Black Russian Rye Bread

Usually I buy Silver Hills Squirrelly bread but occasionally I'll buy black Russian bread from the grocery store which I love. And when I do buy the black Russian bread I usually use it for one of my favourite meals - autumn panzanella. I want to bake bread more often so thought this was a good one to try making at home. The ingredient list is crazy including unsweetened chocolate, caraway seeds, fennel seeds, espresso powder, shallot, cornmeal, molasses, apple cider vinegar, wheat bran and various flours.

I was really happy with how it turned out - very soft but with a slight chew. Not surprisingly very flavourful. Definitely a success. It's not the kind of bread that I like eating on its own everyday (ex. toasted with butter or cheese) as it does have a strong flavour, but to use it occasionally to make a sandwich is a nice change. Years ago I remember making this vegetarian reuben (with avocado instead of corned beef). This bread would be perfect for a reuben.

One thing I did not like was that it has you set the dough on a mixture of cornmeal, flour and caraway seeds. The caraway seeds were too strong for me so I'd recommend omitting them (not from the dough just from this extra step).

I'm submitting this bread to YeastSpotting.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Yeasted Garlic Zucchini Bread
Freshly Fruited Yeast Bread
Carob Pumpernickel Bread
Buttermilk Honey Bread

Black Russian Rye Bread
Adapted from The Bread Bible

Makes 2 medium round loaves

1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115F)
2 tbsp active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter (or regular unsalted butter)
1 oz unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 cups dark rye flour
3 cups bread flour
1 cup wheat bran
2 tbsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
1 tbsp minced shallot
1/4 cup medium-grind yellow cornmeal
1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1. Put the warm water in a bowl or measuring cup. Add the yeast and sugar, stirring to dissolve. Let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes, or until foamy.

2. In a small pot, add 2 cups water, molasses, vinegar, butter, and chocolate. Heat to 105F to 115F. Ensure the butter and chocolate has melted. Set aside. In a separate large bowl, combine the whole wheat, rye bread flours. Set aside.

3. In the work bowl of a heavy-duty mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add 2 cups of the mixed flours, bran, caraway seeds, fennel seeds, salt, espresso, shallot, yeast mixture and chocolate mixture. Beat vigorously until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the remaining mixed flours 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough clears the sides of the bowl. You might not use all of the flour. The dough will be very sticky but firm.

4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in any remaining flour mixture to make a springy yet dense dough, about 3 minutes. You might not need to use all of the flour. Form the dough into a ball.

5. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it to ensure all sides have been oiled. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

6. In a small bowl, combine the cornmeal and flour. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment or a Silpat. Sprinkle the cornmeal/flour mixture on the baking sheet.

7. Gently deflate the dough. Divide into 2 equal portions and shape each into a tight round loaf. Place the loaves, seam side down, on the baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until puffy and almost doubled in bulk, 45 minutes to 1 hour.

8. Twenty minutes prior to baking, preheat the oven to 350F.

9. Using a serrated knife, slash the top of the loaves with an X no more than 1/4 inch deep. Place the baking sheet on the center rack of the oven and bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until the loaves are crusty and sound hollow when tapped with your finger. Transfer the loaves to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing.

Yeasted Garlic Zucchini Bread

So I didn't ask - how were everyone's Christmas and holidays? Any exciting gifts? Delicious foods? We spent time going around visiting all of our local family, which was great. I made Russian grandmothers' apple pie-cake for Christmas Eve dessert and a sticky toffee pudding cheesecake for Christmas day dessert. (And my favourite salad, which has toasted almonds, snow peas, red bell pepper, and a parsley onion dressing.) My favourite gift was a pyrrha wax seal necklace from E. Now that things are back to normal, I'm starting to catch up with your blogs and hear about your holidays!

This is the bread I used with the white bean & walnut bruschetta (highly recommend trying that too!) I doubt I would've made this recipe had I not been looking for ways to use up our CSA zucchini. But I'm really glad I was pushed into making this. You can't really tell there's zucchini in the bread, it just adds moisture. But you can definitely taste the garlic, which I love. The bread was nice and chewy, which I also loved. My dough flattened out a lot - maybe it needs even more flour (I added an extra cup) so I'd recommend trying to gather or shape the dough higher if possible. But there was also nothing wrong with this flat loaf. I'm submitting this bread to yeastspotting.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Freshly Fruited Yeast Bread
Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread
Light Brioche Burger Buns
Hot Crossed Buns

Yeasted Garlic Zucchini Bread
Adapted from The Cook's Encyclopedia of Baking, found on Sizzle N Spice

Makes 1 Loaf

1 pound zucchini, grated
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp salt
1 package active dry yeast
11/4 cups lukewarm water
3 1/2 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour (original recipe calls for 3 1/2 cups, but I found it needed more)
Olive oil, for brushing

1. In a colander, alternate layers of grated zucchini and salt. Leave for 30 minutes, then squeeze out the moisture with your hands.

2. Combine the yeast with 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, stir and leave for 15 minutes to dissolve the yeast.

3. Place the zucchini, yeast and flour in a bowl. Stir together and add just enough of the remaining water to make a rough dough.

4. Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with a plastic bag, and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 11/2 hours.

5. Grease a baking sheet. Punch down the risen dough with your fist and knead into a tapered cylinder. Place on the baking sheet, cover, and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.

6. Preheat the oven to 425F. Brush with olive oil and bake until golden, 40-45 minutes. Cool on a rack.

Freshly Fruited Yeast Bread

Thanks everyone for all your nice comments about our wedding photos. :)

This yeasted fruit bread was so flavourful and delicious. It has cranberries, banana, apple, lemon and orange - though you don't taste the apple and banana much. The texture was perfect for me - dense sort of like a pound cake (but it's yeast bread), and still soft. I loved eating it toasted with butter smeared on top mmm. I'm submitting this bread to yeastspotting.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Bon Ton Bakery Cinnamon Bread
Noreen Kinney's Irish Soda Bread
Braided Lemon Bread
Hot Crossed Buns

Freshly Fruited Yeast Bread
Adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

The apple and banana I used were small, so I ended up adding less unbleach white flour than was called for, which is why I put a range of 3-5 cups (instead of the original recipe which says 4-5 cups). Next time I'd be sure to use the full 1 cup grated apple then I'd probably need more flour.

The Sponge:
1 cup wrist-temperature water
2/3 cup orange juice
2 1/4 tsp (1 pkg) active dry yeast
drop of honey
2 cups unbleached white flour

Combine water and juice in a large bowl. Add yeast and honey; beat in the flour. Cover; let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.

