Another bread shot

This time as toast. It's still not a great shot, but I wasn't planning on posting about this bread yet. Might as well, though. I made the sourdough honey wheat bread from the Panera cookbook, but I added a cup of my own multigrain blend. I based the blend on this one from the King Arthur store; by shopping the bulk bins at the Coop, I was able to make the same blend for about half the price (and I could leave out the poppy seeds - for me, they don't really add anything other than the potential for embarrassment when they get stuck in my teeth). I also used King Arthur's white whole wheat flour, which I can get from the Coop bulk bins for $.59 a pound (more than 40% off the normal retail price).


Dan loved the bread; while I thought it was tasty, I'm not completely satisfied with it. It was very, very dense, and I'm not sure whether that's due to too much kneading or not enough rising time. It did make great toast, as pictured above; I had some breakfast the other morning alongside a bowl of nonfat plain yogurt with a touch of blackberry jam and some canned peaches.

One batch of dough makes two loaves; I put the other half in the freezer (before the first rise, per the cookbook directions) and will probably bake it tomorrow. I'm going to keep experimenting with this recipe and others until I find the perfect balance. One thing I am satisfied with: the price. I can make my own bread for about $1.00 a loaf, which is a good deal better than the $4.oo or $5.oo that I would pay for the artisan bread that I love. Also, multigrain sourdough, my bread of choice, is hard to find in this area; a lot of bakeries only make it once a week or periodically as a monthly/seasonal special.