Doughcrafter: Baking on Nights and Weekends

Pretzel test

2012-01-28T18:46:00.000-06:00

Ok, I've gotten caught up in an exploration of pretzel bath methods for my pretzel recipe, and now I've got to find out which is best. Here are the methods I have identified:

Cold lye bath method: 1 oz. food-grade lye, dissolved in 1 quart of water. 30 second dip, sprinkle with salt, then bake. Please follow the link, and follow their safety instructions. This is the most desirable, authentic method.
Cold sodium carbonate bath method: 100 g sodium carbonate dissolved in 2 cups of water. Immerse raw, shaped pretzels in the bath for three to four minutes, rinse off the excess dipping solution in a large bowl of plain water, sprinkle with salt, and bake.
Sodium carbonate boil method: Boil 6 cups of water. Add 2 to 6 tablespoons sodium carbonate . Boil pretzels for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake.
Baking soda boil method: Boil 6 cups of water. Add 2 to 6 tablespoons baking soda. Boil pretzels for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake.
Water boil method: Boil pretzels in water for 1 minute, sprinkle with salt, then bake.
Egg wash method: Beat an egg with 1 Tbsp water. Brush over the top of the pretzels, sprinkle with salt, and bake. But this is really just a bread twist with egg wash, not a pretzel.

I made a batch of sodium carbonate, and a batch of pretzel dough, and here we go! I'm skipping #1 because I don't have any lye. I might come back to it one day. I'm also skipping #6, because I know it will make a pretzel-shaped roll, having no true pretzel flavor. Here are my tests. I made one pretzel by each of these six methods:

2. Cold sodium carbonate bath
3. a. Sodium carbonate, 2 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
3. b. Sodium carbonate, 6 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
4. a. Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), 2 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
4. b. Baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate), 6 Tbsp in 6 c water, boiling
5. Plain boiling water

And here they are! I drafted my husband to help keep track of which pretzel was done by which method. He wrote what they are on the parchment in red Sharpie. Here's the layout:

5 2 4a
3a 4b 3b

5. Clearly the plain water pretzel did not get anywhere near the color that the others have. It also tasted more plain. However, my son thought it was the second best.
2. The cold carbonate dipped pretzel looks puffy, maybe because it was not restricted from its rise by being partially cooked by the boiling water. This tied for first in our family taste test.
3.b. The 6 Tbsp sodium carbonate pretzel looks the best (lower right), and tied the cold version for best taste.
4.b. The 6 Tbsp baking soda pretzel had a bit of a chemical taste to it in some bites, not very appealing.
3.a. & 4.a. Both of the 2 Tbsp boils did not add much pretzel taste.

I thought I was done at this point, and turned back to the remaining six ropes of dough laying on the table waiting to be made into pretzels also. I twisted two and gave them the cold sodium carbonate soak, and slipped two into the 6 Tbsp sodium carbonate bath.

The boiling pretzels looked terrible! They had been proofing for maybe 20 min before I twisted and boiled them, which looks like allowed the boiling water to burst some bubbles and soak into the pretzels. Yuck! I baked them anyway, but probably won't eat them.

I took the remaining two dough ropes, folded them up, and re-rolled them. On a whim, I tried for the Bavarian-style shape, where the twisted arms are very thin, and the big loop is fat. I boiled one and soaked one. I reduced the oven to 425° because the first tray browned too fast, leaving some boggy places in the pretzels. Here's the result:

Beautiful cold-bath pretzels on the left, gnarled boiled ones on the right.

I was able to bake them longer, and I let them get darker. The beauty in the photo above was clearly better than any from the whole first tray. Cold bath wins. The boiled pretzels, even the ones that didn't get mangled, all had a heaviness from the water. That wasn't the case for the cold soaked pretzel. Not only is that a pretty pretzel, it also has some of that true pretzel flavor, which must be approaching that of its lye-dipped cousins. It also crunched when we pulled it apart. :) I think this one isn't puffy like on the first tray because I inadvertently let the rope rise about 20 min before twisting it.

Then there's that curious fat Bavarian-ish pretzel using the cold-bath, in the lower left corner of the tray. I didn't get the shape quite right, it's too closed up, but it was tasty, and has lots of promise! The fat back edge was really nice, and the little arm nubs were crunchy. I'm definitely trying that shape again!

Pretzels: What goes in the bath?

2012-01-28T14:34:00.002-06:00

I've been looking deeper into pretzels to develop my recipe, and learned a few things. I'm feeling a bit like a chemist now. Here's the deal: First, a Bavarian would say we're making pretzel-shaped brezels. Where I live, we say we're making soft pretzels, and can shape them various ways, including the traditional pretzel twist. Second, a Bavarian/German would say they must be dipped in a cold lye bath, then baked, to get that lovely deep pretzel color and taste.

A lye solution is a strong "base". In cooking, acids (lemon, for example) are common, but bases are not. Well, I'm not really ready to deal with lye in the kitchen just yet. The only other option I knew of was baking soda, which is a much weaker base, but is more kitchen-friendly. Then, I ran across this article, where they suggest baking your baking soda to get a stronger base.

They said that baking drives off water, making a stronger base, then you add it to a water bath. Hang on, then do you gain anything in the process? This is where it becomes chemistry. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, NaHCO₃. When you bake it, you get sodium carbonate, Na₂CO₃

2NaHCO₃→ Na₂CO₃+ H₂O + CO₂

Hmm, then you mix the Na₂CO₃ with water, and you get more OH- than mixing the original baking soda would provide. I can't nail down the reaction, but I guess it isn't that important.

I took 8 oz of baking soda, spread it on a baking sheet and baked it at 275° for an hour, and ended up with 5 1/8 oz of what must be sodium carbonate. I noticed a fine dusting tended to float into the air as I poured, so I tried to not breathe it or get it in my eyes. Interesting. Now to make some pretzels...

8 oz Sodium Bicarbonate (baking soda)

Baking the baking soda at 275° for an hour

5 1/8 oz Sodium Carbonate

Pancake Update

2012-01-08T13:30:00.001-06:00

We made the "Good Old-Fashioned Pancakes" again (see first posting here), doubling the recipe and adding vanilla. A double recipe makes about 18 pancakes. Three per person is plenty; four worked for my pre-teen son, two for my youngest daughter. We're going to freeze the extras, and pop them in the toaster, or maybe microwave, on a school morning. I plan to make these when we want waffles, but we're out of buttermilk.

Update: The kids put frozen pancakes in the toaster on "defrost", and ate them for breakfast on school mornings. I didn't get any because they ate them all. I take that as an endorsement.

Something Unusual

2012-01-07T20:21:00.001-06:00

I've been trying to think of a "bread" that would go well with chili. I usually use Fritos, which I think are great in chili, but it seemed some sort of bread should work. But what? Crackers? Bread sticks? It would be best if it was quick to make, so you don't have to plan ahead too much.

