Soft Whole Wheat from HBinFive

This week, it's soft whole wheat sandwich bread for the HBinFive group. We were asked to make sandwich bread. apple strudel bread, and either hamburger or hot dog buns from this book.

I love whole wheat bread, almost as much as I love chili dogs. Yes, I admit it. I love them. When I make chili, I make A LOT. Then I separate some from the pot for dinner and when the chili has cooled, I freeze the rest in freezer bags. I can pull a bag from the freezer on a busy day and have dinner in record time.... and no one complains about leftovers, because they aren't. This is the reason I bought my stand- alone freezer... but I digress.

I made the master recipe using my own freshly ground hard red wheat. I grind a fair amount and freeze what I don't use for later, since it is a bit of a chore to get out my grinder.

This morning I made hot dog buns. They rose and baked up great and looked terrific. I wrapped them and set them aside for dinner. Because I have a Viking gas oven and it takes awhile to heat, I often bake more than one thing at a sitting. So, on to the next assignment...

Having apples in the fridge and wonderful local, dried sour cherries from here, I decided to skip the raisins called for in the recipe and use cherries instead. We love them at my house. So much that I have to hide them, or they're gone before I can use any of them in a recipe. I buy in 4 lb. boxes and keep them in my basement
pantry. The authors of this book tell you that you should only bake their recipes in non-stick loaf pans. I don't like non-stick pans because they tend to brown the loaves too quickly. Buttering the pan generously, crossing my fingers and saying a little prayer, I put the loaf into the oven to bake. It released beautifully. No need to use non-stick pans. Because I decided to use brown sugar instead of raw sugar, the top of the loaf came out with a slightly crunchy, caramelized top. Unlike some toppings, it didn't fall off when the bread it sliced.

Leaving the loaf to raise, I went to my local market. While conversing with the bagger, it came up that I was making bread at home. She asked what kind. When I told her "apple/cherry strudel bread", she replied, "That sounds...interesting". I'm quite sure she didn't mean that as a compliment. Well, note to bagger: It wasn't interesting at all. It was GREAT!!! Really...it was. This loaf will be made again and again, in several variations. It makes great breakfast bread.

After basking in the beauty of the bread, I made dinner...chili dogs on my homemade buns.

I should have quit while I was ahead.

All it took was one bite, just one..."WHY DID I THINK IT WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA TO PAIR BUNS MADE FROM A DOUGH THAT INCLUDES HONEY WITH CHILI DOGS"?

It wasn't. I have to say the consensus was.....YUCHH!!!!!

The chili was great. The hot dog was great; so was the bun. Just not together.

*I would suggest not making this dough up into something to be used with savory meat.

On a brighter note: I can hardly wait for breakfast.