TWD: Chocolate Babka

Okay.... So it’s time for our holiday baking with the “Tuesday’s With Dorie” group that I bake with and several years ago I tried my hand at the “Chocolate Babka” that everyone was raving about. Traditionally it is filled, rolled into a loaf and covered with a very yummy streusel topping, but here at the pantry, my little helping hands mistakenly added the streusel in the middle before we rolled it and they wanted to make it star shaped like another recipe the girls were looking at, so we drizzled vanilla glaze over the top of ours. Another side note: our loaf is filled with homemade chocolate cream cheese filling made with fresh ground cacao nibs that my friend gave us, instead of the unsweetened cocoa powder that the recipe calls for. Loved how easy and pretty my loaves turned out. 

The recipe can be found in Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking with Dorie: Sweet, Salty and Simple”. On page 35. 

Also… there is an awesome group of photo instructions explaining how to make the Star Shape can be found at the following link: Star Shaped Brioche

TWD: "Baking with Julia" - Buttermilk Bread

       

        So we actually had two challenges today, first our "Tuesday's With Dorie" challenge was to make Buttermilk Bread. Next in our bread making techniques class, we learned how to twist and braid loaves of bread. We decided to combine the two together. My loaves are not pretty, but they tasted good.

And of course, no recipe included because we would like to encourage everyone to join us and cook from Dorie's Cookbook... "Baking With Julia", 

Checkerboard Tangzhong Rolls

Artisan "Bread of the Month" challenge...

This was an interesting recipe for us here at the Pantry, because in our chef world the beginning is known as a "RUE", a base for gravies and cream sauces. I was very intrigued and very surprised... We loved them! Best Rolls in a long time. We were out of all black style seeds so we chose to use a roasted garlic and parsley dry herb mix on top of ours along with the sesame seeds. We are adding this recipe to our stack for sure... 😀

CHECKERBOARD TANGZHONG ROLLS

Ingredients
Tangzhong
90 grams (6 T) water
18 grams (2 T) bread flour

Final Dough
345 grams bread flour
30 grams sugar
7 grams instant yeast
15 grams milk powder (optional, I used King Arthur Flour's Special Dry Milk)
All of the tangzhong
75 to 90 grams whole milk
30 grams heavy whipping cream
one egg
30 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
5 grams salt

Topping
Milk
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, bran, or other seed or topping of your choice

Instructions
To make the tangzhong:
Whisk the water and flour together in a small saucepan until blended.
Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens reaches 149 degrees F, or if you don't have a thermometer, until your spoon forms lines in the mixture. Do not walk away as this happens really fast.
Immediately scrape the mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the mixture and let it cool to room temperature.
To make the final dough:
Add the dry ingredients except the salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.
In a medium bowl, whisk the tangzhong with the the milk and cream..
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on low with the dough hook. Add the salt.
Add the butter, a little bit at a time, continuing to mix on low. If the dough gets too slippery, switch to the paddle for a minute or two to incorporate the ingredients.
Once the butter is incorporated, knead with the dough hook for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to an oiled boil, cover, and let rise for one to two hours, until doubled. You can also let it rise in the refrigerator overnight, up to 24 hours.
Line a 9 inch by 9 inch cake pan with parchment and spray with spray oil.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape the pieces into rolls.
Dip each roll into milk and then into the seeds of your choice. Or, for better seed placement than I got, sprinkle the seeds over the top of the milk dipped roll. Arrange the rolls in the pan in a pattern of your choice.
Cover and let rise 1 to 2 hours, until doubled.
Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F.
Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes, until golden. Lift the parchment out of the pan and place the rolls on a wire rack. Remove the parchment and let cool a bit before serving.
Store extras in a plastic bag.
Adapted from a recipe contributed by Dave W, a member of the Facebook group, Artisan Bread Bakers.

Here's a link to my version. http://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2015/0

TWD: "Baking with Julia" - Brioche Tart with White Secret Sauce

 I have been intrigued with the art of making a good Brioche for a couple of years now and today's challenge gave me the little shove I needed....

