Soft Wrap Flatbread Sandwich

Flatbread fresh from the skillet

I've always wished I could bake at the apartment but alas, I do not have an oven. However, my wish came true when I found this recipe at a blog. It was a flatbread that could be baked on a skillet. After some investigation, I found out it came from none other than the KA baking site! However, the blog poster mentioned that she used whole wheat flour instead of the original AP flour, so I decided to use WW flour as well. And what else did I use but the very nice White Whole Wheat Flour (Bob's Red Mill) that I found (finally!) at Healthy Options in Greenbelt. It was quite expensive (they only had organic WWW), but the sight of organic white whole wheat flour was quite exciting. It looked a lot like whole wheat pastry flour.

The first time, I did the recipe to the letter, but halving the ingredients so I came up with 4 flat breads. Putting boiling water at the start made a big difference in the manageability of the dough. It was very easy to knead and work with, I hardly needed to knead at all! I had to add more water (about 1 cup), though and a little bit more after I added the other dry ingredients. I dry-fried them on the wok soon after the 2nd proofing and they turned out great! I thought they were a bit on the salty side, though (I used a bit more than 1/2 tsp of salt), but I didn't find the breads salty the next day. Weird.

Tuna soft wrap sandwich with a dash of vinegar and pepper. It was quite good...

The next time (this morning, actually), I decided to be smart-ass and do my own variation. I wanted something creamy like naan, so I decided to put in some yogurt. And I wanted to freeze the doughs so I would always have fresh baked flat breads. The initial variations I made were:

Half-recipe:
1. 1/2 tsp of salt
2. 1 tsp of sugar
3. slightly heaping 1/2 tsp of yeast (for freezing)
4. a pack of yogurt (1/2 cup)
5. divided the dough into 5 pcs instead of 4

Unfortunately for me I may have made a recipe for disaster right from the start. Looking back, the answers are obvious: I didn't thoroughly read the recipe because I thought I already knew what it was about. I was a stingy with the boiling water because I wanted the yogurt to take center stage (I was planning to mix it after adding the dry ingredients). I didn't mix the boiling water and flour until it was smooth (a major oversight)!

I was wondering why the water-and-flour mixture was still sticky after the 30 minute rest, but thought it was just a quirk and proceeded to add the 2nd dry ingredients. Here is where another bumble took place. The dough seemed too stiff so I kept adding more yogurt, until the whole pack was gone! Really, I don't think that 1 1/2 cups of flour would need that much yogurt. Everything was a sticky mess that wouldn't come together. The previous dough was a dream to knead, but the new dough variation was a nightmare! I struggled and struggled until I ended up adding about 1/4 cup more flour and more potato flakes. I relented after many long minutes of kneading and let it rise for about half the time for the first rise, cut it up into 5 pcs (I could've made it 6), and tossed the shaped dough into the freezer. Here's hoping that the dough could be saved. I hate to throw away perfectly good ingredients.

Update:
I baked the frozen-and-thawed dough. The dough was very sticky so I had to roll it between 2 pieces of cling wrap. Baking took considerably longer. The bread also did not develop wrinkles and bubbles. When I fished it out of the pan, it was very soft - extremely so. Still, I used it for my standard soft-wrap. It was passable, considering that the taste is mostly from the filling, but the taste and texture of the bread itself was a disappointment. Obviously, adding all that yogurt did not affect the taste at all (it was bland), and the texture is shot. It was too mushy and squishy. I'll be sticking to the original recipe next time, adding just a tsp. of sugar.

Honey Wheat Rolls

Today marks my first foray in the land of yeast breads. The honorary recipe? Honey Wheat Bread from the King Arthur website.

That's about as close to "round and smooth" as I could knead it...

