Baking Bread? It Is Possible After All

While I have obviously baked an unquantifiable number of bread-loaves in my "baking career" thus far (and I have only been baking since July 2007, which is less than a month after I started this blog), all of these bread-loaves have been sweetbreads (especially Pumpkin breads and Banana breads, as many of you have seen time and time again on my blog, already, haha).

So what is the reason for this?? Well, not only do I love baking sweet treats, but I also love the fact that sweetbreads do not contain yeast. Yes, it is true: I have always feared baking "yeast-containing" breads. Until now, that is.

Although I always try to experiment with treats in my baking adventures, and "mix things up," baking yeast-containing breads has remained something that I just did not even want to deal with - I am not a fan of kneading/shaping dough, which has always been one of the main perks of baking sweetbreads (since I do not have to engage in this loathed activity).

Despite feeling "okay" with this baking avoidance of mine, all this time, I received an email about a week or two ago from a dear fellow blogger, Zorra, that changed my stance on this issue. The email contained information about an annual blogging event, known this year, specifically, as World Bread Day '08 (which is today, October 16th) .

I considered Zorra's email to be somewhat of an omen, and that I should really challenge myself with baking a yeast-containing bread. So, all last week, I searched for the "perfect" bread recipe, that would perhaps get me to like baking yeast-containing breads, and that would yield a "taste-tester approved" product. What type of bread did I decide to bake, you may be wondering by now (since I am so long-winded and have issues getting straight to the point, haha)??



I decided to bake a Challah bread!! Since this particular type of bread is quite ornate (at least, in my opinion), I thought that it would be fun to try, and to see how I would do with baking it.

But I did not bake just any challah, mind you - using this recipe from the "Holy Cow!" blog, I baked a Whole-Wheat Vegan Challah Bread.

The "vegan" part of the recipe title is relevant, since challah is traditionally made with eggs; and challah is also typically made with white flour, so I guess that that would make the "whole-wheat" part of the title relevant as well ;0)

Okay, now I am sure that you are all wondering if this challah bread is gluten-free. Unfortunately, this challah bread is not gluten-free. I purposely went out and purchased enough whole-wheat flour to bake this bread, since I did not even want to attempt baking a gluten-free version yet - I hope that you will forgive me! :0)

Believe me, I did not "take the easy way out" by not trying to bake a gluten-free version of this bread - trying to bake the challah "as is" posed enough of a challenge; but at least it was a fun one.



Instead of creating a long, braided loaf, I manipulated the dough in such a way that it formed not a braid, but little mounds (which then turned into a round loaf). Although I was a bit disappointed with this in the beginning, I realized that this "style" of challah could be easily sliced or broken into biscuits for my "taste-testers" to enjoy, so it was not a lost cause (hooray!!).

My "taste-testers" this time around were my parents and grandfather. My parents loved the "thick, firm crust and the softer middle. The whole-wheat variety is a nice change from traditional challah!"; and my grandfather loved eating it toasted and topped with strawberry preserves.

The Co-Worker is currently ill (but is getting better!!), so there is no official review from him for the challah, I am afraid. But I am sure that he will be recuperated and ready to review my next treat, so stay tuned for that.

Overall, I am quite pleased with how my first "yeast-containing" bread-baking experience went - especially since my taste-testers loved the end result. It is a lot more work (and more frustrating than relaxing) to bake yeast-containing breads than it is to bake sweetbreads, in my opinion; but that does not mean that I will forgo baking yeast-containing breads in the future.

So, I guess it really is possible for VeggieGirl to bake a "yeast-containing" bread, after all! :0)

Thanks again to Zorra for "indirectly" encouraging me to bake a yeast-containing bread, in honor of World Bread Day '08.