We decided to make them into individual size for better serving and presentation for a larger group of people. We also choose to add wet walnuts as the topping. Even though they were a little time consuming, they were fantastic and we will be making these again.

Our little brioche loaf at the end was very tasty, it had great crumb and texture. This recipe is one of those that Julia also baked with Nancy Silverton and the video can be seen on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=er5uqAfZpLg. 

TWD: "Baking With Juilia" - KA'KAT

Today, Our "Tuesday's with Dorie" challenge was to make KA'KAT. I have never heard of them but I am in love! These very tasty, little middle eastern, sweet rolls are much like our bagels, but taste more like a soft pretzel.

The recipe called for mahleb, which is ground up sour cherry pits, I didn't have any, so after talking with my Greek baking friend this morning he said that almond paste or flavoring would work. I also had some dried cranberries that I added to my dough. Normally, they have sesame seeds on top, but I am also out of theses, so I sprinkled raw sugar on top. yUM!!!!

Ingredients

2 T sugar

2 tsp active dry yeast

2 cups warm (105 to 115 degrees F) water

3-31/2 cups of bread or unbleached all purpose flour, divided

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground mahleb

1 large egg, beaten

3 to 4 tsp sesame seeds

Instructions

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the sugar, yeast, and water. 
2. Add 12 ounces of the flour, and mix on low with the dough hook for about 3 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 10 minutes. 
3. Add the salt and mahleb, and mix on low. Gradually add flour until you have a dough that is cohesive (I used all of the flour). Mix on low for about 10 minutes. 
4. Let the dough rise in an oiled bowl until doubled, about 60 to 120 minutes. 
5. Line two baking sheets with parchment. Divide the dough into 32 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 6 inch rope. Form the ropes into rings and place them onto the baking sheets. Keep the rings covered with oiled plastic wrap. 
6. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes. 
7. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place the oven racks in the upper third of the oven. Brush the Ka'kat with the egg wash, and sprinkle with sesame seeds. 
8. Bake the Ka'kat for about 20 minutes, until golden. Rotate the pans halfway through. 
9. Let cool on the pans for about 5 minutes before serving warm. Leftovers can be reheated in a hot oven. 

Staff of Life 12 Grain Loaves

THROWBACK THURSDAY: I have been baking since I was a young child, both with my family and in the professional world, but over the course of the past couple of years I have learned that as a Baker, it is all about the product. As an Artisan, it is all about the technique and as a Miller, it is all about the grains and how they are ground. When you start to intertwine all three together you get a wonderful stack of loaves known as the "STAFF OF LIFE" bread. After a couple of modern tweaks to a very, very old recipe that was recently given to me by an artisan baker friend...

I give you my Recipe:
In a large bowl add 3 cups hot water ( I used half milk / half water),
next add small hand full of salt and sugar mixture (1 tablespoon of each)
Stir with fingers until desolved.
Next add 2 dips of fresh butter (about a half of stick)
And next add start for leavening. (1 cup sour dough start or 2 tablespoons yeast)
Add 2 handfuls of fresh course ground 10 grain mixture, Mix and let set until just before room temperature.
Now mix in 3 handfuls of whole wheat flour and 3-4 handfuls of white flour. Mix well, add more flour as needed until no longer sticky (this was the tricky part for me, I added flour until it no longer stuck to my fingers, similar to roll dough)
Knead for 5 minutes and place back in greased bowl. Let rise until double in size, punch down and let rise again. Next punch down and shape into loaves, let rise to double in size and bake until loaves are golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped upon. If you like it dark and crusty bake longer. (I baked mine in a regular 350* oven for about 45 minutes)

Cracked Wheat Bread

• 1cup  cracked wheat 
• 1½ boiling water
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast 
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup warm buttermilk
• ¼ cup  molasses
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2½ to 3 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (for brushing loaves)

