Cream cheese on sour cream bread: as unhealthy and delicious as you'd expect

I've made two of these loaves now and both times forgot to take a picture of the whole thing before we started chowing down.  The first one was for my mom and reports were that it was delicious for toast and with chili and even plain.  The second one we kept at home and slathered with cream cheese.  The chives add a strong flavor but it's definitely not overpowering.  I even rounded up and used whatever remaining chives that I had, well over the 1/4 cup it called for.  The sour cream and milk seem to make this a pretty dense loaf; it did not rise hugely.  But that was really perfect for spreading on something thick or dipping.  The dough seemed pretty wet in the bread maker but since it wasn't sticking to the side of the pan, I did not add more flour and I think that was the right decision.  Toddler Girl did not seem to notice the onion-y flavor and I think she liked the chewy white-ness.  I think this would be a great to bring to someone's house or for a special dinner.

• Recipe: Sour Cream Chive Bread (Bread Machine) from food.com
• Mistakes: None
• Changes: Added extra chives, maybe a 1/2 cup total
• Rating: 10/10 Purple Chive Flowers
• Next time: Add half whole wheat flour and try on Whole Wheat setting
• Questions: Would adding more water make this less dense?  More yeast?

Breadmaker besotted with healthy whole grain bread

I'm going to try to stay professional here and not babble too much.  This is my new favorite bread, ever.  It will become a permanent part of our household bread rotation.  The sunflower seeds gave it such a nutty flavor and there is fiber a-plenty.  It smelled like heaven while it was baking.  It was still fluffy, even with all the whole grain.  Amazing!!  Even Toddler Girl enjoyed it!

• Recipe: Flax and Sunflower Seed Bread from allrecipes
• Mistakes: The sunflower seeds I used were salted and slightly stale - all I had!
• Changes: Topped off the 1/2 cup of flax seeds with flax meal (about 1-1/2 tablespoons)
• Rating: 48/48 Grams of Whole Grains (that's not the actual content in this bread!)
• Next time: Will use fresh, unsalted sunflower seeds! Otherwise I LOVED this recipe as-is.

Round two for raisin bread is a win

After my first loaf of raisin bread was a success, I was excited to bring one for my Dear Mother's birthday.  I used the same recipe as last time and even remembered to soak the raisins for half an hour or so.  I also actually added them at the "add-in" beep and I think they were slightly less smashed, as far as I could tell from the outside.  This time I skipped the whole wheat flour and used all white flour as called for.  Using a medium crust only seemed to make the bottom half darker instead of the crispy top I was looking for.  Not the most beautiful look but I've definitely seen uglier loaves.  Unfortunately, I never heard if the bread was edible (I forgot to ask) but no news of food poison, either!.  Happy Birthday!

• Recipe: Cinnamon Raisin Bread for the Bread Machine on food.com
• Mistakes: Leaving the bread in the car on a freezing night before presenting it as a gift :S
• Changes: Butter for margarine, an extra teaspoon of cinnamon
• Rating: Will Advise ASAP
• Next time: One of the reviews suggested Brown sugar, mmmm...

French bread for the masses

Thus far my bread has only been made for immediate family other than the Rosemary bread, which was for a small group. Last night, a crowd of 8 family members, plus Toddler Girl, were subject to my novice breadmaking skills. I would have loved to bring Italian bread to compliment my mother-in-law's amazing cooking but I'm too nervous to make the transition to the oven for that crunchy crust. So I tried the Sunbeam manual's French bread setting. After the last rise & collapse due to Sunbeam's recipe, plus a helpful review on Amazon, I used almost half as much yeast.

Well, no one fell over in their chair at the freshness or flavor of this bread. but no once really batted an eye, either. The bread usually served is thick-sliced and bakery-fresh so my loaf was oddly shaped by comparison, but no one complained or commented so I'm going to call it a success. Soft white bread? Toddler Girl was sold!  We wont rush into making this one for home use since I prefer the health whole wheat, but I would be proud to bring this to the family dinner.

