Cool Ghouls Book Club

When my sister (and her mixer) moved out of the house, I bought myself a shiny new onyx black Kitchenaid artisan series stand mixer. I didn’t have any plans for it other than to have a fancy kitchen gadget of my own on the counter and maybe do a little baking. My sister was the baker, but I had a keen interest and an ever growing collection of recipes saved on Pinterest.

The first thing I made with my new toy was a batch of Alton Brown’s soft pretzels. The whole boiling and then baking thing is a bit of a pain in the ass, but as with all good things, totally worth it.

And while I meant for my new toy to become a source for blog content, I let the blog go by the wayside. I’ve never been very good at keeping up with my blogs. I’d like to say that I’ll keep it up this time, but I don’t like to make promises I can’t keep.

That said, my new toy certainly has become a valuable source for content. Baking has become one of my favorite hobbies. The more recipes I try, the bigger my “to do” pile becomes.

I started baking bread a few months ago, starting with a basic white sandwich loaf. It was nice, but dense. So I tried another recipe. The Amish white sandwich loaf was a hit. Light, fluffy, and flavorful. The squid thought it was too sweet though, so after a few Amish loaves, I tried another recipe. Which brings me to the titular honey oat bread.

My first attempt was pretty wonky looking, but squid approved. She took one bite of her first slice and then asked me for a ham sandwich.

A week later, I baked the two giant loaves pictured above. One for me, one for my sister. Not only did they look nicer, they were even softer.

I skipped bread baking last weekend because we had lots of store bought sandwich bread, but resumed yesterday. H-E-B had a $3 coupon for a 25lb bag of flour and I couldn’t resist. Like I said earlier, baking has become my favorite hobby. I go through a lot of flour!

So this weekend, I baked another pair of honey oat loaves. I’m really pleased with the shaping and scoring of these loaves. Something was a little off though, because there was some gapping inside. Maybe it’s the flour (I used a brand I’d never used before) or maybe it’s a proving issue.

Can’t complain though, it is delicious. I love this recipe. It’s not a fancy sourdough artisan bread with big bubbles and ears, but it’s a crowd pleaser and easy enough that even novice bread bakers like me can get good results.

Best part of bread baking, besides the bread eating? Filling your house with the smell of baking bread. My cat can’t get enough of that smell.