This was one of the times that I sorely wished I had a teacher to teach me the basics of bread making. I made do with the knowledge I stocked up from reading and watching online videos. Kneading the dough was a big challenge. In a rare show of masochism, I decided to do everything by hand (I figured it would help to have a 'feel' for the dough). The dough was wet and sticky and unwieldy for a looong time. I set the timer and even after 20 minutes, the dough was nowhere near "round and smooth." But I'm glad I persevered because at about the 40 minute mark, the dough started coming together. Then I started scraping the sides and I think that messed up the consistency of the dough and it started getting sticky again. I must've been kneading for about an hour when I gave up and told myself "that's the best I could do." The dough wasn't a perfect ball, but at least it could hold itself together.

On the tray for the 2nd rise.

Since the original recipe called for 1 cup King Arthur AP flour which I knew had a high protein percentage, I approximated that with 1/2 Gold Medal AP flour and 1/2 Bread Flour.

I'm sorry I wasn't able to take a photo of the first rise. I fell asleep and even though I set the alarm for 1 hour, I overslept..not sure how many minutes more but when I checked, the dough had indeed doubled in size. I deflated it slowly. The dough consistency was surprisingly very soft and airy. But at least it wasn't falling apart and I could cut it up and shape it into balls for the 2nd rise.

After the 2nd rise.

About halfway through shaping the dough, I figured I should vigorously roll the dough with medium pressure using the heel of my hand to get a good round shape. The later rolls definitely had better shape and form than the first ones.

Close-up of the risen dough.

I put egg wash and oatmeal on top to create interest. Unfortunately, I think my silicone brush is too rough on the doughs and they did deflate a little after I put the egg wash on them. I think I'll invest in a better (softer) pastry brush next time.

Into the oven they go...

When they were done, I brushed some butter on top to keep them moist. They were definitely best freshly-baked. Nice and soft and chewy. I ate a piece with strawberry jam ane one with peanut butter. It doesn't have the deep flavor of sourdough, but it was much better than what I expected for my first try. With strawberry jam, I found the taste strongly wheaty, but the funny thing is, I like the taste better when eaten by itself. I think I'll use proper orange juice next time (the one on the box). I have a hunch the natural OJ I used (from Navel Oranges) lacked tartness that could hide the tannic flavor of whole wheat.

Done!

All in all, I'm very happy with my first attempt at bread. The dough smelled wonderful throughout, from the time I was mixing it to when I was proofing it, and especially when they were baking. Daddy asked me to make the same recipe next time. I'm not sure if it's what I'll bake next time, but I'll definitely be making these Honey Wheat Rolls again. They make great wholesome dinner rolls.

The rolls were kept warm using kitchen paper and a towel.

Now the question is if they'll still taste great after they cool down the next day. I'm looking forward to eating some for breakfast!

First Bake: Whole Wheat Banana Bread

When I came home this weekend, I had a lot of pleasant surprises waiting for me. I had 5 packages in! One was from Chad Lawson, who generously gave me his CD, "Set on a Hill". It's an album full of beautiful and soothing solo piano music. I'm really happy that he remembered. I wish I could give back to him in some way, but I don't know how!

My other packages were from Betterworld Books and Amazon. One of the Betterworld package came with a nice milk chocolate bar with rice crispies (Divine, a fair trade chocolate company). I munched on it while browsing my new books - it was quite good, considering that I don't really like milk chocolate anymore nowadays. Even better the next day after I put it in the fridge.

My new books were a couple of cardmaking books, Nyan's origami book, and the stars of the show, my TWO new baking books dedicated to healthier baking. One was the 2nd hand Pillsbury Healthy Baking Book, and the other one was my much-awaited King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Book. I love them both, though I think the KAF book might be more practical considering that the information about whole grain baking is newer and if focuses solely on whole grains (the Pillsbury book dates from 1994), but at least the Pillsbury book has a lot of reduced fat and half-whole wheat recipes.

