Bread Even You Can Make

Who wants fresh baked bread for breakfast in the morning?! I found this bread recipe on Pinterest and was talking it up to my mom yesterday. She's like 'yeah, that's the bread I made for you last week'. Der. I was even the one that emailed her the recipe. I may or may not read all of the recipes I forward to her. I think she's figured that out now. I'm more of a picture person. If it looks good, I'll figure out how to make it.

I will not claim that this is my own recipe, though it's so freaken easy, you won't even need a recipe the second or third time you make it. There are a million different flavors you could make with it too. My next try will be cinnamon/raisin. I can't wait. Seriously - know how much you hate kneading dough? You don't have to do that to this bread. Know how you hate waiting for it to rise? Well, you still have to wait, but you can let it sit overnight and not think about it. I'm all about the 'letting it sit overnight' strategy. 

Below is the recipe and here is where I got it from. Be sure to check out where I got it from, because she goes into details and also includes many flavor options.

Crusty Bread

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1 1/2 cups water

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, salt and yeast. Add water and mix until a shaggy mixture forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and set aside for 12 - 18 hours. Overnight works great. Heat oven to 450 degrees. When the oven has reached 450 degrees place a cast iron pot with a lid in the oven and heat the pot for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, pour dough onto a heavily floured surface and shape into a ball. Cover with plastic wrap and let set while the pot is heating. Remove hot pot from the oven and drop in the dough. Cover and return to oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes remove the lid and bake an additional 15 minutes. Remove bread from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool.

BB Biscuits

I must admit. It's been a terribly long time since I've participated in the Daring Bakers and I started to feel some sort of withdrawal. No joke. Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens! His recipe is awesome. It's the perfect size for 2-4 people to enjoy fresh, homemade biscuits in about 20 minutes (I made them big). If you're like me, it might be enough for one person. 

As expected, I changed up the recipe a little so that I could use up some fresh fruit I had around. Ripe bananas are not a thing to waste, after-all. Below is Aud's recipe and mine is to follow. I incorporated one very ripe banana with about 1/2 cup blueberries to the mixture. Since I was adding in moisture with the banana, I used half the butter and I cut the milk in half to start. If the mixture seemed dry, I just added a little more milk until it seemed right. I would recommend adding about 1 tsp. of vanilla to the milk mixture. This will bring out the flavor of the banana and blueberries. I baked my biscuits right in a small (6-inch) cast iron pan. This way, I can bring the biscuits right to the table and serve them hot.

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)

created by: Audax Artifex
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Can be doubled

Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm/5 oz) plain (all-purpose) flour
2 teaspoons (10 ml) (10 gm) (1/3 oz) fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon (1¼ ml) (1½ gm) salt
2 tablespoons (30 gm/1 oz) frozen grated butter (or a
combination of lard and butter)
Approximately ½ cup (120 ml) cold milk
Optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.

2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)

3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

4. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2
cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden colour on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly coloured on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

BB Biscuits (aka Blueberry-Banana Biscuits)

Adapted from Audax Artifex

Servings: about four large biscuits

Can be doubled

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoons frozen grated butter 

1 medium ripe banana, peeled and mashed

1/2 cup fresh blueberries, dusted in flour
Approximately 1/4 cup cold milk
Optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the biscuits

Optional 1 tablespoon sugar, for sprinkling the tops of the biscuits

Directions
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F.

2. Mix dry ingredients into a large bowl.

3. Rub the frozen grated butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.

4. Add the mashed banana and nearly all of the liquid into the rubbed-in flour/butter mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!

5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. Gradually knead the blueberries into the layers as to not squish them, but evenly distribute through the dough. To achieve 

an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)

6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch circle by about ¾ inch thick. Using a well-floured sharp knife, form squares or wedges as you desire.

7. Place the rounds just touching on a 6 inch greased cast iron pan or baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden color on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones. Sprinkle the tops with sugar.

8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes, just in case) until the scones are well risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.

9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

My Very Own Cinnamon Raisin Scones (with some help, of course)

I've literally been wanting to make scones for the past 2-3 years. Literally. There are so many different variations and possibilities, that I have a pile of about 15 different scone recipes waiting to be tested. And heck, who doesn't like a warmed-up scone for breakfast every day? (Am I starting to sound crazy? It's ok - I can't see you.)

Lucky for my husband, he woke up one morning to fresh scones coming hot out of the oven. If he liked coffee, that would have been ready too - but I pretty much cleaned the pot out by this point. He was hooked, and told me that I could make these again - if I felt like it.