The Mix:
1 cup finely minced dried cranberries
1 large ripe banana, mashed
1 packed cup grated peeled apple (I used 1 small apple which was ~1/2 cup)
1 tbsp grated orange rind
1 tbsp grated lemon rind
1/2 cup honey
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp salt
3 tbsp melted butter

Beat into risen sponge.

Additionally:
2 cups whole wheat bread flour
Approximately 3 to 5 more cups unbleached white flour
a little butter or oil for the pans or baking tray

Add the flour a cup at a time, beating at first with a wooden spoon, then kneading it in with a floured hand and dumping it out onto a smooth floured surface. Continue adding flour and kneading the dough until the dough loses its stickiness, about 15 minutes. Oil or butter a bowl generously. Place the dough in it, swish it around (to oil the surface of the dough). Cover the bowl with a damp cloth and let it rise until it has doubled in bulk (about 1 hour). After it has doubled, punch down the dough.

Grease two 8"x4" loaf pans. Divide the dough in 2. Place the dough into the greased pans, press it hard into the corners and bottom of the pan. Cover the dough with a damp cloth, and put it in a warm place to rise until it has doubled, about 30-45 minutes. (Mine didn't rise much in the pans.)

Preheat the oven to 350F at least 15 minutes before baking. Bake at 350F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until it sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. Remove the loaves from the pans. Cool for at least 30 minutes on a rack before slicing.

(Ashley note: Johanna made this bread also and said her bread didn't rise much - which was a problem I also had. The recipe in an older version of the cookbook suggests baking it at 425F so I'll try that next time and then not bake it for as long.)

Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread

I love any sort of pull apart bread. So when I saw this savoury version of pull apart bread (!!!) I made immediate plans to bake it. Onion is cooked in lots of butter. A quick bread dough (no yeast involved) is rolled out and cut into rectangles. Each rectangle is topped with an onion/poppy seed/Gruyere cheese mixture. Next the rectangles are ever so carefully stacked (there are 10 of them! It's a topsy turvy tower), then squished into a loaf pan and baked.

The end result is good, though honestly not as magical as I'd hoped. There's so much "stuff" (onions and cheese), that it doesn't quite stick to the dough and is more like slices of cheese/onion bread (nothing wrong with that!) So I was thinking it might be even more delicious if some of the onions (or most?) are mixed into the dough.

If this sounds good, you might like:
Yorkshire Pudding
Light Brioche Burger Buns
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Peppered Pear and Goat Cheese Scones

Pull-Apart Cheesy Onion Bread
Adapted from Food & Wine, found on Dana Treat

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, 1 stick cubed
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 cup coarsely shredded Gruyère cheese (3 ounces)
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 425F. Butter a 9"x5" loaf pan. In a large pan, melt the 1/2 stick of uncubed butter; pour 2 tablespoons of the melted butter into a small bowl and reserve. Add the chopped onion to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is softened, about 8 minutes. Stir in the poppy seeds and season with salt and pepper. Scrape the onion mixture onto a plate and refrigerate for 5 minutes, until cooled slightly. Stir in the Gruyère.

Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the cubed butter and pulse until it is the size of small peas. Add the buttermilk and pulse 5 or 6 times, just until a soft dough forms.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface and knead 2 or 3 times. Pat or roll the dough into a 2-by-24-inch rectangle. Spread the onion mixture evenly on top. Cut the dough crosswise into 10 pieces. Stack 9 pieces onion side up, then top with the final piece, onion-side down. It's difficult to move the whole stack to the pan, so I'd recommend doing half at a time. Carefully lay the stack in the prepared loaf pan and brush with the reserved 2 tbsp of butter.

Bake the loaf in the center of the oven for about 30 minutes, until it is golden and risen. Let the bread cool for at least 15 minutes before unmolding and serving.

Yorkshire Pudding (that are actually Popovers)

Is there anything more glorious than a perfectly baked fresh out of the oven Yorkshire pudding? (And by Yorkshire pudding I do mean popover, as I did not use roast drippings to make these. But my mom used to, and while she now makes them with oil instead, we still call them Yorkshire puddings.)

My mom only ever makes these when she makes roast beef and my brother and I always fight over who ate more Yorkshire puddings. I carefully count how many everybody eats. And will eat any that are leftover because they're not nearly as delicious the next day, and a Yorkshire pudding cannot go to waste! This is my mom's recipe, and after looking up other recipes it seems that they're all pretty similar to this. I was so ridiculously excited to make these for the first time that I think I ate 6 of them for dinner (with a side of vegan pot roast and delicious vegetable gravy). I probably won't eat 6 of them next time, but I will be making them again.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Three-Seed Biscuits
Cheddar and Black Pepper Scones
Light Brioche Burger Buns
Noreen Kinney's Irish Soda Bread

Yorkshire Pudding (that are actually Popovers)

Makes 12

1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2-3 tbsp oil

Preheat oven to 400F.

In a blender or with a whisk, blend together all ingredients except oil, until very smooth. Let batter sit on the counter for 45 minutes.

Put 1/2-1 tsp of oil in each muffin pan (enough to cover the bottom). Place muffin pans in the oven for 5-10 minutes - if the oil starts to smoke before then, take them out. Take muffin pans out and evenly divide the batter. Each cup will be about halfway filled.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until dark golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately.

Bon Ton Bakery Cinnamon Bread

Thank you guys for all your nice comments about our wedding video! :) I'll be sharing some photos from our wedding soon too.

But today I want to share this cinnamon bread. I've posted about cinnamon bread before, as well as pecan honey sticky buns. Actually it's surprising I haven't posted about cinnamon rolls and cinnamon breads more often considering that they're one of my favourite baked goods. (My other favourite is napoleons.) Maybe it's bizarre thinking but I avoid making these things because I know if I do it will be hard to resist eating the whole batch myself!

Anyway, I am here to share another cinnamon bread recipe with you. Because it's seriously amazing. I gave one loaf to E's parents, and then warned E against eating too much of the loaf I kept for us. It's probably the best cinnamon bread I've made so far, though I remember enjoying Martha Stewart's. This cinnamon bread is basically like a big cinnamon roll, with nice soft delicious dough.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Braided Lemon Bread
Pecan Fruit Rye Bread
Milk Chocolate Cherry Twist

Bon Ton Bakery Cinnamon Bread
Adapted from The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book

Makes 2 loaves

1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
3 1/4 cups white bread flour (plus more if needed)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup butter

Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp cinnamon

In large bowl, dissolve 1 tsp of the sugar in warm water. Sprinkle in yeast; let stand until frothy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in egg, vanilla and lemon juice.

