Homemade Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns

 I have been wanting to post this recipe for quite a while. I love making my own breads and such, but hadn't considered making my own buns until recently. The first time I used the recipe I made hot dog buns. I thought it would be fun. I made them a little large (it took 1 1/2 dog to fill the bun) but I still loved them. My second time making them I did hamburger buns. This time I used all white whole wheat flour. We loved these too! You could totally make a bunch and freeze them, then whenever you are having hamburgers or hot dogs just pull a few out and you are done. I might not ever go back to buying hot dog or hamburger buns again!

Homemade Hamburger or Hot Dog Buns
(using a Bread Maker)

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups milk, slightly warmed
• 1 beaten egg
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 3/4 cups flour *
• 1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

Directions
(hamburger buns, if you want hot dog buns. cut 'em to that shape)

1. Place all ingredients in pan of bread machine, according to manufacturer's directions.
2. Select dough setting.
3. When cycle is complete, turn out onto floured surface.
4. Cut dough in half and roll each half out to a 1" thick circle.
5. Cut each half into six 3 1/2" rounds with inverted glass as a cutter.
6. Place on greased baking sheet far apart and brush with melted butter.
7. Cover and let rise until doubled, about one hour.
8. Bake at 350° for 9 minutes.Note: Oven temperatures vary so check after 9 minutes to see if done. Mine took about 13 minutes until they were nice and golden brown on top.
9. I like to brush on some more melted butter when they are hot and fresh out of the oven.

*Note: I have also used all purpose flour and whole wheat flour and both work great! With the whole wheat flour use a little less. I find that it absorbs more moisture so you don't need quite as much.


Recipe Source: Craving Comfort

Blueberry Sweet Rolls

 
There is a certain bakery near us that has the most amazing sweet rolls. People will often bring them for us at my work, or if it has been a while we will encourage our boss to get some on her way in. Everyone loves them. They have a wide variety of flavors including cinnamon, blueberry, raspberry, and orange. Yes I have tried them all, and no I can not pick a favorite. My favorite changes depending on my mood that day, but I can tell you that I always enjoy them. Well this week we found blueberries on sale at Winco. We of course had to get as many as possible. I was really in the mood for some sort of bread and decided that I could make blueberry sweet rolls just like the local bakery. I made them and was so glad that I did. I could have eaten the whole pan. Luckily (for my thighs) I refrained. But needless to say they are delicious!

Blueberry Sweet Rolls

Dough
5 1/4 c. white flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 rounded tablespoons saf-instant yeast
3 T. oil
2c. hot tap water


Filling
2 cups blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
2 tsp lemon juice
3 tbs butter

Browned Butter Glaze
1/4 cup butter
2 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan with tin foil or a silpat to help with the clean up process.

For the dough: Mix dry ingredients to bowl of stand mixer. Add oil and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add a little more water, if too wet add more flour. Dough should clean the bowl of the mixer. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Let dough sit in the mixer for 10 minutes (set a timer if you are like me and most likely would forget about it). After the 10 minutes is up turn the mixer on for about 30 seconds then turn it back off again. Repeat the process of letting the dough rest/rise then turning on mixer 2 more times.  During the down time make the filling.

Filling: Combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until fruit is blended down and more liquid. I like mine quite blended, but if you like more chunks feel free to only blend it a small amount or add fresh blueberries after the blending process is done. Pour blended blueberry mixture into a medium size sauce pan. Place the pan over medium heat. Heat until mixture thickens. Once thick take off heat and set aside to cool. It is ok if it is still warm, but you don't want it boiling hot when you spread it on the dough.

After the final resting and turning on the mixer process turn dough onto a well floured surface. Split the dough in half working with one half at a time. Roll out half of the dough into a rectangle. Spread filling on rolled out dough. I found that cutting the dough into long strips with a pizza cutter and then rolling it up was easier and less messy than rolling it up then cutting it, but you can do this step however you want. Place rolled up sweet rolls on prepared baking sheet. Allow about an inch in between pieces to allow for rising, but to still let them tough slightly once baking. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until dough is a light golden brown.


Browned Butter Glaze: Over medium heat heat butter until it is browned. (It starts turning a nice amber color and gives off the most delicious nutty smell) Pour browned butter into a heat proof bowl and add powdered sugar and milk. Mix with a whisk or hand mixer until combined. I like mine to be just slightly thinner than I would make it if I wanted it to be spreadable. Drizzle glaze over warm sweet rolls and enjoy!

Cheesy Pull-A-Part Bread

I kind of just threw this recipe together, and loved it so much that I just had to share it with you. It was easy, and we gobbled it up so fast! The 2 cups of cheese is just enough to make it cheesy but not completely covered in cheese. I am a huge cheese fan and would be just fine with even more cheese. Feel free to put as much or as little cheese  as you desire. Also the small the balls of dough are the more cheese you will have throughout the bread. Its so fun having little pockets of yummy cheese throughout the bread!

Cheesy Pull-A-Part Bread

5 1/4 c. white flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 rounded tablespoons saf-instant yeast
3 T. oil
2c. hot tap water
Adobo Seasoning *
2 cups Sharp cheddar cheese shredded


Mix dry ingredients to bowl of stand mixer. Add oil and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add a little more water. Dough should clean the bowl of the mixer. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Grease a bunt pan well. Pull of small golf ball sized pieces of dough and place them in the pan. Do one layer at a time leaving a small amount of space between each ball of dough. Once you have a single layer sprinkle some adobo seasoning on dough. Next sprinkle some cheese on dough. Repeat with another layer of dough, then adobo, then cheese. Repeat this process until you have used all your dough, or your pan is 2/3 the way full. Really this dough recipe makes enough for one huge pan, 2 small pans, or 1 pan and some rolls or whatever you want to do with the extra dough. Cover pan with a dish towel. Let rise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown on top. While still warm flip onto a serving plate. This will be the real test if you greased you pan well enough. If you haven't it can be a little tricky getting it out of the pan. Hopefully it will come out nicely for you. If you are having trouble getting it out of the pan take a butter knife, or something that won't scratch your pan and gently loosen the edges. Once the edges are loose it should come out beautifully. I prefer this when its warm, but it tastes great when it is cooled as well. You can either serve it in slices or just pull pieces off and eat them.





