Tag Archives: bread

strawberry bread

Posted on by

0

strawberry bread 2943Summer is almost over, and if you’re looking for a way to use up the last of your strawberries – here you go. This bread will not change your life, but it will serve as a tasty breakfast (or second breakfast, or possibly dessert). The cream cheese in this bread makes it more dense while the milk makes it more tender. The batter is thick and hearty (I imagine it has to be to hold all those strawberries in place). Notice that pound-cake-like crack down the center?

The texture of the resulting loaf is almost like a pound cake, but with a more tender crumb. Like if a pound cake and a quickbread had a baby, and then they stuffed that baby with strawberries – this would be it. I imagine it’s equally as delicious with other berries as well, or maybe even just a little zest and juice from a lemon. Maybe a drizzle of icing? Don’t worry, it’s good for you, it has strawberries in it. 🙂

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Printable Recipe

  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 3 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 2 eggs, room temp
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk (or I just used milk, because that’s what we had in the fridge)
  • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, chopped
  1. Place chopped strawberries in a collander lined with paper towel to dry. Prepare a standard loaf pan with baking spray or parchment. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Beat butter, sugar, and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, then vanilla.
  3. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add milk and stir just til combined. (Don’t overmix). Gently mix in strawberries.
  4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 350F

[ Adapted from food.com ]

cpa bread

Posted on by

9

cinn pull apart bread I love cinnamon (especially cinnamon + sugar) so much it hurts. Not really, but it’s going to start hurting soon, once the diabetes develops and I can’t consume my current levels of sugar anymore. I saw this bread on Annie’s Eats and immediately started drooling all over my computer.

I learned a couple things here: First, my counters are perfect for pastry-rolling if I do say so myself. Second, my oven is rebelling. BF says it’s just jealous because it’s the only part of the old kitchen that remains. I told him we should upgrade then I don’t mind!  😉 Anyway, the oven’s uneven heat caused the outsides of the bread to bake much more quickly than the middle, resulting in a funny-looking concave mutant loaf. I also learned that mutant loaves of cinnamon pull-apart bread are still flippin’ delicious. Guess mom was right, you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

sad, little mutant loaf

This bread has all the flavor of a cinnamon roll, with none of the rolling. Okay, well there’s a little rolling, and some slicing, and stacking. But it’s so worth it, and once you eat the ends, every single slice in there is just like the inside of a cinnamon roll which, let’s be honest, is everyone’s favorite part. I totally should have made a cinnamon roll glaze to put over the top of this, or possibly as a dipping sauce on the side. Guess I’ll just have to make it again… Just gotta get this oven whipped back into shape.

 

Print
Cinnamon Pull Apart Bread

Yield: 1 loaf

Ingredients

    For the dough:
  • 2¾ C all-purpose flour
  • ¼ C sugar
  • 2¼ tsp instant (rapid rise) yeast
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1/3 C milk
  • ¼ C water
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
    • For the filling:
  • 4 Tbs unsalted butter
  • 1 C sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Combine the flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a dough hook.
  2. Combine the butter and milk in a small saucepan (or microwave) and heat just until the butter is melted. Set aside and let cool briefly, until the mixture registers 115-125? F on an instant-read thermometer.
  3. Add the milk mixture, water, vanilla and eggs to the mixer bowl. Mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. Continue to knead until smooth and elastic, adding additional flour as needed 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough clears the sides of the bowl and is tacky but not sticky. Knead about 3-5 minutes.
  4. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, turning once to coat, and cover. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. *
  5. While the dough rises, add the butter to a small saucepan and melt until browned. Set aside.
  6. Combine the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a small bowl and mix well.
  7. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and gently deflate. Roll into a ball, cover with a clean towel and let rest for 5 minutes.
  8. Roll the dough out into an approximately 12 x 20-inch rectangle. Brush the dough with the browned butter (don’t be stingy). Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar mixture over the dough in an even layer. Dump it all on there, a lot will fall off while you’re working anyway.
  9. Lightly grease (and/or line with parchment) a loaf pan. Slice the dough vertically into 6 even strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and again cut again into 6 equal-ish slices. Stack all the squares on top of each other and set into the prepared loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place, 30-45 minutes.
  10. 10. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 350? F. Transfer the loaf to the oven and bake 30-35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. (If the top seems to be browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil at the end of baking.) Remove from the oven and let rest in the pan 20-30 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen and carefully turn the loaf out. This bread is best served warm!

Notes

*After its first rise, the dough can be wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated overnight. Let it come to room temperature for 30 minutes before proceeding

*I was a little stingy on the butter, which meant a lot of my cinnamon fell off- so don't worry about it. The extra little bit of butter isn't going to kill you, and it's totally worth more ooey-gooey deliciousness.

