Cinnamon Bread

I'm not even going to tease you with exposition...

Cinnamon Bread!

To start you need to warm up some milk and butter. Use only the best stuff you can get. The butter of course was Kerrygold...my all time favorite! Let this cool down, you want it to be warm, but not hot and not cold.

I was tired when I made this, but there are the little yeasts dying a horrible miserable death. Instead of taking a warm bath in butter and milk, activating their delicious gas...I scalded and murdered each and everyone of them. "Too hot" they were screaming.

This recipe is a sweet bread, so you need some sugar. And why the heck not, use some vanilla sugar if you have it lying around.

Butter, milk, sugar, eggs, flour and dead yeast. That's my dough there. A little sticky, waiting to rise. 90 minutes later, it's still sitting there, just a little flatter and more sad looking. I really did kill the yeast. Yeast needs a moist, warm environment to start the rising process. You kill the process with extreme heat and slow the process with cold. So what to do? After that 90 minute rest I proofed new yeast in warm milk, with a pinch of sugar. I waited a few minutes for the mixture to get foamy and start to smell super--the smell of fermentation! With that, I poured the happily proofed yeast into the boring dough and started kneading in the mixer again. And I started adding new flour. I total, I probably had to add an additional cup of flour, give or take. the dough now felt like proper dough and within a few minutes of resting, was rising! Woo hoo...I fixed it!!!!

90 minutes later, the blob was about to pour over the giant bowl I had it in.

I just tapped the top of the dough and it started to deflat, belching all the day down the bowl.

I nudged the dough out of the bowl, onto a floured surface and started to press it out into a large rectangle. Hold up your bread pans to make sure the size it going to fit. This was for two loafs.

Dump a bunch of cinnamon sugar on the dough, going all the way to the edge.

Roll the dough up and drop it into the pans, seam side down. Allow to rest for another 90 minutes to two hours.

Brush the loafs with an egg wash...liberally!

Bake for 40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. My loafs overflowed and started kissing each other. Make sure to invite guests over to your house at this time. The cinnamon aromas wafting about will drive people nuts!

Let the loafs rest for a few minutes to cool, then slice with a large bread knife. If you can, toast it. Or, just eat it warm, with more Kerrygold butter!

Mmmm, butter! Seriously...I started giggling and had tears in my eyes when I had my first bite. So good.

Cinnamon Bread
From The Pioneer Woman Cooks
For 1 loaf

1 cup Milk
6 TB Butter
2½ tsp Active Dry Yeast
2 whole Eggs
1/3 cups Sugar
3½ cups All-purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
1/3 cups Sugar
2 TB Cinnamon
Egg and Milk, Mixed Together, For Brushing
Softened Butter, For Smearing And Greasing

Melt butter with milk. Heat until very warm, but don’t boil. Allow to cool until still warm to the touch, but not hot. Sprinkle yeast over the top, stir gently, and allow to sit for 10 minutes.

Combine flour and salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, mix sugar and eggs with the paddle attachment until combined. Pour in milk/butter/yeast mixture and stir to combine. Add half the flour and beat on medium speed until combined. Add the other half and beat until combined.

Switch to the dough hook attachment and beat/knead dough on medium speed for ten minutes. If dough is overly sticky, add 1/4 cup flour and beat again for 5 minutes.

Heat a metal or glass mixing bowl so it’s warm. Drizzle in a little canola oil, then toss the dough in the oil to coat. Cover bowl in plastic wrap and set it in a warm, hospitable place for at least 2 hours.

Turn dough out onto the work surface. Roll into a neat rectangle no wider than the loaf pan you’re going to use, and about 18 to 24 inches long. Smear with 2 tablespoons melted butter. Mix sugar and cinnamon together, then sprinkle evenly over the butter-smeared dough. Starting at the far end, roll dough toward you, keeping it tight and contained. Pinch seam to seal.

Smear loaf pan with softened butter. Place dough, seam down, in the pan. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix a little egg with milk, and smear over the top. Bake for 40 minutes on a middle/lower rack in the oven.

Remove from the pan and allow bread to cool.

OMG So Happy!

Fresh cinnamon bread! Stay tuned for more fun!!!!

Buttermilk Biscuits

Time to make biscuits! The other night, for whatever reason, I decided to make Buttermilk Biscuits for dinner. Actually, I had decided to make Biscuits and Gravy for dinner, but didn't have my fall back--biscuits in a tube! Guilty pleasure, I love them. So buttery and processed! So, biscuits and gravy, and no biscuits. So, let's start making the biscuits!

The recipe I used called for 2 types of flour, regular all-purpose and extra soft cake flour. I didn't have cake flour, so I used a super fine Italian style pasta flour. The results seemed ok!

What's a good biscuit without plenty of butter!

Whiz the flour, butter, salt, baking soda and baking powder until it resembles course meal and can be squeezed into a shape when pinched together.

Pour in the buttermilk and process until it just comes together. It will be super soft and sticky.

Start to carefully knead the dough together with additional cake flour. Be gentle. If you knead too much, the biscuits will be tough hockey pucks.