*If you don't have Adobo, can't find it, or don't want to buy it that is ok. Adobo is just a seasoning that combines salt, garlic, pepper, oregano, and turmeric. Feel free to use your own combination of these things to make a delicious cheesy bread!

Delicious Dinner Rolls

These might be my new favorite rolls. I have now made them several times and absolutely love them. Maybe its all the delicious butter that goes into them. Whatever it is these are tasty! This makes a huge batch of rolls so I will often half it.

Delicious Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of milk
3/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon Sugar
1 egg
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons yeast
2 cups of warm water
about 9-10 cups of all purpose flour
at least 1 cup of butter

To start out: Scald 1 1/2 cups of milk, 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup of butter, in a microwave safe bowl, for about 2 minutes. Cutting the butter into pieces helps it melt faster. There will probably be some little cubes of butter still floating in the hot mixture, they will melt.

We are going to add yeast to this hot mixture, but it will be too hot to just dump the yeast straight in (it would kill it!). To cool it down stir in 1-2 cups of flour, then add 1 egg and 1 Tablespoon of salt, and leave it to cool for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile, in a measuring cup dissolve 2 Tablespoons of yeast in 2 cups of warm water and 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Let it sit for a couple of minutes until it is bubbly.

**Keep track of how much flour you are adding!!!

Make sure your milk mixture is just warm, not boiling and add the yeast mixture!Using a fork or wooden spoon, gradually stir in 9-10 cups of flour (counting the flour you have already added to cool it earlier). I would recommend only adding 2 cups at time and stirring in between. These rolls turn out so much better when they are mixed by hand.

At the end the dough will be dense and sticky, and may be hard to stir, you can use your hands to incorporate the rest of the flour if needed. Be sure not to add too much flour. Then smooth the dough out and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave it in a warm place and let it raise.

When your dough is close to raising completely, butter 2 cookie sheets and set them aside.

Let the dough raise until it has doubled in size.

Cover your working space with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Dump your dough out and divide it into 4 balls. Eyeball the sizes, then lift them up and feel the weight of each ball. Try to make them even, but they don’t have to be perfect.

Using one ball of dough at a time: roll the dough into a circle on a floured counter. Once it is rolled out spread the top with butter from edge to edge. You will use about 2 Tablespoons per circle of dough.

Cut the dough into quarters using a pizza cutter.

Then cut each quarter into 3 pieces. You should end up with 12 triangles from each circle of dough.

Roll the dough starting with the wide end of the triangle.

Tuck the tail of the triangle under the roll and place it on the buttered cookie sheet. You will make 3 rows, with 8 rolls per row. This will give you 24 rolls per pan. Two balls of dough will fill 1 pan. You will get a total of 48 rolls!

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Place the pans of rolls in a warm place (on top of the oven if possible) to let them rise. Once they are touching and full in size, cook (one pan at a time) in the oven ’till they are golden brown. About 10 – 15 minutes, It may take longer depending on how hot your oven cooks. Keep a close eye on your first pan to get the right time for the second.

While they are still hot and fresh out of the oven run a stick of butter over the tops of the rolls for a delicious buttery glaze.



Recipe Source: How Does She?

Pesto Braid Bread

I kind of love bread. This is no secret. I also love pesto. How can you go wrong with basil, garlic, Parmesan, and pine nuts. I love all of these things.  The original recipe for this bread has a sweet filling which typically I'm all about, but today I was in a slightly more savory mood. I decided to use a pesto filling (because I love pesto) and I'm very glad I did. Its a very pretty bread with hidden goodness inside.

Pesto Braid Bread

Ingredients

Dough:

2 cups bread flour
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 envelope active dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut up
1 cup water
3 large eggs, slightly beaten

Filling:


2/3 cup packed, coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pine nuts or sunflower kernels
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 clove garlic, peeled

Directions

1. Dough: In large bowl, mix 1 cup bread flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour, yeast, sugar and salt.

 

2. In saucepan, melt butter in water. Let cool to 120 degrees F to 130 degrees F on instant-read thermometer. Add to flour; beat with spoon until combined. Stir in eggs. Stir in remaining bread flour, then all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time.

 

3. Knead dough on floured surface until smooth, 5 to 10 minutes, adding flour if needed. Place in greased bowl; turn to coat. Cover with towel. Let rise in warm place until doubled, 1 hour.

 

4. Filling: Combine basil, garlic, Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and nuts in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Blend to a smooth paste. Add parsley if desired.

 

5. Punch down dough; let rest 5 minutes.

 

6. Divide dough in half. Cover one half. Divide remaining half into thirds. Roll out a third into 15 x 5-inch rectangle. Spread with 3 tablespoons filling. Roll up from long side. Repeat with remaining 2 pieces.

 

7. Lightly coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray. Braid 3 ropes. Tuck ends under. Place on baking sheet. Cover loosely with plastic.

 

8. Repeat with other half of dough for second loaf. Cover; let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.

 

9. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Uncover loaves. Brush with a small amount of leftover pesto if desired.

 

10. Bake in 375 degrees F oven for 30 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when tapped. Transfer to rack; cool.