1. In a bowl, place cracked wheat and pour boiling water over it. Let sit for 1 hour to soften.
2. Next combine the yeast, buttermilk, molasses, sugar, salt and butter in with softened wheat.
3. In a large bowl (I use my mixer with the paddle attachment) mix together the whole wheat flour and half of the all-purpose flour. Stir in the wheat mixture until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the flour, ½ cup at a time, until the dough pulls from the side of the bowl and forms a ball.
4. Replace the paddle attachment with the dough hook if using the electric mixer, knead the dough in the mixer for about 3 minutes and turn out the dough and finish kneading by hand, Or if kneading completely by hand, place onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes until the dough is soft and springy, but still tacky. The dough should spring back when gently poked with your finger.
5. Place dough in a bowl with a tablespoon of soft butter and coat the dough ball with it. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Allow to rise at room temperature for about 1½ hours until doubled in bulk.
6. Gently deflate the dough by just pressing down on it. Form into 4 round loaves or divide in half for two 9 X 5 greased loaf pans. If making rounds place on parchment paper or lightly greased sheet pans. Brush the tops with melted butter and loosely cover with kitchen towel, allow to rise for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
7. Bake loaves in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes. The loaves should be done when tapping them with your finger sounds hollow. Remove bread from the oven and let cool before slicing. 

Garlic & Herb Pull-A-Part Bread

Today... over on the Artisan Bread Baking page, Sophia Wong posted an amazing picture and recipe of a "garlic & herb pull-a-part" bread. I couldn't resist, the recipe turned out perfect even after I converted it from grams to ounces. Very YUMMY! Sophia... Thank you for sharing

From Sophia...

Old dough provides good rise and volume to bread. 

Old dough: 
100g AP flr, 
70g water 
1/8 t yeast. 
Mix all and rest in RT 1 hr and chill overnight.

Main dough:
180g Bread flr,
70g AP flr, 
160g Water,
1/2 t yeast (1t is not using SD)
10g Sugar 
50g SD100%
7g Salt
Filling: melted butter, fresh chopped herbs, minced garlic, shredded cheddar n pamersan cheese. Some sesame seeds 

1. Mix the Old Dough w Main Dough, knead well until gluten developed. Cover n proof till doubled in size, 1.5-2 hr.
2. Preshape the dough to round shape and bench rest 20 mins. 
3. Roll dough out into a 12x20 inch rectangle size. Brush w melted butter, sprinkle the filling on top. 
4. Divide the dough to 4 equal strips and slice the strips into 5 equal slices again. 20 in total. 
5. Layer the dough squares in a 9x5 greased loaf pan. Cover. Final proof for 1 hr or until almost doubled in size. 
6. Glaze butter on top and sprinkle some cheese on top. Bake 220C for 30 mins until the top is golden brown.

Make-Over Monday - Garlic & Chive Hamburger Buns (using "Sponge" start)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°) (instead of Milk or Cream)
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

 

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil and sugar; let stand for 5 minutes. Add the egg, salt and enough flour to form a soft dough. 
• Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes. Do not let rise. Divide into 12 pieces; shape each into a ball. Place 3 in. apart on greased baking sheets.
• Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Bake at 425° for 8-12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.
• Yield: 12 to 18 buns 

Nutritional Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 195 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 18 mg cholesterol, 204 mg sodium, 29 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g protein.

Calzones - (using "biga start)

They say that in order for a calzone to be a "real" calzone, you can not put sauce on the inside.. 

For the Ferment (biga)
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
8 Tablespoons of lukewarm water
1-1/2 cups white bread flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour and work it with a wooden spoon until you have thick batter. Cover it with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for 2 1/2 -3 hours, or until bubbly and risen.

Ingredients:

1 recipe of active 60% hydrated biga (see recipe above)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese

1 cup precooked mild Italian sausage

1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)

1 tablespoon dried basil leaves

1 egg, beaten

 To Make Filling: While dough is rising, combine the ricotta cheese, Cheddar cheese, pepperoni, mushrooms and basil leaves in a large bowl. Mix well, cover bowl and chill.

