Using Mini Loaf Pans

Good morning, all! Kathryn again :) Here in the US we have a thrift store called Goodwill. It is an invaluable resource for budget-conscious families like mine. I buy all the kids' clothes there as well as mine and my husband's. I have also found some otherwise expensive cooking gadgets there (e.g. a bread machine for $4, a brand new pasta machine with 5 attachments for $60). My most recent and one of my most favorite finds is a Kitchenaid silicone mini-loaf baking pan. It has 6 5.5x3" loaf cavities and would normally retail for $15 to 20. I got it for $2!
Needless to say, I am super excited about my new toy and have used it several times already.  You do not have to find recipes specifically for the mini loaf pan. It is quite simple to adapt your favorite bread recipe to the smaller loaf size :)
The basic rule of thumb I've found for adapting to the mini loaf pan is about 1 cup of flour per mini loaf. So if you have a recipe that calls for 4 cups flour, you should be able to get 4 mini loaves out of it. As for cooking times, you will need to shorten thee cooking time by about 5-10 minutes to account for the smaller loaf size.
The bread shown in the picture below is from the Land O' Lakes website ( http://www.landolakes.com/recipe/847/mini-white-loaves). I did not make any major changes to the recipe. I did double it so I could make 6 loaves.
These little loaves are just about the cutest loaves I've ever seen! They make very adorable little grilled cheese sandwiches and are the perfect size for little hands :)