*I might add brown sugar to the filling next time, since I love to put it in my cinnamon rolls - it lends a slightly more complex flavor and texture to the filling.

https://wee-eats.com/2011/06/22/cpa-bread/

[ Adapted from Annie’s Eats ]

dinner rolls

Posted on by

4

pull apart dinner rollsFor our first official dinner in the new kitchen, BF had a simple menu request: Rolls. Steak, potatoes, and rolls to be exact. Easy peasy, right? So you can imagine how sad I was when I miscalculated a measurement in my roll recipe with my LAST PACKET of yeast and had to throw the batch out. I walked into the other room defeated with my head down, “Sorry babe, no rolls tonight.”

He didn’t seem to mind much, but I felt so bad. I wanted tonight’s dinner to be perfect, but even more than that I wanted to not go to the store. So I tore through the pantry, the cupboards, and the drawers looking for anything I could use to make rolls. Then I saw it- in the back of a refrigerator drawer- one packet of rapid rise yeast. I swear I heard angels singing… but I haven’t ever made rolls with rapid rise yeast. Road block.


I was certain there had to be a simple way to modify my recipe into a “rapid rise” compatible version. I stood there, packet in hand, thinking… then it hit me. This is Fleischmann’s yeast. Surely they didn’t become a national yeast brand without at least some failproof bread recipes. Internet to the rescue! With a website named “breadworld”, I felt pretty confident this recipe would work.

These rolls baked up beautifully. Not only did they taste great, have a perfect “dinner roll” texture, and take half the time of regular rolls – they saved dinner. Boyfriend emerged for dinner to a pleasant surprise, “I thought we weren’t having rolls for dinner tonight.” Neither did I … 😉

Save-the-Day Dinner Rolls – From Fleishchmann’s

Printer-Friendly

  • 2 to 2-1/4 C  AP flour, divided
  • 2 Tbs sugar
  • 1 packet RapidRise Yeast
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 C milk
  • 1/4 C water
  • 2 Tbs butter (or a spray of “Pam for Baking”)
  1. Combine 3/4 cup flour, sugar, undissolved yeast and salt in a large bowl.
  2. Heat milk, water and butter until very warm (120º to 130ºF), then add to flour mixture.
  3. Beat 2 minutes with dough hook at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Make sure to scrape up any sneaky flour hiding at the bottom.
  4. Add 1/4 cup flour; beat 2 minutes at high speed. Stir in enough remaining flour to make soft dough.
  5. Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes (this actually took me like 2 minutes).
  6. Let rest, covered, about 10 minutes.
  7. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces and shape into balls. Place into greased 8-inch round pan. Cover and let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
  8. Bake at 375ºF for 20 minutes or until done. Remove from pan; brush with additional melted butter, if desired. Serve warm.

Tips

*These rolls are very forgiving, I was having issues following directions this day and dumped all 2 cups of flour into the bowl with the yeast and they still came out great. (hence putting the “3/4C flour” in bold)

*Takes about 90 minutes start to finish – 20 min active, 10 minute rest, 30 minute rise, and 20-30 minute bake

banana-rama

Posted on by

5

banana rama bread

Today is a glorious, magical day – Today is the day our brand new kitchen arrived.

It’s amazing that just yesterday we were at IKEA picking out cabinets and less than 24 hours later it arrived at our door. Of course, we’ve still got a long way to go, we have to assemble all of the new cabinets, rip out the old ones, and I’m sure the kitchen will be out of commission for some time once that starts… I did ask BF to try to maintain a functional kitchen space for as long as possible before the old kitchen get demolished.

current kitchen

 

Either way it’s going to limit the recipes I am able to make… no kitchen means no way to wash dishes and no place to prep. So in thinking about all these difficulties, I thought it’d be a great time to post on of the easiest recipes ever – banana bread. This requires only one (or two)  bowl(s), and you don’t even need to break out the mixer!

I’m super excited about the kitchen – although I fear I will fall behind on baking with no kitchen available… Although it’s probably for the best, since I will probably be too busy to gym as well…

Banana Bread – Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Printer-Friendly Version

  • 4 mashed bananas
  • 1/3 C melted butter
  • 3/4 C brown sugar
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp bourbon (optional)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • Tiny pinch ground cloves
  • 1 1/2 C AP flour
  • Optional additions: Chocolate chips, streusel topping

Preheat oven to 350F; Grease 1 loaf pan and sprinkle with cinnamon-sugar (sprinkling optional)

1. In medium bowl whisk together AP flour with salt and spices. Set aside

2. In large bowl mix mashed banana and melted butter with spoon. Stir in sugar, egg, vanilla, and bourbon.

3. Stir in flour mixture in 2 additions being careful not to over-mix. Pour into prepared loaf pan and bake 50-60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

*If you want to keep this a “one-bowl” recipe, start with mixing the banana & butter, then sugar, egg, vanilla, (bourbon, if using). After that, stir in the spices, then sprinkle baking soda and salt over top, and lastly stir in the flour (followed by chocolate chips, if using).

