A day for baking

It's day two of a four-day weekend and rain's been falling all day, so it was the perfect time for baking.

I started out making pizza dough, which turned into homemade deep-dish pizza for dinner. It turned out satisfactorily. The tomatoes I used (Red Gold brand) weren't as rich-tasting as I had hoped, parts of the crust were tough because I really had to manhandle it, and the sausage was subpar because I was using what the grocery store had to offer, but it's certainly edible, if not really photogenic.

Then it was onto English muffins, using half wheat and half white flour, and by golly, they taste like English muffins, if a bit denser than storebought. I followed that up by making waffles with a topping of bananas, brown sugar, maple syrup, and butter, plus some pecans on the grownups' (not pictured). Then I made bread dough, and oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies.

The bread turned out to be, possibly, my best ever. I credit being more patient and more distracted than usual. Here's the recipe, for posterity:

Whole wheat bread
(modified from the Dakota Maid whole wheat bread recipe)

4 cups whole wheat flour
2-1/2 cups bread flour
2 pkg. dry yeast
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 1/4 cups warm water
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup oil
1 T salt

Dissolve yeast milk and water. Add honey, oil, and salt. Beat in 1 cup whole-wheat flour. Add remaining wheat flour.

Turn out on counter and knead, adding enough all-purpose flour to make a soft dough. Place in lightly greased bowl and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk (about 45 min). Punch down dough, divide and form into two balls. Cover and let rest about 5 min. Roll each ball on lightly flour-dusted surface into a 10x6 in. rectangle. Roll up jellyroll fashion and pinch ends together. Place in two lightly greased 81/2 x 41/2 in or 9x5 in loaf pans, with seam sides down. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 40 min or until bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans immediately. Cool on wire rack.

Yield: 2 loaves

I think we're covered on the carb front for awhile.