Whole Wheat Apple Oat Bread

I had been feeding one of my starters only whole wheat flour and it was time to back!

I decided to try apple oat bread.. so I used only applesauce instead of oil, only whole wheat flour, omitted the pudding mix and added cut up apple (I used about a 1/2 apple but wish I had used the whole thing!) and about a cup of oatmeal (could have done more and reduced the flour)

I then subbed agave syrup for the sugar (about 1/4 of what it calls for)

The result was a decent bread.. it could have used more flavor, perhaps cinnamon applesauce, more apples and if I had ground the oats and replaced some of the whole wheat flour, but for a "healthy" bread it was pretty good!

Low Sugar Chocolate Bread

Wednesday was baking day, and I had two breads to make! 1 from the regular amish starter and 1 from a whole wheat amish starter.

Since a friend wanted her own basic starter I made a small loaf with that batch and I'd been craving chocolate so I decided to try a "healthy" chocolate bread :)

I got sugar free pudding mix (chocolate fudge) - I used applesauce instead of oil - I then used Agave Syrup for the sugar (I used a little under half of what it called for) - I did add a few chocolate chips and a some pecans...

After fudging with the milk a little I was a little worried, the "dough" was awful thick for what I was used to, but I decided to try it.

After baking and cutting into it (HOT) I found pockets of green, I think it was the agave mixing with the nuts, but .. either way.. though a little odd, it tasted GOOD and was a good substitute for the chocolate cake I was craving :)

Sourdough Starter

I'm now on day 5 of my sourdough starter. I have bubbles, I have separation, but I don't have froth. Tonight I made mashed potatoes and thus saved some of the water to feed my starter with, good thing too, as I accidentally threw out more then half! I'm hoping this trick of using the "starch" water will be the turning point. I'd like to try sourdough this weekend!

Traditional Amish Starter - Banana Bread

So... day 10 rolled around again and this time I substituted mashed bananas for the pudding mix, cinnamon applesauce for half the oil, omitted the cinnamon (due to the applesauce ;)) and reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup (ish). It was pretty good!!

We are picking at it at home.. first batch my mom has gotten a taste of and she is pretty pleased with it! I saved two separate bags of starter this time, one will be fed "normal" and one with wheat flour. Its also time to reduce the feedings on both bags.. too many bags of goo!!

Sourdough.. A new Starter?

So... after humming and hawing.. and trying this and trying that.. I think I'm going to venture out and try making a sourdough starter and thus.. sourdough bread. I have a few hesitations with this endeavor.. but.. why not right?

I mean if I can figure a way to make REALLY good bread at home.. even if it takes me 36 hours somehow that's better then the store bought bread right? (Come on - RIGHT?) :)

So soon I'll start.. so the start seems easy - I put some stuff in a jar (ooh I have to buy a jar!) and then let it sit.. and hope it "catches" and makes "hooch" I kid you not, these are the terms..

I swear.. something about this.. very cult like.

Whole Wheat Amish Friendship Bread - Start

So I have realized that somehow last week when I split the starter on day 6 I ended up with more starter on day 10 then I thought I would. So tonight I will split it (I have heard somewhere that too much all together in one bag can lead to bad ju-ju or something.. so I"ll split it and then on Thursday 1 bag will get feed whole wheat flour instead of white.

I want to keep one bag of regular old fashioned - these side bags I"ll try and then tweak and try some more.. I'm thinking the whole wheat bag perhaps gets to be made into fruit breads.. like banana.. and I'll keep the white one for super sweet breads... but we'll see..

Sourdough transformation start

So .. I made the bread from the link posted previously - it was ok - not bad..

But now the fun really starts - my former AFB starter that got no sugar last feeding will now be getting water instead of milk - I'm concerned its not growing as I expected so I have pulled it from the fridge and will probably add a teaspoon - tablespoon of sugar when feeding on Thursday.. hopefully it will grow. I'm hoping to get a starter that's a bit more sourdough ish.. less sweet and then we'll try the bread in the machine again on Monday.

Success - White chocolate Cranberry - (Original AFB)

So! I had good success this weekend with White Chocolate Cranberry bread!

I substituted sugar free white chocolate pudding mix for the Vanilla pudding.
I substituted 1 low fat Yoplait White chocolate strawberry yogurt + 1/4 cup oil for the 1 cup of oil
I added 1/2 -1 cup of dried cranberries and 1/2 - 1 cup of white chocolate chips

It was good! Sweet - of course - but good dessert - I would want to try it with real raspberries or cherries in place of the dried - it was a little bit drier - but I think more it would add more flavor then the dried.

I'll post about the "sourdough" experiment in another post - I'm morphing so I want to keep them seperate