Who likes BREAD?

[jgcrawfo]

I like bread. Quite a bit, in fact. There are like seven billion different kinds of breads. I mean, you can make boring white sandwich stuff, delicious sourdough ciabatta, heavy german rye, or maybe just a quick banana-corn-rye bread if you don't have time for yeast. And that's not even getting into flatbreads. Bread is amazing.
I've been baking compulsively these past few months, and I've invented a few different things, so here is a recipe for my favorite so far. It was adapted from a recipe I grabbed from the Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book, which has quite a lot to say about bread. I don't like using milk powder, so I subbed in some yogurt into their recipe, which allowed me to use a decent amount of rye flour, since that stuff needs a sour to break it down. Putting yogurt in the pre-ferment works wonderfully, and when you add garlic and olives to the loaf, all the flavours really work together.

DAY BEFORE:
1/4 teaspoon dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup dark rye flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup yogurt

Dissolve yeast in warm water, let sit a bit until it's yeasty. Mix the flours and salt in a mixing bowl you can wrap, or a plastic tub with a lid (I'd recommend a tub with at least a six cup capacity). Mix the yogurt and cold water together, then dump all the fluids into the non-fluids, and mix vigorously for five minutes or so. Seal your vessel, and let it sit in a cool room for about twelve to eighteen hours.

THE DAY OF:
1 3/4 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
2 tablespoons honey/malt syrup/something sweet
1 cup warm water
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups whole-wheat flour
1 bulb garlic
1 cup olives (feel free to increase if you like them more)

Dissolve the yeast in the half cup of water and the honey in the one cup of water. Pour the sweet water into the sponge, and mix well. Squeezing with your hands is best for this work, though if you really don't like the messiness, I guess you could use a big spoon or something. I don't know why you'd be making bread if you can't deal with icky dough, though.
Anyways, dump the yeast in there as well, once it's woken up, and mix that too. You want this stuff to be fairly fluid and consistent throughout, though lumps won't really ruin it. Mix the flour and salt together, make a well in the middle, and pour the fluid in. If you've ever made bread before, you should probably know what to do from here on out.
Mix in the flour, and knead it. The kneading is going to take some adjustment, because whereas I man-handled this recipe into existence in the first place, whereas it involves an overnight sponge,
and whereas it uses rye flour, which varies a lot depending on where you got it/what kind you got, the ratios will probably be off right now. No worries, just add extra flour and knead it in, or dampen your hands and knead water in if it's off. Regrettably, I can't really explain this to you, you just need to get the hang of it. All I can say is that the dough shouldn't be too sticky to work with or too tough to knead, and remember, don't adjust it until you've worked the dough for at least a half minute or so, otherwise you risk adjusting for a problem due to lack of kneading.
After a few minutes of kneading, get it on a lightly floured work surface, and press it out flat. Now you want to sprinkle on the garlic, which should be chopped coarsely (no more than three pieces to a clove), and the olives, chopped to a similar size as the garlic. Fold the dough over, and keep on kneading. Some of the chunks will fall out, this is fine, just knead them back in. Bread should be kneaded until it's a decently smooth dough; you should be able to pinch off a little bit and stretch it till it's nearly transparent. Normally, this should take fifteen to twenty minutes, but because of the mixing and squeezing you should have done earlier, the gluten is ready sooner, and you'll need only about ten minutes of good kneading.

Man, 'knead' doesn't look like a word anymore. I need a baking thesaurus or something.

From here on out, it's a cake walk. Make the dough into a ball, and let it rise, covered for about an hour and a half (till doubled). Deflate it, and let it rise again for about forty five minutes (till doubled again). Shape it into whatever you want (I like to just make a big 'ol ball for my baking stone), then let it proof (rise again) for forty five minutes.
For baking, well, times vary depending on your shapes. Hit it with 350ºF for approximately forty five minutes for loaf pans, other things will vary. Just check how it's looking every five minutes or so, and when it's coming up on done, knock the loaf on the bottom, and it should sound hollow.
A steamy oven gives you a nicer crust and better oven-rise, so either mist the oven without hitting the bread, or put an old pan you don't mind ruining on the bottom rack with some water in it.

So this is some bread. If people like bread, post your breads, and I'll post some more interesting breads later!

[Robin S]

I like bread. Challah is awesome.

