Posted by sally2 (My Page) on Tue, Nov 11, 08 at 10:18 I just remembered this recipe I've made before, and it was quite tasty. It lists separate herbs, but I bet you can use an equivalent amount of one of your new blends. I think you could use this method for just about any bread recipe, but this is what was in the cookbook, so that's how I'll post it. Herbed Monkey Bread From The Kind Arthur Flour Baker's Companion 10 small servings 1 recipe white bread 101 (recipe to follow) Herb Coating 3 to 5 tablespoons (1 1/4 to 2 3/8 ounces) Olive Oil* 1 tablespoon fresh stemmed thyme, or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, or 1 tablespoon dried 1 teaspoon dried oregano 1 garlic clove, minced Combine the oil, herbs, and garlic. Set the mixture aside. Prepare White Bread 101 up through it's first rise. Grease the bottom and sides of a small (8-inch) tube or bundt-style pan, or a deep (2 inches or deeper) 8-inch cake pan or souffle dish. Turn out the risen dough onto a lightly floured work surface and divide it into 32 small pieces, each about the size of a chestnut and weighing approximately 3/4 ounce. Place about a third of them in the bottom of the pan if you're using a small bundt-style pan. If you're using a cake pan, put about two-thirds of the pieces into it. Brush the dough in the pan with the herb coating. Continue to layer with the remaining balls, brushing the top layer with the remaining herb oil. (If you've used the greater amount of olive oil, dip each piece of dough into the oil to coat it completely before layering it into the pan.) Let the bread rise, covered, for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until it's golden. Remove it from the oven and invert it onto a serving platter; the crispy bottom crust should be on top. Serve warm. *Use 3 tablespoons of oil if you simply want to drizzle the herb coating over the bough balls once they're in the pan. To thoroughly coat each dough ball before putting them in the pan, use 5 tablespoons of olive oil. This extra oil will give the bread a delicious crisp crust. Here's the bread recipe. I'll go ahead and enter the complete recipe, even though for the Monkey Bread you'll not use the whole process. White Bread 101 1 loaf, 16 slices 3 cups (12 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons instant yeast 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar 4 tablespoons (2 ounces) butter 1/4 cup (1 1/4 ounces) nonfat dry milk 1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) potato flour, or 1/3 cup (3/4 ounce) potato flakes 1 1/8 cups (9 ounces) lukewrm water Combine all the ingredients and mix and knead them together - by hand, mixer, or bread machine - until you've made a soft, smooth dough. Adjust the dough's consistency with additional flour or water as needed; but remember, the more flour you add while you're kneading, the heavier and drier your final loaf will be. Cover and let the dough rise for 1 hour, until it's puffy (though not necessarily doubled in bulk). Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface and shape it into an 8-inch log. Transfer the log to a lightly greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inch loaf pan, cover the pan (a proof cover works well here), and let the bread rise until the outer edge has risen about 1 inch over the rim of the pan, about 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the pan and bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with aluminum foil for the final 10 to 15 minutes if it appears to be browning too quickly. Remove the bread from the oven, take it out of the pan, and place it on a wire rack to cool completely. After 15 minutes, brush it with butter, if desired; this will give it a soft crust. Sally

Purple: You have had a lot of good suggestions. I suspect you may have a yeast problem. I haven't had any problem substituting some WW flour for AP flour. I use it in my Braided Bread and Pizza dough. Here is my Braided Bread Recipe. **************************************** Everyone has their own way to do this, which is better. But! I like to cook and bake using easier ways, long as the end results are the same. I've used this recipe since I got out of the Army, a very long time ago and converted it from Army Baking (Large amounts )to Home Baking. It wasn't easy going from 4 Quarts to 4 cups , etc. But I worked it out. I got the results that I wanted and I'm passing it on. ************************ Here is the recipe: Luigi�s - - - Braided, Plaited Bread or Dough for Cinnamon Buns , Bagels, Etc. 2 cups of milk, (warm, not hot ) 1 1/3 cup of Sugar 3 large eggs- beaten (save 1/2 egg w. a little milk for basting ) 1 tablesp.+ of Vanilla - - 1/2 cup + of oil - - 1/2 teasp. Salt 2 packs of Fleischmans Active dry yeast AP Flour - 3 cups to start ( probably about 6 total ), enough to knead into a soft ball that doesn�t stick to your hands. I now substitute a cup of WW Flour. Stir the yeast in a 1/3 cup of warm water w. 1/2 spoon of sugar, to test it for raising. In a large mixing bowl, or (KA mixer) place the warm milk ( not hot ) add the sugar ,vanilla , salt & eggs Beat until the sugar is dissolved and add the Yeast and mix well. Add 1 cup of WW flour and 3 cups of AP flour and mix with mixer a few minutes. Add flour until you make a " soft " Ball of dough that doesn�t stick to your hands. Don�t make it too stiff , try to keep it a "soft dough." On the Work Top, Sprinkle some flour under the ball and Knead it until smooth. Place it in a large bowl, Rub some oil on top. Cover with a damp towel and place in a warm spot ( until double.) I usually turn my oven on for a few minutes to warm and shut it. Place a pan of hot water on the bottom shelf. Then place the dough bowl in the oven to rise. When ( doubled ) deflate and put it out of the bowl onto a floured worktop. Punch it down and knead the dough again. Then cut into 2 pieces ( 2 loaves ). Divide each piece into 3. Roll each of these 3 pieces into the shape of a sweet potato ( about 12 in long ). With the basting ( egg ) mixture and wet the tips of the 3 pieces and stick them together at one end . Then spread the other end the shape of an arrow While keeping the stuck ends down and away from you , twist each piece clockwise about 8 times and lay them down so you can Platt or Braid them and stick the other ends together There are other ways to Braid ( 6 Strands ) but I take the fast easy way to do things. Place the 2 shaped loaves on lightly oiled cookie tins, or in loaf pans. Preheat the oven to 400 deg. Spray some Pam on the loaves or brush with oil. This will keep them from drying while raising. When doubled in size (about 20 min.) place in the oven , top shelf and bake until slightly tan. Baste them with the egg mix and rotate them back into the oven and ( Turn temperature down to 325 deg.) Baste again when they are a dark tan. Cook till a rich brown, mahogany color. Take them out of the pans onto a rack to cool. Control yourself !!!! Let them cool !!! This sounds like a lot to do but it is easy and should take only 10 minutes to mix and shape. The most time is in the waiting for the dough to rise and for the bread to cool . But it do look great !!! & Professional This dough can also be used for Cinnamon Buns and Dinner Rolls. I use it for Bagels too. I like the Subtle, Hardly Noticeable, sweet taste. ************************ Braided Bread Bagles Plain Cheese 10inch Pizza Cinnamon Buns ( Sticky Buns )