 

Recipe Source: Adapted from Recipe.com and Allrecipes

Naan - Indian Flatbread

I have been wanting to make this recipe for a long long time. It seems that every time I remember that I want to make it I just don't seem to have the time. The dough itself doesn't take long to make, but it does have to rise and rest for a while. Finally today I decided I just was going to do it.  I honestly didn't have any kind of Indian dish planned, but I decided that I love naan and therefore other Indian food is not required for me to make it. I am so glad that I finally made this. I may or may not have eaten just naan for dinner. Don't tell anyone!

Naan - Indian Flatbread

 *Makes about 12 pieces of naan

INGREDIENTS:
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry or instant yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
3-4 tablespoons, melted butter

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the milk into a liquid measure and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch (about 110 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). If using active dry yeast, mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated. Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour (proceed with the second paragraph of the recipe). If using instant yeast, pour the warm milk into a large bowl or the bowl of an electric stand mixer. Add the sugar, instant yeast, salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour. Proceed as directed below.

Mix well to combine. Continue adding flour gradually in small amounts, until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl. Knead the dough by mixer or hand until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.

After the dough has rested, turn it onto a lightly floured surface (I like to use my roul’pat for this) and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape. Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes. While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, try grilling the dough on a lightly oiled outdoor grill or use a hot griddle to bake the naan – you’ll have to experiment with cooking times but I’ve seen either of those methods used with cooking naan also.)

Once the dough has rested for 30 minutes, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thin or thick you want your naan. Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water. Close the oven and bake the naan for 2-4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed (some pieces will puff more than others) and brown spots begin to appear on the top. Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack. Brush lightly with melted butter. I also sprinkled a tiny amount of cracked sea salt on top. If you want to make garlic naan you can use a garlic butter , and sprinkle a small amount of fresh chopped cilantro on top. Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven. Cover with a towel and let the naan cool completely or serve warm.

Recipe Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Resurrection Rolls

I found this cute little recipe on Pinterest. With Easter this Sunday I just couldn't help but make these, eat them, and then share this wonderful find with all of you. The site that I found the recipe on has a cute little story and activity you can do with children. I don't have any children yet so I couldn't take cute pictures of kids doing this fun activity. So if you want the full story check it out here. Even though we don't have kids, my husband and I both enjoyed making these and most of all eating them!

Resurrection Rolls

Ingredients
1 can crescent rolls (I used this dough recipe and loved it)
8 large marshmallows (or however many rolls you want to make)
Melted Butter
Cinnamon Sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper. Unroll crescent rolls or if using homemade dough pinch of a ball big enough to cover a marshmallow. Roll the marshmallow in butter. Then roll the marshmallow in cinnamon sugar. Wrap the marshmallow in the crescent roll dough or homemade dough pinching the dough the seal it closed. Roll each marshmallow/dough combo in butter then cinnamon sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough and marshmallows. Bake for 12 minutes. You may need a longer baking time if using homemade dough. Mine took about 15 minutes. Once rolls are cool enough to handle open them up and see the empty tomb :). Again for full story and cute pictures click here.

Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from Eat At Allies

Amish Friendship Bread

I must be on a bread making kick lately. I absolutely adore this bread. I have loved it since the first time my mom made it for us. If you have never heard of this bread will give you the brief story straight from Wikipedia:  

Amish Friendship Bread is a type of bread or cake made from a sourdough starter that is often shared in a manner similar to a chain letter. The starter is a substitute for baking yeast and can be used to make many kinds of yeast-based breads, shared with friends, or frozen for future use. The sweet, cake-like Amish Cinnamon Bread is a common bread that is made from this starter; it is a simple, stirred quick bread that includes a substantial amount of sugar and vegetable oil, with a mild cinnamon flavor. The recipe for Amish Cinnamon Bread may have first been posted to the internet in 1990, but the recipe itself is several decades old.

I'll be honest I'm not a fan of chain letters or any such thing. I'm sure some people love them, but I'm not one of those people. For this reason I found a way to get around this. Instead of making 4 batches of bread (8 loaves) every time I want this bread I realized that the starter is the same on the day that you get it or on day 10. So every once and a while I will go through the 10 day process of multiplying the starter. On day 10 instead of giving them away with a chain letter I stick them in the freezer. Then whenever I want some fresh cinnamon bread I pull out a bag and make the bread.

If you have never tried this bread I do feel that it is worth the time and effort it takes to make a start and make this bread. I love the sweet cinnamony flavor and the unique flavor that the start brings. If you are someone that likes the challenge of finding someone new to give this bread and starter to then feel free to be a good person and share this bread with friends and family, they will be glad you did!

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

Ingredients
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
3 cups white sugar, divided
3 cups milk

Directions
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Let stand 10 minutes. In a 2 quart container glass, plastic or ceramic container, combine 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or flour will lump when milk is added. Slowly stir in 1 cup milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Cover loosely and let stand until bubbly. Consider this day 1 of the 10 day cycle. Leave loosely covered at room temperature.

On days 2 thru 4; stir starter with a spoon.

Day 5; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Days 6 thru 9; stir only.

Day 10; stir in 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Remove 1 cup to make your first bread, give 2 cups to friends along with this recipe, and your favorite Amish Bread recipe. Store the remaining 1 cup starter in a container in the refrigerator, or begin the 10 day process over again (beginning with step 2).


**Note: Once you have made the starter, you will consider it Day One, and thus ignore step 1 in this recipe and proceed with step 2. You can also freeze this starter in 1 cup measures for later use. Frozen starter will take at least 3 hours at room temperature to thaw before using.