[Elenion]

I like bread alot but I never bake it, I just buy it from the grocery store^^

[Flying Betty]

I've been lucky enough to have a few friends who have been into bread baking at some point in time. The best was when one girl was taking a bread making class, and since I was the only person she knew who lived in a suite rather than a dorm room she would frequently show up at my place with her results still warm from the oven and leave what she didn't want with us. Mmmmmmmmmmm

[schmiggen]

For deli sandwiches, I prefer rye.

Croissants are godly. (Does anybody have any home-made recipes/instructions for a good croissant?)

MMmmmmmm, cornbread, honey-wheat bread, potato bread, sourdough bread, table bread, tooooo many good breads!

Also, for people who like bread and manga, this is a great one: Yakitate Japan.
It's a manga entirely about baking bread, and it's crazy awesome

[jgcrawfo]

I've just bought a second-hand book, "The Art of Fine Baking", and am trying to use it's croissant recipe. It's a well written book, and it has a glowing forwards by James Beard, so hopefully some good will come of it. I will keep you posted

[MFHodge]

One of the picnic tables at my high school had this carved into it:

"I like bread - it tastes of life."

I like that . . .

[Bakemaster]

Good bread is good. I'm afraid this thread will out me as someone who has not baked a lot of bread in his life. I do have good recipes for dill bread and a beer bread that I haven't made in forever, but most commonly I'm baking banana nut bread which almost doesn't even count since it's made like a cake.

[jgcrawfo]

MORE BREADS. I DEMAND MORE BREADS.

What kind of beer do you use in your breads? Stout is usually fun and heavy, though I'm a fan of using some of these triple-fermented beers with yeast in the bottles in a pre-fermenting sponge for interesting results.

[Bakemaster]

I haven't made the beer bread since I started drinking; I don't honestly know what kind of beer was used. I'd imagine the rule of thumb is similar to cooking with wine; use a beer you'd want to drink with whatever you're preparing.

[Aleril]

I love bread, but only when it is with something.

pure white bread + anything = DELICIOUS.

[Nyarlathotep]

Also, for people who like bread and manga, this is a great one: Yakitate Japan.
It's a manga entirely about baking bread, and it's crazy awesome

Wow.

I got as far as them making bread that'd taste good with natto and them talking about how warm hands apparently make better bread before I had to stop reading.

For the unenlightened, natto is one of the most disgusting things on the planet. It is literally rotten soybeans. I'm not even joking - they are soybeans that have been left to rot, which the Japanese eat for breakfast, usually with mustard.

A bread made to taste good with natto would be the most godawful disgusting shit ever. Trying to make a "japanese" style bread to appeal to the world? A futile and stupid effort, indeed o_O any bread that'd actually go well with Japanese food would taste so terrible to anyone who isn't from Japan that whoever made it would be a laughingstock.

[/personalopinionrant]

I love me some Italian bread. Also, banana bread!

[PatrickRsGhost]

Some of the best bread I've had is homemade bread. I learned how to bake bread when I was 13 or 14. My dad taught me a very simple sourdough recipe, and sometimes during the summer I'd make up a couple of loaves just so I could have a slice. Hot homemade sourdough + butter = orgasm. My parents didn't complain, since it turned out pretty good.

Over the years I've learned how to make other breads, including dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls (I have a recipe that requires almost all-day prep, rising, and baking. Result is Cinnabon-grade cinnamon rolls. Almost.), and a few other leavened pleasures. I haven't made homemade bread in a few months. Bread-baking's good therapy. You can work out most of your frustration in the dough when you knead it, and it won't complain. Just don't overdo it, or it won't rise.

[Moo]

I like bread.

Happy childhood memory: this bakery near church as a kid used to turn out fresh white bread on a Sunday just after church so on the way home, we'd stop and buy two loaves and a small bottle of coke. And right there in the car we'd eat about half of one of the loaves warm and ripped off in pieces with coke. Amaaaaaazing. To this day "bread and coke" is an accepted snack reference in my house.

My mom bakes this brilliant savoury bread with turmeric and paprika and a bit of cheese and some herbs. Mmmmm. Warm with butter and barbeque. MMMMM. And it has something like 5 ingredient; it's a quick and easy kinda bread rather than a start-the-night-before-and-knead-lovingly-for-hours-kinda bread. I have a recipe somewhere, I think... I'll look if anyone wants.

