Bread Basket: Soft Crescent Rolls

I love yeast rolls.  And I love my bread machine.  I probably wouldn't make nearly as much yeast bread if I had to knead it all by hand.  I've done both and I must admit that my bread machine is vastly superior to kneading by hand when it comes to making a very soft bread.  The point of kneading to put air into the bread which makes it soft and light and airy.  I think I'm too rough on my dough.  But my handy-dandy, trusty bread machine does a wonderful job each and every time.  I don't know how I lived without the "dough" cycle on a bread machine before.

Another secret to a soft roll?  Potato flour.  I absolutely adore this stuff.  I once ran out of potato flour when I was making a batch of hamburger buns and I could immediately tell the difference.  They were more tough than normal.  I prefer my buns to melt in your mouth but these felt like they were fighting my burger for room in my mouth.  If you make a lot of yeast breads, you need potato flour in your pantry.  You won't regret it.

Yeast is not this very difficult thing to work with.  Neither does it take as long as you think.  So many people are frightened of working with yeast because they read "3 hours" in the recipe and freak out.  But most of that time is spent waiting for the yeast itself to rise.  You aren't doing anything.  Sure, you need to make sure that you read the recipe ahead of time and plan accordingly.  No one is going to be making homemade yeast rolls thirty minutes before dinner.  Once you work with yeast a couple of times and know what feeling you need in the dough, soon you'll be a seasoned pro!

Soft Crescent Rolls
from King Arthur Flour The Baker's Companion

3 c. All Purpose Flour
2 tsp. Instant Yeast
1 1/4 tsp. Salt
3 Tbsp. Sugar
4 Tbsp. Butter, melted
1/4 c. Nonfat Dry Milk
1/4 c. Potato Flour
1 1/8 c. Water, lukewarm
3 Tbsp. Dough Relaxer, optional

Mix all of your ingredients together and knead.  (If using a bread machine, put your ingredients in using the manufacturer's guidelines.  Mine is liquid, dry, yeast.)
As your dough is being kneaded, add flour or water as needed to create a smooth, supple dough that is not sticky when you touch it.
Allow to rise for one hour until it's puffy (will probably not double in size).  (If you are using a bread machine, set the machine to "dough" and allow it to finish its cycle.)
Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment paper and cut in half.
Roll each half into a circle, around 1/4" thick.
Cut each circle into eight wedges.
Starting at the wide end, roll each wedge up, pinching the tip to seal the roll.
Transfer the rolls to a lightly greased baking sheet and allow them to rise until doubled in size.
While they are rising, preheat the oven to 350.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Allow to cool and enjoy.

Bread Basket: Homemade Focaccia Bread

If you've read this blog before, you know that I love bread.  I really love bread.  (My hips?  Not so much.)  I've made some pretty basic breads in the past - sandwich breads, hamburger buns.  But I've been itching to try something different so the other night, I made one of Ryan's favorite meals - homemade spaghetti and meatballs.  He really loves it when I cook that.  It brings back some fond memories for us.  See, when he and I first met in person (we had "met" online many, many months before), this was the first thing I made for him.  Well, I made spaghetti.  I didn't add the meatballs until a while later.  I really wanted to impress this guy that I really, really liked with my cooking and I knew that was the best thing I made.  Ladies, there is a reason why "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach" is a cliche.  It's true.  I made him that meal and, now, we're married!  No, I won't give up my spaghetti recipe - it's a secret.

When I was making him spaghetti and meatballs last night, I wanted to make some sort of Italian bread.  Because you cannot have spaghetti without having some sort of bread product.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a bread recipe that took less than two hours to finish (with rising times and all that jazz) until I looked on the back of my King Arthur Flour Italian-Style Flour bag.  (Ryan says I'm obsessed with flour.  I have no idea why he would say that.  I only have fourteen* different kinds of flour in our pantry.)

This bread can be made in just over one hour.  Which is almost a miracle when it comes to yeasted breads.  If you're just getting started with breads, this is an excellent bread to start out with since its so simple.  And it's really, really good.

