Frozen Muffins Really Really Good, Bread Not So Much.

[larry mac]

Calling all bread lovers,

Need help thinking outside the breadbox! First, some observations.

I make muffins about once a week. I've thrown all kinds of stuff in there and for the most part, they turn out great. I put each muffin in a baggie, and all the baggies in a large freezer bag. I take one out of the freezer in the morning. At 10:00 am, I microwave it for 15 seconds. It taste great, moist, texture just like new. BTW, I haven't noticed any ice forming on the muffins, even after several weeks (I'm guessing this has some significance).

I make bread about once a week. I've thrown all kinds of stuff in there and sometimes it comes out good. I put each serving (two slices, one roll, etc.) in a baggie, and all baggies in a large freezer bag (if I don't freeze it, it will get stale within a few hours). I take one out at lunch, microwave it very briefly to thaw it out, make a sandwich, then toast it or heat in a toaster oven (because it seems to need this). Sometimes it's Ok, sometimes it's crumbly or dry, sometimes it's not so good. Also, very often, it has ice accumulation on it, even after a relatively short time in the freezer. Same baggies, same freezer bag, WTF?

OK, so here's what I'm considering. Muffin bread of some kind. Obviously there would have to be some modifications. You wouldn't want it as sweet, or with blueberries or bananas etc. I know it doesn't sound right, muffin sandwiches? But if it works, why not? Maybe you could use a modified muffin recipe to make rolls instead of muffins.

Any comments (other than "you're crazy")?

best regards, lm

[Kaycee]

lm

Would love to say you are crazy, but then so am I. I have this baggie thing too! Do you recycle yours as well? Enough said.

I made blueberry muffins today. They probably won't get to the freezer, so I'll save a couple of bags there. And I made a banana cake for the birthday boy.

I know where you are coming from about the muffins. I freeze and zap in the microwave as necessary. The bread gets the same treatment, made then froze and then toasted as needed. It does not seem to reach the stage where it makes a good sandwich for lunch. My bread is only emergency food, as in toast when I am ravenous.

Have you ever thought of using baking powder in your bread instead of yeast? I am sure it would work, but it would need a bit of fiddling around with. In my bread I have always added an egg which seems to hold it together better and enables it to slice better. Do you use a breadmaker? I think most of them will have a cake setting which is what you would cook it in if you were using a breadmaker, as it doesn't need proving like yeast breads.

Somewhere, someone mentioned making hamburger buns in empty tuna cans with both ends cut out.

cj

[Guhlia]

Larry, try freezing your bread on a plate and then bagging it after the bread has already frozen. This should eliminate your ice accumulation problem.

As for using muffin dough for bread, I think it sounds like a great idea. I use a pizza dough recipe to make my hamburger buns and it turns out great. They're not exactly "real" hamburger rolls, but they're certainly a good enough substitute AND they only take about 40 minutes from the time I start pulling ingredients out to make them until I'm pulling them out of the oven.

[kolka]

Bette Hagman's crumpet recipe is good:

1

[larry mac]

cj,

" I have this baggie thing too! Do you recycle yours as well? Enough said. "

LOL! Of course I recycle (at least the good ones). I turn 'em inside out so they can dry good.

"Somewhere, someone mentioned making hamburger buns in empty tuna cans with both ends cut out. "

I've tried that (ate a lot of tuna fish salad just to get the big stinkin cans) and the glass bowls. But what I found to be even better is someones suggestion to use those disposable mini-pie tins (again, not disposable for the likes of us). The trick is widening out the bottom (using your fingers and gentle yet brute force) so that it is as wide as the top, or almost.

best regards, lm

[larry mac]

Larry, try freezing your bread on a plate and then bagging it after the bread has already frozen. This should eliminate your ice accumulation problem.

As for using muffin dough for bread, I think it sounds like a great idea. I use a pizza dough recipe to make my hamburger buns and it turns out great. They're not exactly "real" hamburger rolls, but they're certainly a good enough substitute AND they only take about 40 minutes from the time I start pulling ingredients out to make them until I'm pulling them out of the oven.

I'm going to try that freezing idea. And modified muffin recipe hamburger buns, heck yeah! thanks Angie, lm

[larry mac]

I think Kaycee hit the nail on the head with the comment about yeast free bread. Hagman has a recipe for that which I tried but didn't like because of the bean. I know you like bean. I do, too, just not in bread. If the gluten-free mix works so well for muffins, why not muffins without sugar - bread?

Hey Kolka, Looks like I've got some baking to do. I really was just playing around with that "demean the bean" thing. Sometimes I have delusions of comedy.

best regards, lm

[kolka]

Larry/Kaycee: You were right - I made a loaf of yeast-free bread and this will be my bread from now on. I guess I automatically thought that bread had to have yeast.

I got this recipe from Bette Hagman, but I replaced the 4 cups of 'four flour bean mix' with rice, etc.

2 cups gluten-free flour 1 rounded tsp baking powder

2/3 cup sorghum 1 tsp salt

2/3 cup tapioca 3 eggs, 2 egg whites

2/3 cup sweet rice 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1 TBSP xanthan 2 TBSP honey

1/3 cup brown sugar 1 tsp vinegar

1 tsp baking soda 1

[larry mac]

Larry/Kaycee: You were right - I made a loaf of yeast-free bread and this will be my bread from now on. I guess I automatically thought that bread had to have yeast.

I got this recipe from Bette Hagman, but I replaced .....

