Quarantine baking

betsygee

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I've been baking a lot more than usual since the shutdown started. I made Italian Easter cookies for the grandkids. Then I had some apples to use up and made these mini apple pies. They were delicious. The other kids/grandkids got those. Yesterday I realized I had some bananas getting overripe so I made some banana pecan muffins. Those are staying here. :yummy:

IMG_7043.jpeg

Are you baking more lately? What are you making?
 

Jem

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I actually made a thread asking about what people thought of my next possible concoction. Banana bread with coffee flavored chocolate chips. I don't have many plain chips left but have a full package of coffee flavored ones and I have lots of frozen bananas I want to use up.
Last week I made chocolate chip cookies, and about two weeks before that I made some oatmeal cookies.
I made some biscuits a couple days ago to go with dinner.
I have plans to make a monkey bread at some point.
I will be continuing to try and do more baking. I'm taking this opportunity to really use up stuff in my freezer and pantry....As a bulk/sale shopper, I have a lot of food in my house...but it has really come in handy during this time.
 

Winchester

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betsygee betsygee Those mini apple pies look excellent!

I'm baking bread. I've made a marbled rye bread. Several baguette-type breads. I made a couple loaves of sourdough the other week. Tomorrow morning, I'm making 3 loaves of honey oatmeal bread, but I'm subbing maple syrup for the honey that I don't have. That bread will work out beautifully for the French toast we're having for breakfast on Wednesday morning. I've also baked up some garlic-parmesan rolls for the freezer and we get a couple rolls out when we have spaghetti or chili. I also made some hamburger buns a few weeks ago. I made some pineapple-orange yeast rolls a couple weeks ago.....those things are awesome and a great way to use up orange zest and juice.

I've made several kinds of cookies for us. And I'm planning on applesauce brownies later on this week. A hot milk sponge cake around Easter that I shared with my sister. A blueberry buckle a couple weeks ago.

But mostly, it's bread. Rick likes sandwiches (he never really ate sandwiches in his lunch when he worked, but he'll eat a sandwich now, even if it's just cheese) and I like toast in the morning. We ran out of store-bought bread a while back and, I know it sounds weird, but we really haven't missed it. I still have plenty of yeast in the fridge and I have my sourdough starter, too.

I just fed my sourdough starter this morning. I want to make sourdough soft pretzels. We're out of snacks!

Rick just read my post and he says he doesn't think our baking is really quarantine-related. It's also that I'm now retired and I can do things that I enjoy doing. And I do love playing with yeast.
 
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betsygee

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Wow, you are baking up a storm, Winchester Winchester ! Lots of yummy breads. I'm not much of a bread eater and have rarely tried making it.

I'm giving away most of what I'm making. I don't need all those sweets around. :nervous:

Jem Jem Coffee flavored chocolate chips? I've never heard of that, bet that will be good!
 

furmonster mom

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Well, I am out of practice with my bread making. I've tried 3 sourdough breads that I used to make all the time, and they were fails. They just did not want to rise. hmph!
I just fed my starter this morning, and it took 5.5 hrs for it to "get happy" and double up. I'll feed it again tonight before bed, then try making another loaf tomorrow.

On the other hand, I made carrot cake for hubby's birthday; used applesauce for part of the oil, and it came out great!
 

MikyPiky

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I have been baking lots more but less at the same time. Since the coronavirus started getting serious me and my family went low sugar to raise our immunity. We're allowed one treat every Friday, so I make the dough on Thursday and chill them in the fridge overnight. I found the best recipe and the cookies come out perfect everytime!

I have also been grinding my own flour to make the cookies and homemade bread! I also found a wonderful and easy bread recipe that makes fluffy, delicious bread.

Since in self-isolation we have a limited supply of food, I decided to make pear muffins with our canned pears. They were absolutely delicious! I substituted almond milk for normal milk because we had none, I couldn't taste a difference!

All in all I think I've had some pretty good baking successes in quarantine!
 

LTS3

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If you don't have AP flour, there may be other things you can substitute in for it. I saw an article:


If you can't find any kind of flour, maybe see if there is a similar recipe that doesn't use any flour.

No yeast? Try these:


Out of granulated sugar?


More substitution suggestions here:


Ina Garten has a Lemon Yogurt Cake recipe that I want to try. I just need to get the right sized baking pan first.
 

Tobermory

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Brownies using a recipe from the King Arthur website. They’re easy and yummy, even more so because I throw in some chocolate chips!

