Bacon-Cheddar Loaf

So, I made a new loaf of bread - obviously. It was Bacon-Cheddar Loaf and it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself, and I do. Also, my Mom was here when I made it and she totally agreed. It is on page 87 of 'The Book'. I thought it was kinda weird that it had honey instead of sugar - but it turned out great so what do I know? Also, the recipe called for 1/2 c of cheddar cheese and 4 slices of bacon, but I added extra of both things, because let's face it, they are delicious. Also, I had found that in other loafs I made with cheese it wasn't cheesy enough, so I figured it couldn't hurt to add more.

Here is a picture of Mom enjoying the deliciousness - and enjoy it she did.

 Stay tuned for the next loaf - who knows what it will be!

Cheddar Beer Bread

Okay, so I was a bit afraid of this loaf because I don't actually like the flavour of beer and I was worried it would be strongly beer flavoured and I would be sad. But I like cheese and my friend Megan suggested I make this because she remembered someone making it when she was young and it smelled awesome, so I gave it a shot. And I am glad I did. I found a recipe on page 121 of the book. It helped that I happened to have a beer that a friend left here after girls' night the other day, so here it is.

The beer added a bit of flavour and really made the cheese flavour pop, which is nice. As I mentioned in a previous post I really like cheese so it was cool that this one actually tasted cheesy and wasn't overwhelmed by the beer taste. It was nice and moist and fluffy and soft and good. It was a great suggestion so thanks Meg! 

Also, I noticed the pics were all looking the same so I left the knife in this one to try to make it a bit different - enjoy.

Monique's Honey Wheat Bread

So, today's loaf of bread was on page 156 of the book and it is called "Monique's Honey Wheat Bread". This is the first loaf I have ever made in the machine with eggs in it and I was a little unsure of how it would turn out. Let me tell you, my worries were unfounded because it was DELICIOUS! And the house smelled awesome when I came back from running my errands and stuff. I would actually have to say this was my favourite loaf so far from the books (which isn't saying much since I have only made like 4 so far, but still - and don't judge that my favourite is whole wheat bread, that's just how I roll). It reminded me of my Grandma's homemade bread and it made me smile.

 

My only issue with this bread is that since there is an egg in it, you can't do it on a delay cycle. That means that I can't just put it in before work, set the timer and then come home to freshly made bread. At least not this loaf of freshly made bread. Sad day. But that means I will have to enjoy it when I am going to be home to set it up and take it out. But still, totally worth it. Mmmm. I think you guys should all be jealous of this bread.

Double-Cheese Onion Bread

Okay, for my next loaf I decided to go with something more on the savory side, so I made the Double-Cheese Onion Bread on page 50 of the book. The two cheeses are Parmesan and old Cheddar cheese, and the onion is minced dried onion. Now, if you know me really well, you know that I am not the first person to want to eat old Cheddar cheese - but in bread, I have to admit, it is AWESOME! When I came home to this loaf being finished my house smelled so good. Seriously. Amazing.

Then I took the loaf out and it looked as good as it smelled. Turned out perfect I would say.Seriously, look at that baby (for anyone who is interested - I always put my bread-machine on the lightest setting for the crust, otherwise it is too dark for my preferences).



The inside didn't look as cheesy as I was expecting based on the smell of the thing. And, although tasty, it was too onion-y and not cheesy enough for my preferences. The onion flavour was overpowering of the cheese flavour and it just didn't really do it for me. Mind you, I am not the hugest fan of onions anyway. I don't hate them, but I don't LOVE them, you know. I think for the onion and cheese lover this would be the perfect loaf. And I didn't dislike it - I would make it again upon request.   

So, overall, it was a good loaf, but I would prefer more cheese. Because .... mmmmm cheese.

All-Occasion White Bread

So, I went with a basic white bread for loaf number 2 - I wanted to see how the recipe changes would stack up to the changes I made in the previous loaf. I used the first recipe in the book on page 24 except I reduced the water (I didn't reduce the yeast like I had in the previous loaf because it already called for a smaller amount). And I have good news everyone - it was great! The loaf turned out great! It was a bit lopsided (as you can see in the picture to the right) but it was soft and tasty and a decent loaf of white bread, if I do say so myself. It was nice with just a little butter and also with a little butter and honey. 

To be honest, I may never make this loaf again unless requested, because I don't eat a lot of plain white bread, but it's nice to have one that I know turns out good in case I want to give one away. Now I need to start making a list of the other ones I want to test. I have had a couple suggestions - and I even found a coffee loaf (yeah, that's right, there is brewed coffee right in the bread - weird eh?) that I am going to have to try now that I know it exists. And if you have any suggestions, I will make it for you. And if the loaf you suggest turns out good and you live nearby you might just get a gift out of it - so make suggestions!! Even if you think it might not exist, I will find the closest I can (but seriously, there is coffee bread so whatever you want probably does exist).

Cinnamon Bread

So, as my first loaf of bread I decided to make was a Cinnamon bread. Why? Well, it sounded good. I had all the ingredients in my house already. And I bought this really awesome cinnamon when I was in Atlanta last summer and I love finding new things to use it in. Also, it was within the first section of the book so I figured it was a bit easier.

I have actually made this loaf 3 times. The first time, it rose and fell - boo. So I looked in the book and went to the troubleshooting and it said that if this happens you have to decrease the amount of yeast. So I tried that and made a second loaf and whaddaya know, it happened again. Sadness. So I went to the great gods of google and looked it up and they said that there was too much liquid. So I decreased the liquid and tried again. And the third one worked the best. Now, it isn't perfect, but I think I got the ratio figured out pretty well. Here is a picture of it (sorry the pic isn't perfect - I am tired)

That was that loaf. The recipe is on page 42-43 of the book (should I post the recipe? is that a bad idea? what do you guys think?) It was technically supposed to be a Cinnamon Raisin bread, but I didn't have any raisins in the house and, well, I don't like raisins in bread anyway, so I wasn't too concerned.

Anyway, I think my next step is to try another recipe and see if I have to make the same changes to it to get good results or not. I think next I will try a basic white loaf just to figure things out.

If you guys have any thoughts or suggestions of kinds you always wanted to try you should let me know. Seriously, I am sure this book has the kind you want because there are 300 recipes. That's a lot of bread.

The Beginning ...

Okay, as you can probably tell from the title of this blog, it is going to be about .... (drum roll please) ... BREAD!

Let me explain. For Christmas this year I got an awesome cookbook called "300 Best Canadian Bread Machine Recipes". The year before I got a bread machine (which is why I got the book this year - whaddaya know).

For the last year the bread I have been making in the machine has been from the few recipes that came with machine itself, as well as a few I found online and a few that a friend sent me. My favourite so far has been a honey whole wheat loaf that my friend Whitney sent me the recipe for.

Anyway, I found it hard to find good recipes for the bread-maker and so I was glad to get this book. I decided I am going to try to bake all the kinds of loaves of bread in that book and then post the results on this here blog.

To be perfectly honest I will probably not try every single recipe in this book. Some of them look completely unappealing to me, so there is that. Also, some of them are just for doughs that you then pull out and make into other things, which seems really time consuming and difficult, and lets face it, I am kinda lazy sometimes. But I will make many of them, and then tell you all about it.

I put the first loaf in this morning (it is on a delay timer to be finishing when I get up from my sleep - I work nights a lot so that's why I am going to sleep all day long) I am excited to tell you guys how it goes. If you have requests or suggestions or just want to tell me I am amazing feel free to comment.