Amish Friendship Bread


Ingredients:
1 cup oil
1/2 cup milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 - (5.1 oz) box instant vanilla pudding
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup nuts (optional)

Grease 2 bread pans well. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar into each bread pan and tip side to side to coat the bottom and edges (kind of like you are flouring your pans but using cinnamon sugar). In a small bowl combine oil, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate large bowl combine remaining ingredients and mix well. Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix and pour into two well greased and cinnamon sugared bread pans. If you want even more cinnamon sugary goodness you can sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on top of the loaf prior to baking. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour. Cool on wire rack.

Recipe Source: Allrecipes

Miracle Bread (1 hour bread)

I love bread! I openly admit this. I may be a carboholic but without any desire to quit. This bread is another great find from my friend Pinterest. I'll be honest this bread isn't my absolute favorite (honestly I don't know which recipe would be). I love trying new recipes. I try new ones most of the time I make bread. This bread is good. I enjoyed eating it. I will definitely make it again. The reason that it is miracle bread is because start to finish it is done in an hour! There are many times that I want homemade bread, but don't have 2-3 hours to make it and let it rise. An hour though? I usually have an hour. This bread is very simple to make. So for all of you/us that don't have time (or patience) to make our most favorite type of bread I think this recipe comes in quite nicely as a backup. Like I said I will make this bread again and I'm really excited about it!

**Note: if you are making this in a KitchenAid, halve the recipe and make 2 loaves of bread.**

Miracle Bread

10 1/2 c. white bread flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. salt
3 rounded tablespoons saf-instant yeast
3 T. liquid lecithin (I didn't have lecithin, so I used 1/3 c. oil)
4 c. hot tap water

Mix dry ingredients. Add lecithin (or oil) and water. Mix for 1 minute and check consistency. If dough is too dry, add a little more water. Dough should be very sticky. Mix for 5 minutes. (Do not add flour to the dough after it has finished mixing.) Spray counter and pans with Pam. Shape loaves, place in pans and cover with a dish towel. Let rise 25 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Makes 4 loaves.

For whole wheat bread, use the same recipe only with whole wheat flour; replace one cup of the hot water with applesauce, and add 1 additional tablespoon lecithin(again I used oil). Mix for ten minutes.

Recipe Source: Chez Moi 

I'm kinda dumb when it comes to photoshop. I'm really good at cropping images but not too much more than that. I was playing around with some filters on photoshop and I thought I would share this version of the photo with you. It is just awesome that it can take a photo and turn it into something that looks so different.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

This bread is moist, easy to slice, and made with whole wheat flour! I love most kinds of bread. I love making my own bread. I do find it hard to make a bread that slices nice and thin for sandwiches, especially whole wheat bread. I have made some pretty massive sandwiches with thick slices of bread for this reason. This bread is light and soft. It really is perfect for sandwiches.

 
Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread
Hands-on time: 20 mins.
Baking time: 40 - 45 mins.
Total time: 4 hrs
Yield: one 9" x 5" loaf


Ingredients: 
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast or 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water*
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/2 cup orange juice
5 tablespoons melted butter
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
3/4 cup instant mashed potato flakes
3 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour ( I grind my own, but I'm sure any type would work)
*Use 2 tablespoons less water in summer (or in a humid environment), 2 tablespoons more in winter (or in a dry climate).

Directions

1) Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water with a pinch of sugar. Allow it to rest for 15 minutes, till it becomes puffy. If you're using instant yeast, you can skip this step.

2) Combine the yeast/water with the remaining ingredients, and mix and knead—by hand, mixer, or bread machine—until you've made a cohesive dough. If you're using a stand mixer, knead at low speed for about 7 minutes. Note that 100% whole wheat dough will never become smooth and supple like dough made with all-purpose flour; it'll feel more like clay under your hands, and may appear a bit rough.

3) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow it to rise till it's expanded and looks somewhat puffy, about 60 to 90 minutes. Note that dough kneaded in a bread machine will rise faster and higher than bread kneaded in a mixer, which in turn will rise faster and higher than one kneaded by hand. So if you're kneading by hand, you may want to let the dough rise longer than 90 minutes.

4) Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan. Gently shape the dough into a smooth log, and settle it into the pan, smooth side up.

5) Tent the pan with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the loaf to rise till it's crowned over the rim of the pan by about 3/4", about 75 minutes. Don't let it rise too high; it'll continue to rise as it bakes. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350°F.

6) Bake the bread for 10 minutes. Lightly tent it with aluminum foil, and bake for an additional 30 to 35 minutes, or until the center registers 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove it from the oven, and turn it out of the pan onto a rack.

7) Run a stick of butter over the top of the hot loaf, if desired, for a softer crust. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing.


Recipe Source: Adapted slightly from King Arthur Flour

Meyer Lemon Loaf

Have I mentioned that I love lemon? Well its true. Luckily this month's Daring Bakers' Challenge incorporated my love for bread, sugar, and lemon all into one recipe! The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Meyer Lemon Loaf

Makes two 8” x 5” (20 x 13 cm) loaves
Adapted from Recipe Girl’s Meyer Lemon Loaf

Ingredients

LOAF:
2 2/3 cups (640 ml) (375 gm/13¼ oz) all-purpose (plain)unbleached flour
¾ teaspoon (3¾ ml) (3¾ gm) baking powder
zest of 3 Meyer lemons (regular old lemons will work just fine)
2 cups (480 ml) (450 gm/16 oz) white granulated sugar
6 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup (180 ml) sour cream or creme fraiche, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (30 ml) rum (can omit – I did!)
1½ tablespoons (22½ ml) fresh Meyer lemon juice (again, regular lemons can be used)
pinch of salt
9 tablespoons (135 ml) (125 gm/4½ oz/1 stick + 1 tablespoon) butter, melted and cooled

SIMPLE SYRUP:
½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm/4 oz) granulated sugar
½ cup (120 ml) water
Juice from 1 medium Meyer Lemon (or regular lemon)

Directions:
Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4. Butter and flour two 8” x 5” (20 x 13 cm) loaf pans.