I don't have a proper biscuit butter, so I just formed my dough into a rectangle and cut out 8 triangles--similar to scones.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until golden and tempting!

The biscuits will be smiling at you when they are done!

Here's a biscuit with some sausage gravy on it. Tasty. I like to serve my biscuits and gravy sloppy, so extra gravy!

And here's a biscuit being a little naughty for dessert. Homemade mixed berry jam we got at the farmer's market. Drool!

Buttermilk Biscuits
from Williams-Sonoma Bread

1 1/2 cups (7 1/2 oz) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups (6 oz) cake flour, or white pastry flour
1 TB sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup, plus 2 TB cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 cup cold buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, combine the flours, salt, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Process briefly to mix. Add butter and, using pulse, cut the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Add the buttermilk all at once, and pulse just to moisten all ingredients. The dough will stiffen during mixing. It should be slightly shaggy, but not overly sticky or wet. Do not overmix.

Sprinkle a board with cake flour. Scrape the sides and bottom of the work bowl and turn out the dough; it will be very soft. Sprinkle the top with cake flour. With floured hands, gently knead the dough just a few times. Press and pat the dough into a loose rectangle about 1 1/2 inches thick. With a plastic dough scraper or large rubber spatula, fold the rectangle like a letter, overlapping the short sides in the middle to make 3 layers. Roll or pat out the dough into a rectangle 1 inch thick, sprinkling a little flour beneath the dough as needed to prevent sticking. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter dipped in flour, cut out the biscuits by pushing the cutter straight down and lifting up without twisting. Cut as close together as possible for a minimum of scraps. Pack together and reroll the scraps to cut out additional biscuits.

Place the biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, spacing them 1 inch apart. Bake until the biscuits are firm to the touch and the tops and bottoms are golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Let rest for a few minutes, then serve hot.

Delicious Quick Bread

The Duchess brought pumpkin bread for her visit to Parkway Manor this holiday weekend. Very delicious. Perhaps she will share the recipe with us!!!

UPDATED 2/15/10
Thanks for the recipe Duchess!

Here is the pumpkin bread recipe:

1 2/3 c. flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. sugar
1/3 c. oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
1 c. canned pumpkin

Mix ingredients together. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 1 hour.


This is the original recipe that I found on Recipes.com. It is perfectly good as is, but you can make adjustments, such as:

- substitute plain yogurt for buttermilk (no change in measurement)
- reduce sugar if you want it to be more like a bread and less like a cake
- mix all the dry ingredients together and the wet ingredients separately, then combine
- sift the flour

I did all of the above in the loaf you guys had. One other thing I've done in the past is melt a few squares of unsweetened dark chocolate and swirl that into the batter. Makes for a subtle chocolate flavor and a cool look.

Also, the original recipe doesn't specify what kind of oil. I use canola.

Rollin With My Homies

French Bread Rolls

Start with the basic, simple, easy dough recipe.

Divide dough into rolls. Let them rise in a cloth/flour lined muffin tin.

Spritz a HOT oven with water to get a crisp, golden roll.

Serve warm...

...with the best quality butter you can. Divine!

Dinner Rolls

AWESOME!!!!

We were invited to our neighbor's house for dinner and I wanted to bring something. But I wasn't up for grocery shopping and we didn't really have much in the house. So I decided to make some bread! But I wanted to try something a little different. I wanted to try making rolls instead of a loaf.

Success! I used the Simple French Bread recipe from Mark Bittman.

After the bread dough has risen the first time, I kneaded the dough to get the air out and redistribute the yeast. I then divided the dough equally, I think I had about 10-12 small pieces. Roll the pieces of dough into balls. These will need to rise for an additional 2 hours. Take a muffin tin and line it with a clean cotton towel. Push the towel into each muffin cup. Dust with flour. Place the dough balls into the towel lined cups. Cover with a warm, damp towel and let rise for two hours.

When you are ready to bake the dough, pre-heat the oven to 450.

Remove the top towel you are covering the dough with. Then flip the muffin pan, gently, onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Carefully remove the towel that was lining the muffin pan. If you need to, gently re-form the dough into balls.

Using a sharp knife, cut a cross pattern into the top of each roll. This will help the bread to rise and steam to escape.

Using a misting bottle, spray the inside of your oven with water. Place the dough in the center of the oven. For the next ten minutes, spray water 3 times. This will help give a crisp crust to the final rolls.

After the first ten minutes, turn the heat to 350 and bake for 30 minutes. The rolls will be golden brown. You can use a thermometer to check the internal temperature; it should be 210.

Allow the rolls to cool, then ENJOY!

Soup and Bread

What a great dinner on a chilly Snow Day*...

Fresh loaf of French Bread. I tried to make a more traditional loaf shape this time around, but through rising and cooking, the loaf flattened out, more of a Ciabatta loaf instead of a French loaf. But still really good!

And hot Tomato Soup.

*Snow Day will be defined as a sunny, clear Monday that you have off of work because the entire region is still digging out of 20+ inches of snow we received from Friday night to Sunday early morning.