In separate bowl, whisk together 3 1/4 cups of the flour, remaining sugar and salt. Using pastry cutter, cut in butter until in pea-size pieces. Usingw ooden spoon, stir into yeast mixture to form soft dough.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead, adding as much of the remaining flour as necessary to prevent sticking, until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease all over. Cover with plastic wrap; let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans; set aside.

Punch down dough. Divide in half. On lightly floured surface, roll each half out into 14x8 inch (35x20 cm) rectangle. Brush with 2 tbsp water, leaving 1 inch border along 1 short end.

Filling: In small bowl, whisk sugar with cinnamon; sprinkle half over each rectangle. Starting at short end without border, roll up jelly roll-style; pinch seams to seal. Fit, seam sides down, into prepared pans. Cover with clean tea towel and let rise in warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Bake in centre of 375F oven until deep brown and loaves sound hollow when tapped on bottoms, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer to racks; let cool.

Light Brioche Burger Buns

I held off posting about these burger buns for a long time because I thought my brother and I were going to post about them on our now defunct bread blog, Sibling Bakery. (I'm still hoping my brother will want to get back into bread baking and we can continue!) Anyway so last summer my family had a burger competition. My stepdad and sister in law made burgers, and my brother and I made buns. (We made mini burgers and buns, and my sister in law made me mushroom burgers that were delicious! Sadly no recipe to share as she's one of those amazing cooks that just makes things up as she goes.)

We totally didn't plan on making the same burger bun recipe, but it turned out that we did! The more interesting thing was that the buns turned out differently. Which makes sense because bread is not the most exact thing. Both were delicious, I think mine were more soft and his were a bit more dense (not in a bad way at all though). I added Parmesan cheese on top of mine to try and help secure my win. But no clear winner could be determined! And we concluded that we must make homemade burger buns more often (but neither of us have again since then). I hate making vegetarian burgers because they always fall apart.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Hot Crossed Buns
Bagels
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Basic Focaccia

Light Brioche Burger Buns
Adapted from Comme Ça restaurant in Los Angeles, via the New York Times (found on Smitten Kitchen)

Makes 8 4 to 5-inch burger buns

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours. (In my freaky, warm apartment this only took an hour.)

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper, divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours. (Again, this only took one hour in my apartment and I suspect, you’ll also only need an hour for a second rise.)

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Blueberry White Chocolate Swirls with Lemon Glaze

I made these for a blogger recipe contest that BC Blueberries is hosting. And I made them just in time, as the deadline is tonight at 11:59ET! One of my favourite baked goods (and well, food in general) is cinnamon rolls, so I thought I'd try to make some variation on cinnamon rolls using blueberries.

I didn't use any spices, and instead have some vanilla in the dough, blueberries and white chocolate rolled up, and then it's all topped with a lemon glaze. These are definitely addictive and I'll have to give them away so I don't eat them all! We have some really amazing blueberries in BC and I need to get out to a local farm to buy a big box of them.

Edit: I forgot to mention how easy these are to make! No yeast, so no waiting for the dough to rise and no kneading. They're really quick to come together.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Blackberry Whole Wheat Scones
Blackberry Orange Tea Scones
Braided Lemon Bread
Plum Sour Cream Kuchen

Blueberry White Chocolate Swirls with Lemon Glaze

Makes 9 rolls

2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries, washed and patted dry (or 1 cup frozen blueberries)
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup icing sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F. Butter an 8"x8" square pan.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl combine milk, oil and vanilla. Add the wet mixture to the dry, and stir just until the flour disappears and you have a nice dough.

Lightly flour a work surface. Roll out the dough to a 9"x14" rectangle. Sprinkle the white chocolate chips and blueberries, and gently press them into the dough. Starting from the long side, roll up the dough into a log. Cut it into 9 biscuits and place them in the prepared pan. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, prepare the lemon glaze by mixing together the lemon juice and icing sugar.

Once the rolls are done, invert them onto a plate, and drizzle the glaze over top. Serve while warm, but also good at room temperature.

Thai Chick-Un Pizza

Have I mentioned that one of my new favourite cookbooks is Eat, Drink & Be Vegan? There's a photo of this Thai Chick-Un Pizza on the back cover of the book and it's been tempting me for quite a while. I love when pizzas have sauces other than tomato sauce - this one has peanut sauce. And for toppings, lots of yummy things! Chickpeas, red pepper, pineapple, green onions, and snow peas. Next time I'd add the recommended cilantro and peanuts as well.

I know I've mentioned before how much I love peanut sauce, and how I found "the" peanut sauce but I think I've found a second "the" peanut sauce. This one is seriously amazing. I've never had a peanut sauce with ketchup in it. I think there's enough sauce and toppings to make 2 pizzas, as I found that this one was quite overflowing with stuff so next time I'll split it up. Oh and I almost forgot to mention the whole wheat pizza crust I used here! You can split the dough into 2 to make 2 thin crust pizzas, or make one thicker one (which is what I did). I've made whole wheat pizza crust before, but never had such a soft dough. I really liked this recipe and will try it again, and try it thin crust style next time.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pad Thai
Tofu and Broccolini in Peanut Sauce
Szechuan Tofu Triangles in Triple Pepper Sauce
Fresh Pear and Curry Pasta

Thai Chick-Un Pizza
Adapted from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan

Peanut Sauce
2/3 cup natural peanut butter
1/3 cup ketchup
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 large cloves garlic, quartered
1 1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, chopped
1/4 cup soy milk
2 tsp honey (I didn't have agave but use agave to make it vegan)

1 10-12 inch whole wheat pizza shell (see recipe below)

1 cup cooked chickpeas
1 red bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup fresh pineapple, chopped (I used drained canned pineapple chunks)
3/4 cup snow peas, chopped
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
peanuts, chopped (garnish)
fresh cilantro leaves (garnish)

To prepare peanut sauce:
In a food processor, add peanut butter, ketchup, rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger and honey, and puree until smooth (add 1-2 tbsp water to thin is desired - sauce should be thick enough to spread on pizza and not runny).

Preheat the oven to 500F. Line a pizza pan with parchment or oil the pizza pan. Roll or stretch the ball of dough to fit your pizza pan. Bake just the crust for 5 minutes. Take crust out of the oven. (Note: If you're not using this crust, then omit this step of prebaking the crust, and just bake the pizza for 17-20 minutes.)