Sift together flour and baking powder; set aside.

Place sugar, lemon zest, and eggs into a large mixing bowl and beat with a whisk until the mixture is a light lemon color and thickened a bit. This can also be done with a mixer. Whisk in sour cream, then salt, then rum (if using) and lemon juice.

Gently whisk in the flour in four parts, then whisk in the butter in three parts. You’ll have a thick, pourable batter flecked with lemon zest.

Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center comes out clean.

While the loaves are baking, prepare simple syrup. Boil together sugar and water and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the lemon juice.

Turn the loaves out of their pans onto a cooling rack and brush liberally with the lemon syrup, repeat brushing as you feel necessary. Let cool.

Storage & Freezing Instructions/Tips:
Loaves can be kept wrapped tightly on the counter or in the fridge for approximately 5 to 7 days. Loaves last 6 months if wrapped tightly and kept air tight in the freezer.

2-Minute French Toast In A Cup

I am all about quick and easy meals. Sometimes I have a lot of time to make an elegant meal. Sometimes I don't want to spend more than 30 seconds making a meal. It is all very relative to how I'm feeling that day. This recipe isn't just quick and easy, but it also tastes delicious! I have always loved french toast, so making simpler is even better!

2-Minute French Toast In A Cup
Prep time: 2-5 minutes
Servings: 1-2

2 slices bread (I have even used left over rolls)
1 egg
2 drops vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 tbs milk
1 pinch salt (optional)
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tbs butter

Prepare 1 large mug, or 2 smaller mugs by greasing them with butter. You can do this with the butter cold and rubbing it on the sides, or melt the butter and slosh it around in the cut to get the sides.

Cube the bread. They don't have to be perfect. Place bread in prepared cups. Press down slightly on  bread to squish it into the cups.

In a separate cup or ramekin combine egg, vanilla, cinnamon, milk, salt, and syrup. Mix with a fork. Pour egg mixture over bread pressing down slightly as you go to make sure all the peices are getting a little of the egg mixture. Let bread rest for a minute to absorb the extra fluid. Place in a microwave for 1 minute. If liquid still remains in cup after the 1 minute return to microwave and cook at 10 second intervals until it is all cooked and there is no runny egg left.

Let cool briefly and then top with more maple syrup and enjoy!

Recipe Source: Prudent Baby

Homemade Croutons

I love finding little recipes that use things (like bread) that I might end up throwing away. I also love when those little recipes taste amazing! I don't know if you all know this but croutons are far from healthy (this recipe included). Yes there might be little things you could do to make it more healthy like use olive oil istead of butter, but if you want really yummy croutons butter is the way to go!

Homemade Croutons
1 loaf french bread cubed (about 8 cups cubed bread chunks
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced*

In a microwave safe bowl combine butter, italian seasoning, salt, and garlic. Heat in microwave for 30-60 seconds until butter is melted and bubbling slightly. Set aside. In a large bowl place cubed bread chunks. French bread works great, but really any type of bread will work just fine. Slowly drizzle butter mixture over bread stirring while you pour. Try and evenly coat each piece of bread with the butter mixture. Pour bread onto a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake at 300 for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crunchy. Croutons can be eaten immediately or stored in an air tight container or zip lock bag for a few weeks.

*You can use 1 tsp garlic powder instead of the cloves of garlic if you prefer.

Whole Wheat Biscuits

Audax Artifex was our January 2012 Daring Bakers’ host. Aud worked tirelessly to master light and fluffy scones (a/k/a biscuits) to help us create delicious and perfect batches in our own kitchens! I decided to make whole wheat scones/biscuits. With the several batches I made I realized that moisture is a good thing. This dough is very sticky and I used a good amount of flour to assist in the kneading process, but the biscuits were moist and tender (just how I like them)!

Basic Scones (a.k.a. Basic Biscuits)
Servings: about eight 2-inch (5 cm) scones or five 3-inch (7½ cm) scones
Recipe can be doubled

Ingredients:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons fresh baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons frozen grated butter (or a combination of lard and butter)
approximately ½ cup cold milk
2 tablespoons honey
optional 1 tablespoon milk, for glazing the tops of the scones

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to very hot 475°F/240°C/gas mark 9.
2. Triple sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl. (If your room temperature is very hot refrigerate the sifted ingredients until cold.)
3. Rub the frozen grated butter (or combination of fats) into the dry ingredients until it resembles very coarse bread crumbs with some pea-sized pieces if you want flaky scones or until it resembles coarse beach sand if you want tender scones.
4. Combine the milk and the honey. Whisk to combine. Add nearly all of the liquid at once into the rubbed-in flour/fat mixture and mix until it just forms a sticky dough (add the remaining liquid if needed). The wetter the dough the lighter the scones (biscuits) will be!
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, lightly flour the top of the dough. To achieve an even homogeneous crumb to your scones knead very gently about 4 or 5 times (do not press too firmly) the dough until it is smooth. To achieve a layered effect in your scones knead very gently once (do not press too firmly) then fold and turn the kneaded dough about 3 or 4 times until the dough has formed a smooth texture. (Use a floured plastic scraper to help you knead and/or fold and turn the dough if you wish.)
6. Pat or roll out the dough into a 6 inch by 4 inch rectangle by about ¾ inch thick (15¼ cm by 10 cm by 2 cm thick). Using a well-floured 2-inch (5 cm) scone cutter (biscuit cutter), stamp out without twisting six 2-inch (5 cm) rounds, gently reform the scraps into another ¾ inch (2 cm) layer and cut two more scones (these two scones will not raise as well as the others since the extra handling will slightly toughen the dough). Or use a well-floured sharp knife to form squares or wedges as you desire.
7. Place the rounds just touching on a baking dish if you wish to have soft-sided scones or place the rounds spaced widely apart on the baking dish if you wish to have crisp-sided scones. Glaze the tops with milk if you want a golden color on your scones or lightly flour if you want a more traditional look to your scones.
8. Bake in the preheated very hot oven for about 10 minutes (check at 8 minutes since home ovens at these high temperatures are very unreliable) until the scones are well risen and are lightly colored on the tops. The scones are ready when the sides are set.
9. Immediately place onto cooling rack to stop the cooking process, serve while still warm.