I made these mini loaves of cinnamon bread today. Do any of you bread bakers know why I get the tearing at the side? It’s not the first time it’s happened. I use the same recipe but make one large loaf, and it’s been happening there, too. Tastes fine. It’s just not very attractive. The seam side is down, but the thing rises up so much in the oven that it rips.
23E0BEA2-414B-4B65-9366-0C4E79E27DBE.jpeg
 

MikyPiky

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Brownies using a recipe from the King Arthur website. They’re easy and yummy, even more so because I throw in some chocolate chips!

I made these mini loaves of cinnamon bread today. Do any of you bread bakers know why I get the tearing at the side? It’s not the first time it’s happened. I use the same recipe but make one large loaf, and it’s been happening there, too. Tastes fine. It’s just not very attractive. The seam side is down, but the thing rises up so much in the oven that it rips.
View attachment 331551
That looks attractive to me! It's absolutely gorgeous, I want it!
 

furmonster mom

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I made these mini loaves of cinnamon bread today. Do any of you bread bakers know why I get the tearing at the side? It’s not the first time it’s happened. I use the same recipe but make one large loaf, and it’s been happening there, too. Tastes fine. It’s just not very attractive. The seam side is down, but the thing rises up so much in the oven that it rips.
Do you let your dough rise a little, then punch it down before you shape it?
I was taught to let the dough "pre rise" for 30 minutes, then "punch it down", let it rest a little more, then knead/shape, rise, bake.
 

Tobermory

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Do you let your dough rise a little, then punch it down before you shape it?
I was taught to let the dough "pre rise" for 30 minutes, then "punch it down", let it rest a little more, then knead/shape, rise, bake.
The recipe says to let it rise for about an hour (the first rise) or until it roughly doubles in size. Then you roll it out, sprinkle on the cinnamon sugar mixture, roll it up (so you get the cinnamon swirls), put it into the loaf pan, and let it rise about another hour before you bake it.
 

Winchester

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Tobermory Tobermory , that is called the "shred" and it's desirable in a loaf of white bread, although perhaps not to your extent. Did you tuck your ends and seal them under the loaf before you put your loaves into their pans? Did you roll the dough tightly? I also wonder if under-proofing the dough after it's been rolled up can lead to excessive shred; I know your recipe said an hour, but sometimes, esp in cooler kitchens (like mine), it may take longer to develop a good rise. I'm wondering about your ends as I wonder if that caused your excessive shred.

But honestly, your bread looks really good and I bet it makes excellent French toast! And I wish I was at your house to help you eat it!
 

Tobermory

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Did you tuck your ends and seal them under the loaf before you put your loaves into their pans? Did you roll the dough tightly? I also wonder if under-proofing the dough after it's been rolled up can lead to excessive shred; I know your recipe said an hour, but sometimes, esp in cooler kitchens (like mine), it may take longer to develop a good rise. I'm wondering about your ends as I wonder if that caused your excessive shred.
Hmm. I think you may be right about the under-proofing. I’ve been good about the first rise, but I’ll bet I haven’t been letting it proof long enough for the second. :oops: So maybe what’s happening is that the heat from the oven is forcing a quick rise and creating the excessive shred. And I haven’t tucked the ends under either. I do roll it tightly. I’ll let it rise longer next time and tuck under the ends. I have enough for six weeks, so let’s hope I remember next time! :) Thank you!

The inside makes up for the outside.
A9657365-2DF8-40EA-A292-F8AB9E41A10C.jpeg
 

Winchester

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It looks so good! FWIW, my bread always looks funky. I never have perfectly-looking bread. But, as you said, the inside makes up for the outside. If your bread tastes good, well, that's what matters!

Rick wanted peanut butter cookies, so I made a double-batch yesterday and baked them. Gave a dozen to my sister and a dozen to our neighbors (just put them on their porches and walked away; they knew they were coming). It's been a while since we had PB cookies, so these tasted esp good.
 

Winchester

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Tobermory Tobermory

I saw this site about baking bread and thought you might be interested: Yeast Bread Baking: Troubleshooting

It has a small section on an excessive shred. Causes....
Too Much Shred or Break between Top and Sides
  • Oven is too hot.
  • Didn't rise long enough.
  • Wasn't shaped well.
There are some other interesting troubleshooting points, too.
 

Tobermory

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Thanks, Winchester Winchester ! What a great site. She really covers everything. I’m going to experiment with the rising time and also find a warmer (cat proof) place to let it rise.
 
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