Bread Baking Babes Year in Bread

2019 was a good year for baking bread with the Bread Baking Babes, although I had the challenge of baking while Sweetie was dieting and asking me not to bake bread!

Here, for your pleasure, are breads baked and links to the recipes, usually on my blog but sometimes on the blog of the Kitchen of the Month.

January started things off with Elizabeth's whimsically named Elbow-lick Sandwich Bread. This delicious bread had sweet potatoes and cooked onions in it. Great for sandwiches and with soup.

February was inspired by the Great British Baking Show and Chelsea buns. Mine were shaped into a heart shape...for Valentine's Day, natch.

For March our challenge bread was a Moroccan flatbread Ksra. Mine was a bit off course from the recipe, but very tasty with some pasta.

April brought a lovely Easter bread. "The Ciambella Mandorlata is an Italian Easter bread that originated in Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region. It is typically baked in the shape of a ring which is supposed to represent the unity of the family." It is basically a brioche type bread with lots of butter and eggs. Most of the sweetness comes from the topping and even that isn't very sweet, so this is a primarily breakfast bread but I think that that you can eat anytime of day with enjoyment. It had some fun shaping, too.

May brought a Multigrain Sourdough Sandwich Loaf, which was a challenge for me because I had to make new sourdough starter (having let my previous starter go when Sweetie started his weight loss) Be sure to allow a few days to create your starter before beginning the bread. If you do, you'll have starter for lots more sourdough breads over time.

June let me use the sourdough starter again.  This fantastic bread was Rosemary Raisin Sourdough. This was an easy bread to work with.  I think the part I like best is the combination of the sweet golden raisins and the zingy fresh rosemary.

July was more free form than usual with no Kitchen of the Month. We could choose a past July bread to bake, so I chose Panmarino. With a huge rosemary shrub on the property, it's easy to enjoy recipes using fresh rosemary and this bread is a winner.

August always has sunshine around here and we baked a bread shaped like the sun.  The Sourdough Sunshine Loaf takes a little more time than a simple bread but it is worth it.

September's bread was a pull apart loaf with garlic and cheese. I passed because can't do cheese and post-surgery digestion didn't welcome garlic. The Babes who baked the bread liked it alot!

October brought apples, as October often does. In this case it was Apple Bread with Cider and Calvados. A keeper!

November's  Danish Crown could be savory with hearty onions or it could be sweet and ready for the holidays with dried fruit, which is the way I did it. Sweetie liked this the best of most of the breads I baked this year. It looks dramatic, but is pretty easy to do.

December I was Kitchen of the Month and I chose the perfect pastry for Christmas morning, a Kringle, American version. I give two versions; King Arthur Flour's Butter Pecan version with caramel sauce and the one I love, a Raspberry and Marzipan version. Either one is a great way to end the year.

It's been a good year with the Bread Baking Babes. If you like these, follow the link and give them a try. Each month we bake and post on the 16th. If you bake that month's bread by the 29th and contact the Kitchen of the Month, you will receive a Buddy Badge and a place in the round-up. Happy Baking!

Babes Take the Road To Morocco

This month our challenge bread is a Moroccan flatbread Ksra brought to us by our wonderful Kitchen of the Month Kelly of A Messy Kitchen blog.

I enjoyed this bread because I eliminated the anise seeds (which is a flavor I don't care for at all) but that probably ruined it's Moroccan influence, too. Mine also rose enough that it didn't seem all that flat, but I liked that it was the perfect size to have a chunk of with soup or stew or, in my case, pasta with a tomato sauce and zucchini and basil.

I followed the recipe pretty closely except for eliminating the anise seeds and using some white whole wheat flour for part of the flour. I used barley flour, not rolled barley because I love bread made with barley flour. I did paint the top with olive oil and sprinkle with sesame seeds, but they mostly fell off when I served it, so I would recommend either skipping the seeds, or painting the loaf with egg white and sprinkling on the seeds. Egg white does a much better job of holding the seeds onto the crust.

I was expecting a loaf with more air holes, but even without that artisan appeal, the crumb was lovely and the flavor good for a bread made the same day. I put half the dough into the fridge and will bake it later in the week. I imagine it will have improved flavor.

This is a super easy loaf to make...no actual kneading, very little shaping, no pan to clean, and you end up with nice fresh bread...what's not to like about that!

To be a Bread Baking Buddy, just make the bread, take a photo, and email Kelly by March 29th. She will send you a Buddy Badge (similar to the one above) created by our talented Elizabeth, and include you in the round-up.

Ksra (Moroccan Anise and Barley Flatbread)

from the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Makes two 7-8" rounds

340g (1 1/2 cups) lukewarm water (100 degrees F or less)

5 g (1 1/2 teaspoons) dry yeast

8.5 - 12.5 g (1 1/2 - 1 3/4 teaspoons) kosher salt

3.5g (1 1/2 teaspoons) whole anise seeds (I omitted these seeds)

46g (6 tablespoons) barley flour OR 35g (6 tablespoons) rolled barley

407.5 g (2 3/4 + 2 tablespoons) all purpose flour (I used 207g bread flour and 200g white whole wheat flour)

To make the dough:

Mix together the yeast, salt, anise (if using) and water in a large bowl or container. Stir in the remaining ingredients with a large wooden spoon, dough whisk, or in a mixer with the paddle. Mix until the flour is incorporated fully.

Cover and rest until the dough has fully risen and collapsed back down a bit, about 2 hours. At this point you can refrigerate or you can bake.

You may use the dough after the initial rise, but it's easier to work with cold. Dough will keep up to 10 days in the fridge.

To bake:

Divide the dough in half, dust with flour, and shape each portion into a ball by stretching the sides down to the bottom of the ball and olding under. You may also work with only on portion of dough if you like; the other will keep in the fridge for another day.

Flatten each ball into a 3/4" thick round and let rest on a parchment lined or cornmeal dusted pizza peel for 20-30 minutes. Optional to brush the surface with oil (or egg white?) and sprinkle with sesame seeds or more anise seed. Also optional to poke the dough with a skewer in a few places prior to baking. (I didn't poke, but did cut shallow cuts around the outer edge of the flt ball once it had risen.)

While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a baking stone near the middle of the oven and a metal pan or broiler tray on an unused oven rack and heat a cup of water to use for steam while baking.

Slide rested loaf directly onto hot stone. Pour 1 cup of hot water into the metal pan or tray for steam and quickly close the oven door. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until richly browned and firm.

Allow to cool before cutting into wedges to serve.