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks

This is another great post courtesy of Pinterest. I saw this a while ago and have had it in the back of my mind. Today I finally decided to make it and guess what...It's fantastic! I mean really how can you go wrong with garlic butter, two cheeses, and bread? These are all some of my favorite things! To be honest I used to have a slight problem with marinara sauce. I have almost completely gotten over my problem, but as a kid I didn't even like pizza. I mean what kid doesn't like pizza? Well I have never claimed to be a normal eater, but surprisingly my tastes have expanded to include pizza. I actually really enjoy pizza now, but if the option is there I will still usually get one with a white sauce or something kinda different. Regardless of my current pizza likings, this garlic cheese bread is a perfect companion for any pizza, or really any meal. We kinda ate it as our entire meal (again, I'm not claiming that my eating habits are normal). 

You can make this with your favorite pizza dough, but just in case you don't have a favorite pizza dough recipe I have put one on here as well.

Cheesy Garlic Bread Sticks
yield: 1- 12 inch pie

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe Fail-Proof Pizza Dough (recipe below)
2 tablespoons softened salted butter
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese {use the real stuff!}
1/4 pound grated mozzarella cheese
{salt & pepper, if desired}

Directions:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with pizza stone inside. {If you don’t have a pizza stone, use an upside down cookie sheet}

Mix butter and garlic in a small bowl and set aside.

Spread pizza dough out into a 12-inch circle on parchment paper. {This makes it easier to transfer to the pizza stone.}

Spread the butter and garlic mixture over dough and top with parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. Top with a light sprinkling of salt and pepper, if desired.

Bake 9-10 minutes or until bubbly and golden. Remove from oven and cool 1-2 minutes before cutting. Serve hot, with marinara {if desired}. 



Basic Pizza Dough
yield: 2-12 inch pizzas, approximately 1 lb. of dough


Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey {or sugar}
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive or canola oil
3 cups bread flour {give or take 1/2 cup…depending on the heat & humidity}

Directions:
In a large mixing bowl, preferably that of a stand mixer, stir yeast and honey into warm water. Sit for 5-10 minutes or until bubbles form and mixture starts to foam. This tells you that the yeast is alive and kicking. Pour in salt, oil and half the flour and mix.

Once that flour is incorporated, start adding flour in bit by bit until you get the pizza dough to the consistency you want: slightly tacky, but when you touch it it doesn’t stick to your hands.

Once you reach this stage, turn the mixer on high to knead for 6 minutes. Turn a timer on and walk away! Resist the temptation to stop earlier than 6 minutes! That seems to be the magical number. It should look something like this when it’s done! The dough should be smooth and easy to work with. And the bowl should be clean!

Lightly grease the bowl & the dough so it doesn’t dry out, cover with plastic wrap and let it rise 1-2 hours. That’s it!

Recipe Source: Lauren's Latest

Orange Pull-A-Parts

I think I am getting used to this no sugar thing. It actually has been a fun challenge. It has given me opportunities to try recipes I probably wouldn't try normally. I have also had to be more creative in what I use to sweeten things. Luckily we have a lot of honey around our house! It has also been a very eye opening experience. I realize that I do eat a lot of sugar. I have known this, but I am even more aware of the amount sugar that is in everything. Sugar just isn't in desserts. It really is found in almost everything! For this reason it has become even more worthwhile for me to make all of my own food from scratch. This way I know exactly what is in everything (because I put it there).

Well these pull-a-parts are not only delicious but have no sugar in them! They are sweetened with honey. We ate them for breakfast today and enjoyed every bite. They are full of orange yumminess, and the way they are cut makes them look so pretty!

Orange Pull-A-Parts
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Bake Time: 20-25 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup butter chilled
1 cup milk minus 1 tbs

4 tbs butter softened
4 tbs honey
1-2 tbs fresh grated orange peel

Directions
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Line a cookie sheet with tin foil.


In a small bowl combine 4 tbs softened butter, 4 tbs honey, and 1-2 tbs fresh grated orange peel (depending on how orangey you want it). Mix with a whisk or fork until well combined. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal. I did this by putting the dry ingredients into my food processor and pulsing a few times to combine. I then cut the butter into smaller sections and added them to my food processor and pulsed until it is well combined. Pour flour/butter mixture into a separate bowl.

In a 1 cup glass measuring cup or bowl pour 1 tbs honey. Combine 1 tbs of honey with 1 tbs of milk and mix until combined. Gradually add the rest of the milk to make 1 cup total liquid. Gradually stir in milk into dough until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.

Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thick square. Spread a thin layer of orange honey butter mixture onto dough. If you put too much it will just ooze out as you roll it up. Roll dough up the same way you would cinnamon rolls. Place on prepared cookie sheet. Cut into 12 slices to within 1/8 in. of bottom, being careful not to cut all the say through. Fold down alternating slices from left to right to form a loaf. 

Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Brush the remaining orange honey butter over the loaf. Serve warm.

Recipe Source: A combination of these two recipes.