To Make Dough:  In the your bowl of biga,  Add the oil, sugar and salt; mix in 1 cup of the flour until smooth. Gradually stir in the rest of the flour, until dough is smooth and workable. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes, or until it is elastic. Lay dough in a bowl containing 1 teaspoon olive oil, then flip the dough, cover and let rise for 40 minutes, or until almost doubled. When dough is ready, Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) and punch dough down and separate it into 6-8 equal parts. Roll parts out into thin circles on a lightly floured surface. Fill each circle with 2-3 tablspoons of the cheese/meat filling and fold over, securing edges by folding in and pressing with a fork. Brush the top of each calzone with egg and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Overnight Cinnamon Rolls - (using poolish)

 Ingredients:

  

Dough: 

2 tablespoons dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup scalded milk
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup soft butter

1 teaspoon salt 

1 egg

7 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup fresh ground  whole wheat flour

Filling:
1 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons ground cinnamon 

1 cup raisins, walnuts, or pecans, optional

Glaze:
4 tablespoons butter2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon Almond extract
4 tablespoons half & half

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

For Poolish ~ In a small bowl, dissolve 1 tablespoon yeast, sugar and salt in warm water and add 2 cups all-purpose flour, mix well and set aside for a least 4 hours (overnight is best). 

Next morning, in a large bowl mix milk, the other tablespoon of yeast, melted butter, and egg. Mix until will combined, add poolish and stir. Now add 2 cups of flour and mix until smooth. Mix in remaining all purpose flour until dough is easy to handle. Knead dough on lightly whole wheat floured surface for 5 to 10 minutes. You may need to keep dusting your dough until it is know longer sticky. Place in well-greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size, usually 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When doubled in size, punch dough down and divide in half. Roll half out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9-inch rectangle. Spread 1/2 cup melted butter all over dough. Mix sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle half the mix over buttered dough. Sprinkle with walnuts, pecans, or raisins if desired. Beginning at the 15-inch side, role up dough and pinch edge together to seal. Cut into 12 to 15 slices. Repeat with the other half of the dough.

 Coat the bottom of baking pan with butter and sprinkle with sugar. Place cinnamon roll slices close together in the pan and let rise until dough is doubled, about 45 minutes. Bake on 350* for about 30 -40 minutes or until nicely browned.

While the Cinnamon rolls are cooling, mix butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. Add half & half 1 tablespoon at a time until the glaze reaches desired consistency. Spread over slightly cooled rolls.

PANE ALL'OLIO - (using "biga" start)

Here is my first loaf of PANE ALL'OLIO using a fresh biga at 60% hydration.

For the Ferment (biga)
1 teaspoon of dry yeast
8 Tablespoons of lukewarm water
1-1/2 cups white bread flour

Dissolve the yeast in the water, add the flour and work it with a wooden spoon until you have thick batter. Cover it with plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge overnight or at room temperature for 2 1/2 -3 hours, or until bubbly and risen.



For the Dough
The risen ferment, at room temperature (make sure to take it out of the fridge 1 hour before kneading if you

rested it overnight)
6 tablespoons of warm water
4 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
2-1/2 cups white bread flour plus 3 or 4 tablespoons more if the enough is too sticky.
2 teaspoons of salt

Method
1.  In a large bowl, dissolve the water, sugar and salt together.
2. Add the oil, the risen ferment and the flour and stir with a wooden spoon until well combined.
3. Tip the dough onto a floured surface and knead well for 5 minutes. If the dough feels to sticky , add a little flour. Bare in mid that this is supposed to be a soft dough, but should not be sticky and come away easily from your fingers.

4. Stretch the dough into a rectangle,  Roll into a ball, place in a large , oiled container. Cover with a damp tea-towel and leave it to prove at room temperature for 1 hour. take the dough out of the container, knock it back, stretch it into a rectangle and then shape back into a ball. Place the dough back into the oiled container and leave to prove for 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until it has doubled in size.
5. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 or 3 ball of dough, depending on the size of loaves you are after.
6.  Leave the dough to proof for 30-45 minutes on an oven tray or what ever container you are going to bake it in lined with parchment paper. Bring your oven to 375 F.
7. Just before baking, score the breads to your liking and bake until it reaches your desired doneness.