I also love bread and soup. Am I right that the Americans eat crackers with their soup? You should try bread, even if just once. Dunking bread makes soup worth eating, for me.

[PatrickRsGhost]

I also love bread and soup. Am I right that the Americans eat crackers with their soup? You should try bread, even if just once. Dunking bread makes soup worth eating, for me.

For the most part, yes. Usually it's either saltines (sometimes called soda crackers) or oyster crackers (small, hexagon-shaped crackers) for soup. Some people like to put Goldfish or Cheez-Its (two brands of cheese-flavored crackers, the former being fish-shaped) in their soup, mainly tomato-based like tomato soup or chili. I love cornbread with chili. When I used to make my own chili, I'd bake a pan of cornbread, cut a couple of wedges (I used a cast-iron skillet...the only way to make cornbread. Bitches.), butter them up, then top with chili and cheese. Nuke in the microwave for a few seconds to melt the cheese.

There are at least three restaurants here in the States - O'Charley's, Atlanta Bread Company, and Quizno's - that have the most wonderful concoction: Bread bowls. Basically, it's a round loaf of bread, hollowed out, and served inside the bread bowl is a soup of your choice. They cut the top off at an angle so that it would fit almost like a plug, leaving a large cavity in the center of the loaf. That top is served with the bread bowl, so you can dip it in the soup, if you wish. You are supposed to eat the entire bread bowl. It is full of soupy-bready awesome. I did some searching and found that there's a restaurant over in Nottingham, UK that does them, although ours look more appetizing:



Those are the bread bowls from Quizno's.

[Moo]

Cool. Thanks for the research I make hollowed out bread filled with savoury beef mince, either a big loaf for two or individual crispy roles, so I can imagine the awesomeness of the bread soup bowls. Must find substantial enough breads to try this with soup at home.

Is corn bread just bread made with course corn flour rather than wheat flour? My mom makes something like this but I don't know if it's the same as what you are talking about. Your cheese-topped thingy sounds awesome.

[PatrickRsGhost]

Is corn bread just bread made with course corn flour rather than wheat flour? My mom makes something like this but I don't know if it's the same as what you are talking about. Your cheese-topped thingy sounds awesome.

Sort of. It's called cornmeal. It's ground a little courser than corn flour. Wiki doesn't really offer a lot of information.

Cornbread usually doesn't require yeast like other breads do. You can get self-rising cornmeal, which contains a combination of cornmeal, baking powder (leavening agent), and salt. Just combine that with an egg, milk (a lot of people in the South prefer buttermilk), and shortening (or vegetable oil). Some people like to put a bit of sugar in it. It's gross. Here's a site that gives a bit more info.

[Moo]

Ah. I meant what you call corn meal. I've just never had to make the distinction in English. I think my mom's "mielie brood" is very similar.

[PictureSarah]

I love to make bread. It's one of the few things that I do reasonably well at in the kitchen. I don't have a hard and fast recipe, but this is it off the top of my head:
Ingredients:
6 cups all-purpose flour
3 1/2 teaspoons of yeast
2 teaspoons of salt
2 cups warm water
3 teaspoons of sugar or honey
1 egg
1 tablespoon water
1 stick of butter or 1/2 cup of olive oil

Optional:
I almost never make this bread plain. Sometimes I put fresh ground pepper and rosemary, sometimes cinnamon and/or cardamom, sometimes anise and grated orange peel, etc.

- Put the warm water and the sugar and the yeast in a big bowl and stir them until they're dissolved together, and then let it sit for 10 or so minutes until the yeast is all frothed up.
-Add all the other ingredients and mix until it forms a kneadable elastic dough. You might have to add more flour.
- Knead for about 15 minutes, then shape it into a ball, grease the bowl, cover and leave it in a warm place for about an hour and a half until the dough is about twice its original size and very poofy looking.
-Punch the dough down, shape it into one or two loaves on a (sprayed with pam or sprinkled with cornmeal) baking sheet, cover and let rise for another hour or so.
- Use a pastry brush or new paintbrush to paint beaten egg all over your loaf(s) and stick into a pre-heated 375 degree (Fahrenheit) oven.
-Bake until the desired shade of brown. About 45 minutes? I'm not sure I've ever timed it.