The other evening in the shower, an idea just emerged from nowhere, simply appearing in my head. Scoop out some sourdough starter from the fridge, mix in self-rising cornmeal mix and water, and cook it kinda like a pancake.

Tonight we had vegetable beef soup, but had no good bread, so I decided to try it.

Roughly, it was 1/2 cup starter, maybe 1 1/2 c self-rising buttermilk cornmeal mix, enough water to make it about like pancake batter, a pinch of salt, about 1/2 tsp baking soda, a tsp of sugar, and maybe 2 tbsp of powdered cheese. I didn't measure though, so that's all an estimate. We heated a skillet with about a tablespoon of bacon grease to 375°, and dumped it all in. It cooked like a pancake, browning and setting on the edges as bubbles slowly formed. Gave it a flip, cooked the other side, then slid it out and buttered both sides.

I thought it was a little underdone in the middle, so would try 350° next time. It tasted pretty good, a lot like cornbread sticks, and not very noticeably sourdough. The kids liked it a lot. I think next time I'll try shredded cheese instead of powdered, because the powder was lumpy, and I'm not big on keeping ingredients like that stocked in my home. My husband suggested jalapenos.

A Hoe Cake or Johnny Cake is a cornbread flat-bread kind of thing. A flapjack is a sourdough pancake. So what is this? A Jack Cake? Or maybe a Flap John? I'll have to try it again, next time my sourdough starter needs to be "fed", and I don't want to make sourdough bread.

Engilsh Toffee Success

2012-01-05T19:58:00.000-06:00

I tried the toffee again (refer to previous post), this time cooking it to 300°. Oh, what a great move! The butter flavor was so great, very "browned". The texture was also better. A nice crushy crunch. This time I used milk chocolate, which usually isn't my favorite, but I think it's the right thing here. I had the full amount of almonds this time. After toasting them all, I chopped a few, maybe 1/4 cup. I put the whole slivers on the bottom, poured the toffee over them, spread the chocolate on top, and sprinkled with chopped almonds while still soft. I don't know if the chocolate bloomed this time, it wasn't around long enough to find out. :)

Apple Strudel today

2012-01-02T15:06:00.001-06:00

I made an apple strudel again today, and couldn't resist changing it. I used softened rather than melted butter, and dark brown sugar for white sugar, in the filling. This is more like the cinnamon roll recipe. For the apples, I used all Honey Crisp. The apples alone weren't that outstanding, but the flavor was great in the strudel. However, I should have warmed them first.

I also should have wrapped up the sides and ends better, to hold in the filling...

When I checked on the strudel in the oven, the filling was oozing out badly, and was almost onto the stone. I pulled it out, put it on a baking sheet, and put it back in. This, on top of using cold apples, disrupted the baking time, and I ended up calling it done too soon. The filling didn't set up all the way, and there were undercooked places in the dough.

Sounds like a real disaster, but, my family still loved the gooey, cinnamon-apple-bread-mapley-icing result. Success! :) And room for improvement. ;)

My Chili Today

2012-01-01T17:57:00.001-06:00

The recipe has evolved once again. I added the size of the cans, changed the order of the steps, and replaced the Chili-O.

The current recipe, which may have changed.

Ingredients:

4 slices raw bacon, chopped
2 (15 oz) or 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
½ cup chili sauce
chili blend:

2 ½ tsp ground cumin, very fresh*

2 Tbsp smoked paprika

¼ cup chili powder

1 Tbsp ancho powder

1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 - 2 1/2 lb ground beef
2 tsp salt
pepper
1 (12 oz) bottle beer (Corona is good)
1 (10.5 oz) can beef broth
8 soft corn tortillas, chopped or crumbled
1 (15 /4 oz) can sweet corn
3 (15.8 oz) cans beans; I like one each of red, black, and great northern**
1 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
balsamic vinegar
1 lemon
maple syrup
salt to taste

lettuce or steamed rice
shredded cheddar cheese
sour cream
chopped onions or scallions
Fritos

Directions:

Brown the bacon in a large pot. In a bowl, combine canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, and chili sauce. Save a can to put the beef fat in. Combine the “chili blend” spices in a small bowl.
Saute onions in the bacon and bacon fat. If you have time, caramelize the onions (cook slowly until they turn caramel-colored). Add the garlic, cook a another minute or two, then empty the pot into the tomato bowl and set aside.
Get the pot hot again, and put in chunks of ground beef (don't crumble it yet), so that they sizzle and sear on the bottom, turning brown. If they stick some, that's good. Sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. A few minutes later, flip the beef to sear on the other side, salting and peppering again. Remove pan juices as necessary (use a baster to suck it up, and empty it into your tomato can) to keep the beef sizzling. Once the beef is browned on the sides, crumble it with your spatula and cook until pink is gone. Remove any unwanted fat now, before adding the spices.
Sprinkle the “chili blend” spices onto the hot beef. Stir and cook until the pot is dry and the meat is coated. Pour in the beer, deglazing the pot (the beer should sizzle, foam, and un-stick everything from the pan). Stir until reduced. Add the can of beef broth, stir, and return to a simmer. Mix in the bowl of tomatoes, bacon, and onion.
Bring the pot to a simmer, then stir in the crumbled corn tortillas. Simmer briskly about 20 minutes, until tortillas disappear, and the pot thickens. Use more or less tortillas to thicken to taste.
Stir in beans and corn, along with all the liquid in the cans. Return to a simmer. Add the juice of the lemon, and stir in the chocolate. Taste the chili. Add salt as desired. Add maple syrup to sweeten, and balsamic vinegar to "brighten", usually around two teaspoons of each. Adjusting the salt, balsamic (sour), and maple (sweet) is the key to a good balanced flavor, and takes multiple tasting and adjustment cycles.
Serve over torn lettuce or steamed rice. Top with shredded cheddar, sour cream, onions and Fritos.

*Add another ½ teaspoon if it is getting weak. Fresh cumin makes a huge difference. It's worth the trouble to toast seed in a dry skillet and grind it yourself, or to buy some at a specialty store (like Fresh Market) every few months. When fresh, it has a very strong, wild sort of a smell, which I've never gotten from a bottle at the grocery store.
**I’d like to try cooking beans from dry, and to try some other beans: anasazi, pink chili, Mexican red, cranberry.

First Waffles of Christmas!

2011-12-31T12:10:00.000-06:00

Christmas gift: WaringPro Waffler

I got a new waffle iron for Christmas, and today was the day to try it out. We wore out the hinge on our last waffler. :) I'd been using Krustease pancake mix, which is very easy, especially for the kids. We were out of that, though, and it was time to find a better recipe.