Spread peanut sauce evenly on pizza shell. In a bowl, lightly flatten chickpeas with a large spoon (or in palm of your hand), and distribute evenly over sauce. Distribute bell pepper, pineapple and snow peas evenly. Bake for 10-15 minutes (depending on crust thickness), sprinkling on green onions for last minute of cooking, until the crust is golden and toppings have heated through. Serve sprinkled with chopped peanuts and cilantro if desired.

Whole Wheat Pizza Crust
Adapted from Marla on AllRecipes.com

1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3-3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in 3 cups of whole wheat flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a floured surface and add the other 1/2 cup whole wheat flour as needed. Knead until the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

When the dough is doubled, tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust. Form into a tight ball. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.

Korni Bread

Yaey look at my pretty BBB badge!

I remember when Lynn first joined the Bread Baking Babes (a group that bakes the chosen bread every month). I admired her and her bread baking skills, and part of me wanted to join in because it's always fun to be a part of those bake along groups, but the other part of me was so scared of kneading. But now that I've gotten over that fear, I couldn't wait for Lynn to post the next BBB bread so I could bake it and join them! Silly me, I left it until the last day, so I won't get to taste the bread until tomorrow. But it looks good and I love how it's so full of all different grains and things like rye flour, whole wheat flour, flax seeds, millet (at least I think I added millet - hard to tell between amaranth and millet in my unlabeled jars!) and roasted soy beans. The only thing I didn't do was put the milk/egg glaze. As nice as that glaze is, I hate using up an egg for it so I usually just brush water on. I can't wait to find out what the next months' bread is!

Update: I thought yesterday was the 29th (the last day to post about the bread) but that's today! Oops. Anyway this morning I put the bread out to take photos and left the room for a minute. Then I came back to Abby licking the bread! Cat approved. The bread is really yummy and I'm in love with the chewy and dense yet soft texture. I wish I hadn't flattened the loaf so much though as now I have these really long slices and I'm not sure what container I can put them in!

Korni
Adapted from Joe Ortiz' The Village Baker

(makes 1 round 3 1/2 pound loaf)

Korni means corn or grain. It is made from a combination of grains that go well together for flavor, crunchiness, and good nutrition.

Soy bean mixture
1/2 cup organic (dried) soy beans
1 cup boiling water

Poolish
1 package (2 1/2 teaspoons; 1/4 oz) active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups warm water
1 cup organic rye flour
1 cup organic whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups organic unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour

Dough
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
All of the starter from the previous step
3 cups organic, unbleached white (or all-purpose) flour
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon ground caraway seeds*
1/4 cup organic flax seeds
1/2 cup organic millet
All of the soy mixture

Prepare the soy beans:
Place them in a small bowl, cover them with the boiling water, and let them soak for 10 minutes. Drain the beans and let them cool. Process the beans in a food processor fitted with the metal blade until they roughly chopped.

Place the beans on a cookie sheet and roast them in a preheated 350°F oven between 15 and 20 minutes, until they are completely dried out. Set them aside.

Prepare the sponge/poolish:
First proof the yeast, in a large bowl, in 1 cup of the warm water. When it is creamy, mix in 1 1/4 cups warm water and slowly add the rye flour, whole wheat flour, and 1½ cups of white flour by handfuls while stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon.
Set the batter aside, in a large bowl, covered with a dish towel, for between 8 and 10 hours or overnight.

Make the dough:
Proof the yeast in the warm water, add it to the risen sponge, and mix the two together. Start adding the flour, handful by handful, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. After all but 1 cup of the flour has been added (this will take about 10 minutes), turn the dough out onto your worktable, sprinkle the salt and the ground caraway over the dough, and incorporate them by kneading the dough for about 5 minutes while adding the last of the flour. The dough should be very moist.

Add the flax seeds, millet, and roasted soy beans and knead the dough to incorporate them.
Set the dough aside, covered, to rise for 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.

Flatten out the dough again and then shape it into a round loaf. This loaf is best proofed in a canvas-lined basket (I used a large bowl sprayed with baking spray) and then baked on a baking stone in the oven. It can also be placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Let the loaf rise for about 1 1/2 hours.

Glaze the loaf with water and bake it in a preheated 425°F oven for between 30 and 35 minutes.

Let the loaf cool on a wire rack.

*(to make your own, grind a few tablespoons of whole caraway seed in a mortar with a pestle until you have a fine powder. If your powder still contains large chunks of seed, sift the mixture and use 1 tablespoon of the sifted powder)

Noreen Kinney's Irish Soda Bread

I was sitting in class one day and suddenly became obsessed with the idea of making Irish soda bread - which I've never made before and it was about time! So I started looking up recipes on Epicurious and came across this serious gem of a recipe. It's full of so much good stuff like wheat bran, oat bran and wheat germ (the 3 ingredients I have trouble finding recipes that use significant quantities of so I always seem to have giant stockpiles of it that I'm trying to use up). And it also has flaxseeds and my most favourite seed of all, sunflower seeds. The bread tastes buttery (yum!), though there are only 3 tablespoons of butter in the whole recipe. Instead of making one big round, I made them drop scone style. This proved to be a very brilliant idea. I always freeze my baked goods, so when I would reheat these in the toaster oven, the crust got all nice and crisp while the insides were still soft. So incredibly addictive.

Apparently what people think of as Irish soda bread, made with white flour and raisins, is actually called Irish spotted dick (or dog). Traditional Irish soda bread is supposed to be more hearty, like this one is, with different types of grains. I loved this bread so much and would always want to have it in my freezer. It's perfect for eating with soup or salad or jam or cheese or anything really. I often just ate it by itself!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pecan Fruit Rye Bread
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots

Noreen Kinney's Irish Soda Bread
Adapted from Epicurious | March 2008, from A Baker's Odyssey

Makes about 12-15 little loaves (see original recipe above for instructions on making 1 big loaf)

1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour or graham flour, plus more for shaping (I used whole wheat flour)
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-sized pieces
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup wheat bran
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup untoasted wheat germ
2 tablespoons flaxseed
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 large egg
About 1 3/4 cups buttermilk (I used milk+vinegar)

Adjust an oven rack to the center position and preheat the oven to 425°F. Prepare 2 baking sheets.

In a large bowl, stir together the all-purpose flour and whole wheat flour. Add the butter and work it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until the fat particles are very fine. Stir in the baking soda, salt, sugar, wheat bran, oat bran, wheat germ, flaxseed, and sunflower seeds.

Beat the egg lightly with a fork in a 2-cup glass measure. Add enough buttermilk to come to the 2-cup line and stir with the fork to combine well. Add the liquid to the dry ingredients and stir with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula until the dough gathers into a thick, wet-looking mass.