French Country (Sour Dough) Bread

Our Daring Bakers Host for December 2011 was Jessica of My Recipe Project and she showed us how fun it is to create Sour Dough bread in our own kitchens! She provided us with Sour Dough recipes from Bread Matters by Andrew Whitley as well as delicious recipes to use our Sour Dough bread in from Tonia George’s Things on Toast and Canteen’s Great British Food!

This really has been such a fun challenge. I am actually quite a novice when it comes to sour dough bread. I have made tons of traditional yeast breads but never sour dough. My family grew up eating sour dough pancakes, but that is my only experience with a sour dough starter. This has been just the beginning of my experimentation with sour dough! I will first give you the recipe for the starter and then the bread recipe.

French Country Bread
Servings: 1 large loaf plus extra wheat starter for further baking

Wheat Starter - Day 1:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
Total scant ½ cup (115 ml) (3 oz/85 gm)
Directions:
1. In a Tupperware or plastic container, mix the flour and water into a paste.
2. Set the lid on top gently, cover with a plastic bag, to prevent messes in case it grows more than expected!
3. Set somewhere warm (around 86 F if possible). I sometimes put mine on a windowsill near a radiator, but even if it’s not that warm, you’ll still get a starter going – it might just take longer.

Wheat Starter - Day 2:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
3 tablespoons (45 ml) water
scant 1/2 cup (115 ml) (3 oz/85 gm) starter from Day 1
Total scant cup (230 ml) (6 oz/170 gm)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 1, cover, and return to its warm place.

Wheat Starter - Day 3:
Ingredients
4 1/2 tablespoons (70 ml) (40 gm/1 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour
4 teaspoons (20 ml) water
scant 1 cup (230 ml) (6 oz/170 gm) starter from Day 2
Total 1⅓ cup (320 ml) (230 gm/8-1/10 oz)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 2, cover, and return to its warm place.

Wheat Starter - Day 4:
Ingredients
3/4 cup plus 1½ tablespoons (205 ml) (120 gm/4 ¼ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup less 4 teaspoons (100 ml) water
1⅓ cup (320 ml) (230 gm/8 oz) starter from Day 3
Total scant 2⅔ cup (625 ml) (440 gm/15½ oz)
Directions:
1. Stir the flour and water into the mixture from Day 3, cover, and return to its warm place. At this point it should be bubbling and smell yeasty. If not, repeat this process for a further day or so until it is!

French Country Bread
Stage 1: Refreshing the leaven
Ingredients
1 cup less 1 tablespoon (225 ml) (160 gm/5 ⅔ oz) wheat Leaven Starter
6 tablespoons less 1 teaspoon (85 ml) (50 gm/1¾ oz) stoneground bread making whole-wheat or graham flour
1 cup plus 2 teaspoons (250 ml) (150 gm/5 ⅓ oz) unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 cup (120 ml) water
Production Leaven Total 2¾ cups plus 4 teaspoons (680 ml) (480 gm /1 lb 1 oz)
Directions:
1. Mix everything into a sloppy dough. It may be fairly stiff at this stage. Cover and set aside for 4 hours, until bubbling and expanded slightly.

French Country Bread
Stage 2: Making the final dough

Ingredients
3/4 cup less 1 teaspoon (175 ml) (100 gm/3 ½ oz) stoneground breadmaking whole-wheat or graham flour, plus more for dusting
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (510 ml) (300gm/10 ½ oz) unbleached all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons (7½ ml) (7 gm/¼ oz) sea salt or ⅔ teaspoon (3⅓ ml) (3 gm/⅛ oz) table salt
1 ¼ cups (300 ml) water
1 ¾ cups (425 ml) (300 gm/10 ½ oz) production leaven – this should leave some (1 cup) for your next loaf.
Total 6 cups less 2 tablespoons 1415 ml (1007 gm/35 ½ oz/2 lb 3½ oz)

Directions:
1. Mix the dough with all the ingredients except the production leaven. It will be a soft dough.

2. Knead on an UNFLOURED surface for about 8-10 minutes, getting the tips of your fingers wet if you need to. You can use dough scrapers to stretch and fold the dough at this stage, or air knead if you prefer. Basically, you want to stretch the dough and fold it over itself repeatedly until you have a smoother, more elastic dough.

3. Smooth your dough into a circle, then scoop your production leaven into the centre. You want to fold the edges of the dough up to incorporate the leaven, but this might be a messy process. Knead for a couple minutes until the leaven is fully incorporated in the dough.

4. Spread some water on a clean bit of your work surface and lay the dough on top. Cover with an upturned bowl, lining the rim of the bowl with a bit of water. Leave for an hour, so that the gluten can develop and the yeasts can begin to aerate the dough.

5. Once your dough has rested, you can begin to stretch and fold it. Using wet hands and a dough scraper, stretch the dough away from you as far as you can without breaking it and fold it back in on itself. Repeat this in each direction, to the right, towards you, and to the left. This will help create a more ‘vertical’ dough, ready for proofing.

6. Heavily flour a banneton/proofing basket with whole wheat flour and rest your dough, seam side up, in the basket. Put the basket in a large plastic bag, inflate it, and seal it. Set aside somewhere warm for 3-5 hours, or until it has expanded a fair bit. It is ready to bake when the dough responds to a gently poke by slowly pressing back to shape.

7. Preheat the oven to hot 425°F/220°C/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with parchment, then carefully invert the dough onto the sheet. I like to put the baking sheet on top of the basket, then gently flip it over so as to disturb the dough as little as possible. Make 2-3 cuts on top of the loaf and bake for 40-50 minutes, reducing the temperature to moderately hot 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6 after 10 minutes.