Also here's a recipe I've used for Pan de Muertos, traditional Day of the Dead Mexican bread. It's tasty.

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup margarine
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons anise seed
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons orange zest
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 tablespoons white sugar

DIRECTIONS
Heat the milk and the butter together in a medium saucepan, until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and add them warm water. The mixture should be around 110 degrees F (43 degrees C).
In a large bowl combine 1 cup of the flour, yeast, salt, anise seed and 1/4 cup of the sugar. Beat in the warm milk mixture then add the eggs and orange zest and beat until well combined. Stir in 1/2 cup of flour and continue adding more flour until the dough is soft.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size. This will take about 1 to 2 hours. Punch the dough down and shape it into a large round loaf with a round knob on top. Place dough onto a baking sheet, loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until just about doubled in size.
Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven for about 35 to 45 minutes. Remove from oven let cool slightly then brush with glaze.
To make glaze: In a small saucepan combine the 1/4 cup sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Bring to a boil over medium heat and boil for 2 minutes. Brush over top of bread while still warm. Sprinkle glazed bread with white sugar.

[OfficiallyHaphazard]

Some of the best bread I've had is homemade bread. I learned how to bake bread when I was 13 or 14. My dad taught me a very simple sourdough recipe, and sometimes during the summer I'd make up a couple of loaves just so I could have a slice. Hot homemade sourdough + butter = orgasm. My parents didn't complain, since it turned out pretty good.

Over the years I've learned how to make other breads, including dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls (I have a recipe that requires almost all-day prep, rising, and baking. Result is Cinnabon-grade cinnamon rolls. Almost.), and a few other leavened pleasures. I haven't made homemade bread in a few months. Bread-baking's good therapy. You can work out most of your frustration in the dough when you knead it, and it won't complain. Just don't overdo it, or it won't rise.

I. Love. Cinnamon rolls, can you teach me your recipe?

I am making some just now (waiting for the dough to rise )
Right now I am using this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102296, it is pretty good

[PatrickRsGhost]

I. Love. Cinnamon rolls, can you teach me your recipe?

I am making some just now (waiting for the dough to rise )
Right now I am using this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102296, it is pretty good

That recipe looks somewhat wrong. The recipe I have requires boiling milk and sugar together, letting it cool down, and adding yeast to the mixture. I forget where I got it from. I've used it for several years, and when I made some earlier this year or late last year they turned out to be the best ever.

One thing I did that most recipes I've seen on the interwebz and in cookbooks don't tell you is to allow the dough rise *after almost each step*. Most recipes tell you to allow the dough to rise in the bowl, and after you've cut them into rolls. They also tell you to use all-purpose flour with baking powder and/or baking soda. However, from past experience the end results were sorry ass-rolls. If you use self-rising flour and let the dough rise when you roll it out flat, when you roll it up jelly roll-style, and when you cut the individual rolls, you'll get decent, good-sized cinnamon rolls.

I've got the whole recipe on my computer at home. It's a bit detailed, so I'll need to copy and paste it when I get home from work tonight.

[b.i.o]

I love bread in most of its shapes and forms. Garlic bread and good cinnamon swirl are my favorites. Zuchinni bread is delicious as well, especially with chocolate chips.

[OfficiallyHaphazard]

I. Love. Cinnamon rolls, can you teach me your recipe?

I am making some just now (waiting for the dough to rise )
Right now I am using this: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/102296, it is pretty good

That recipe looks somewhat wrong. The recipe I have requires boiling milk and sugar together, letting it cool down, and adding yeast to the mixture. I forget where I got it from. I've used it for several years, and when I made some earlier this year or late last year they turned out to be the best ever.

One thing I did that most recipes I've seen on the interwebz and in cookbooks don't tell you is to allow the dough rise *after almost each step*. Most recipes tell you to allow the dough to rise in the bowl, and after you've cut them into rolls. They also tell you to use all-purpose flour with baking powder and/or baking soda. However, from past experience the end results were sorry ass-rolls. If you use self-rising flour and let the dough rise when you roll it out flat, when you roll it up jelly roll-style, and when you cut the individual rolls, you'll get decent, good-sized cinnamon rolls.

I've got the whole recipe on my computer at home. It's a bit detailed, so I'll need to copy and paste it when I get home from work tonight.