Focaccia Bread
courtesy of KAF's Italian Style Flour bag

Bread:
3 3/4 c. All Purpose Flour (I used my Italian-Style but AP works fine)
1 1/2 tsp. Salt (Kosher works best in breads)
1 Packet of Instant/Active Dry Yeast (if measuring, use 2 tsp.)
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 c. Water + 2 to 4 Tbsp., divided

Topping:
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Italian Seasoning

In a mixer or using your hands, combine all your ingredients and knead for 5 to 6 minutes, using 1 c. water plus 2 Tbsp.  If you dough is dry, add the additional 2 Tbsp. of water.  You want the dough to be sticky.
Cover the dough for 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the mixing bowl and place onto a large piece of parchment paper and knead gently a few times just to redistribute the growing yeast.
Transfer the dough and the parchment to a baking sheet and pat into a 10"x15" rectangle.
Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with Italian seasoning.
Preheat your oven to 425.
Lightly spray a piece of plastic wrap and place over the dough and allow to sit in a warm place for 30 minutes.  (I let mine sit next to my oven.)
Just before baking, using your fingers, gently press down to the top of the dough to make little dimples.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden brown. 
 

(I neglected to add enough olive oil to the top.  Don't make my mistake.)

* - My fourteen (technically fifteen) different kinds of flour:

  1. All Purpose

  2. Self-Rising

  3. Whole Wheat

  4. White Whole Wheat

  5. Bread

  6. Cake

  7. European Style

  8. Italian Style

  9. Barley

10. Pastry

11. Graham

12. Irish-style Wholemeal

13. Kamut (of which I have two)

14. Potato 

(yes, each and every last one of them is from King Arthur Flour.)

Bread Basket: Homemade Hamburger Buns

November is National Bread Month.  I knew I loved November for reasons beyond Thanksgiving and the birthday of yours truly.  I love bread.  I mean, I REALLY love bread.  And bread loves me.  At least I like to think it does.  When Ryan and I got married, the wedding gift I gave to myself (because, hey, you should always pamper yourself every once in awhile) was a bread machine.  I love that thing.  When we moved into our house, my bread machine was the first thing I put in its proper place.  (Not to mention when we went to look at the house, I turned to Ryan and said, "Look honey!  It's the perfect spot to hold my bread machine!"  Seriously.)

I had never made bread before - ever.  But I loved bread and really wanted to try making it myself and I thought the quickest and easiest way would be to purchase a bread machine and then buy tons of cookbooks on bread machine baking.  This bread machine cookbook is by-far my favorite and go to for recipes besides the ever trusty King Arthur Flour website.  I really enjoyed baking bread in my bread machine and as time went on, I wanted to try my hand at baking breads OUTSIDE of my bread machine.  Now, kneading by hand is time consuming albeit a great upper body workout (you try kneading bread dough for ten minutes and see how you feel) and I do enjoy doing it sometimes.  Like when I'm stressed or had a really bad day and need something to beat into submission (because husbands are out of the question).  Yet there is a lovely setting on all bread machines - Dough.  Yes, you let your bread machine do all the hard work while you sip a daiquiri do housework (hehe).  This is a wonderful thing, truly.

Yeast breads seem to be a bit daunting to people and, truth be told, it was to me at first too.  But now I have it down to a science.  I know what temperature to have the water at to get the best reaction out of my yeast (which I buy in bulk, by the way).  The more you do it, the easier it becomes.  One of my greatest discoveries was how to make my own hamburger buns!  Hamburger buns!!  The recipe I use makes eight total.  Now, it's just me and Ryan so what to do with the other?  Freeze them!  They really are easy and always taste really, really good.

I'm not one of those crazy people who thinks you need to go organic for everything or only purchase gluten-free, low-fat everything.  But I do draw the line at preservatives.  I'm not a fan of them so I try to avoid them as much as I can.  And making your own bread is not only cheaper but always better for your health.  The hamburger buns you purchase at the grocery store has so many ingredients (many of which you can't pronounce unless you have a PhD in Chemistry) that its unreal.  Yet homemade hamburger buns only have SEVEN ingredients.  SEVEN!

For comparison purposes, here are the ingredients in Wonder Hamburger Buns: 

Enriched Wheat Flour [Flour, Barley Malt, Ferrous Sulfate  (Iron), B Vitamins (Niacin, Thiamin Mononitrate  (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin  (Vitamin B2), Folic Acid)], Water, Sweetener (High Fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar), Yeast, Soybean Oil, Contains 2% or Less of Wheat Gluten, Salt, Calcium Sulfate, Dough Conditioners (May Contain Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Tricalcium Phosphate, ethoxylated Mono And Diglycerides, Datem, Dicalcium Phosphate, Mono And Diglycerides, Calcium Dioxide, and/or Sorbic Acid), Vinegar, Soy Flour, Yeast Nutrients (May Contain Ammonium Chloride, Ammonium Phosphate, Diammonium Phosphate, Ammonium Sulfate, Monocalcium Phosphate and/or Calcium Carbonate), Cornstarch, Wheat Starch, Enzymes, Calcium Propionate  (to Retain Freshness), Soy Lecithin.