• Recipe: French Setting Recipe from Sunbeam's manual on page 31
• Mistakes: Not-a-one!
• Changes: Used 2-1/2 teaspoons of yeast instead of 4 teaspoons (!)
• Rating: 7/8 Crunching Munchers
• Next time: Maybe an extra quarter teaspoon of yeast

Branching out yields sweet results

For the first time I voluntarily made changes to a recipe I found online. Granted, the changes were based on reviews by other people, but I was excited (and anxious) to get out of my comfort zone a bit.  One thing that had me a little nervous was the raisins.  The recipe said to wait until the "add in" beep, but some reviews also said it helped to soak the raisins before adding them.  I figured just adding them with the other ingredients would strike a balance.  The taste is great but the raisins were definitely cooked & mushed to near oblivion, so I'll wait to add them in next time.

When she heard I had a new bread machine, the first thing my mother asked was if I could make raisin bread. Sure, why not? When we see her this weekend, I hope to surprise her with a fresh loaf of her own.  This one is the test loaf.  You know, for science.  I'm not sure if the stretch marks are because the loaf had a baby or maybe there's another reason but teh interwebs didn't help me this time.  Any veteran bread makers have an idea?

Most importantly, the darling Toddler Girl loved it.  Smeared with honey butter, it was a sweet dessert after a messy, trying dinner.  The bread is fresh and light but the whole wheat makes is slightly dense. I bet with all white flour, it would be rather indulgent.  We'll definitely keep this around for dessert or Sunday morning toast.

• Recipe: Cinnamon Raisin Bread for the Bread Machine on food.com
• Mistakes: Nothing unintentional
• Changes: Butter instead of margarine (who uses margarine, seriously?), an extra teaspoon of cinnamon, and substituted one of the cups of white flour with whole wheat flour
• Rating: 2/2 Delighted, Kicking Toddler Legs
• Next time: Add raisins later, maybe a medium crust, more whole wheat flour if for our use

High hopes for Rye Bread that falls flat

What a depressed looking rye.  Toddler Girl's quip: "Mama, the bread is sad from the breadmaker".  Yeah, it doesn't look too happy.  Today, I learned that there's a big difference between the jar of Bread Machine Yeast and those little packets of Active Dry Yeast.  eHow explained why you can't use Bread Machine Yeast when it calls for ADY:

Active dry yeast takes twice as long to rise as bread machine yeast. Traditional yeast needs two risings compared with only one with bread machine yeast. Bread machine yeast is more finely ground so it absorbs moisture faster. The sugars convert sooner to carbon dioxide and make the dough rise.

Read more: Bread Machine Yeast Vs. Active Dry Yeast | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/facts_5501256_bread-vs-active-dry-yeast.html#ixzz2Izfrxdsg

Basically, my bread rose too fast and then collapsed instead of rising slow & steady with ADY. But, it's still fresh as heck and I'm feeling sort of healthy eating it.  Even though I spread cinammon honey butter on it. But then Toddler Girl will eat it, too.

• Recipe: Swedish Rye Bread from the Breadmachine by Bob's Red Mill
• Mistakes: Used Bread Machine Yeast
• Rating: 8/10 Caraway Seeds
• Next time: Use Active Dry Yeast, maybe more orange zest?

Ugly bread defies expectations: still freakin' delicious

Deflated, wrinkly bread was actually very good. Texture was just like soft store bought stuff but without the dreaded HFCS.  I used the whole wheat recipe that came in the manual.  Toddler Girl ate some but without enthusiasm, even when we spread some taramosalata in it. Which one of us is crazy?

Google Answers referenced a broken allrecipes link that explained "Too much yeast made the bread rise so high that it hit the top [of the bread machine]. This prevented the hot air from circulating over the bread." So deflating the bread (like a frantic bongo player) might have been the only way to save it, although it may have collapsed on it's own, anyway. At least it didn't spill over onto the heating element.  Google also quoted a chef on some forum in saying that "2 1/4 teaspoons will leaven 6 to 8 cups of flour" so I think the 3 teaspoons for 4 1/2 cups of flour could be a little excessive.  I'll try this recipe again with less yeast.

• Recipe: Sunbeam's manual on page 32
• Mistakes: Followed directions / too much yeast
• Rating: 5/6 Breadmaking Heartaches
• Next time: 2 teaspoons of yeast instead of 3