Thanks
The ones from that site ended up very tasty indeed

[Prole]

I tried my hand at baking bread once, i must go back to it!

Doesnt seem too difficult, if one has time.

I loathe shop bought white bread. Its tasteless, sticks to the roof of the mouth and contains almost no nutritional value.

Wholemeal pitta bread, multigrain loaf or sourdough is pretty much all i try to buy these days.

[PatrickRsGhost]

Here is my cinnamon roll recipe. I thought I used self-rising flour but instead I use bread flour. It's a lot better, albeit being higher in gluten (for those who may be allergic).

Code: Select all

Cinnamon-Raisin Rolls

Servings:  12 to 24

Ingredients:

Rolls:
4 T yeast
1¾ c. milk
½ c. lukewarm water
4 T and 1½ c. sugar, divided
4 c. bread flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ c. (one stick) melted butter, divided
4 T. cinnamon, divided
1 cup raisins, divided   

Icing:
¼ c. powdered sugar
¼ c. milk
1 tsp. cinnamon, optional
   
Directions:
In large mixing bowl, mix together lukewarm water, 4 tablespoons of yeast, and 4 tablespoons of sugar.  Allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes for yeast to activate.  Meanwhile, bring milk and ½ cup of sugar to rolling boil; let cool to room temperature (about 15 to 20 minutes).  Stir milk mixture in with yeast.  Add flour, one cup at a time, along with baking powder, baking soda, ¼ cup (half-stick) of butter, and salt.  Mix together until dough is stiff.  Turn dough out onto floured surface, knead four or five times.  Form into large ball.  Place dough in large greased bowl, turning over to grease entire ball.  Cover with saran wrap or plastic grocery bag and place in unheated oven for about 1½ to 2 hours, or until dough is double in bulk.  Turn dough out onto flat lightly floured surface.  Cut into two equally-sized balls.  Knead each ball three or four times and roll out onto small- to medium-sized baking sheets (about 13” x 9”).  Using a pastry brush, spread remaining butter on both “dough sheets.”  Cover with ½ cup sugar, 2 T. cinnamon, and ½ cup raisins, each.  Roll up sheets from long end to long end, jelly-roll style.  Place “jelly-rolls” diagonally on baking sheets with seam side down and place in unheated oven, uncovered, for 1½ to 2 hours, until double in bulk.  Remove “jelly-rolls” from oven, place on flat floured surface and cut into rolls, about 1 to 2 inches thick.  Place onto ungreased cookie sheets.  Place back in unheated oven and allow to rise for 1 to 1½ hours.  Remove from oven.  Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Bake rolls for 15 to 17 minutes.  Yields about 2 dozen.  Top with icing when cooled.

For the icing:  Blend milk and powdered sugar in equal amounts, until at desirable spreading consistency.  Add cinnamon if desired.  Spread about 1 to 2 tablespoons of icing on each roll.  Let icing harden, about 15 to 20 minutes.

[Zohar]

^ Must try.

[OfficiallyHaphazard]

Thanks

[ArchangelShrike]

There are at least three restaurants here in the States - O'Charley's, Atlanta Bread Company, and Quizno's - that have the most wonderful concoction: Bread bowls. Basically, it's a round loaf of bread, hollowed out, and served inside the bread bowl is a soup of your choice. They cut the top off at an angle so that it would fit almost like a plug, leaving a large cavity in the center of the loaf. That top is served with the bread bowl, so you can dip it in the soup, if you wish. You are supposed to eat the entire bread bowl. It is full of soupy-bready awesome.

I thought bread bowls were a common occurrence. Usually see French Onion in a sourdough bread baked specifically for that purpose, although I have seen others. Find them in high-class restaurants to fast food places.

[Aesar]

Wow I never thought of bread really like everybody does here. Is it something special or so in the US. I eat it everyday with breakfast and lunch, unless I have something special. This is a random picture from a broodafdeling (breaddepartment) in a normal supermarket:



btw I'm from the Netherlands

[Lord Bob]

Yeah, bread is great and all, but what about TOAST?

[marshlight]

Do any of these recipes translate well to bread machines? The boy and I just got one for the holidays and I am eager to use it for more than just basic white bread.

[PatrickRsGhost]

Do any of these recipes translate well to bread machines? The boy and I just got one for the holidays and I am eager to use it for more than just basic white bread.

