Sweet and savory breads

Last week when i baked bread I realized that baking bread is actually cheaper than buying really nice bread in the store and it tastes oh so good.  So I set a personal goal for myself and I am going to try to bake some kind of bread at least once a week.  When I told my hubby this, he looked like a child who was told Christmas would be coming twice this year.  Anyone who knows my husband can attest to the fact that he has something of a bread addiction.  I swear he would eat bread for every meal if he could.  Now that I have already baked the basic white bread that I grew up on, I wanted to challenge myself to come up with other types of bread.

My first choice for today was easy.  Ever since childhood, the bread aisle in the grocery store has always been my favorite.  While some kids begged their parents for cookies in the cookie aisle, I couldn't wait for the moment we entered the bread aisle and I could breathe in the aroma of cinnamon bread.  Even now I still love to make that trip down the aisle simple for the smell itself.  My one problem is that I absolutely hate raisins. So while I have always loved to smell cinnamon bread, i have never bought it because stores tend to fill it with the very thing I detest.  i set the goal for myself to make a bread that smelled just as delicious but was tasty as well.  Since I didn't want raisins I decided to make cinnamon chocolate chip bread because how can you go wrong with chocolate?

I knew this bread would be sweet and I didn't only want to make sweet bread so this week is a two bread week.  For something savory, I designed a garlic cheese bread that could be delicious alone or as part of a sandwich.

For the dough I started with the basic white bread dough I made last week.  I made it exactly the same until I reached the point where I divided it in half. That is when I changed each loaf to make one sweet and one savory.

The cinnamon bread is on the left and the garlic cheese is on the right

Cinnamon chocolate chip bread

Ingredients

Half of the white bread dough

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

handful dark chocolate chips

handful semisweet chocolate chips

melted butter

Directions

1. Mix sugar and cinnamon in a bowl

2. Roll out dough to about a 18 inch by nine inch rectangle.  

3. lightly brush with butter and spread cinnamon and sugar over entire thing.  press chocolate chips into dough.

4. roll up tightly.  fold ends under and place in greased bread pan.  brush with butter. let rise 30-50 minutes.

5. bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. brush with more butter and let cool before removing from pan.

Garlic cheese bread

Ingredients

Half of white bread dough

4-5 garlic cloves

grated cheese of choice (i used cheddar and monterey jack)

Directions

1. Roll dough to a 9 by 18 inch rectangle.

2. Mince garlic until it becomes almost a paste and spread on dough.  sprinkle with cheese.

3. Roll tightly. Fold ends under and place in greased bread pan.  Press cheese into top. Let rise 30-50  minutes.

4. Bake at 425 for 25-30 minutes or until turns golden brown and cheese on top gets crispy.  let cool before removing from bread pan.

My First Bread

Today was a very special day for me: I made bread for the very first time.  When I was growing up, I was lucky enough to have a stay at home mom who was talented in all the ways that a mom could be.  She grew her own fruits and veggies, sewed clothes for me and my dolls, made me plastic canvas barbie furniture, knitted me hats and gloves, and cooked and baked some of the most amazing food.  One of the things I remember most from my childhood was a tattered old red Betty Crocker cook book that I loved to put stickers on while my mom was cooking.   From this cookbook, my mom created a plethera of delicious goodies including homemade bread, pies, cobblers, biscuits, cookies, and casseroles.   I don't remember anything coming out of that book that I did not love.  

A while back when I was at a used store, I browsed through the books not looking for anything in particular.  That's when I spotted it.  I found my very own copy of that beloved cook book from my childhood.  That was when I set the challenge for myself: to make my very own homemade bread.  Now I had watched my mom make it countless times as a child, but could I reproduce that delight in my own kitchen without my mom there to help me?

I decided that today was the day to go for it. And boy am I glad I did.   After making my arms sore with kneading and boiling as I turned on the heat in my apartment for it to be in a warm environment while rising, and hours of waiting, I have produced two beautifully golden loaves of bread.  They plumped out of the pans just as they were supposed to and reached that deep golden color I remember so well from my childhood.  It's amazing how something as simple as bread can give me such a feeling of accomplishment.

Traditional White Bread

  6 to 7 cups all-purpose or bread flour
   3 tablespoons sugar
   1 tablespoon salt
   2 tablespoons shortening
   2 packages active dry yeast
   2 1/4 cups very warm water (120° to 130°)
   Margarine or butter, melted


1. Mix 3 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, shortening and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.

3. Grease bottoms and sides of 2 loaf pans, 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 or 9 x 5 x 3 inches, with shortening.

4. Punch down dough and divide in half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into rectangle, 18 x 9 inches, on lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side, to form a loaf. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with margarine. Cover and let rise in warm place 25 to 50 minutes or until double.

5. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 425°.

6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with margarine; cool.

From "Betty Crocker's Cookbook." Text Copyright 1991 General Mills.