Quick and Easy French Bread

This is a recipe I found on urbanstrawberries.wordpress.com. 

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. salt
5 1/2 cups flour
1 egg white (or 2 Tbsp olive oil)

DirectionsPreheat oven to 450*F.

In a large bowl, mix warm water and yeast until yeast has dissolved.  Next add sugar, salt and flour. Knead ingredients together till it’s a soft uniform dough.

Now place a thin towel over the bowl with the dough in it and let it rise in a warm place for 15-30 minutes.

Separate dough into two, and begin shaping dough into long loaves, and place on a baking sheet.

Make slits with a knife and brush with egg white or olive oil. If you are garnishing with herbs or cheese, do so now.

Cover the dough with the towel once more and let rise 5 minutes or so (the longer the better).

Remove towel, and bake for 12-15 minutes or until tops are brown and crusty. I did 19 minutes.

Easy Artisan White Bread

Easy Artisan White Bread - Piseco Baking Company

3 cups lukewarm water
6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups (2 lbs) All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast (SAF)

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl or food-safe plastic bucket, using Danish whisk/dough hook.

Mix and stir everything together to make very sticky, rough dough. Or, in a stand mixer, beat at medium speed with beater blade foe 30 to 60 seconds.  Make sure there are no dry spots.

Next, let the dough rise. Cover bowl or bucket with a lid or plastic wrap.  (Remember, your container must be at least 6-quart capacity). Let dough rise at room temp for 2 hours.  (If you are in a hurry you can skip this step and put it right in the fridge, but leaving it at too temp for 2 hours is best case scenario). Store the dough in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before baking. Can be stored up to 7 days.  The longer you keep it in the fridge, the tangier it will get. Over the course of the first day or so, you will see it rise and then fall.

On baking day, grease your hands and pull off 1/3 of the dough or a ball roughly the size of a softball. Form dough into a round ball or longer log.  (You could also divide into 9 large rolls).

Stretch dough into a nice tight ball, leaving seams underneath.  Will look like a ball of freshly pulled mozzarella.  Place dough on parchment lined or lightly greased baking sheet (jelly roll pan). Sift a light coating of flour over the top.  This will keep the dough moist as it rests before baking.

Let the dough rise for about 45-60 minutes. It won't appear to rise upwards that much, but it will settle and expand slightly.  Preheat your over to 450 and place a shallow metal or cast iron pan (not glass, Pyrex or ceramic) on the lowest oven rack. Have 1 cup of hot water ready to go.

When you are ready to bake, slash the bread 2 to 3 times with a sharp blade, making a cut about 1/2" deep.

Place the bread in the oven and carefully pour the hot water into the pack on the rack beneath.
Quickly close the over door.

Bake bread for 25 - 35 minutes, until it is deep golden brown.  Lots of steam will escape oven when the door is opened, so be careful.

Remove bread from oven, and cool on a rack.

Gwen's Soft Pretzels

I made a new friend today, who recently moved here from NY, where she owned a bakery.  Her name is Gwen and she makes a KILLER soft pretzel!

Dough -
61 ounces all-purpose flour or approximately 17 cups
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons canola oil
4 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons instant yeast (instant is better than active)
4 cups water

Topping - (the topping is what replaces 'boiling' and gives them the brown color and the 'snap')
3/4 cup water
8 teaspoons sugar
8 teaspoons baking soda

Optional - pretzel salt, cinnamon sugar, melted butter

Mix and knead the dough ingredients together until dough is cohesive and fairly smooth.  It should be slightly sticky; if it seems dry, sprinkle it with water.  Cover dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Turn dough out onto light greased surface, fold over a few times to gently deflate it (get the air out, but don't knead), then divide into 4 ounce pieces. Roll each piece into 18 to 24 inch ropes.

In shallow bowl, mix together the topping ingredients. Shake rope into a pretzel, then dip into topping. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Bake in a 400* oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden brown.  Remove from oven and brush with melted butter, dip in cinnamon sugar is desired.

*Do not use table salt for topping on pretzels. Use only pretzel or coarse salt, as table salt will soak in while baking.

*This recipe can be halved or quartered, as desired.

*If not measuring flour by weight, hold back 2 cups flour and used to achieve desired consistency.

Everything Topping
Sesame seed
Poppy seed
Minced onion
Minced garlic
salt

For 1/2 recipe of dough:
30.5 ounces all-purpose flour or approximately 8.5 cups
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons salt
1.5 tablespoons instant yeast (instant is better than active)
2 cups water

3 Secret Banana Bread

This started out as BHG red-and-white-cookbook-banana-bread.  Over time, I have finally figured out the tweaks that make it awesome.  Awesome = the way I like it.  To achieve awesome there are 3 things I changed.

1) Instead of 5 bananas, use 6.
2) Instead of oil or butter, use Crisco...it creates a crispy, golden crust.
3) Always bake in smaller pans [2 small loaves (7.5" x 3.5") or 3 mini loaves (5" x 2.5")]

So, here's my amended recipe:

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Combine dry ingredients in a medium size bowl and create a valley in the middle.