I decided to try Food Network's Waffle of Insane Greatness, which was courtesy of Aretha Frankensteins, Show: $40 a Day Episode: Chattanooga, TN

The waffles were great! The outside had a crispy crunch, inside was creamy, overall they were light and wonderful. The first waffle was actually a tad lighter brown than the rest, but was still good. They were flavorful and delicious. We forgot to use butter, just added a light drizzling of real maple syrup, it didn't take much, didn't need anything more.

First waffle of Christmas! :)

The recipe is also pretty simple, not requiring anything fancy like separating eggs and beating the whites. Between this and the pancake recipe I found earlier, we will not be buying any more mix.

As is often the case, the recipe leaves a lot of room for interpretation, leading to a lot of variation in the results. Here is more specifically what I did.

I doubled the ingredients, and rounded up the vanilla, because it's really hard to use too much vanilla. I weighed the flour and corn starch, which I find makes it easier and more consistent. This makes six waffles on my new Waring Pro waffler. Here's just the recipe; any future updates will show up in that version, and may not be reflected here.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup (7 ½ oz) all-purpose flour (King Arthur)
1/2 cup (2 ½ oz) cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 cup whole buttermilk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Butter and syrup, for serving (we skipped butter and used real Maple syrup)

Directions

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and salt; whisk together well. In a four-cup measure, combine the milk, vegetable oil, egg and vanilla and whisk until well blended. The oil and eggs blend right in with the buttermilk.

If you don't have buttermilk, go buy some, preferably the whole-milk variety. If you MUST substitute, mix 2 cups milk with 2 tablespoons white vinegar, and let set up for five minutes. I haven't tried the substitution, but I think you will miss out on the flavor. People who reported the batter as thin, and the waffles as lacking flavor, probably didn't use buttermilk, used a weaker flour, and didn't brown them up enough.

UPDATE: I made these again, ran out of buttermilk, and did the vinegar/milk substitution. The batter was thinner, and while still good, they were not as outstanding as they were with the buttermilk.

Add liquid to dry, and mix until well blended with small lumps. I started with a rubber spatula, and thought it was too lumpy, so switched to a dough whisk, which worked nicely. A small whisk, as in the photo below, would probably get clogged with the batter. Don't work it too hard, don't want to get the gluten developed. My batter had small lumps.

Let the batter sit for 30 minutes. This is an important step, allowing the flour to wet more thoroughly, thickening the batter some too. Start your iron heating while the batter rests.

Wet ingredients bowl.

Batter with dough whisk, ready to rest.

Preheat a waffle iron to ~388°. Waffles are done when the iron comes back to 365-370°F. I found the temperature recommendation from this article, which I need to research in more detail in the future. :) An IR temperature gun is highly useful here. Without one, you will have to experiment to find the ideal setting.

I found that setting my waffler to "5" worked just right. Ideally, the iron would maintain a temperature of 365-370°F, but most will cool off when the batter hits them, and then come back up to heat. When mine indicated the waffle was done, I rolled the iron over, gave it about 30 more seconds, opened the iron and found the temperature was close to 370°, so it worked well.

My iron came with a measuring cup, and instructed to fill it to the top for thick batter, and to the fill like for thin batter. I filled the first one to the top, and as you can see, it overflowed. After that, I went for the fill line, and poured in as much as would pour unassisted, and it worked well, making a nice even six waffles with no batter left over.

Do not use non-stick spray on the waffle iron; the oil in the batter will allow the waffle to release easily. Serve immediately with butter and syrup. Since my iron had never been used, I did spray it once after the iron was hot.

Overfilled iron, overflowed.

The last waffle quarter, almost eaten before I could take the photo.

Droppers for Extract Bottles

2011-12-30T22:49:00.003-06:00

This is a crossover between my cooking and 3d Printing worlds. :) An adapter to let droppers work on smaller mouth extract bottles. Read more here.

Cookies for Santa

2011-12-25T13:23:00.002-06:00

We made Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies
Posted on Smitten Kitchen

And we iced them with Amanda's Awesome Icing
Posted on I Am Baker

We decided on the Maple Nutmeg cookie. Turned out to be a good choice, yum!

I went on the scant side of the 1/2 tsp fresh nutmeg, fearing it would be too strong. I also used Grade A Dark Amber maple, because I didn't find a Grade B in time. I did not add maple flavor because, well, I'd rather use the real thing. I used imported butter, and for the flour, 1/2 Whitle Lily, 1/2 King Arthur All Purpose.

Flour, salt, and nutmeg, just mixed in

Butter, sugar, egg yolk, and maple syrup, fluffed

Dough wrapped up and patted smooth, ready to chill.

Dough gently collected into a ball.

Baked longer, much tastier, crunchier.

Pulled out too early, and my oven was running too cool.

I divided the dough in two, and rolled half at a time on a lightly floured silicon mat. It was pretty easy to work with. I retired my really large cookie cutters; I've found that smaller cutters make tastier cookies. These also hold an impression. In the right-hand photo above, you may be able to make out the impression on the Tardis cookie (yes, that's the space ship/time machine from Dr. Who).

I just got an oven thermometer, and found that it was running under temperature, as I suspected. I pulled the first tray out too early. They were tasty, but too soft, no crunch at all. I ended up putting them back in the oven later, which improved them a lot. The second tray cooked longer, at a higher heat. The more golden color also brings the richness of toasted butter flavor, making them so much more delicious! I don't mind golden cookies at all.

Obviously Santa requires decorated cookies. I made Amanda's icing, flavored with vanilla and almond, rather than the lemon called for. I made it thin, so the kids could dip the cookies in it and have the sprinkles stick. This is a great deal simpler than using multiple colors and piping bags, and prevents extreme over-icing, as kids will tend to do. They can be quite creative with the sprinkles.

I think we have a winner! The cookies are very good plain, especially when they have golden edges, and I'll be keeping this recipe for next year. Curiously, it's hard to tell the flavors are maple and nutmeg. They just taste buttery and indefinably good. The icing was fine to work with, and fun to do, but wasn't special enough for the cookie. Looks like I'm now on the quest for the best icing. :) Santa seemed to approve, as the milk was gone, and there were only crumbs and fallen sprinkles left on the plate.

Merry Christmas!

Home-made Toffee

2011-12-20T18:20:00.000-06:00

I decided I wanted to make some toffee over a year ago, found this recipe, and made some. I made it again last Sunday, and wished I had made notes last time. The recipe is from "allrecipes":

Best Toffee Ever - Super Easy

Candy fresh from the fridge.

That first time, I skimmed through all the "allrecipes" comments, and decided to... make it exactly per the original instructions. I find it amazing how much people will alter a recipe before even trying it once per instructions! I recall that it came out well the first time I made it, but I couldn't find any notes on how it went, but I do recall: tasted great, stuck to my teeth more than desirable, I didn't taste the almonds much, and the chocolate that I used (Pete's Burgandy) was maybe overpowering the toffee.

