : I made these up. Basically, I took our exact pizza dough recipe, split it into 9 small balls, let it rise for four hours (the dough balls doubled in size) then covered the whole pan with some olive oil, dried rosemary and sea salt. Then I baked the pan for about 24 minutes at 400*.

Notes : I thought I was going to end up with wheat dinner rolls that had a touch of rosemary and salt taste. Thanks to the olive oil, what I got was basically focaccia bread that was lacking in salt and oil flavor. (If you want an excellent focaccia, check here.)

Review : still decent though. Great texture. Would probably be even better dipped in olive oil and vinegar. If I did them again, I'd let the dough rise for about two hours, then knead it again, form dough balls and let it rise a second time before brushing with olive oil, rosemary & salt.