Use an ice cream/cookie scoop or a measuring cup to drop 1/3 cup amounts onto the prepared baking sheets. Don't be concerned about evenness—the loaf should look rustic. Make a cross-shaped indentation on top of each loaf going right to the edges. Use a plastic bench scraper and press it into the dough very gently; don't actually cut the dough. During baking the indentation expands, giving the top of the loaf an attractive pattern.

Bake the bread for about 15-17 minutes, until it is well browned and sounds hollow when rapped on the bottom. Cool the loaves on a wire cooling rack, and serve warm or at room temperature.

Braided Lemon Bread

After I saw this braided lemon bread on Smitten Kitchen, I couldn't get it out of my head. And I'm glad I didn't because it is stupendous. Completely gorgeous, not even difficult to make, so very delicious and extremely adaptable to whatever jam or filling you want to have.

I loved this filling of lemon curd and cream cheese. And no I did not make that neon yellow lemon curd, I bought it, which is a first for me. There's nothing wrong with taking short cuts in recipes but I always feel like I need to make curds from scratch. Except this time where I just wanted to get right to making the braid as soon as possible!

I'm really looking forward to trying different jams and fillings. Oh maybe a chocolate peanut butter filling?! Or pear and brie. Or feta and sun dried tomato and olives. Maybe this dough would be too sweet as is (with 1/4 cup sugar) for savoury applications, but I imagine it would be okay to reduce the sugar to 2 tbsp or something?

Please excuse the poorly lit photos I took in my kitchen of the process (seen below throughout the recipe) - our kitchen is in the back of the apartment near no windows. But I always like seeing the process of making baked goods and am especially in love with yeast bread process photos so had to share! And as you can tell I was completely obsessed with this bread so took tons of photos.

Also, I just discovered this fun website YeastSpotting. Where you can submit yeasted bread recipes you've made and then at the end of each week they compile a list (with pictures)! Very fun and a great place to get inspired for my next bread.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Hot Crossed Buns
Croissant Pockets with Apricots and Brie
Milk Chocolate Cherry Twist

Braided Lemon Bread
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen who adapted from King Arthur Flour

Sponge
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) warm water
1 teaspoon sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup (1 ounce) unbleached all-purpose flour

Dough
Sponge (above)
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) sour cream or yogurt
1/4 cup (2 oz) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs, 1 beaten for dough, 1 beaten with 1 teaspoon water for brushing bread
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups (10 5/8 ounces) all-purpose flour
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Lemon cream cheese filling
1/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup lemon curd

Make sponge: In a small bowl, stir together the sponge ingredients.Loosely cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to proof for 10 to 15 minutes.

Combine the sponge, sour cream, butter, egg, sugar, salt and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add flour and mix with the paddle attachment until the dough is a rough, shaggy mass. Switch to the dough hook and knead until a soft, smooth dough forms, about 5 to 6 minutes. Place the kneaded dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 to 90 minutes, until quite puffy and nearly doubled.

Make the filling (while dough rises): Combine all the filling ingredients (except the lemon curd) in a small bowl, mixing until smooth and lump-free.

Prepare bread: Gently deflate the dough and roll it out on a very well floured counter to a 10″ x 15″ rectangle. Transfer rectangle to a large piece of parchment paper. With the side of your hand, lightly press two lines down the dough lengthwise, dividing it into three equal columns. Spread the cream cheese filling down the center section, leaving the top and bottom two inches free of filling. Spread the lemon curd over the cream cheese filling.

To form the mock braid, cut crosswise strips one inch apart down the length of the outer columns of you dough (the parts without filling). Make sure you have an equal amount of 1-inch strips down the right and left sides. Be careful not to cut your parchment paper; if you have a bench scraper, this is a great time to use it. Remove the four corner segments. To “braid”, begin by folding top flap down and bottom flap up over the filling. Lift the top dough strip and gently bring it diagonally across the filling. Repeat on the right side, and continue down the entire braid, alternating strips until you are out. You can tuck the last couple that hand off decoratively under the end of the braid.

Carefully transfer the dough and the parchment paper to a baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic and set it aside to rise for 45 to 50 minutes, until quite puffy.

Bake bread: Preheat the oven to 375F. Brush the loaves with egg wash, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the loaves are golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Overnight Raspberry French Toast

Okay this is one of those times where I know the photo doesn't look that great but the recipe was really good! I could just not provide a photo but I think any photo is better than no photo, so here it is. A few weeks ago my family did breakfast for dinner, which was awesome. I love breakfast food but I rarely want to take the time in the morning to make something more complicated than a smoothie or a bowl of cereal (or sometimes waffles). I found this recipe in one of my favourite cookbooks, or rather favourite series, Bravo! Best of Bridge Cookbook. I've mention the Best of Bridge books before - they're the kind of cookbooks that you can open to any page, and trust the recipe will be delicious. And the ingredients required are things you can easily find. It's unfortunate that these books don't seem to be more popular outside of Canada - on Amazon.com they aren't even available except as used copies.

Anyway! So this overnight raspberry french toast - it has raspberries, almonds, cream cheese, cinnamon and the regular french toast stuff. It was really yummy though I used chopped almonds this time (instead of sliced) and I think it's kind of scary to have something crunchy in an eggy dish (people might think it's egg shells). We did breakfast/brunch for dinner for mother's day too, so keep an eye out for more brunchy things soon! What are your favourite things to eat for brunch?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Gingerbread Waffles
Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Squash & Aged White Cheddar Tart with Sage and Roasted Garlic Custard

Overnight Raspberry French Toast
Adapted from Bravo! Best of Bridge Cookbook

Serves 6

The recipe suggests reserving 1/4 cup of the sugar to sprinkle on top but next time I'd just mix it in so that's what I wrote in the recipe. I also found the cinnamon to kind of clump up with the eggs, so make sure you whisk them well.

8 slices whole wheat bread, torn into small pieces
8 oz (250 g) cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (don't thaw if using frozen)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted (don't use chopped like me)
6 eggs
1/2 cup granulated sugar (you could easily reduce this amount)
1 cup milk
1 tsp ground cinnamon

Grease an 8 inch (2L) square glass baking dish. Scatter half the bread pieces in dish. Arrange cream cheese, raspberries and almonds on top. Finish with the remaining bread pieces. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, milk and cinnamon. Pour over bread. Cover with foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350F. Bake french toast, covered with foil, for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 30 minutes or until puffy and golden brown.