My observations this time:

- I cooked it on "6", "5" being exactly the middle setting on my cooktop. At around maybe 250° I was getting little smokey puffs from the bubbles that worried me a bit, I think it was on the hairy edge of burning. But being late (somehow I seldom make candy before 10:00 pm), I didn't reduce the heat. Next time I think I will.

- The butter made a bothersome pool on top of the bubbling candy for most of the cooking time. I stirred gently the whole time. Towards the end, the bubbling of the candy miraculously overtook the pool of butter, and incorporated it all. :)

Same candy, "bloomed" chocolate

- I toasted slivered almonds, then lightly chopped them, and put them in the pan first. Once the candy reached specified temp (285°), I poured it over the almonds. I didn't have enough almonds, so used what I had.

- I used Nestle semi-sweet chunks (mostly because that's all I had). I found it interesting to watch the chocolate change color as it slowly melted. :)

- We cooled the pan in the fridge, per instruction, leaving it overnight because it was late and we fell asleep.

- In the morning, the toffee was very tender, kind of "crushy", almost not snappy enough but not chewy.

- Leaving it out on the counter loosely covered with foil all afternoon left it mildly tooth-sticking again, and after leaving it overnight on the kitchen counter wrapped in wax paper in a cookie tin, the chocolate "bloomed", looking funky on top. Not so lovely. I need to look into just what caused that.

- It tasted delicious. The chocolate was ok, but kind of just "there".

Next time:

- Try taking it to 300°, as suggested by an allrecipes comment.

- Test the texture, starting at 285°, by dribbling some into a glass of water.

- Reduce the temp to 5 when it reaches 250°, to be more cautious about burning.

- Toast the slivered almonds, chop lightly, and spread larger pieces in bottom of pan. Sprinkle smaller almond bits over chocolate.

- Keep refrigerated, or at least tightly covered. Hopefully the higher cooking temperature will help keep it snappy, too.

- Try Hershey's Milk Chocolate Chips or Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (both recommended by Cook's Illustrated)

- Add a touch more salt maybe?

I'm Dreaming of Great Santa Cookies!

2011-12-16T20:00:00.000-06:00

Every year I help my kids make cut-out cookies for Santa. They love to choose the cutters, cut and lay them on the baking sheet, and then cover them with more icing and sprinkles than there is cookie underneath! Every year, though, I try a new recipe. I have some notion buried in the back of my mind (or maybe it's on my tongue) of what these cookies should be, and those that I've made always miss the mark. However, the kids will not be persuaded to abandon cut-out cookies.

I've tried my go-to sites (King Arthur Flour, Alton Brown, Cooks Illustrated, Food Network), and been disappointed. This year, I've found three new candidates off the net. They seem to simply be motivated home-bakers that are driven to make good things and enjoy the rewards of sharing. I have high hopes once again!

To be honest with myself, I've only really got enough time to try one of these recipes. Here are my take-away's from each:

The first one is flavored with vanilla, almond, and lemon zest, is enriched with cream cheese, and has comments from lots of people who actually made the recipe as-written, and liked them better than any other sugar cookie they have ever made. But there is no icing recipe, and somehow lemon in the cookie doesn't sound right; I would have thought nutmeg.
The second is flavored with vanilla and almond only, is enriched with egg yolks, and earned a top-10 slot in an LA newspaper bake-off, but the comments are filled with exclamations of "Congrats" and "I can't wait to try these", and few actual "They were great". Did no one like them enough to come back and say how they turned out? And again the lemon appears, except in the icing this time. I like lemon, but not sure it belongs here.
The third is actually a "shortbread" rather than a sugar cookie. It has less ingredients, and is flavored with maple syrup and nutmeg. The reviewers say they are amazing. Technically you don't decorate shortbread cookies, though. But maybe a little icing and sprinkles wouldn't hurt...

Maybe I have time to make one dough this weekend and test it. If I'm disappointed, I could roll it in logs and freeze it for later, then try another before next weekend. I will consult with Santa, and see if he has an opinion on which to try. My son votes for the maple-nutmeg, and add frosting and sprinkles. I'm tending to agree, except I would definitely try them plain.

Here are the recipe links, and their ingredient lists. I think for decoration, I'll offer the kids a very thin white glaze or royal icing, and a variety of sprinkles. That keeps the cookie/icing ratio in check, while allowing plenty of creative decorating.

Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies
Posted on TheKitchen

Photo from TheKitchen

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for an hour
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
2 ounces cream cheese (1/4 of a standard cream cheese package)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Amanda's Amazing Sugar Cookies II, I Am Baker
Posted on I Am Baker

Photo from I Am Baker

1-½ cup Butter (I Use Unsalted)
2 cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 whole Eggs Yolks
4 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 teaspoons Almond Extract
4 cups All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Baking Powder

Amanda's Awesome Icing
1 cup Confectioners Sugar (powder Sugar)
1 Tablespoon Milk
1 drop Lemon Juice (fresh Or Processed)-this is optional
1 Tablespoon Light Corn Syrup

Nutmeg Maple Butter Cookies
Posted on Smitten Kitchen

Photo from Smitten Kitchen

1 cup (2 sticks or 226 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (118 ml) maple syrup Grade B is ideal here, but the original recipe suggested that Grade A with a few drops of maple extract would also work)
1 large egg yolk
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg or 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg (because it packs more tightly)
1 1/4 teaspoon flaky salt or 1 teaspoon table salt

Blog Shift, Starting NOW!

2011-12-16T18:30:00.000-06:00

It's time to revamp my blog. I found myself wanting to re-date my blog entries as a way to organize my articles. Also, I've been using Google Docs to store my recipe collection, which leads to the problem of having a Blog version and a Doc version of some recipes. That would be fine if I would leave them alone, but, well, I can't keep from tweaking the recipes as I find ways to improve them.

So, here is what I've decided to do. I'm building a Doughcrafter Website, where I will lovingly organize, cross-reference, and enhance my various recipes and articles. Note that this is an activity that I've just started, and that site is pretty bare right now. That will free me to use this blog to post about things like my current search for a really good cookie cutter recipe to use on Christmas Eve for Santa's cookies.

Scandanavian Cardamon Braid

2011-12-06T14:13:00.000-06:00

This is such a good, exotic bread, I'm not sure why I don't make it more often. Cardamon is the second most expensive spice, after saffron and before vanilla bean. Happily it is also super strong, so you don't need much. The almonds toast on top while the bread bakes, and then a drizzle of buttery orange glaze...

This is a holiday bread, and I usually only make it in December. It can be a real show-stopper at the office "goodies" table, or at a party. I usually have to cut the first slice myself, because no one wants to mess it up. I serve the glaze in a bowl on the side, for two reasons: 1. If there is any bread left over, it will keep better, and 2. Everyone gets to decide how much they want to drizzle on their serving.

I just made it as a 6-strand braid, and it was beautiful that way also.