In another bowl, combine the following (in this order):

2 beaten eggs
6 ripe bananas (I mash them with a fork into the eggs)
1/2 cup Crisco (I use the pre-measured baking sticks; also mashed with a fork, leaving small lumps of Crisco and banana)
1 cup granulated sugar

Optional: 1 cup chocolate chips and/or 1 cup nuts

Pour the banana mixture into the valley in the flour bowl.  Stir with a fork just until moist.  Will be lumpy.

Pour into greased pans (I used olive oil spray).  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.  I lay a sheet of tinfoil over the top for the last 5 minutes, to keep the top from getting too dark.

Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

THE Cornbread (thanks Meg)

When you're in the mood for a traditional, sweet, dense cornbread that doesn't break into crumbs while you eat it....this one is no fail. Just follow the directions exactly as below, and voila! What makes this bread especially yummy is grinding your own cornmeal (popcorn in Blendtec = AWESOME).

1 stick of butter
2/3 c white sugar

melt together
let cool slightly, then add:

2 (beaten) eggs

whisk (or use hand mixer) 30 sec, then add:
1 c milk with 1TBS white vinegar and 1/2 tsp baking soda whisked in it.

add 1 c cornmeal, 1 c flour, and 1/2 tsp salt

pour into 8 x 8 inch pan and bake at 375* for about 25-30 minutes.

Garlic Naan

Garlic Naan

1 package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water + 1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 Tbsp milk

1 egg, beaten

2 tsp salt

4 cups bread flour

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 cup butter, melted

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until foamy.

In a large bowl combine: yeast mixture, sugar, milk, egg, salt and enough flour to make a soft dough (you may not need the entire 4 cups of flour, so add 1/2 cup at a time when you get above 3 cups).

Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth (6-7 minutes).

Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until doubled (90 min).

Punch down dough. Pinch off golf-ball sized pieces and roll into balls and place on tray.

Cover again with damp towel and let rise until doubled in size (30-40 min).

Preheat and lightly oil grill.

Roll one ball of dough into a thin circle.

Place on grill and cook 2-3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned.

Brush uncooked side with garlic butter mixture and turn over. Butter cooked side and cook until brown (2-3 minutes).

Remove from grill and continue process until all dough has been cooked.

I used a large skillet that fit 4-5 at a time (about 275-290 degrees).

Makes 14. Of course, the garlic is optional. You could also use plain butter w/o the garlic.

Cranberry Cornbread

I've been adding cranberries to everything lately. So, naturally, when it came time to make cornbread for the annual chili cookoff, I decided to make a sweet bread and add cranberries. It turned out pretty great.

Cranberry Cornbread

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2 cups flour
2 cups cornmeal
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups plain greek yogurt
2/3 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can creamed corn
1 cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add/combine yogurt, milk, melted butter and creamed corn.

Add the flour mixture and stir until combined. Fold in dried cranberries.

Bake in a greased 9x13 pan at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, or until golden brown on edges.

Pizza Dough Twists

Few doughs are easier and faster than pizza dough. So, that's what I made the other day for these little pretties that accompanied our Easter pot roast meal.

I made the dough in the morning and popped it into the fridge after it had risen about 30 minutes. Then, I brought it to room temperature before rolling it out and cutting it into 1 inch strips. I twisted the strips and let them rise for about 30 minutes while the pizza stone preheated to 500 degrees for 30 minutes. I covered them in melted butter, salt and [half of them] with a garlic and basil topping. Baked on the preheated stone at 500 degrees for about 10-12 minutes. They turned out beautfully golden and crispy on the outside; soft and chewy (but fully cooked) on the inside. Yum!

Pizza Dough

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 1/4 tsp RapidRise Yeast

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp sugar

1/3 cup hot water

2 tsp olive oil

Combine flours, yeast, salt and sugar in food processor and mix. Combine oil and hot tap water. Gradually add in water and oil while mixing. When it forms a ball, knead for 1 additional minute. Let rise for 10 - 20 minutes, covered with a piece of plastic that has been sprayed with olive oil or cooking spray.

My Sourdough Starter Overfloweth

UPDATE #2: This is the method I used for my starter. I used fresh squeezed orange juice and freshly ground wheat flour. This site explains how it works.

UPDATE #1: Every time I'm about to give up on my starter, it comes back to life. Yesterday I fed it and it did nothing. Today I fed it and it DOUBLED! That means it's strong enough to bake bread. I'm putting it in the fridge tomorrow for a week and hope it will spring back to life when I return from a little R&R with my sister in NC. ;)

See how it doubled above the tape line?? 2 hours! :O

Last Sunday I was baking wheat bread for the first time. Later that evening I was reading about breads on the internet and stumbled upon some instructions for making sourdough bread.

We LOVE sourdough. It is, by far, our favorite kind of bread.

It is also expensive.

So, I got this crazy idea that I would try to make my own sourdough starter. Most of the sites I read said that using commercial (instant) yeast creates a less stable starter than cultivating your own. And so, at midnight last Sunday, I started my starter.

