adventures in baking bread: part 4

one of my Fall Goals is to explore the art of baking bread. Just me, in my kitchen, kneading dough with my own two hands (...and a very happy husband of course!) This is the fourth (!) list of recipes I've tried for this project. You can read about the others here. 

basic bread: sourdough & rye flour bread

recipe I used: the one on the back of the sourdough package 

my thoughts: this bread turned out very...German. It was good- really good in fact. But it seems to me that Germans like their bread a little more dense than us North Americans. Though I liked this recipe, I was hoping it would turn out a little airier (for lack of a better word.

will I make this again: yes, though it won't become my go-to sourdough recipe.

non-loaf bread: soft pretzel buns

recipe I used: this one from Hummingbird High Blog

my thoughts: again, I knew when starting this project that I would be trying a recipe for some sort of bun. Now, I know these don't look much like the photo from the recipe...this is partly because I didn't have any baking soda and so used basic Backpulver (which is more like baking powder...) for the baking soda bath the buns need before going into the oven. They still tasted pretty great, but don't look quite as nice.  

will I make this again: yes. but I've got to do the baking soda bath properly next time.

sweet bread: Hefe Zopf (a bit like Challah Bread)

recipe I used: from a back issue of this magazine

my thoughts: this was really delicious. It was sweet and airy and light and just tasty. I do however need to practice my braiding skills... 

will I make this again: yes