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup water
1 egg
2 Tbs butter
1 tsp salt
3 1/8 cup bread flour
2 1/2 Tbs sugar
1 tsp cardamom
1 1/2 tsp yeast

Topping

egg wash
slivered almonds

Glaze

confectioner's sugar
milk
dash orange extract or fresh orange zest and some juice
butter flavor or browned butter

Instructions

Knead together water, egg, butter, salt, flour, sugar, cardamom and yeast, using a bread machine or mixer for 7 min, then allow to rise until doubled.
Place stone in oven, and preheat to 350 deg.
Divide dough into three equal strands, and start braiding from the center. Continue braid to both ends, then connect ends together to create a continuous wreath. Place on parchment.
Spray top lightly with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (45 min to an hour).
Remove plastic and lightly brush the top of the wreath with egg wash (well-beaten egg, with a tablespoon of water mixed in). Sprinkle almond slivers over the top, as desired, letting them stick to the egg wash. Slide the bread-on-parchment onto the pizza stone. Bake about 20 min, until internal temperature is 195-205 deg, or until it is a prettly brown and smells done.
Whisk about a cup of sugar with a few tablespoons of milk, to make a smooth glaze consistency. Add small amounts of the orange and butter flavorings, to taste. If using orange oil, try only a few drops at a time; it is very strong. Drizzle the glaze over the bread right before serving.

Sourdough Bread

2011-11-11T17:45:00.000-06:00

Based on King Arthur Flour's Extra-Tangy Sourdough Bread

Latest revision, on my website:

Sourdough Bread Recipe

A work friend hinted and nudged me until I broke down and made a sourdough loaf, which I had not done in a long time. My old bit of dried starter failed to revive, so I bought a start from King Arthur Flour. It is a very nice, lively starter that made some delicious bread. I have had sourdough that is super dense, and so sour it will knock you over. This one has a nice "medium" density, is a bit chewy, and the sour sneaks up on you with a nicely assertive but not extreme kick.

I borrowed some baking tips from Peter Reinhart. I prefer a long loaf over a traditional round shape. I never know quite how to use a round loaf. My knife wasn't sharp enough, so the slashes barely show up. On my second try, photo below, the loaves are shorter, the slashes are better, but the loaf ripped open. I may have let it rise longer. Still need a better knife. Tasted the same though. :)

Ingredients

8 ounces "fed", or not fed*, sourdough starter
12 ounces lukewarm water
21 1/4 ounces King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon to 5/8 teaspoon sour salt (citric acid), optional, for extra-sour bread

For the fridge

2 oz flour
2 oz water
¼ c (approximate) remaining sourdough starter

*Worked for me with a starter that has not been fed for up to 1 ½ weeks.

Directions

1) Combine the starter, water, and 12 ¾ oz of the flour. Beat vigorously. For the fridge, in a separate bowl add remaining starter (about ¼ cup) with 2 oz each flour and water.
2) Cover both, and let rest at room temperature for 4 hours. Return the “fridge” starter to the mason jar in the fridge. Refrigerate starter for the bread overnight, for about 12 hours.3) Add the remaining ingredients (8.5 oz flour), kneading to form a smooth dough.
4) Allow the dough to rise in a covered bowl until it's relaxed, smoothed out, and risen, 2 to 5 hours.
5) Gently divide the dough in half.

6) Gently shape the dough into two long loaves, and place them on a floured couche**. The goal is to add as little flour as possible as you tuck dough inside the shape, stretching the outside layer. Pinch it together to hold the shape. Save as many bubbles as you can; they will create the large, uneven holes that are part of a sourdough loaf’s character. Cover and let rise until very puffy, about 2 to 4 hours. Don't worry if the loaves spread more than they rise; they'll pick up once they hit the oven's heat. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 525°F.

7) Place a baking pan on lower rack, and boil a cup of water.

8) Gently roll both loaves, one at a time, onto a parchment sheet on a pizza paddle. Make several fairly deep horizontal slashes in each; a serrated bread knife, wielded firmly, works well here.
9) Slide loaves onto baking stone, cover the oven door with a towel, and pull out the rack with the baking pan. Carefully pour boiling water onto the pan, slide it back in, take off the towel, and close the oven. After 30 sec, mist the oven walls with a spray bottle. Repeat 30 sec later, then reduce the heat to 425°F.
10) Bake until internal temp reaches 195 - 205°, and desired color is reached. The crust softens as they cool. Toasting restores the proper crunch. Buttered toasted sourdough with stew, or as a sandwich... mmmm.

**If you don't have a baker's couche, you can substitute a heavily floured, smooth (i.e. not fuzzy) cloth, or a sheet of parchment under with plastic wrap to cover.

Navy Bread

2011-11-11T17:41:00.000-06:00

Navy Bread

I created this unusual bread to satisfy our desire for bread with a reduced carb load, for those days when we feel compelled to be extra healthy. The result is a rather pleasant bread with an unusual purplish color, served here with Navy Bean Soup. The kids really liked it too. A really rare win-win for food!

Navy bread provides a complete protein profile by blending grains and beans. The color is from the grape seed flour, which also adds fiber, antioxidants, and a hint of graham cracker flavor. The little black chia seeds add flavor, texture, antioxidants, fiber, vitamin C, and Omega 3. With flax seeds and oat bran too, it’s loaded with some pretty healthy stuff. You can get all of these from my favorite King Arthur Flour. Best of all, it’s all wrapped up in home-made bread that we all love to dig into.

I may try running the nutrition on this one sometime. It seems like a pretty nutritionally balanced food all on its own.

Look here for the briefer version.

Ingredients:

16 oz can Navy Beans (Bush), not drained
10 ½ oz        water
3          Tbsp oil or butter
1 ½      tsp       salt
10 oz bread flour
6          oz        whole grain flour (pref. kamut or white wheat)
¾ c oat bran
¾ c flax flour
3 Tbsp gluten
2          Tbsp sugar
1 ½      tsp       barley malt powder, optional
⅛         tsp       ascorbic acid (vitamin C), opt’l
3          tsp       instant active yeast
1 ½      tsp       granular lecithin, optional (extends the time before bread goes stale)
2 Tbsp grape seed flour
3 Tbsp chia seed

Directions:

Dump the beans, juice and all, into the mixer and beat until fairly smooth.

Add water and oil/butter, then the salt. Dump in the bread and Kamut flours, then the bran, flax, and gluten. Mix the dry ingredients to combine slightly. Make a well, then att the sugar, malt, ascorbic acid, and yeast. Mix these together in the well, incorporating some of the flour. Add the lecethin, grape seed, and chia seed.

Mix together with regular beater until combined, about a minute. Switch to the dough hook, and knead for about 7 min, until a smooth, soft ball. Add water or flour if necessary to achieve a nice texture.

Dump into an oiled rising bucket and rise in a proofing oven or other warm place until doubled, about an hour.