Biga -vs- Poolish

       Not to long after I joined the Artisan Bread Baking Group on Facebook, I realized that I was way behind in my bread making knowledge. I have recently come to the conclusion that we could spent a month of Saturday's discussing all the different ways you can get bread to rise. I have learned that bakers take hydration and fermentation very seriously. So, today, for our Super Saturday Cooking School session we thought we would try and give some cause and effect reasoning to a few of these methods used in bread making...

To start off with we need to explain that Preferment is any bread making technique that combines a moderate percentage of flour with a tiny amount of leavening and a small amount water and lets it develop for a period of time, anywhere from an 1 hour to a week or two, unlike a sourdough start that can be kept active for years. Biga and poolish are both types of this preferment and they can both be made from another type of flour than the one you are using for the actual bread. For example, you can use spelt, rye or whole wheat flour to add different flavours to our bread.

Biga ---- (Italian) is generally lower hydration at about 60 to 70 percent hydration, which make it a firmer start. The main function of a Biga is to enhance the strength of the dough, but also has a positive influence of coaxing the flavor out of the starches of a well maintained start and is often used in those breads that need a light, open texture with holes.  Many of these breads include the popular Italian breads, such as ciabatta or pane all'olio. Biga also helps to preserve the bread by making it less perishable.

Poolish ---- (Polish/Austrian) is generally 100 percent hydration which creates a very soupy start. Usually a poolish is fermented at room temperature and the amount of yeast used depends on the time you want to ferment the poolish, meaning less yeast needs more time. You get a richer flavour due to increased acidicity and you gain a longer shelf life.

Sponge ---- (English) is like a poolish but contains all of the water and is quite thin and runny

Pate Fermentee ---- (French) is also considered a firmer start, but greatly differs from the Biga. It is usually purpose-made and includes salt. It is kneaded a bit then put in the fridge overnight or for a few days. 

Oatmeal Bread - From theTrapp Family Lodge

Yield: Makes 2 loaves
 
ingredients

1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
2 1/2 cups hot water
two 1/4-ounce packages (5 teaspoons) active dry yeast
5 to 6 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten lightly, for brushing dough

preparation

In a large bowl combine butter, sugar, and 1 1/2 cups oats. Stir in hot water and let mixture stand until lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over mixture and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. Stir in 5 cups flour and salt, stirring until mixture forms a dough, and turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead dough 10 minutes, adding as much of remaining cup of flour as necessary to form a smooth and elastic dough, and let rest, covered with an inverted bowl, 15 minutes.

Lightly oil 2 loaf pans, 9 by 5 by 3 inches. Form dough into 2 loaves and transfer to pans. Brush surface of dough with egg and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup oats. Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Bake bread in middle of oven 35-45

Southwest Grits & Cheddar Bread

What happens when you have a whole lot of leftover jalapeno cheddar grits. Well, you make bread of course.... Here at the pantry we have come up with a great new bread and hamburger bun recipe that is sure to tingle anybodies southwest taste buds. So today for our Super Saturday Cooking session, we invite you all to give it a try. 

Difficulty: Easy
Servings: 2 large loaves

Prep Time: 15 minutes plus rising time    
Cook Time: 25 - 35  minutes  

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup cooked Jalapeno Cheddar grits
4 1/2 - 5 cups flour
1/4 cup diced green pepper
1/4 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup diced yellow squash

Directions

In a large bowl, combine water, yeast, sugar, and salt. Let sit five minutes. Stir in COOKED grits (leftover grits work really well) and the first cup of flour with a heavy spoon. Add diced veggies and the rest of the flour a little at a time, stirring until dough becomes somewhat stiff and not sticky. Add a little more flour and begin kneading, (I kneaded my bread while still in my bowl, but you can place it on a floured surface if desired). Continue adding flour a little at a time and kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Let dough rise in a greased, covered bowl until doubled. (Usually, about an hour.) Uncover bowl; sprinkle in a little more flour and knead again. Because of the grits, this dough can stay very sticky, so don't be surprised if you use up to 7 of flour cups through out the whole recipe, so now with floured hands, cut and shape dough into 2 loaves and place on a greased pans. Cover and let rise until loaves have doubled. (About an hour, depending on the temperature in your kitchen.)
Bake for 25 -35 minutes in a preheated 350-degree oven

