At some point I grew weary of paying $5.99 a loaf for Dave's Killer Bread. My friend turned me on to "the bread store." The one closest to us is the Franz outlet. They have organic whole wheat bread 5 loaves for $7. Unfortunately, while it is very close it's just on a path I don't travel often. So I go infrequently, stock up and freeze. This plan would be awesome except the 5 for $7 shelf isn't always stocked. I could always buy 2 for $4, but it irks my soul when I know I could get 5 for $7 is I went at the right moment. Also they are closed on Sunday and I feel like I want to buy bread on lots of Sundays. We tear through the bread and Reese refuses to eat the crust or the accompanying 1/2 inch. So we tear through the bread AND waste bread. While I have not thrown myself into making the perfect bread I've dabbled and been left wanting. Until now...which will forever more be known as the Benza family Bread Bonanza.
First I emailed Jessica seeking advice for making "crustless" sandwich bread. She advised a Pullman Pan would best deliver the results I've been seeking. She advised she had yet to perfect a recipe. Second I emailed JessieLeigh asking for a recipe. She recommended her tried and true bread recipe that has been her go to recipe for some time. Third I fired up my Amazon Prime Smile account I bought myself a pullman pan with 2 day shipping. It arrived today. A day with a break in the heat wave we've had in this record breaking summer. So it was baking day!
The recipe makes 3 9x4x4 loaves. The directions seemed to allow for baking all 3 together though it didn't explicitly say. As Scarlet had an eye doctor appointment I decided to go ahead and risk it being wrong and bake them simultaneously. So I used a Pampered Chef Stoneware Bread pan, a cheapie from Walmart dark metal baking pan and my brand spanking new Pullman Pan.
You can see both of the traditional bread pans produce bread that looks like banana bread or zuchini bread, kind of short and squat, not "sandwich" bread, a lovely square. The pullman pan produced the coveted sandwich size and shape!!! Miraculous!! And really have you noticed that even though all modern wheat bread is jumbo sized all the sandwich packing tools for lunchboxes are still square shaped.
The taste test met with approval. Even the 2 open top pans produced a crust thin and light enough for Reese to agree to eat it and declare I am the best cook in the world. ;) The pullman pan's shape is so loved Kyle wanted to know why on earth I hadn't purchased 3 so we could bake 3 square loaves at once. Why indeed? Next up, firing up the amazon prime smile account again.
***Amazon SMILE allows you to donate money to your favorite charity everytime you make an amazon purchase. There are lots of options, of course, but please consider choosing the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation. I went to college with Catherine's mom. Jenny continues to amaze me with her grace and strength since losing her daughter in the Sandy Hook tragedy. The Hubbard family has found a beautiful way to honor their daughter. My SMILE goes to her foundation.