Start preheating an oven to 350°. Shape as desired, place on parchment, spray with Pam, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to double in a warm place, about 45 min to an hour.

Bake in on a baking stone or baking sheet until internal temp reaches 195°-205°, or until done.

Navy Bean Soup

2011-11-11T17:39:00.000-06:00

Derived from Cook’s Illustrated American Classics U.S. SENATE NAVY BEAN SOUP.

Serves 6
Time: 1 1/4 hr

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon butter
1 medium onion , chopped fine
1 medium carrot , chopped fine
1 medium stalk celery , chopped fine
4 medium cloves garlic , peeled and finely minced

2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 parsley stems, plus minced, see below

6 cups chicken broth
1 pound dried navy beans washed and picked clean of any debris or dark-colored beans
1 smoked ham hock (about 12 ounces) or 6 oz cubed ham
1 ½ teaspoons Salt

Ground black pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
lemon wedges

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds longer. Transfer to the pressure cooker pot.

With a 12-inch length of kitchen twine, tie together the bay leaves, thyme sprigs, and parsley stems.

Add the beans, ham hock, herb bundle, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and chicken stock to the pressure cooker. Bring to a boil, clamp on the pressure cooker lid, and bring to highest pressure. Reduce heat and maintain pressure for 25 min. Remove from heat and allow to cool down and depressurise naturally, about 10 min.

Remove the herb bundle and the ham hock from the pot with the beans. Lightly smash some of the beans in the pot with a potato masher (8-10 strokes) or a hand-held blender until creamy and lightly thickened, but many whole beans remain. Simmer for 10 min.

Using tongs and a chef’s knife, remove and mince the meat. Return meat to the pot. Add water as needed for desired consistency.

Just before serving, season the soup with salt and pepper to taste and stir in the parsley and the lemon juice. Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish each with a lemon wedge.

Apple pie, hurrah!

2011-11-11T17:35:00.000-06:00

After some searching around, I decided to try King Arthur Flour's apple pie recipe, using the One Pie Crust to Rule Them All. Now that's an apple pie. :) We forgot to take a picture, so I've borrowed KAF's pie photo.

Notes:

I did use the boiled cider. It was nice, although I'm sure the substitution they suggest would be good too.
We peeled the apples and used a 10-slice apple slicer. This made the apples a bit chunkier than I'd like, but was better than using the apple peeler/corer/slicer that spiral-cuts the apples very thin. That thin, and they tend to turn into goo.
My favorite apples are Jon-a-gold, Honey Crisp, and Crispen. They are very similar, and only appear at our stores in the fall/winter. Otherwise, I would use a combination of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith.
I did not pre-cook the apples. I think an apple pie should have the big gaps in it where the apples cooked down. A solidly-packed apple pie looks, well, weird.
I cut the upper crust in strips, and made a lattice, which was very pretty. Next time I may try a solid crust with vent holes; there was some reason I thought that might be better, but I can't remember right now.
Brushing with milk and sprinkling with sugar gives a nice light sheen, not so shiny as an egg wash.

Alas, apple pie...

2011-09-04T20:12:00.002-05:00

After my good fortune with the pancakes, and having an excellent pie dough recipe, I tried my luck with Google and apple pie. I found this one from Allrecipies.com. It boasts 101,000 saves, five stars, 3,800 reviews, 62 photos, and 68 custom versions. I made one yesterday. As many people commented about, I added cinnamon and vanilla, and I mixed part of the goo into the apples, then poured the rest on top as instructed. I baked per the original recipe. Smelled of heaven, looked nice. And...... meh.

What happened?? Well, all the thickening is on the top of the pie. When the apples juiced up, they soaked my beautiful bottom crust and made it mushy. It also needed some salt and a lot more spice. One teaspoon of cinnamon and one of vanilla just didn't do the trick for us. It was, well, ok. Not great. I was looking for outstanding. Guess the numbers don't always mean anything special. Next time I may look to Julia Childs.

Pancakes

2011-09-04T20:04:00.002-05:00

Figuring 77,000 people might know a good pancake recipe, I chose "Good Old Fashioned Pancakes" from Allrecipies.com: 4.5 stars, 4,550 reviews. I had my kids make them. It's really easy. Turns out, it's really good too. My husband liked it quite a bit. He's not really a pancake fan, and has not really liked any of the other recipes I've tried. Go figure.

LAL's Cinnamon Rolls

2011-09-04T16:30:00.003-05:00

Quest for the Ultimate Cinnamon Roll: Completed!

A friend and I have discussed cinnamon rolls for months now. In fact, more like a couple of years. Here is the current revision of the recipe.

What we talk about really is how amazing TJ Cinnamons® cinnamon rolls were, and how sad it is that you can no longer get them. We alternated trying recipes. We tried Alton Brown. Tried an old recipe I had saved long ago. Tried one from the Bread Baker's Apprentice. Tried the filling from King Arthur Flour. I've lost track of all the recipes we tried. They mostly make good cinnamon rolls, and our family and friends enjoyed eating them. But, somehow, they always missed the mark. I started to doubt my memory of the amazing rolls, now lost to a fast-food chain, and modified beyond recognition. Googling for TJ Cinnamons® turned up dozens of copies of the same recipe that, just from reading it, I knew by now was not worth trying. So I looked instead for old recipes, and found one called "Mom’s Cinnamon Rolls" by Amy on October 11, 2009.

Finally, this sounded about right. The key was that the butter is softened (NOT MELTED!!!), spread, and sprinkled with the cinnamon and sugar. I took that recipe, played with roll size and quantity of filling, and have finally produced a roll worthy of the memory. I am even still playing with the roll size, and methods for preparing them for breakfast without being up all night. I still need to compare fully-baked and frozen then re-warmed, vs risen over night and baked fresh in the morning. Here is the recipe.

LAL's Cinnamon Rolls

Description:

This recipe is dedicated to the memory of the original TJ Cinnamon’s Original Gourmet Cinnamon Roll®. It’s been too long to recall for certain how they tasted, but the haunting memories of over-the-top cinnamon gooey goodness, relentless irresistible aroma, and heart-warming contentedness remain. We feel that this recipe is standing up to that memory quite well, plus it’s baking in our own kitchen! It is a pleasure unravelling the rolls and devouring them from outside to soft, lovely center. Eat a whole one in the morning with an egg and coffee to balance the sweetness, and I’ll bet you won’t need lunch.

Notes:

Yield: 18 rolls

Time: variable*

*There are three options for timing, so you can get a good night’s sleep and still have them ready for breakfast. See highlighted sections for details.