I use Granular Lecithin in some of my breads to aid in preservation but that's it.  Now, how many of you can pronounce all those ingredients?  And can tell me what all they do?  Yeah, didn't think so.  If you really want to take good, active steps towards making your family healthier, baking your own breads is a very good place to start.

Homemade Hamburger Buns
courtesy of KAF's Baker's Companion

3/4 to 1 c. Water (around body temperature.  You can determine the temp the same way you do a baby bottle - feeling with the underside of your wrist.)
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted
1 Egg
3 1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour (or whole wheat)
1/4 c. Sugar
1 1/4 tsp. Salt (kosher is preferred)
1 Tbsp. Instant Yeast
1 Tbsp. Butter, melted (to brush on buns before baking)

1.  Combine all ingredients together and mix until well combined, using 3/4 c. of water to start with. 
Note:  Why the variation in the amount of water?  Well, first off, if you're using whole wheat flour, you'll need to add more water because whole wheat needs additional water to really make it cohesive.  Secondly, yeast doughs are affected by a lot of different factor - the temperature inside your house, the humidity, etc.  If your dough is too dry, you'll add a little more water or if it's too wet, you'll add more flour.
2.  Knead dough by hand for ten minutes, until you have a smooth and supple dough.  (If using a bread machine, use your machine's instruction on how to add the ingredients.  Mine is liquid-dry-yeast.)
3.  Cover and let dough rise in a warm place for 1 to 2 hours or until doubled in height.  (If using a bread machine, allow it complete its dough cycle.)
4.  Using a knife or dough scraper, sprayed with cooking spray, divide the dough into EIGHT portions (I use the pizza slicing method to make sure they're all the same size).
5.  Now you shape the dough into smooth balls (my method means turning the dough in my hand while pushing the dough inward so it gets all smooth on top).
6.  On a large baking sheet, covered in parchment or sprayed with cooking spray, evenly spread out your balls of dough.
7.  Gently press down the dough until it is about 3 to 3 1/2 inches wide.
8.  Cover the buns and allow to rise for 1 hour (they won't look doubled).
9.  While you buns are rising for the second time, preheat your oven to 375.
10. Brush with melted butter (you can top with sesame seeds now if you like!).
11. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until golden.

 

For more detailed instructions and pictures, please visit the King Arthur Flour Baking Banter blog.

Belgian Yeast Waffles

One of the things that I enjoy doing is whipping up a good breakfast for my husband, Ryan.  I'm a pet sitter so during the summer, a lot of times I'm not able to make a good, big breakfast for him.  But I was going through the Baking Banter Blog on King Arthur Flour's website (I told you - I'm a KAF junkie!) and I found this recipe for Belgian Waffles with a batter you prepare THE NIGHT BEFORE!  The angels sang when I read that.  My biggest issue with Belgian waffles has always been that you have to either whip egg whites and fold them in or you have to wait 30 minutes for the batter to settle.  So I was determined to try these waffles and they turned out so good that I just had to share it with everyone!  The other good thing about this batter?  If you have leftovers, you can throw them in the freezer to be saved for another morning!  With this recipe, I know I'll always be able to prepare a good breakfast for him that doesn't take a lot of time.  So, to the recipe!

Belgian-Style Yeast Waffles
(from kingarthurflour.com)

1 1/2 c. Lukewarm Water or Milk (yes, this is important - yeast loves warmth!)
6 Tbsp. Butter, melted (I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)
2 or 3 Tbsp. Pure Maple Syrup (Archer Farms)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract (Neilsen-Massey Vanilla Bean Paste)
2 Eggs
2 c. All Purpose Flour (King Arthur Flour)
1 1/2 tsp. Instant Yeast

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, leaving plenty of room for expansion while the yeast works its magic!
Stir - it's okay if it's lumpy.  The batter doesn't have to be smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and let the batter rest at room temp. for 1 hour.  The mixture will start to bubble.
You can cook the waffles now if you want too or you can put the mixture in the fridge to sit overnight.
Preheat your waffle iron.  Don't have a Belgian Waffle Iron?  No worries - this makes great regular waffles too!
Spray the iron with non-stick spray and pour around 3/4 c. of batter into the iron.
Close the lid and follow the manufacturer's instructions for the baking time (usually around 7 minutes for a Belgian Waffle Iron).
Serve immediately!

Yields 4 waffles.

If you're freezing these, reheat them in a 200 degree oven.

Calories - 430 per waffle (using water)