Hot Crossed Buns

I mentioned in my last post that I was planning on making hot cross buns and the lovely Johanna recommended her recipe, and it sounded good so I went with it! I love how everything is done by hand and not at all with a Kitchenaid mixer, though I know you can make any recipe really by hand but I don't know if I would've if it weren't written that way (ie. kneading by hand instead of a dough hook, mixing the butter in with my fingers). Am I making sense or just rambling on? Anyway, I was really happy with how these turned out! They were easy to make, nice and soft, and perfectly spicy - also delicious toasted! I chose to use candied dried fruit because that's what's in the ones my mom would buy, but next time I'll try chopping up some regular dried fruit. My only problem was with the crosses. I was hurrying to get them in the oven so I only ended up putting crosses on a couple of them. The flour/water mixture was so gloopy - I'll have to try again when I have more time to play around with it.

I've read about this method of forming rolls/buns into balls by stretching the skin around to the bottom. Which I found really hard to comprehend when I was reading about it and looking at photos, but I think I've got the hang of it now. I really should've taken process photos of these buns as they were rising and what not. I love how risen dough looks!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
Pecan Fruit Rye Bread
Golden Cinnamon Loaf

Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from Green Gourmet Giraffe

Makes 15 buns

4 1/2 tsp dried yeast
300ml milk, warmed
4 cups (600g) plain flour
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
90g butter, chopped
225g container candied fruit mix
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Crosses:
1 cup (150g) plain flour
8-10 tbsp water

Glaze:
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 tsp nutmeg

Sprinkle yeast over warm milk. Stand 5 minutes til frothy.

Place flour and spices in the bowl and rub in butter until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. You could do it in the blender but it is quite a relaxing activity. Stir in fruit and sugar.

Whisk egg into milk and yeast mixture. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the milk mixture. Mix to a soft dough. Tip onto a lightly floured board. (This is a dough that hardly needs any flour.) Knead for approximately 10 minutes until smooth and elastic (this is the moment it should feel like an ear lobe). Use the heel of your hand to knead and put some good rocking music on the stereo and enjoy the rhythm.

Lightly oil a large bowl. Turn the dough in the bowl so it is covered with oil. Cover with cling wrap. Stand in a warm place til doubled in size – this should take about 45 minutes.

Punch down the dough – this is the fun bit! Knead a few minutes til the dough is smooth. Divide into 15 pieces and form each piece into a ball. Arrange close together on a tray and cover with a damp tea towel. Stand in a warm place til doubled in size – this should take about 40 minutes.

About 10-15 minutes before the buns have risen, prepare a baking tray (I used my swiss roll tray), preheat the oven (425F) and prepare the cross mixture. To make the cross mixture, mix the flour and water in a small bowl until it forms a paste. There is nothing worse than not having enough so this makes extra so you can refill if needed. Any piping equipment will do but it is quite a thick mixture so a really thin nozzle isn't recommended. Don’t worry - this mixture is tasteless. Once the glaze goes on at the end it tastes great.

Once the crosses are piped, put buns in the oven at 425F for 10 minutes. Then reduce to 400F and bake a further 7-10 minutes or until buns are browned and hollow when tapped.

About 10 minutes before the buns are cooked, prepare the glaze. To make the glaze, place sugar and water in a small saucepan. Stir to combine and bring to the boil. Simmer for 1-2 minutes without stirring. Add spices.

When the buns come out of the oven turn out onto a wire rack. Brush glaze on to buns a few times to ensure they have a thick coating. You will have more glaze than you need so be quite generous with the glaze.

Bagels

I made bagels many months ago and never shared my accomplishment! So here are the beautiful bagels. I didn't experiment too much with flavours - just did some with poppy seeds, some plain, and some with aged white cheddar (though it looks like melted plastic on top - yum!) Overall the bagel making process was really exciting and fun, and much easier than I thought it would be (as are all things that I've been scared to make in the past - doughnuts, croissants, and I can't remember what else right now).

They weren't as chewy as I love my bagels, but they were good. Reinhart in The Bread Baker's Apprentice says to boil the bagel longer in order to make it chewier but this didn't really work for me. Any tips? The only bad thing about the bagel making experience was that I was scared I was going to break my poor little Kitchenaid, trying to knead the very strong bagel dough.

I very rarely post something without sharing the recipe but I really don't want to type up this insanely long recipe, and I'm sure you can find it somewhere online (or better yet in the book!) I hope you'll forgive me!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Oatmeal Knots
Soft Pretzels
Focaccia

Carob Pumpernickel Bread

I hope everyone is enjoying their holidays! Mine have been full of baking, eating, and visiting with family & friends. I got some new cookbooks for Christmas and can't wait to start making my way through them! Abby also got spoiled with cat toys and catnip.

I've had pumpernickel bread before but maybe only a couple of times and never paid much attention to it. I was intrigued by this carob pumpernickel bread in The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest because it uses instant coffee, molasses, carob powder (which I need to find more uses for so I can use up my bag!), and rye flour. There are other ingredients but these are the ones that drew me in. The bread was easy to make and the loaves rose beautifully. I was scared they wouldn't rise that much because I've made some no knead breads that stayed fairly flat, but I guess that's because they were no knead (even though in Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day it says they will rise?) Anyway, I loved the texture of the carob pumpernickel bread - nice and dense with a good chew (if that makes sense), but wasn't a huge fan of the flavour as it was kind of bitter. Apparently pumpernickel breads are bitter though so I obviously can't hold that against it.

The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest has an excellent guide to bread making, including shaping, different things you can put on to make a crust and their effects, answers to many baking questions, and of course lots of yummy loaves. I think I've mentioned it before but The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest is one of my new favourite cookbooks!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Buttermilk Honey Bread
Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots

Carob Pumpernickel Bread
Adapted from The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest

The Mix
1/2 cup carob powder
1/4 cup instant coffee granules
1 cup hot water
5 tbsp molasses
2 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp oil
1 tbsp salt

1. Combine everything, and mix until it forms a uniform paste. (A blender does this well.)

2. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

The Sponge
2 cups wrist temperature water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
a drop of molasses
1 1/2 cups whole wheat bread flour (Ashley note: I used 190 g.)

Place water in your stand mixer bowl. Add yeast and molasses. Whisk in flour. Cover and let rise 30 to 45 minutes. Beat in the mix.

Additionally
3 cups rye flour (Ashley note: I used 378 g.)
about 4 more cups whole wheat bread flour (Ashley note: I forgot to measure this!)

Add the flour to the risen sponge/mix a cup at a time. Use the paddle attachment of your mixer to mix the flour in until thick. Change to the dough hook, and mix for 6 minutes.

Oil or butter a bowl generously. Place the dough in it, swish it around, then invert dough, and return to bowl. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth from Sponge Stage, and return it to a warm place to rise. The dough is risen when it has doubled its bulk (usually this takes 1 hour). Grease two 8"x4" loaf pans generously with butter or oil.