**King Arthur All-Purpose flour is a very consistent product, and is the flour that this recipe was developed with. Using that flour, the ingredient measures listed produce a very consistent dough texture, requiring little to no adjustment. Why? The amount of gluten-forming proteins in various brands and types of flour can vary significantly. Gluten formation absorbs water. A higher gluten bread flour will require more liquid than a lower gluten flour like White Lily, and others made from “soft” wheat. Cake flour is right out; not enough gluten. For whole grains, use some bread flour (at least half) also, to keep it light. The bran tends to cut up the gluten structure, which reduces the rise.

***Size variation: Instead of 12”x12”, roll out to 18”x8”. Fill and roll into an 18” long log. Cut into 9 rolls, and arrange in an 8”x8” square pan. Yields 27 rolls that are the same height as the original recipe, with smaller girth.

Ingredients:

Dough

1 1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/2 c. water
2 eggs
2 tsp. salt
2 lb All-Purpose flour, pref King Arthur**
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp yeast

Filling, Divided into Three Batches

3x: 1/3 cup butter (do not melt or mix with other ingredients)
3x: 2/3 cup dark brown sugar
3x: 1/3 cup sugar
3x: 4 tsp cinnamon, pref Penzey’s blend or Vietnamese
3x: 1/2 tsp Ceylon cinnamon

Glaze

6 Tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla
½ c milk
1 ½ lb powdered sugar
lg pinch of salt, to taste

Instructions

Cut the butter for the filling into pats and lay out on butter wrapper so it can soften for later. DO NOT melt it, DO NOT microwave to soften it. A stone or aluminum surface is especially good at softening the butter.
Grease three 9” round pans, or one 9” round and one 9”x13” pan, with cooking spray. Extend the sides of the pans to about 3” deep by making a parchment collar. If you have a reusable baking liner or removable bottom from a similar sized pan that will fit the bottom, that may make construction easier.
Scald milk (heat to almost/just boiling). Add butter to the hot milk, stir to melt/cool the milk, then add this and water to the mixing bowl. When the mixture has cooled enough to hold your (clean) finger in, add the eggs and salt.
Add flour, reserving 1 cup if you use something other than King Arthur All-Purpose flour**. Make a well in the top of the flour mound. Stir sugar and yeast into the flour well.
Mix with regular beater until ingredients are combined into a mass (about a minute). Flour may be added at this point if dough is too slack for the dough hook to pick up. Switch to a dough hook and knead for 7 min. Add water or reserved/additional flour as required to make a soft, slightly sticky dough.
Let rise until double in an oiled, covered bowl, about 30 min in a warm place. Mix three batches of filling by combining brown sugar, white sugar, and cinnamon (NOT the butter), and set aside.
Dump risen dough out onto a lightly floured rolling mat. Do not knead, fold, deflate, or otherwise work up the dough. Cut into three pieces.
Pull and roll one dough piece into a 12” x 12” rectangle. Add as little flour as possible to aid in handling the dough. Non-stick rolling pins require very little, if any, flour as compared to wooden pins. Try to square up the edges, and keep the thickness even.
Spread dough with softened butter to the edges. Sprinkle with one batch of filling mixture to the edges, as evenly as possible (don’t worry if some falls off).
Roll into a 12” long log. It will likely stretch slightly to around 14”. Don’t bother trying to seal the edge. Cut with dental floss into 6 even rolls, ~2 ½-inch thick. Place into the pan in a ring, i.e. no roll in the center. Place twelve rolls total (2/3 of the entire batch) into the 9” x 13” pan, if using. Sprinkle any filling back onto the rolls, but try to leave bare dough edges showing, to keep them pretty. Repeat for each dough lump.

Options:

Make WAY ahead and bake fresh: Wrap tightly and freeze up to 2 months (maybe more). Remove the pan after they’re solid, if desired. The night before serving, set the rolls (in the pan) on the counter, mist with cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. They should be doubled and ready to bake in the morning. If not, put in a warmer place and continue proofing.
Make a day ahead: Mist with cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Do tack down the edges to prevent air circulation, but in a way that the dough can lift the wrap if it rises that high. Place in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours (e.g. overnight). Set in a warm place until doubled and warmed up, 45 min to an hour. Baking while still cold will result in uneven done-ness.
Make them NOW or fully-bake ahead: Mist with cooking spray, and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until double, about 30-45 min.

Bake (convection is fine too) at 350° until the internal temp is 190°, about 30 minutes. Cover with foil if needed to prevent over-browning before they’re done. If you’re going to freeze after baking, use foil the entire time to prevent browning.
For glaze, melt butter. Add sugar, salt and vanilla. Stir in milk. Adjust ingredients to taste and to desired consistency.
Allow to cool a few minutes, then invert the pan to allow any oozed filling to flow back into the rolls for a few minutes.
Options:

Eat NOW! Turn upright, and drizzle with glaze while still warm.
Save for Later, “Quick” Reheat: Let them cool all the way, wrap, and freeze up to a month (this is a guess). Remove pan once they’re frozen, if desired. The night before, put back into the pan, cover with foil, and thaw on the counter top. In the morning, with foil still on, put into a 250° oven. Try 20-30 min or until the aroma drives you crazy. Uncover and turn the temp to 350 to brown the tops. Invert briefly, in case the filling runs again, then turn back over, glaze, and serve. Or, pull one out and carefully microwave.

Cheesy Breakfast Beans

2011-09-04T16:02:00.000-05:00

As you might suspect from the title, this is not really a baking recipe. But it is quite good, and made a great substitute for cheese grits. It is here because I like it. :) It also helps make up for the sugar-shock of having cinnamon rolls for breakfast on other days. :D I think it would also qualify as a low-carb recipe.

Ingredients:
2 spicey sausage patties
1 can Great Norther beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c water
2 slices cheddar cheese
2 pinches salt

Directions:
1. Cook sausage in a skillet. I threw them in straight from the freezer with a little water, and crumbled them as they thawed and cooked.

2. Add the beans to the pan with the sausage, and let them sizzle a bit. Stir them around and mash them up somewhat. Add the water, and continue stirring and cooking. You may need more water.

3. Once the beans have become a bit like gravy, drop in a slice of cheese. Break it up and stir until it melts. Do the same with the second slice. Add salt to taste.

Sliders, Yum!

2011-09-02T20:30:00.000-05:00

We made sliders at home, and they were definitely worth the trouble. We used Alton Brown's recipe, and added home-made buns from King Arthur Flour. Two of my favorite food sites, together making something wonderful! They're great in a sack-lunch too.

To make slider buns, make King Arthur's Beautiful Burger Buns. For 3” slider buns, cut into 24 pieces, roll, and place into two greased 9 x 13” pans. Flatten each roll with the bottom of a glass, then proof and bake per directions.

It's best to make these the day before, because they are almost too soft when fresh.

For the burgers, make a triple batch of Alton Brown's sliders. Shape the patties into two 9" x 13" rectangles, then cut, to match the bun size. Wrap up any leftover sliders and freeze for later. So good!

