The English muffins nearly defeated me. My excitement turned to dismay when I split open the first batch and found doughy centers, and I resigned myself to trying again. For the purposes of the challenge I try to make each bread one time and move on to the next, just to keep things going, but [...]
BBA Challenge: Cranberry Walnut Celebration Bread
BBA Challenge: Cornbread with Bacon
BBA Challenge: Cinnamon Walnut Raisin Bread
BBA Challenge: Ciabatta
I’m slowly catching up with the rest of the BBA Challenge crew, though summer keeps trying to derail my plans. Baking in the summer is always a challenge for me, whether it’s the heat making the kitchen unbearably hot or the distractions of three boys, each with his own agenda. The boys were my distraction [...]
BBA Challenge: Challah
When done properly, Challahs are one of my favorite breads. The shape is beautiful, especially the celebration breads with multiple layers or multiple braids or when adorned with raisins or seeds. I enjoyed making this loaf, though I had a few distractions along the way that caused the dough to over rise twice. Then I [...]
BBA Challenge: Casatiello
The next brioche in the BBA Challenge was an Italian variation, a casatiello, which is usually made with some type of cured meat and cheese. Reinhart suggests a good melting cheese such as Swiss, Gouda, Cheddar or any of their variations. For meats he suggests salami, pepperoni, bacon, pancetta, chorizo, or sausage. I chose some [...]
BBA Challenge: Brioche Muffins
BBA Challenge: Whole Wheat and Rye Bagels
My first attempt at Reinhart’s bagels ended with flat wrinkled hockey pucks, so this weeks BBA Challenge was a welcomed opportunity to improve on my previous attempt. I made a whole wheat starter with one cup of rye flour in the final dough, and shaped my bagels in a small two-ounce size, perfect for little [...]
BBA Challenge: Christopsomos (Greek Christmas Bread)
Even though it was originally intended for Christmas, this is a bread I would gladly bake any time of year. The BBA Challenge bread for this week was Artos, Greek celebration breads, and I chose the fruited Christmas version, Christopsomos. My family adored this orange and spice flavored bread, and I can easily imagine making [...]














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