What flavor combinations would you like to test out in a scone or muffin? Inspire me!

Cinnamon Raisin Scones

Adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook - Revised Edition

Makes 8 scones

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/4 cup whole milk

1/4 cup heavy cream

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 Tablespoon King Arthur cinnamon-sugar mix

1 Tablespoon decorating sugar (or regular sugar will do) for sprinkling on the scones

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup raisins

10 Tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes and chilled

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375*F. Spread the oats out over a baking sheet and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Increase the oven temperature to 450*F. When the oats are cooled, measure out 2 tablespoons (for dusting the counter) and set aside. Line a second baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk the milk, cream, and egg together in a large measuring cup. Remove 1 tablespoon to a small bowl and reserve for glazing.

Pulse the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt in a food processor until combined, about 4 pulses. Scatter the butter evenly over the top and process until the mixture resembles course cornmeal, 12-14 pulses.  

Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and stir in the cooled oats and raisins. Fold in the milk mixture using a rubber spatula until large clumps form. Gently knead the mixture in the bowl with your hands until the dough forms a cohesive mass.

Dust the counter with half of the reserved oats. Turn the dough out onto the counter and dust the top with the remaining oats. Gently pat the dough into a -inch circle about 1 inch thick. Cut the dough into 8 wedges and place on the prepared baking sheet. Brush with the reserved milk mixture and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake until golden brown, 12-15 minutes. Let the scones cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. Serve warm or transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes.

Filled Meringue Coffee Cake

I apologize for my absence from the blogging world for the past two months. My husband and I have moved halfway across the country - again. Closer to home, but still in foreign land. We are now living in cheese-country Wisconsin. I went from small-scale artisanal cheese world to the next level up. Luckily for me, I'm obsessed with cheese - so it's totally fine with me. Expect more from me this spring and summer - as I have a whole new area to explore!

I have been craving cinnamon rolls for about two months now. As soon as I read this month's Daring Bakers challenge, I instantly knew what flavors I was going to try.  The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Luckily, I had nearly a full Sunday to hang out in the kitchen and watch dough rise - and my husband was working on taxes, so he didn't need my attention. It was a crisp sunny day, so the heat of the oven was welcoming. With the confirmation of my husband, I made two different fillings for my coffee cakes; cinnamon roll and peanut butter and jelly. The PB and J is cake is in the freezer until we finish devouring the cinnamon roll cake.

This is a fairly easy recipe (just time consuming). The more creative you are with the fillings, the more fun it gets. Just be sure to not over fill your dough, or it will come oozing out the ends. 

Cinnamon Roll-Filled Meringue Coffee Cake

Makes 2 round coffee cakes, each approximately 10 inches in diameter

The recipe can easily be halved to make one round coffee cake

Ingredients

For the yeast coffee cake dough:

4 cups (600 g / 1.5 lbs.) flour

¼ cup (55 g / 2 oz.) sugar

¾ teaspoon (5 g / ¼ oz.) salt

1 package (2 ¼ teaspoons / 7 g / less than an ounce) active dried yeast

¾ cup (180 ml / 6 fl. oz.) whole milk

¼ cup (60 ml / 2 fl. oz. water (doesn’t matter what temperature)

½ cup (135 g / 4.75 oz.) unsalted butter at room temperature

2 large eggs at room temperature

For the meringue:

3 large egg whites at room temperature

¼ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon vanilla

½ cup sugar

For the filling:

Cinnamon Roll

1/2 cup King Arthur Flour's cinnamon sugar mix

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

3/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 T honey

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cubed butter

Peanut Butter & Jelly

1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/2 cup jam/jelly

3/4 cup chocolate chips

Egg wash: 1 beaten egg

Cocoa powder (optional) and confectioner’s sugar (powdered/icing sugar) for dusting cakes

Directions:

Prepare the dough:

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ½ cups (230 g) of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted. 

With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. 

Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes. Add the eggs and 1 cup (150 g) flour and beat for 2 more minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a dough that holds together. Turn out onto a floured surface (use any of the 1 ½ cups of flour remaining) and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, smooth, sexy and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.

Place the dough in a lightly greased (I use vegetable oil) bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes. The rising time will depend on the type of yeast you use.

Prepare your filling. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, sugar, nuts and butter for the filling if using. The honey will get sprinkled on before rolling the dough. For PB & J, combine peanut butter and jelly with a spoon. Sprinkle chocolate over the dough, last.