Flour your fist and punch down the dough. It will instantly deflate. Transfer the dough to a floured surface. Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes - well kneaded dough has an ear lobe like texture. Add bits of flour very gradually (if necessary) and knead in each addition thoroughly. Don't add large amounts of flour at once, or your bread may have flour traps. Divide your dough in half.

To make a regular bread pan loaf, place the dough into the greased pans, press it hard into the corners and floor of the pan, take the dough out again, and return it upside down. This gives the bread a handsomely shaped surface. Once again, cover the dough with a damp cloth, and put it in a cozy place to rise. It is read to bake when its bulk has doubled. (This final rising often goes more quickly than the others.) Preheat the oven to 375F 15 minutes before baking.

Bake at 375F for 40 minutes. The bread is done if it gives off a hollow sound when thumped. Remove the bread from its pan right away, and cool it on a rack. Cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.

Buttermilk Honey Bread

I'm going to attempt to keep this post super short because I really must be studying for my finals (sewage, pools, soils, environmental assessment, hydrogeology, intro to environmental health). I'm also super behind on my blog reading but will eventually catch up. My finals are scheduled pretty close together so I'm not sure if I'll be updating again before I'm done (on the 10th). So I shall leave you with this supremely delicious buttermilk honey bread which is possibly the best white bread I've ever had. Do you not want to just slide down those beautiful little mounds in the braided loaf?

The thing I love most about this bread is that it's a good solid/dense bread. Not dense in a bad way at all - it's like the pound cake of white bread. Mmmm. And the dough is really easy to work with - I do not enjoy sticky doughs. PLUS you can use up that extra buttermilk in your fridge that you have no idea what to do with. Why don't they sell buttermilk in 500 mL cartons? At least not here. We have to buy 1L and I think I've only once found a use for all 1 L of it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots
Soft Pretzels

Buttermilk Honey Bread
Adapted from Annie's Eats who adapted it from Rosa's Yummy Yums from The Bread Bible

Yield: 2 loaves (rectangular or free form)
(Ashley note: I made one 8"x4" loaf and one 8" braided wreath.)

3/4 cup warm water (105-115F)
1 tbsp. instant yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 1/2 cups buttermilk, warmed to take off the chill (or brought to room temperature)
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp honey, warmed until runny
1 tbsp salt
6 – 6 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (Ashley note: I used a total of 818 g.)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the water, yeast, sugar, buttermilk, butter, honey, salt, and 4 cups of the flour. Mix on low speed just until a dough has formed. Switch to the dough hook. Continue mixing on low speed, adding the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time until a smooth dough is formed that clears the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading on low speed until dough is smooth and elastic, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, turning once to coat, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 60-75 minutes.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently punch it down. Grease two loaf pans (if using). Divide the dough into two equal pieces and shape as desired. (To shape into a braided wreath, follow the instructions below.) Cover the loaves lightly with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rise until fully doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.

To make a braided loaf (from Annie's Eats): Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface (a silicone rolling mat works well), divide it in half, and then divide each half into three equal pieces. Roll each piece into an 18” log. Working with three logs at a time, make a braid, pinching the ends together. Coil the braid into a lightly greased 8” or 9” cake pan, shaping it into a wreath-like circle and pressing the ends together where they meet. Repeat with the remaining logs.

Twenty minutes before you want to bake the bread, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Center a rack in the oven. Just before putting the loaves in the oven, brush the tops with the egg wash and sprinkle with topping, if desired. Place the pans on the center rack and bake about 45 minutes, rotating 180 degrees halfway through the baking time. If the tops brown too quickly, cover loosely with aluminum foil. Remove the loafs immediately to a cooling rack. Let cool completely before slicing.

Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread

Seeing all the gorgeous delicious breads people have been making from The Bread Baker's Apprentice, I knew I had to steal the book from my mom! Well not steal, just borrow for an indefinite amount of time. The first loaf I wanted to try was the Christopsomos Greek celebration bread. I love the shape! It's so fun. Mine didn't turn out quite as defined though.

Looking back at the photos, it looks like such a huge monster of a bread! And it was. Not that there's anything wrong with that because it was fun to make and really delicious and soft. I love all the spices and flavours - cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves (my favourite!), orange extract and almond extract. There are also some raisins, dried cranberries and walnuts thrown in there too. The flavours are similar to the pecan fruit rye bread I made before and loved.

I think I let my final shaped dough rise too long so it became a bit too big. And I'm wondering if that's what also caused what looks like tearing in the dough? Hmm. The only other bread I've tried out of this book so far are the bagels. I feel like I'm really developing a love for bread making! (As long as I have my Kitchenaid and don't have to knead by hand - I haven't learned to love that yet.) Anyone have recommendations for good bread books?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Golden Cinnamon Loaf
Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots
Garlic Rolls

Christopsomos - Greek Celebration Bread
Adapted from The Bread Baker's Apprentice

1 cup (7 oz) poolish (Recipe follows)
3 1/2 cups (16 oz) unbleached bread flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 large (3.3 oz) eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup (2.67 oz) honey
1/4 cup (2 oz) olive oil
3/4 cup (6 oz) 1% milk, lukewarm (90F-100F)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
2 tbsp water
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp orange extract
1 tsp sesame seeds

1. Remove the measured amount of poolish from the refrigerator 1 hour before making the dough. (The poolish should be made the day before.)

2. Stir together the flour, salt, yeast, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the poolish, the extracts, eggs, honey, oil and milk. Mix on low speed with the paddle attachment until the dough forms a ball.

3. Mix on medium speed with the dough hook. Add more milk or flour as needed to form the dough into a soft, but not sticky, ball. It should be tacky and very supple. Mix for approximately 10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes of mixing, add the raisins, dried cranberries and walnuts. The dough should pass the windowpane test.

4. Lightly oil a bowl and transfer the dough to the bowl, rolling it around to coat it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment the dough at room temperature for 90 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

5. Remove the dough from the bowl and divide it into 2 pieces, one piece twice as big as the other. Shape the larger piece into a boule. Transfer it to a sheet pan that has been lined with baking parchment or a Silpat mat. Mist the dough with spray oil and loosely cover with plastic wrap. Place the smaller piece of dough into a plastic bag and chill in the refrigerator.

6. Proof at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes, or until the dough nearly doubles in size.

6a. When the boule is ready to bake, remove the smaller piece from the refrigerator, divide it in half, and roll each half into a 10 inch long strand. Cross the 2 strands of dough over the top of the boule. Using a pastry scraper, split the ends of each strand and coil them to form a decorative cross.