So I decided that after all the research and dreaming, it was time to do some BAKING! But before that, I went to Marquee Mall and shopped for MORE supplies - I have a knack for hoarding all sorts of kitchen stuff as though I was a pro and racking up huge charges in the process, since my "perfectionist" streak always gets the better of me. However, I did chance upon a lot of useful stuff, such as a silicone spatula, a nice wooden spoon, lots of Baker's Secret Pans that are affordable considering the bump in quality, and wonder of wonders - an oven thermometer! I never dreamed I'd find one in Angeles. I ended up with 800+ PHP measuring cup and spoon set, though. These babies better be worth it!

So for my first try, I chose Whole Wheat Banana Bread from the Pillsbury book, since it's a quick bread and is supposedly very forgiving. I checked the recipe vs. Laura's and the only differences are the half whole wheat flour and the salt so I went ahead and did the Pillsbury version. I have to say, I think I chose the right recipe - it is indeed very forgiving, despite the numerous blunders I made along the way.

List of blunders:
1. I melted the butter in the preheated oven. The common way to melt it is through stovetop or microwave. Still, can't the oven suffice? I was scared I might do something to the butter so I removed it while it still had a few lumps, but I don't see any adverse effect.
2. I immediately put in the sugar together with the flours. It was supposed to be mixed into the butter. I was praying it wouldn't spell disaster. Fortunately, it didn't (thanks to the forgiving recipe).
3. The butter clumped up when I put in the water into the egg-mashed bananas-butter mixture. I briefly placed it in the oven so the butter will melt a little. Thankfully, I don't notice any ill effects (see how forgiving it is?)
4. The last 1/2 banana I put in wasn't mashed properly, and as a result I see some banana bits in the bread.

List of changes made:
1. Used approx. 2/3 cup sugar instead of 1 cup.
2. Baked approximately 35 minutes at 350F instead of 55 to 65 minutes
3. Used 1 mini loaf nonstick pan and 1 7" aluminum loaf pan.
4. Used 4 bananas (the lakatan were a bit on the small side; instead of 2 or 3)

I was scared I was overmixing the batter, so I tried as much as possible not to move it around too much. The banana bread wasn't dense, so maybe I did the mixing right or it was just the baking soda or the 2-time sifting. It was very nice watching the bread puff up in the oven. My oven thermometer is heaven-sent. I immediately found out that our oven is 25F off, so I adjusted the temperature - achieved a perfect 350F. However, I just couldn't make up my mind whether the bread was done or not (the crust was puffy, brown and developed early on which scared me) so I ended up bringing out and putting back the mini loaf pan into the oven. I set my timer at 45 minutes, but in the end I think I only managed barely 35 minutes due to my impatience and paranoia. But still it's a good thing, because I learned a few things:

1. Nonstick bakeware develop an nice brown crust and cook faster. According to the Baking 911 site, when cooking with glassware or darker nonstick pans, one should lower the temperature by 25F.
2. The aluminum pan loaf, though cooked a bit longer (due to not having been brought out), did not develop a crust at the sides and could have stood baking a few more minutes (maybe 45 mins. or more).
3. Nonstick bakeware are great for pound cakes due to the nice even crust. Aluminum pans are good for achivieng no-crusts.
4. Both of the cakes were easy to remove, the nonstick one a bit more so. I butter-greased the bottoms only.


Suggestions for next baking:
1. Cut the sugar to 1/2 cup, Mommy's request
2. Add more bananas (2 more, or 6 bananas total).
4. Add nuts (walnuts!)
5. Lower the temperature by 25F, increase baking time to at least 45 mins (though checking carefully after 35 mins).
6. Invest in 2 more mini loaf pans. They are a great size!
7. Thoroughly melt the butter.
8. Consider adding lukewarm water next time (prepare in advance, and not from the tap!)

Others:
1. Buy some baking gloves
2. Get a flour sifter, so the flour doesn't fly all over while sifting.

All in all, I'm still very pleased with my first try. The gods (or GOD), must be smiling down on me today :) I can't wait to bake more next week! :D