Baking Day

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to start baking more from scratch. I came to this decision for several reasons: it's healthier (Dear Daughter's emergency gall bladder surgery in December has really gotten me thinking about all the additives in the food we eat.), it's cheaper ( I like bread with some body to it, and all the kinds we like to eat have gone up in price. I can bake a loaf for about $.67 or buy a loaf for $1.67. Plus if  I have odds and ends of  fruits and veggies, they can be pureed and put in muffins or quick bread.),  baking for me is a stress reliever ( I know that sounds  bizarre, but measuring, mixing, and seeing the end result makes me a Happy Little Camper. Plus, kneading that bread helps vent those frustrations!) Yesterday was the official baking day for the week. At the end of the morning I had baked:

 Parker House Rolls

I shaped half the dough into larger rolls to be used for buns. Child #4 likes to take the "buns" slathered with peanut butter and jelly in his lunch.

Whole Wheat Bread

I have a confession! It is not totally whole wheat, yet. I figured if  I exposed my family to the joys of  TOTALLY WHOLE WHEAT bread suddenly, they might have a stroke. Instead, each week I am going to substitute one more cup of whole wheat flour vs. white flour into the recipe. TIP: If you make Totally Whole Wheat bread adding one tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten for each cup of whole wheat flour will help keep your bread light and fluffy (and increase the chances of your family eating it). 

Oatmeal Cinnamon Bread

I found this recipe on The Frugal Girl's blog.  I consider her a baking guru, and I haven't found a recipe of hers I didn't like. The family gave this bread a two thumbs up, in fact, one of the loaves disappeared. as soon as the kid's got home from school.  It tastes just like a cinnamon roll (delish!!!). If you notice the ugly loaf in the middle, the recipe says it makes two loaves, but when I rolled the dough up to put in the loaf pan it seemed awfully large.  I ended up cutting  part of the dough off of the ends and smooshing them together into a third pan. If you make this recipe plan on three loaves ( I'm sure you have a neighbor or friend who would LOVE to take the extra loaf off your hands!).

As, I mentioned in this week's menu post, I used the leftover mashed potatoes from Sunday's dinner in the dough for the whole wheat bread and the oatmeal cinnamon bread. I added one cup of mashed potatoes into the wet ingredients before adding them to the dry ingredients (you may end up adding in about an extra half cup more flour as you mix the dough together). Adding potatoes into yeast bread dough helps make the bread soft, and it will stay fresh much longer. If you don't have leftover mashed potatoes, just add 1/2 cup of potato flakes in with the first cup of  flour.