8. Cool on a cooling rack.

Povitica

The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat! I really had never heard of a povitica. Povitica (pronounced po-va-teet-sa) is traditional Eastern European dessert bread that is traditionally served during the holiday season. It is also known as Nutroll, Potica, Kalachi, Strudia, just to name a few. Family recipes, and the secrets on how to roll the bread so thin, was passed down through generations of families. I was really excited to try this recipe. The bread looks so pretty. I also loved how she uses a sheet (or tablecloth) to roll out the dough. I have never thought of this and it worked like a charm! One of the hard things about being a food blogger is trying to restrain myself from eating all of this bread before I took a picture of it. Luckily there was more than one loaf! A traditional Povitca is made with walnuts. I unfortunately am not a fan of walnuts, so I used almonds instead. Feel free to use whatever nut you wish!

Povitca

Preparation time:
To make Dough: 40 minutes
Rising: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Rolling and Assembly: 20 minutes per loaf, a generous total of 1 hour
Baking: 1 hour
Cooling: 30 minutes
To Make the Filling: 15 minutes, including the grinding of the nuts

Dough Ingredients (Makes two loaves each 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Topping:
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/14 gm/½ oz) Granulated Sugar (Optional)
Melted Butter

Filling Ingredients (enough filling for the two loaves(
3½ Cups (840 ml/560 gm/1¼ lb/20 oz) Ground almonds (I just stuck my in a food processor)
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
½ Cup (120 ml/115 gm/1 stick/4 oz) Unsalted Butter
1 Whole Egg, Beaten
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
1 Cup (240 ml/225 gm/8 oz) Sugar
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/3 gm) Cinnamon

Directions:
To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 1 teaspoons sugar, 1/2 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into 1/4 cup warm water and  cover with plastic wrap.
2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below  boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a  film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot  enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, 6 tbs (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.
5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.
6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until
smooth and does not stick.
8. Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)
9. Place dough in 2 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.


To Make the Filling
10. In a large bowl mix together the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.
11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.
12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.

To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.
19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.
20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it
out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.
23. Spoon filling (see above for recipe) evenly over dough until covered.
24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.
25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.
26. Repeat with remaining loaf, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.
27. Brush the top of each loaf with melted butter and 2 tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of this.
28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.
32. Check the bread every 30 minutes to ensure that the bread is not getting too brown. You may cover the loaves with a sheet of aluminum foil if you need to.
33. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.
34. It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Browned Butter and Sour Cream Cornbread

Those of you that know me, or who read my blog frequently might know that I have an affinity toward browned butter. I have used it in several recipes, and have always loved the results. It adds such a richness to the flavor of things. Well today when I was at work I saw this recipe and knew I had to try it! This corn bread is not too sweet. It is a perfect sweetness for spreading some honey butter or just honey on top.

Browned Butter and Sour Cream Cornbread

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups stone-ground cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream

Instructions

Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling often until lightly browned and nutty, about 4 minutes. Pour into a medium bowl, and set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Rub an 8-inch cast-iron skillet with the oil; place in oven to heat.

In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add eggs and sour cream to cooled butter, whisking well. Pour into dry ingredients, and stir just to combine, taking care not to overmix. Pour batter into skillet. Bake until golden and a toothpickinserted in the center comes out almost clean, about 20 minutes. Let cool in skillet 5 minutes, then turn onto a wire rack.

Recipe Source: Relish

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

I must first start off by telling you all that I just got home from a fabulous Alaskan cruise! In case you didn't know the average cruiser gains 1-2 lbs per day per cruise. That is horrible! That means on my 7 day cruise I could have gained 7-14 lbs. Wow! Luckily I didn't gain that much (it is hard not to gain a few). The reason everyone gains so much is because there is so much food available at all times. Not only is there a lot of food, but it is good food. The only thing I was disappointing by was their Alfredo sauce. Sadly that didn't live up to my likings, but everything else was fantastic. I had some of the best soups I have ever eaten, and their french toast was amazing! I will say that the most amazing part of an Alaskan cruise isn't the food. Alaska truly is beautiful! It might have rained almost every day, we had to avoid the open seas because there were 60 foot swells, and we had to make some changes to our itinerary due to the bad weather, but it was still incredible! I think my favorite place was a fjord named Tracey's Arm. This was our detour since we weren't able to make it to Hubbard glacier but it was stunning. I have never seen so many waterfalls in my life. Did you know that there really is blue ice? I always though it looked blue because of the ocean or sky, no it is actually blue. It is breathtaking.  Just imagine being surrounded by green mountains, waterfalls, and blue ice floating in the ocean! If you haven't been to Alaska and have an opportunity to go, take it!

Well the reason that I bring up our cruise (beside the fact that I am still in awe by it) is that after eating your weight in amazing food it is nice to get back and eat some simple home cooked food. The reason their food tastes so good is because it is not lacking in grease of fat. I am pretty sure 99% of the food we ate wasn't very good for us. This is fine for a week but we were really excited to eat our oatmeal for breakfast when we got home. Next I had to use the bananas that had gone very brown while sitting in my fruit bowl while we were gone. What is the best thing to do with old bananas? Of course I had to make this banana bread. This recipe is a healthified version of my mom's banana bread. Yes I do like to make up my own words on occasion.  Eating foods like this is such an easy way to get in your whole grains and fruits! Yes I also like to justify my eating of anything sweet. Enjoy.

Whole Wheat Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
5 ripe bananas mashed
2 tbs chia seed (optional)
2 cups white whole wheat flour
1 tsp soda

Prepare 2 bread pans by lining them with tin foil. Spray the tin foil with cooking spray. Set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Beat in eggs. Add bananas and chia seed. Add flour and soda. Pour into prepared pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Cool before serving.