So I've finally reached that stage of the pandemic where I'm really into making bread from scratch! So far, I've made lots of banana bread, honey muffins, and other sweet things, but I've just recently started doing more basic breads. Last week I made paratha (an Indian flatbread which is layered and lightly fried), and a couple days ago I made soft pretzels. Both turned out pretty well, despite it being my first time making this stuff. I'm learning a lot!

I'm considering making a sourdough starter, but I don't think I'd make enough bread to justify keeping it alive, even though I LOVE sourdough.

Does anyone have some staple, unique, or fun recipes? What sort of baking have you been getting done?

[EDIT] Looks like my last post didn't go through. Since the last reply from this topic was in April, I've decided to go ahead and lock it since any further posts would be past the 6 month necro limit. If anyone else feels like making a new version of this topic, feel free to do so. [/EDIT]

Sourdough can be kept alive but dormant in the fridge! You can make it active as needed.

I bake mostly simple quick breads like Irish soda bread, scones, muffins, cakes, cornbread, etc. My bf on the other hand has been baking a ton throughout this pandemic using sourdough and the guidance on The Perfect Loaf. For Christmas, one of the gifts I got him was a big baking book, The Bread Baker's Apprentice by Peter Reinhart.

This Jalapeño Cheddar Cornbread is seriously good with chili. A really fun bake is this Gingerbread Yule Log. May I have your recipes for the paratha and pretzels? What have you been working on lately? c:

Thank you for sharing those recipes and resources!! I've added the Bread Baker's Apprentice to my wishlist, since it seems literally perfect for what I want to learn to do/make in the kitchen. :D I'll also read up more on sourdough starters--there's clearly a lot I still have to learn!

Here are links to the recipes I followed for the soft pretzels and parathas.

If you try the paratha recipe, I'd recommend folding it over more to add more layers; the ones I made ended up not being as flaky as I would have liked. My dad also suggested using more of a book-type fold for these, like in this recipe: link

I actually think you would get better use out of Bread Baking for Beginners: The Essential Guide to Baking Kneaded Breads, No-Knead Breads, and Enriched Breads by Bonnie Ohara (Maurizio Leo’s friend.)

The perfect first bread recipe is Jim Lahey’s No-Knead Bread. He also has some well-regarded baking books out. For the No-Knead, it’s important to have a good Dutch oven like a Staub (nicer imo) or Le Creuset. That recipe, along with Sarah Jampel’s No-Knead Focaccia were big during lockdown at the start of the pandemic in the US.

I’m going to have sourdough waffles this morning, made with discard from the starter. 😊

your bakes sound really good! i'm a beginner baker but i'd recommend the NYT japanese milk bread recipe!! the flavor & texture are similar to brioche, but preparation is quite different as it requires a roux :)

That all sounds AMAZING

I've always wanted to try to make that! I even got special pans with lids to make it square!

I've been making slow cooker tamale pie recently. I developed some of the recipe myself. It turns out great!

Put 1 to 1.5 pounds of raw hamburger in the slow cooker. Season to taste with taco seasoning. Let that cook on high for about an hour breaking up the hamburger as it cooks. Turn the heat down to low on your slow cooker. Add a very small can of tomato sauce. 1 large onion chopped up. Stir. In a separate bowl mix a corn bread mix per box instructions, however, leave out some of the recommended liquid so the batter if drier and sticky. Mix about 1 cup shredded cheese into batter and spoon over hamburger mixture. Smooth out the bread into an even layer. Cover and cook for 4 hours in the slowcooker. Serve with sour cream and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!

I stopped baking as much( was baking a ton last year) due to trying to be healthier in general this year. I'm also just not the greatest at coming up with recipes myself.

But, I found this recipe for cornbread online, and I was missing cornbread because I used to get it at family Soup Plantation restaurant outings, and they all closed last year. cornbread recipe

Could probably do this in an oven, but our oven is out of commission so this was in an air fryer. This also came out more savory because I substituted regular table salt for the kosher salt and stevia for the sugar, but if someone wanted it more sweet, I imagine maple syrup or a similar sugar substitute would work pretty well in this too. Also added in 1/2 cup corn in as well.

I love making soda bread because there's usually always dried cranberries or apricots or blueberries in our pantry and those are fun to just toss in.

I've been on a huge gingerbread kick since about October so I've made more gingerbread cookies than one can feasibly eat and spiced ginger cake. I usually follow Mary Berry's recipes because they're actually not that sweet, and I like that in a baked good. I did try my hand at icing the cookies which I did not enjoy but my cookie recipients did so all's well that ends well, I guess.

I have also been trying to make the fluffy Japanese cheesecakes but continue to fail. They look so good coming out of the oven only to then slowly deflate sadly. I think it's a combination of not beating the egg whites enough and because I need to time it better to my oven, but I also just recently moved and I've only been trying it at my parents' house. I may attempt it again in the future haha.