3 Tbsp freshly ground wheat flour
3 Tbsp freshly squeezed orange juice

That's it! Loosely cover and leave on the counter top while you feed it the first 11 days. I had exactly 11 days before leaving town for a week, so I was hoping it would be strong enough to put in the fridge by the time 11 days had passed.

The experts said it wouldn't really do anything (like start to bubble) until the 4th day. All I was to do was feed it every 24 hours. On the 4th day, I was to switch from orange juice and wheat flour to purified water (tap water can kill it if it contains chlorine) and white flour. I did.

I was becoming a bit discouraged when it really didn't seem like anything was happening on the 4th and 5th day. Truth be told, I'd kept forgetting about it, so sometimes the feedings were 36 hours, rather than 24. I thought I'd probably failed at my attempt and thought about buying some starter online. I fed it again last night, anyway. It grew a tiny bit. The theory is that after about 11 days of fermentation and feeding, it'll DOUBLE in size when you feed it, meaning it's ready to bake with.

Well, imagine my surprise today (7 days later) when I fed it and it just about doubled inside of an hour! Woohoo! We have created our own native wild yeast in one week!

It began to overflow this morning

Now that it's growing, I'm putting it in the jar that will live in the fridge after 11 days

Can you see those little bubbles?

That's a good thing!

In case you're wondering, you throw out about half of it every time you feed it (depending on how much you are using in your recipe and how much you want to reserve for the next time), since it doubles in size. This is how it keeps growing stronger over time.

My plan is to pull it out of the fridge mid-month, feed it for a few days to revive it, then give it a go on my first sourdough loaf! Now I really want to buy a clay baker and a proofing basket.

Focaccia Caprese

I think I may have died and gone to Tuscany! Is there ANYthing better than fresh basil?

I had some fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil in the fridge, and I immediately thought of bruschetta for dinner....but I didn't have any bread. I've made focaccia a few times in the past month and thought this could be a quick and easy solution to my missing ingredient.

It turned out to be the PERFECT solution. Jimmie said, "I think I could eat this EVERY DAY and never get tired of it." And THAT is the litmus test!



Start with a basic focaccia recipe.

1 package yeast
1 tsp sugar
1/3 cup hot water

2 cups flour
1 cup warm water

1 tsp salt
2 Tsp olive oil

Place the yeast, sugar and 1/3 cup water in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes until creamy.
Add the yeast mixture to 2 cups flour in a medium bowl.
Add warm water 1 Tbsp at a time until a dough forms.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a minute.
Place in a bowl coated with oil and let rise for 30 minutes with a damp cloth over the top.
Preheat over to 475.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and deflate, kneading into desired shape.
Place on baking stone or sheet, brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and any desired seasonings.

Bake at 475 for 10 - 20 minutes (depending on how crispy you like your bread).

I cooked mine for 15 minutes. It's not perfect. It stretched out larger than the baking stone and I squished it together to make it fit. This bread's got character.



While focaccia is baking, dice tomatoes, basil and fresh mozzarella cheese.

I found it easier to slice the bread with a pizza cutter BEFORE adding toppings.

Sprinkle with salt [the tomatoes will need it].


Enjoy!

Cinnamon Rolls

I've had one of these for 5 years.I have never used it to make bread dough. I know!

So, as we prepare to exit this decade and enter the next, I decided to give it a whirl. Since I didn't plan ahead, I was happy to find a 60 minute, fast-rising dough recipe. Is it bad that the 'warmest place' in my kitchen (other than my oven) is the heater vent on the floor?!

It was covered (and it totally worked)!
15 minutes later, the dough was ready to go.

I'd just watched Giada make an excellent hazelnut cinnamon roll recipe HERE. I used pecans.

The icing has a little mascarpone cheese in it - [not so] secret ingredient!

They. were. inhaled.

Bread = not so hard in a mixer with a dough hook. I think I'll make dough more often.

I'd better get my run on tomorrow....I just ate 3 of these bad boys! Good thing we gave away one of these pans.

Hazelnut Cinnamon Rolls recipe HERE.

Pumpkin Muffins

Can you bake without flour?

I've gotten in the habit of baking while listening to conference on the internet (it certainly keeps me more attentive than falling asleep on the sofa!). I've been excited to try a recipe my sister Natalie shared for Pumpkin Macadamia White Chip cookies, and bought all of the necessary ingredients yesterday. Although my flour canister was empty, I didn't buy flour because I have a 5 gallon bucket of it in my pantry....just needed to refill the canister.

So, I pulled out my 5 gallon bucket this morning and discovered it was FULL of weevils. I should've guessed as much. Even double bagging contents doesn't seem to keep those guys out anything. So, I tossed the entire contents into the garbage. I guess that's why it's worth paying a bit extra to buy it in sealed cans. And then I improvised.

Do you need flour to bake? Not when you make these little yummies.



I combined 1 yellow cake mix with 1 cup of pumpkin, a little cinnamon and some allspice. And 25 minutes later, voila! Yummy, moist pumpkin muffins. Yep, there's already one missing from that pan, because I ate it! A little dallup of Cool Whip put this little baby over the top.



I'm glad I have a party to take them to so I don't eat them all!

I froze the other cup of pumpkin so I can make those cookies later this month.