Once the dough has doubled, make the meringue:

In a clean mixing bowl – ideally a plastic or metal bowl so the egg whites adhere to the side (they slip on glass) and you don’t end up with liquid remaining in the bottom – beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque. Add the vanilla then start adding the ½ cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assemble the Coffee Cakes:

Line 2 baking/cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Punch down the dough and divide in half. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time (keep the other half of the dough wrapped in plastic), roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 ½ cm) rectangle. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. Sprinkle half of your filling of choice evenly over the meringue (ex: half of the cinnamon-sugar followed by half the chopped nuts and half of the chocolate chips/chopped chocolate).

Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors or a sharp knife (although scissors are easier), make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 ½ cm) intervals. Make them as shallow or as deep as desired but don’t be afraid to cut deep into the ring. Repeat with the remaining dough, meringue and fillings.

Cover the 2 coffee cakes with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).

Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.

Just before serving, dust the tops of the coffee cakes with confectioner’s sugar as well as cocoa powder if using chocolate in the filling. These are best eaten fresh, the same day or the next day.

Sunday Brunch: Cornbread Pudding

I love this cornbread pudding recipe. It's from a really old Everyday Food magazine (2004) and it just hits the spot.  Surprisingly, the ingredients say you can use store-bought cornbread (this is Martha, guys) but it's too easy to just whip some up yourself. Simply, follow the directions on the side of a cornmeal can for one batch of cornbread. Note - that I said one batch. If you were to follow Martha's recipe, you will need two batches of cornbread. I've found that one (and cutting the recipe in half), tends to be enough to cover about 3 breakfasts for my husband and I. We typically pour maple syrup or honey on top. It's warm and delicious.

Check out her recipe here - and remember to halve it if you're only making one batch of cornbread!

Pumpkin Bread for the Soul

Ooh the joys of Fall. Finally, an excuse to add pumpkin to just about everything. I will admit, it doesn't belong in everything though. I made a squash and pumpkin pasta sauce last week and it was NOT good. Sad, but true - just ask my husband.  Anyways - this was not one of those instances. 

This pumpkin bread is awesome. It has cream cheese and pumpkin pie spice - it doesn't get a whole lot better.  Check out the bottom of the recipe for other ways to use pumpkin pie spice.

Now, when you take this bread out of the oven, you're going to be tempted to cut it up right away to give it a try. DON'T DO IT! I did, and I regretted it.  It tastes so much better when it's cooled and doesn't completely fall apart either. I mean, check out my photos - I just couldn't wait.

This recipe is from one of those free Kraft Foods magazines. It dates back to 2007 and I love it.

Pumpkin Bread for the Soul

Recipe adapted from Kraft Foods' Layered Pumpkin Loaf

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup  plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4   egg whites, divided
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup  canola oil
2 cups flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp.  salt
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
Make It

HEAT oven to 350ºF.

MIX pumpkin, 1 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, 3 egg whites, milk and oil in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Beat cream cheese, remaining granulated sugar and remaining egg white with whisk until well blended.

SPOON half of pumpkin batter into greased 9x5-inch nonstick loaf pan; cover with layers of cream cheese mixture and remaining pumpkin batter.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Loosen bread from sides of pan; cool in pan 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

*Wondering why you would ever want to purchase pumpkin pie spice? I'll tell you why - it's fabulous. I sprinkle it on my coffee in the morning, over a souffle or custard or even ice cream. It just adds a little somthn' somthin' to your everyday foods. (I know, souffle isn't exactly everyday, but it sounds good right?)

Zucchini Muffins

This recipe came from one of my best friend Lydia's momma.  The recipe was enough for two loaves of bread, but I only have one bread pan - so I decided to make muffins. The best part about them? They take a quarter of the time.  Short on time? Yeah, me too.

Jenna, this one's for you -

Donna's Zucchini Bread (or muffins)

3 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/4 cup sugar
1 c. cooking oil
2 c. shredded zucchini
3 c. flour
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Sift together flour, soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Then mix in all other ingredients by the order listed.

Bake in 2 greased and floured bread pans (or 1 bread pan and 1 muffin pan, or 2 muffin pans) for one hour at 350*F.

But wait - there's more!

Did you read the 1 cup oil part and kind of cringe? Yeah, me too. What happens if you shred too much zucchini? What else can you do with it? Make more muffins!  I made a second batch substituting a cup of apple sauce for the oil and adding 1 mushed banana. They turned out really scrumptious and my co-workers were happy that I made the second batch.