7. Preheat the oven to 350F with the oven rack on the middle shelf.

8. Bake the loaf for 20 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees for even baking and continue baking for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the loaf is golden brown and registers 190F. (If you're like me and don't have a thermometer, take it out when it is golden brown.) It should make a hollow sound when thumped on the bottom. Glaze the loaf a soon as it comes out of the oven.

9. To make the glaze, combine the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the honey and extract and turn off the heat. Reheat the glaze, if necessary, before applying it to the bread. Brush the loaves with the glaze and immediately sprinkle the loaves with sesame seeds.

10. Transfer the bread to a rack and cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Poolish

Note: This makes about 11.5 oz and you only need 7 oz for the recipe.

1 1/4 cups (11.13 oz) unbleached bread flour
1 1/2 cups (12 oz) water, at room temperature
1/4 tsp instant yeast

Stir together the flour, water and yeast in a mixing bowl until all of the flour is hydrated. The dough should be soft and sticky and look like very thick pancake batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and ferment at room temperature for 3 to 4 hours, or until the sponge becomes bubbly and foamy. Immediately refrigerate it. It will keep for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

(Insanely Delicious) Basic Focaccia

I've been holding out on you guys for a while (due to the backlog) on this focaccia that is the best I've ever had, and one of the best bread products I've ever eaten. I really should've posted about this sooner! I saw this focaccia on Leng's blog and she said how good it was so I asked her for the recipe and she kindly sent it. The focaccia is super soft and so tasty. Maybe all focaccia is meant to be this way and I've just never had fresh focaccia? You use a lot of oil in the pan that it's baked in so the bread basically fries on the bottom - SO GOOD. Especially the super fried corners. Yes maybe not the healthiest bread out there but so worth the indulgence. And usually I hate hand kneading dough but this one wasn't sticky and was super easy to knead.

Unfortunately the bread only keeps fresh for a couple of days so freeze it if you can't eat it all - and it does make a lot of bread so unless you're bread monsters or have a lot of people to eat it you'll probably want to freeze some. I made it exactly as directed this time, but I'd like to try it with some whole wheat flour, and maybe less oil. I know the photos don't make it look like anything spectacular but it really is! Even my stepdad who says he doesn't like eating bread really liked it.

Yes we have a little too many toys and things for Abby haha. I was surprised to find her in the little cubbyhole because she never goes in there. She's kind of too big for it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Oatmeal Knots
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Oatmeal Bread
Brioche

Basic Focaccia
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Baking

I messed up when I was baking it and cooked it at 350F for 8 minutes then 450F for 10 minutes. Turned out fine though.

5 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups of warm water (105° – 115°F)
1 teaspoon of sugar
3/4 cup olive oil
5 cups of all purpose flour (I used 680 g.)
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon sea salt (topping)

In a large bowl dissolve the yeast in warm water and let stand until foamy (~5 minutes). Add the sugar, 1/2 cup of olive oil, the flour, and the fine sea salt and stir with your hand or wooden spoon until a rough ball forms.
Transfer the dough to a floured work surface by using a pastry scraper or just scraping it out with your fingers. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes. Add up to 1/2 cup of flour to the work surface and your hands to prevent the dough from sticking.

Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let it rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in size, 1-1 1/2 hours.

Pour the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil evenly onto a half sheet pan. Turn the dough out into the pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan. (If dough is too elastic to spread without springing back, let it rest for 5 minutes). Cover the pan loosely with a dry kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in size about 1 hour.
Position the rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 450°F. Dimple the dough by pressing your fingertips all the way into it, about 1 inch a part. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

Bake the focaccia until golden brown, 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan. Cut into square or serve warm or at room temp.

Bread may be stored tightly wrapped at room temp for up to a day. Or freeze up to 2 weeks. To reheat, put leftover bread in the oven at 375°F for 10 minutes.

Oatmeal Knots

As regular readers know, I love baking. But it's not exactly healthy to constantly have cookies, cakes, scones, etc hanging around the house. So I've started to delve more into bread making. And so far am loving it. I could happily eat a yummy piece of bread or a roll instead of a muffin for a snack. And these oatmeal knots were really yummy. They were so soft, slightly sweet, and while made with 2/3 whole wheat flour, they don't taste like it. I also love how they look! Such a cute little knot.

Working with the dough on the other hand was really aggravating. It was the stickiest dough, and sticky doughs are one reason I've avoided bread making. There was no way I could've hand kneaded this. I guess I could've added a bunch of extra flour? But I opted to just throw it in my Kitchenaid for a while, and then when it came to cutting up the dough and rolling it out, I dusted it in flour first. I thought I had done a pretty heavy flour dusting but it didn't seem to impact the final product in a negative way at all. I will definitely make these again. They freeze really well too!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Garlic Rolls
Soft Pretzels
Oatmeal Bread

Oatmeal Knots
Adapted from Cooking Light January 2008

I sprinkled oats and sesame seeds on the rolls but the recipe suggests you also sprinkle poppy seeds. And I opted to not use an egg wash, and instead just used water to get the oats/seeds to stick. Next time I'd like to try using more whole wheat flour.

1 cup regular oats
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons butter (Ashley note: Next time I'll try oil.)
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups boiling water
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/3 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
3 cups whole wheat flour (about 14 1/4 ounces)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (about 6 3/4 ounces), divided
Cooking spray or oil
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 tablespoon regular oats
1 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl, and add 2 cups boiling water, stirring until well blended. Cool to room temperature. (Ashley note: This took about an hour for me.)

Dissolve yeast in 1/3 cup warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add yeast mixture to oats mixture; stir well. Stir in flaxseed meal.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Gradually add 3 cups whole wheat flour and 1 cup all-purpose flour to oats mixture; stir until a soft dough forms. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining all-purpose flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky). (Ashley note: I kneaded the dough in my Kitchenaid but I can't remember for how long. I think a bit less than 8 minutes.)

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Press two fingers into the dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down, and let rest for 5 minutes.

Divide dough in half; cut each half into 12 equal portions. Working with one portion at a time (cover remaining dough to prevent from drying), shape each portion into an 8-inch rope. (Ashley note: If your dough was really sticky like mine, coat the ropes in flour before rolling them into ropes and shaping.) Tie each rope into a single knot; tuck top end of rope under bottom edge of roll. Place each roll on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Cover with plastic wrap coated with cooking spray; let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Brush water over rolls. Combine 1 tablespoon oats, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds; sprinkle evenly over rolls. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on wire racks.