A lot of them should. RTFM. It should have guidelines on converting your favorite (or newly discovered) bread recipes. Most bread machines can act as "proofers", which help the dough to rise. Again, RTFM.

Here is a good-sized list of bread machine recipes.

[Sprocket]

I made croissants!
I used the Joy of Cooking recipe.
This is the second batch I made. I didn't make them very croissant shaped, and some of them I spread egg wash in between the layers as well as on top, I was hoping the effect would make the layers more distinct... in fact it mostly made the layers separate from each other entirely.

croissants.JPG (45.06 KiB) Viewed 7720 times

Spoiler:

croissants2.JPG (245.99 KiB) Viewed 7427 times

[Nath]

I thought bread bowls were a common occurrence. Usually see French Onion in a sourdough bread baked specifically for that purpose, although I have seen others. Find them in high-class restaurants to fast food places.

Yeah, sourdough seems traditional. I associate bread bowls with clam chowder.

I recently tried no-knead bread. Four ingredients; absurdly little work. The only downside is that it needs to be set up a day in advance.

[Snicklefrits]

I thought this thread was going to be about the band. I guess I'm the only one who likes those guys.

[Bakemaster]

I guess you're the only one who can't tell what forum they're in.

[Sprocket]

So, naturally I could not find satisfaction in these croissants. I've never made a croissant before, and I am INCREDIBLY picky when it comes to croissants. My croissants were too firm, the layers seemed a touch to thick perhaps and I should fold a few more times next round. The insides on my second batch were often limp and doughy, like they didn't have the time or heat to fluff up properly, or maybe they had lost their verve to poof in an earlier stage...I rolled them too tight or maybe forced the dough too thin, or worked it too much?

Anyway, I'm thinking for next time I will try cooking them and a lower temperature for longer to give the insides time to cook.

Theorectically I was supposed to put the dough in the fridge for an hour before cooking the first batch, but I divided the dough in half and cooked some of it right away. The next day I cooked the other batch. Those SHOULD have come out BETTER because I followed the directions and let the dough cold before the final roll-out, roll-up and bake...but the ones I didn't refrigerate turned out better.

Suggestions?

[PatrickRsGhost]

So, naturally I could not find satisfaction in these croissants. I've never made a croissant before, and I am INCREDIBLY picky when it comes to croissants. My croissants were too firm, the layers seemed a touch to thick perhaps and I should fold a few more times next round. The insides on my second batch were often limp and doughy, like they didn't have the time or heat to fluff up properly, or maybe they had lost their verve to poof in an earlier stage...I rolled them too tight or maybe forced the dough too thin, or worked it too much?

Anyway, I'm thinking for next time I will try cooking them and a lower temperature for longer to give the insides time to cook.

Theorectically I was supposed to put the dough in the fridge for an hour before cooking the first batch, but I divided the dough in half and cooked some of it right away. The next day I cooked the other batch. Those SHOULD have come out BETTER because I followed the directions and let the dough cold before the final roll-out, roll-up and bake...but the ones I didn't refrigerate turned out better.

Suggestions?

How much yeast did the recipe call for? If it called for just a small amount, that may be what was wrong. Increase the amount of yeast.

I found a basic croissant recipe that uses about an ounce of yeast. I would suggest using a tablespoon or two. Do it up like you would any other bread recipe.

Also, if you follow the technique I described in my cinnamon roll recipe a few posts up (let the dough rise after each session of abuse...kneading, rolling, cutting, and rolling), then you should have croissants similar to those wonders you can find in any good bakery, or in the bakery/deli section of most grocery stores.

When you let the dough proof, cover it up with a towel, plastic wrap, or a plastic grocery bag and place it in an unheated oven. I found this to be the best place to let dough rise for an hour to hour and a half. My parents have discovered that a heating pad used for seeds works great too.

[kernelpanic]

I think the food I like the most is bread. Sure, if I have a delicious meal, like Swiss fondue (which includes bread) with lasagna (a type of bread) with good meat, and chamorro (I don't know how it's said in english-it's a cow's knee and the meat around it), I'll like them more than bread. But I wouldn't be able to eat that every day. I can eat bread daily. Not other things.

[Zohar]

) with lasagna (a type of bread)

I like bread a lot, but lasagna is not bread. Just because something has cooked wheat does not make it bread...