Classic White Bread

Many of you who have been watching and tasting all of the artisan breads we have been making has requested my plain old classic white bread recipe and so today I am willing to share. So today for our Saturday Cooking School Lesson please feel free to try your hand at a traditional loaf of bread....
This recipe makes 2 loaves

5-1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar

2 envelopes of active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 cups water
1/2 cup milk (we like to use buttermilk)
2 tablespoons butter OR margarine


Directions

If using RapidRise Yeast:

Combine 2 cups flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt in a large mixer bowl.  Heat water, milk, and butter until very warm (120° to 130°F); stir into flour mixture.  Beat 2 minutes at medium speed of electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally.  Stir in 1 cup flour; beat at high speed for 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.  Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes.  Cover; let rest 10 minutes.

Divide dough in half.  Roll each half to 12 x 7-inch rectangle.  Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly as for jelly roll.  Pinch seams and ends to seal.  Place, seam sides down, in greased 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pans.  Cover; let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.  Remove from pans; cool on wire rack.

If using Active Dry Yeast:

Place 1/2 cup warm water (100° to 110°F) in a large warm bowl. Sprinkle in yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar; stir. Let sit 5 to 10 minutes, until foamy on top. Combine remaining water, milk, butter and sugar; heat until warm (100° to 110°F). Add to yeast mixture with salt and 4 cups flour. Mix well using the medium speed of an electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover; let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.

Punch dough down. Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 12 x 7-inch rectangle.  Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly as for jelly roll.  Pinch seams and ends to seal.  Place, seam sides down, in greased 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pans.  Cover; let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until done.  Remove from pans; cool on wire rack.

To make Whole Wheat Bread:  Substitute 2 cups whole wheat flour for part of all-purpose flour.

"Sinful Sticky Buns" - July Artisan BOM

 YUMMY!!!!!! It feels good to be home and back in the kitchen. Our Bread of the month Challenge for July was Sticky Buns. I used the Sinful Sticky Buns recipe posted by Karen and they turned out amazing. The large pan is just regular carmel buns and the small pan of buns are filled with cranberry sauce. They came out very tasty.... 


Here is the recipe

For the Buns
2 packages active dry yeast
½ cup warm water
2 cups warm butter milk
½ cup unsalted butter
6 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs
6 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour

CARMEL GLAZE
1 cup unsalted butter
3 cups brown sugar
½ cup light corn syrup
3 cups broken pecan or walnut pieces

The seductive flavor of caramel and sweet butter and the crunch of nuts make these buns the highlight of any breakfast or brunch

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water
In a large bowl, mix buttermilk, butter, and eggs until well blended. Add the yeast and 4 cups of the flour; mix vigorously. Add the rest of the flour to make a soft dough. Knead again until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover it and let rise until it doubles in bulk.

Make the caramel glaze: Put butter, brown sugar and corn syrup (I also add a teaspoon cinnamon) in a saucepan.

Heat and stir until the butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and pour 1 cup of glaze into a small bowl and set aside. Sprinkle the remaining glaze over the bottom of a 12-inch Dutch oven or 9 x 12 baking dish and sprinkle nuts over the glaze. Roll out the dough into a rectangle and spread with the glaze and nuts. Roll up like a jellyroll from the wide side into a long tube. Cut into 1-½ pieces. Place each piece in the Dutch oven flat side down. Cover and let rise until puffy.

Bake in the Dutch oven for 25 – 30 minutes or in and oven at 350’ for 30 – 35 minutes. Invert the pan onto plate lined with wax paper. Serve warm

Yield: 12 large buns

Garlic Twists

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/8 cups water (70 to 80 degrees F)
• 2 tablespoons of your new Infused Olive Oil
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 3 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh basil
• 3 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon butter or stick margarine, melted

Directions:
It really doesn't matter if you choose to make these by hand, with your bread mixer or in a bread machine. the steps are the same... place the first nine ingredients in order. Select dough setting (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water or flour if needed). When cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 20 portions. Shape each into a ball; roll each into a 9-in. rope. Place on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40 minutes or until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks. Brush warm breadsticks with butter.