Cinnamon Streusel Topping

Boyfriend loves streusel, so I try to add it whenever possible to my baked goods. Here’s a simple recipe to make streusel to top anything you desire…

  • 4 Tbs flour
  • 2 Tbs brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 Tbs cold butter

Mix flour, sugar, and cinnamon together, cut in cold butter. Sprinkle on top of banana bread batter prior to baking,

*Make sure you let the bread cool 100% before covering with foil, or it will turn the streusel from crunch to soft.

*If you need more, you can double (triple, quadruple) the recipe as needed. 

*Extra streusel can be frozen and used as needed straight from the freezer

*It also makes great muffins!


No Knead Bread (2 ways)

Posted on by

0

no knead bread main
So a little while back I was going to make bagels, but my plans were thwarted when I realized I forgot to pick up bread flour. So I was already in the mood for bread-making, but needed something that I could use my all-purpose flour for- Enter: Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Momma got me this much sought-after book for Christmas, but I kept forgetting about it before making anything~ WHAT A MISTAKE! This bread was so good. It had a super crispy crust, with a chewy interior. The book says that since the dough is so “wet” naturally, the likelihood of it drying out is low, so bake until it’s good and brown. So I did.

The whole premise of “Artisan Bread in 5” is to make 1 large batch of dough and then just let it hang out in the fridge until you need it- way easier than making a new batch of dough every day. The longer it sits the tangier it gets (think: sourdough). After a week, let me tell you, it was SOUR-dough alright. Super tangy. So if you’re not into sourdough, make sure to bake it sooner rather than later. First I made the baguettes, then a free-form loaf (about a week later). The free form was a little too sour-doughy for me, but that’s juts my personal opinion.

The book recommends baking on a pizza stone, but mine broke recently (RIP) so I just used a baking sheet with parchment.

Oh, and don’t worry, the bagels eventually came…

For the basic ABin5 loaf:

Printer-Friendly Version

  • 3 C lukewarm water
  • 2 packets active dry yeast
  • 1 1/2 Tbs kosher salt
  • 6 1/2 C AP white flour

1. Warm the water to about 100F (yeast-loving temperature), then add yeast and salt. Pour into large (5+ quart) bowl.

2. Mix in the flour all at once- kneading is not necessary, but a dough hook can be helpful if your arm gets tired easily (mine do). You’re finished once everything is uniformly moist, without any dry flour patches.

3. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, or flattens on the top. 2 – 4 hours depending on the room’s temperature.

You can use the dough at any time after this, but refrigerated dough is less sticky and easier to work with, so it’s usually best to refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight before shaping the first loaf. (I wanted baguettes, so I dug right in) Remaining dough should last in the fridge up to 14 days.

For the free-form loaf…

4. Sprinkle surface of your dough with flour and pull off a 1-lb (grapefruit-sized) portion. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom, rotating the balla s you go. Most of the flour should fall of, it’s not meant to be worked into the dough. The bottom may appear to be a collection of bunched ends, but it’ll flatten out when it bakes. This should take no more than 30 – 60 seconds.

5. Rest the loaf and let it rise slightly on baking sheet lined with parchment, or pizza peel dusted with cornmeal. Allow to rest for about 40 minutes (doesn’t need to be covered). Depending on the age of the dough it may rise a lot or barely at all.

6. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450F with pizza stone (if you have one) on the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the baking bread.

7. Dust the top of loaf with flour, and cut a slash 1/4-inch deep accross the top with a serrated knife. (I made an “X”)

8. After 20 minutes, you’re ready to bake (even if your oven isn’t fully pre-heated). Either slide dough onto baking stone, or place parchment-lined baking sheet with dough on top into the oven. Quickly, but carefully, pour 1 C of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake about 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow to cool on wire rack.

For baguettes… (Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves – I made 2 small and served with penne alla vodka)

4. Preheat oven to 450F with stone on middle rack (if you have one) and empty broiler tray on any other shelf that won’t interfere with the baking bread

5. Dust surface of refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-lb (grapefruit-sized) piece. Dust piece with flour and shape into a ball by slightly stretching the surface of the dough around to a spot at the bottom.

6. Once your ball is formed, begin to stretch into a “baguette” shape approximately 2 inches in diameter. Once shaped, allow to rest on parchment-lined baking sheet or cornmeal-dusted pizza peel for 20 minutes.

7. After 20 minutes, brush baguette(s) with water and cut 1/4-inch deep slashes diagonally across the loaf, then slide onto hot stone or place into oven. Pour 1 C of hot water into broiler tray and quickly close the oven door. Bake 25 minutes or until deeply browned and firm to the touch. Cool on wire rack.

**UPDATE JULY 2012** Using THIS TRICK you can bake your bread in a crock pot! Bake on high for about an hour (based on a 4-qt crock pot)