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When i say gourmet, i guess i mean specialty breads.

Basically, we have a bread maker thing, and we can make our own bread like:

* Pumpernickel
* Banana bread
* Cinnamon twist
* Rye
* Sour dough

Does anyone else make their own?
If so, what kinds?

I love making bread!

I don't have a bread machine, so I do it all by hand. I've made braided loafs, habanero bread, different big fat round loafs of bread, lots of pitas and tortillas. My favorite bread so far has been this cottage cheese & dill based bread. So good!

I really want to try a rye or pumpernickel. God, I love rye bread, it has such a wonderful sour taste to it.

I made honey wheat a while ago and it was so good! It was meant to be in a bread pan and I didn't have one, so it was dense and short. I can't wait to try again though: )

With the breadmaker I had, you just measured all the ingredients into it, and set it---it did all the mixing, kneading, timed the rise, and then baked it. For me, that takes all the fun out of it! I like kneading bread, punching it down for a second rise----making braids or snipping the tops of long baguettes.

Hot as it is, the breadmaker is not a bad way to make fresh bread. You don't have to heat up the house or wait until the middle of the night to bake. You can bake bread in a solar oven, but you do still have to go outside in the heat to re-orient the oven to the sun occasionally. Maybe next week! It's just too stinking hot for that right now! sweatdrop smile

My favourite bread is rosemary and olive oil by Terra Breads.

onicoe - what kind of stuff do you need to bake bread? (Like pans and stuff.) I'd be very curious to making my own. Do you make a big batch and then freeze the loafs or dough for use later down the road? My problem is that all my baking creative juices flow for one day and then fizzle out so I don't keep up with it.

Edit: Just found this great recipe:

Rosemary Olive Bread
3 cups bread flour (ap will work fine, too)
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp salt
3/4 cup warm water
1 tbsp active dry yeast
1/4 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2-1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and coarsley chopped

Combine yeast and warm water until yeast becomes creamy, about 10 minutes.
Add olive oil, salt, sugar, rosemary and olives into the yeast mixture and add flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing until dough comes away from the side of the bowl. Move dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic.
Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, turn to coat, cover with plastic wrap and leave to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Shape dough gently into a ball. Place on a baking sheet and let rise, covered with a damp towel, for 30 minutes. Dust the bread ligtly with flour, slash the top and put into the oven.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until bottom sounds hollow when tapped.
Place on a wire rack to cool.

It's in the oven right now :3

pirhan:

I'm the same way. I haven't made anything more complex than flatbread in a while.

To make bread you don't need anything more than what you should already have, which is a large mixing bowl or two and a baking sheet to bake the dough on.

Thanks. The bread turned out a bit more like cake then bread. My boyfriend made it (I had good intentions to...) He said it was super easy and it's worth making it over the $6 loaf at the store. I'm going to pick up better yeast as I don't think the one we have is overly good.

You can also use a pyrex dish to bake it in so it better keeps it's shape.