Pharaoh Bread

2011-08-13T12:01:00.002-05:00

aka Lynn's Seed Bread; web post

Origin:

This recipe evolved over time. It is my go-to, just good bread. We were in Canada, years ago, in Banff, and several shops were serving a white bread with flax seeds in it. That struck me as odd, putting "healthy" ingredients into an "unhealthy" plain white bread, and got me thinking. I was also experimenting with all the varieties of whole grains that I could find, since I had a grain mill. I found the only whole grain flour that I really like is Kamut. This bread is based on a good white bread recipe, with Kamut substituted for some of the flour. Then, all the "seed" type things that I also like are thrown in for texture and taste. It has as much Kamut as I could put in, while keeping the light texture that my family and I prefer. We aren't really fans of dense, whole-wheat breads.

The fun trivia about Kamut is, the founder claims that he was given a handful of this grain by a person who got it from an Egyptian tomb! That is where I got the idea for the recipe name. They say the true wealth of Egypt was its grain, therefore, Pharaoh Bread. Someone later looked at the genes of the grain, and found that it was in fact an ancient strain, perhaps ancestor to our current wheat. How cool is that! Of course it may, as my husband speculates, simply be from the area around the pyramids. On the other hand, ancient Egyptians are known for their ability to store and preserve, sealing things in pottery stored in cool underground rooms. Either way, it is delicious, and I enjoy spreading the story. :) I have also heard that it doesn't cause the allergic reaction that some people have to wheat.

Description:

An all-purpose type slicing bread. Makes great sandwiches, cinnamon toast, and (our favorite) hot-from-the-oven slice with a drizzle of honey. The Kamut gives it a nice nutty flavor that is unique and delicious even to those who do not care for whole wheat bread.

Photo: Bryce, the “bread man”, and his first loaves of Pharaoh Bread.

Ingredients

Large Machine			2 loaf pans
13	oz	water	19	oz
2	Tbsp	oil or butter	3	Tbsp
1 ½	tsp	salt	2 ¼	tsp
2	Tbsp	powdered milk	3	Tbsp
16 ¼	oz	bread flour	1 lb	+ 9 oz
4	oz	whole grain flour (pref. kamut or white wheat)	6	oz
3	Tbsp	sugar	4	Tbsp
1	tsp	barley malt powder, optional	1 ½	tsp
1/8	tsp	ascorbic acid (vitamin C), opt’l	⅛	tsp
2	tsp	instant active yeast	3	tsp
1	tsp	granular lecithin, optional (extends the time before bread goes stale)	1 ½	tsp
2	Tbsp	sesame seeds	3	Tbsp
2	Tbsp	flax seeds	3	Tbsp
2	Tbsp	amaranth grain	3	Tbsp
2	Tbsp	rolled oats	3	Tbsp

Put water, oil, salt, and powdered milk into bread machine pan or mixer bowl.

Note: Except for the water, these are the ingredients that tend to slow, or prevent, the growth of the yeast. If the yeast powder is sprinkled into the oil directly, for example, the yeast will not get any water, and will not grow.

Put in all of the flour, mounded in the middle. Make a well in the top of the flour.
Place sugar, malt, ascorbic acid and yeast into the well in the flour. Gently stir these into the flour, taking care not to get it wet, especially if you will be using a delayed-start cycle on the bread machine.

Note: These are the ingredients that are the yeast's "friends". Mixing them together helps assure the yeast gets a good start. Also, if you are using a delay cycle on a bread machine, the yeast needs to be on top so it stays dry until the cycle starts.

Put lecithin, seeds, and whole grains on top. It's ok if the seeds and grains spill into the liquid a little bit.
Make dough, adjusting water or flour to make a soft, not sticky dough:

In a bread machine: this recipe also works well on delayed/timer cycle. It bakes fine in the machine, or can be removed after first rise, shaped, and baked as follows. This recipe is sized for a 2lb Zojirushi machine. Compare the amount of flour in this recipe to typical recipes for your machine before baking.

In a mixer: Mix on low speed with regular beater until ingredients come together, and flour is moistened. Change to a dough hook, and knead at 50% for 7 min.

Adjust oven rack to middle position if using pans, or with stone on the bottom if baking on parchment. Hand-shape the bread, and place in a pan or on parchment. Spray with cooking spray, and cover lightly with plastic wrap.

Note: I like the 1 lb loaf pan with the Goldtouch (R) coating, from William Sonoma

Timing options:

Set oven to 350°; use convection if available. Allow to rise in a warm place until double, about 50 min.
OR: Refrigerate overnight. Set oven to 350°; use convection if available. Take pan of dough from the fridge, and place in lower oven. Loosen plastic wrap so that it will float up as the dough rises. Allow to warm and complete rising, about 30 min.

Remove plastic, and use a sharp knife to slash the top of the risen dough.
Transfer to the oven, and set a timer for 15 min. When time is up, insert thermometer probe into center of a loaf. Bake until 195°-205°. If the bread browns to desired level before the temperature is reached, lay a loose sheet of aluminum foil over the top to retard browning.
Transfer to cooling rack. In the event of a cut warm loaf, place it cut-side-down on a cutting board or counter. When cool, place on a paper towel and store in a closed plastic bag.

Bread: Order of Ingredients

2010-12-01T21:32:00.000-06:00

My first bread ventures were made in a bread machine. My next step was pulling the dough out of the machine, then hand-shaping and baking in the oven. Now I usually make the dough in my stand mixer.

I have found that the order of adding ingredients to a bread machine pan actually matters, beyond keeping the yeast dry for a delayed-start loaf. I load my mixer this way also.

Loading:
First add:

Liquid ingredients
Fats and oils
Dairy, including powdered milk
Salt
Flour; allow to mound in the center of the liquid

Make a bowl in the top of the flour, and place in it:

Sugar
Malt Powder
Ascorbic acid
Yeast; I prefer the "instant active" kind

Gently stir the sugars and yeast, blending some flour into it as well. Take care to keep it at the top of the flour mound, so it will stay dry during a delayed start cycle.

On the top, taking care not to spill the yeast, and yet trying to keep it out of the liquid, sprinkle:

Seeds
Oats
Spices
Dried fruits

Factiods:

If the dry yeast gets coated with oil, it will fail to get the water and sugar it needs to grow and raise the loaf.
Salt retards yeast growth.
I've heard that enzymes in milk can also retard yeast growth. When I use fresh milk, I scald it first, then cool it by adding the butter and water and pouring it into the mixer bowl so it doesn't cook eggs or kill the yeast. If your finger isn't burned by it, the yeast will be fine too.
Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) helps yeast grow better, especially in a rich recipe. I add about 1/8 teaspoon to most loafs.
Malt powder helps a loaf brown nicer, and helps the yeast grow. I add a teaspoon of it to every loaf. You can get it at stores that sell beer brewing supplies.
Yeast feeds on sugars, so I place it next to the sugars, malt, and ascorbic acid.