I thought I remembered a recipe for Cranberry Walnut bread in my Julia Child - Dorie Greenspan book, so I ran and grabbed it. Turns out it's Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. This recipe takes two days to prepare, so plan ahead and don't plan on being in a hurry. It's good for a rainy weekend. Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves From Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan Makes 3 small loaves 2 2/3 to 3 cups bread flour 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 tablespoons tepid water (80 - 90 degrees F.) 2 teaspoons active dry yeast 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/3 cup sugar 8 ounces (1 cup) pureed cooked pumpkin or butternut squash, fresh or canned solid packed (see Note) 1 large egg, at room temperature 3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted 1 cup plump golden or dark raisins 2/3 cup cranberries (if frozen, thaw and pat dry) Mixing and Kneading: Whisk 2 2/3 cups of the flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a large bowl just to mix; set aside until needed. Pour the water into a small bowl, sprinkle in he yeast, and whish to blend. Allow the yeast to rest until it's creamy, about 5 minutes. In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar at medium speed until creamy. Add the pumpkin and egg and beat until blended. Don't be concerned if the mixture looks curdled; it will come together when you add the dry ingredients. Set the mixer speed to low and add the yeast, then begin to add the dry ingredients, about 1/2 cup at a time. As soon as the mixture starts to form a dough that comes together, scrape the paddle clean and switch to the dough hook. If your dough does not come together (it might be because your pumpkin puree was liquidy), add a few more tablespoons of flour. Mix and knead the dough on medium-low speed for 10 to 15 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl and the hook now and then with a rubber spatula. At the start, the mixture will look more like a batter than a dough, but as you continue to work, it will develop into a soft, very sticky dough that will just ball up on the hook. (This dough develops much the way a brioche does.) With the machine on low speed, add the walnuts and raisins, mixing only until incorporated, about 1 minute. Add the cranberries and mix as little as possible to avoid crushing them. (Inevitably, some cranberries will pop and stain a patch of dough red; think of this as charming, and proceed.) First Rise: Scrape the dough into a lightly buttered large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature to rise until nearly doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Chilling the dough: When the dough has doubled, fold it over on itself a couple of times to deflate it, wrap it tightly in plastic, and refrigerate overnight. Shaping the dough: At least 6 hours before you want to begin baking, remove the dough from the refrigerator. Leave the dough, covered in its bowl, until it reaches at least 64 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. (This will take as long as 3 to 4 hours - don't rush it.) If you don't have an instant-read thermometer, look for the dough to be slightly cool and just a little spongy. Lightly butter three 5 3/4 x 3 1/4 x 2-inch loaf pans. Working on a lightly floured surface, divide the dough into thirds and pat each piece of dough into a 5 x 7-inch rectangle; keep a short end facing you. Starting at the top of eacch rectangle, roll up the dough toward you and seal the seam by pressing it with your fingertips. Seal the ends, then place each roll, seam side down, in a prepared pan. Second rise: Cover the pans lightly with a kitchen towel and allow to rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until the dough has nearly doubled - it will rise to just above the rim of the pans. Baking the bread: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake theloaves for about 30 minutes, or until deeply golden. Remove the pans to a cooling rack; after a 5-minute rest, turn the breads out of their pans and allow them to cool to room temperature on the rack. Storing: The breads can be kept at room temperature for a day or two or frozen, wrapped airtight, for up to 1 month. Thaw, still wrapped, at room temperature. Note: To use fresh pumpkin or butternut squash, split the squash, remove the seeds, and place, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Roast in a preheated 350 degree F. oven for about 1 hour, or until meltingly tender. Scoop the softened pulp out of the shell and cool completely. One pound of squash yields about 12 ounces of cooked pulp. Sally

I also watched a segment on Cooks Illustrated and a light bulb went off in my head. Instead of microwaving bananas to separate bananas from excess liquid, I realized that the frozen bananas that I always have on hand would fit in perfectly as the liquid separates when frozen. By adding more banana (approx 5 to 6 vs the 3 in my recipe) I found I could cut back on sugar too. Works with banana bread or nut bread mixes too. I knew there was a reason to watch the cooking shows while killing time on my treadmill!