.....This came out just right. I may take Lorka's suggestion and add flax meal to replace the egg as I'm going to go vegan. However, I hope you'll try it like this, first. It has only a mild flavor, so it's good for sandwiches.

Dear k,

Fantastic! I dropped the ball a little as I haven't had the chance to bake much this week. Thank you, thank you! I need some bread bad (not some bad bread!).

best regards, lm

[Kaycee]

lm, have you mastered the bread yet?

Here is a recipe I came across, you might like to look at it.

385g gluten free bread mix

100g milk powder

18 grams baking powder

2g sodium bicarbonate

Add 350 mils of water, or 300mls of water with 1 egg.

In a bowl mix the dry ingredients together.

Whild stirring, add the water or water/egg mix and continute stirring until the mixture is smooth. Consistency should be like that of a thick cake batter.

Tranfer the mixture into a small, greased bread pan.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

Cathy

[chocolatelover]

I, too, am a baker. Here are a couple of recipes that were given to me by a friend and work well.

Waffles

[Kaycee]

CL

I am drooling over the waffles. I might just have to invest in a waffle maker. Thanks for putting in the chocolate chip muffins and the brownies. It just wouldn't have been right without you putting something like that in.

Cathy

[chocolatelover]

Kaycee,

The waffles are quite sweet as there is (what I think) a lot of sugar in them. Also, the vanilla is quite strong. For my 4th-6th batches I decreased the sugar by 1/2 and omitted the vanilla. I liked them better, but my kids liked the sweet ones better. That's acutally the only recipe of the bunch that I've tried, but they all are from my friend who has been doing this for 8 years, and she's an excellent cook, so I trust her completely! She says the white chocolate brownies are to die for. Oh, wait, we did do the muffins and they were really good.

Sorry--just looked at my post again and the ingredients kind of ran together. I can repost if it's too confusing.

LarryMac, as for bread, I have tried several, including one from a gluten free bakery in town, and our favorite by far is Pamela's wheat free mix. It's very easy and you can get it in bulk from amazon .com.

I have lots more recipes to post if you need/want them!

CL

[DebbieInCanada]

Dear k,

Fantastic! I dropped the ball a little as I haven't had the chance to bake much this week. Thank you, thank you! I need some bread bad (not some bad bread!).

best regards, lm

Hi Larry,

How is the yeast-free bread testing going? This week an aquaintance asked if I had a yeast-free gluten-free bread recipe. I remembered this thread, so I've copied Kolka's recipe above for her.

I just thought I'd also check in, and see if anyone has further recommendations based on recent trials.

Thanks,

Debbie

[larry mac]

Hi Larry,

How is the yeast-free bread testing going? This week an aquaintance asked if I had a yeast-free gluten-free bread recipe. I remembered this thread, so I've copied Kolka's recipe above for her.

I just thought I'd also check in, and see if anyone has further recommendations based on recent trials.

Thanks,

Debbie

Hi Deb,

It's not going at all. The train's stuck on the tracks. I made one initial attempt and haven't made any bread since. Yes, the bread man has been breadless, save for my beloved muffins.

I basically used my regular muffin recipe, with less sugar, no nuts, and no cinnamin & turbinado sugar sprinkled on top. Used my hamburger pans (small disposable pie pans wallowed out at the bottom). Results not good. Perhaps overcooked just a tad, or needed to cover. Texture too crumbly for sandwiches, and the flavor was off.

Need to devote more time to baking. It has become less of a priority lately. Thanks for asking. Hope you are doing well up there in the north land.

Best wishes, lm

[larry mac]

Hi Larry,

How is the yeast-free bread testing going? This week an aquaintance asked if I had a yeast-free gluten-free bread recipe. I remembered this thread, so I've copied Kolka's recipe above for her.

I just thought I'd also check in, and see if anyone has further recommendations based on recent trials.

Thanks,

Debbie

Hi Deb,

It's not going at all. The train's stuck on the tracks. I made one initial attempt and haven't made any bread since. Yes, the bread man has been breadless, save for my beloved muffins.

I basically used my regular muffin recipe, with less sugar, no nuts, and no cinnamin & turbinado sugar sprinkled on top. Used my hamburger pans (small disposable pie pans wallowed out at the bottom). Results not good. Perhaps overcooked just a tad, or needed to cover. Texture too crumbly for sandwiches, and the flavor was off.

Need to devote more time to baking. It has become less of a priority lately. Thanks for asking. Hope you are doing well up there in the north land.

Best wishes, lm

[kolka]

Uh-oh. I made a mistake with the measurements:

I wrote that it calls for 1 rounded teaspoon. That' wrong. It should be ONE ROUNDED TABLESPOON.

I made this again today. I came out better with the correct measurement, but it still rises funny - lopsided. I tried to spoon it into the pan properly. It rises up very high, but is lopsided. Whatdya do to fix that? -still new to gluten-free baking so I have to learn more tricks.

[larry mac]

Uh-oh......

it still rises funny - lopsided. I tried to spoon it into the pan properly. It rises up very high, but is lopsided.

Whatdya do to fix that? ......

Hey Kolka (love that wild, crazy name),

Whatever I bake (be it loaf, buns, or muffins), I melt a little butter, and dipping into it with my cave man like fingers, level out the batter (yes, it's messy, but don't you find baking to be a mess?). That way it rises more uniformly. Plus, somewhere I read that more butter never hurts (oh yeah, I wrote that!).

best regards, lm