Soup and Bread

In continuing the cheap dinners, I made bread and soup. All with items we had on hand, unplanned! No shopping list for these items. Rosemary from the garden. A squash from the last farmer's market...everything else was here.

Rosemary & Caramelized Onion Focaccia and Butternut Squash & Apple Bisque!

A great fall meal.

My first note...I LOVED the bread. The soup was great, but it was missing something...and I know what it was. Continue.




The bread is super easy. Flour, water, yeast, olive oil. Mix, rise, stretch and dimple! Then you add some rosemary and caramelized onions on top with a little sea salt for flavor and crunch.


Back until golden and delish. I would have liked a little more topping, but as it was, I loved it. We ate half a pan the first night and the next day ate almost the rest of it!


The outside bottom crust gets crispy from the olive oil, almost like a pizza crust. It's amazing and paired perfectly well with the soup...


Butternut Squash & Apple Bisque. This was really good, but I felt something was missing. It wasn't salt or flavor, everything was there. I think I figured it out after the fact. I need a hint of some acid. Next time a little apple cider vinegar, I think that will give the POP I was looking for.




Rosemary & Caramelized Onion Focaccia
Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

Ingredients
1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast
5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus additional for kneading
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small to medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt

Special equipment: a standing electric mixer with paddle attachment and dough hook
preparation

Stir together 1 2/3 cups lukewarm (105 to 115°F) water and yeast in bowl of mixer and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. Add 5 cups flour, 1/4 cup oil, and 2 1/2 teaspoons table salt and beat with paddle attachment at medium speed until a dough forms. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead dough at high speed until soft, smooth, and sticky, 3 to 4 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons more flour. Knead dough 1 minute (it will still be slightly sticky), then transfer to a lightly oiled bowl and turn dough to coat with oil. Let rise, covered with plastic wrap, at warm room temperature, until doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Press dough evenly into a generously oiled 15- by 10- by 1-inch baking pan. Let dough rise, covered completely with a kitchen towel, until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Saute onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft and they start to caramelize. Stir in the rosemary with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, let cool.

Make shallow indentations all over dough with your fingertips, then sprinkle the onions and rosemary, letting them pool in the indentations. Sprinkle sea salt evenly over focaccia and bake in middle of oven until golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Immediately invert a rack over pan and flip focaccia onto rack, then turn right side up. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Green is Good

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!


What better way to celebrate than to make Irish Brown Bread! So hearty and filling.

Whole wheat. That's good for you.

Mix flour with a yeast starter with molasses and water!

I made two batches, so I could have two loafs...one as a hostess gift, another for filling my belly.

Bake for awhile and let cool for bit.

Slice the bread and slather on some butter. On day two, you can toast the bread and slather on more butter and jam. Dang. Good stuff.

No really, I am.
Well, I'm a half-breed...Irish and German...
but today...I'm all Irish!

Fresh Bread

So I made fresh bread. The aroma of warm bread filling your home is unmatched, maybe apple pie, for comfort and warmth. With just four ingredients, a few short steps and time to read, do chores, watch TV, there is no real reason to not give it a try. I'm so happy I did and I'll do it again! The price of the yeast, flour and salt plus my time is far more affordable than a loaf of store bought bread!

Easy French Bread

From How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

3 1/2 cups break or all-purpose flour, plus more as needed
2 tsp salt
1 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast
Scant 1 1/2 cups water

1) Add the flour, salt and yeast to the bowl of your food processor. Pulse for 5 seconds. With the machine running, pour most of the water through the feed tube. Process for about 30 seconds. The dough should be in a defined but shaggy ball, still sticky; you would not want to knead it by hand.

2) Place the dough in a large bowl and loosely cover with a plastic bag, plastic wrap or a towel and let sit, draft free, for 2-3 hours at room temperature. If you would like to let the dough rise for a longer period of time, which will help develop the flavors, refrigerate for up to 12 hours, bring back to room temperature before continuing.

3) Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the counter and pull the dough out of the bowl and place in the middle of the flour. Gently knead the dough to redistribute the yeast and slowly form the dough into a ball, pinching the sides together on the underside of the dough ball, leaving a smooth surface on the top.

4) Line a colander with a clean kitchen towel and dust with flour. Place the dough ball in the colander, smooth side down. Loosely fold the towel over the dough ball and let rise from 2-6 hours.

5) 30 minutes before you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. When you are ready to bake, gently turn the dough ball onto a peel or baking sheet. Slash the top several times with a knife or razor blade. Spray the inside of the oven several times with water to create steam. Then either put the baking sheet in the oven or slide the loaf onto a baking stone.

6) Spray two or three times during the first 10 minutes of baking. After 20 minutes, lower the heat to 350. Bake a total of 45 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown (internal temperature will be about 210.) Remove and spray with a little bit of water if you would like a shinier crust, and cool on a wire rack.

I used the boule shape because it's easy. Next time I might try doing a loaf, which will be nicer for sandwiches. We ate about one third of the loaf with dinner. The rest will be used for sandwiches.

While you are at the store, try to get some Kerrygold Butter it will make your bread experience much more satisfying!

See...so satisfying!