Whole Wheat Raisin Challah

I came across this Challah recipe on Naturally Emma. My mom used to make Challah bread at the bakery and since I'm on a bread kick and the recipe looked similar to the other breads I've been making I decided to try it. I made the dough and worked on a poster for school while it rose. Then I braided the dough and let it rise again, finished my poster and put it in the oven for 30 mins. When I cut it I decided maybe it should have stayed in for another 5 minutes, it was a tiiiiiiiny bit undercooked. I cut off a piece and went for a run with Lauren in Flourtown.

For my first official loaf of bread it came out well. Not as light and buttery as the white flour Challah I'm used to but the whole wheat has it's own rustic charm. The only changes I made were to add raisins to the dough and the sesame seeds to the top after brushing it with the egg wash. Next time I'm going to try a traditional white flour recipe and get it really light and fluffy inside.

Dough Ingredients:

* 1 cup water (luke warm)
* 1 package yeast
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 whole egg
* 2 cup whole wheat (or white wheat) flour
* 1 cup flour
* 1 cup raisins

Egg Wash Ingredients:

* 1 egg yolk
* 2 tablespoons water

Sprinkle On Top:

* Any seeds you want- sesame, poppy, sea salt, herbs etc.

Instructions:

1. Combine water, yeast, and 2 tablespoons of sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer. Let sit for five minutes until yeast begins to bubble.

2. Add the rest of the sugar, salt, egg, and 1 cup of the flour. Mix until combine with dough hook. Continue to add flour until dough begins to pull away from the sides of the mixer and dough begins to form one big ball. Continue to mix until dough becomes smooth and elastic (around 8-10 minutes longer).

3. Remove bowl from mixer and place in a warm place covered with a towl. Let rise until doubled- around an hour.

4. After first rise, remove dough from bowl and divide into three pieces. Roll each piece into a snake-like strand and squeeze together one end of all three strands. (We are going to braid them together). After you squeeze the ends together to start the braid, tuck under the joining spot so you can't see where all of the strands come together. Then oil your hands with olive oil so the dough is easy to handle and start your braid. Make it nice and tight. When you finish the braid squeeze all three ends together so the braid doesn't come undone and tuck the end under again letting the weight of the loaf hold the end together underneath. Quickly and carefully- so you don't mess up the form- transfer the bread from your counter to a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Place loaf in warm spot and let rise again until doubled- half hour to forty-five minutes.

5. Towards the end of the second rise, preheat oven to 375˚. In a bowl, mix one egg yolk with two tablespoons of water- brush loaf (making sure entire surface is covered). Now you can sprinkle on your seeds if you want to- I used black sesame. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until golden brown.

Garlic Knots

Yes I said Garlic Knots!!! I used to eat these with my family when we went to Rockaway Beach, NY to see my aunt Nancy. We always went to this pizza shop and as I was making the garlic oil for these knots the smell took me back to that skinny shop where we would eat basket after basket...

This recipe was pretty easy, I used the same basic method of making the bread as I did with the Povitica Cinnamon Swirl Bread. So again I made the dough and went for a stroll with Lauren. We tried on some clothes, drank iced coffee, and wandered around Chestnut Hill in the sun. When we got back it was time to form the rolls and throw them in the oven.

I love the smell of yeast. I found this recipe on a blog called White On Rice Couple. It makes a pretty sturdy little knot, the ones I remember were a little more flakey and light and oily, mine are more crusty on the outside. I didn't have parsley- because I didn't know that Jenn has tons of it growing in her yard, so I used chives in the garlic oil instead. I also threw a little parmesan cheese in there too just for fun.

Ingredients:

DOUGH
1 3/4 c Warm Water
1/4 c Olive Oil
1 t Sea Salt
1 T Sugar
1 1/2 T Active Dry Yeast
approx. 5 1/2 c all-pupose, unbleached Flour

GARLIC OIL COATING
1/8 c Olive Oil
2 T unsalted Butter
4 cloves Garlic, finely crushed
1/4 c finely chopped fresh Chives
Sea Salt to taste

plus extra Olive Oil and Flour for making the knots

Directions:

Combine water, 1/4c olive oil, sea salt, sugar, and active dry yeast in a large resealable container or bowl. Mix to dissolve yeast.

Add flour. Mix to incorporate flour, cover, and set in a warm spot to proof until doubled in volume (usually 1-3 hrs depending on initial water temp and warmth of proofing area). (A sunny table outside on a warm summer day is perfect for proofing!)

Chill the dough for a bit (will keep fine in fridge for several days if you want to make the dough ahead of time) to make it easier to handle (this can be skipped if you don't have the time) then set up your knotting station. Put out a large wooden cutting board and oil liberally. Grab a rolling dowel or pin and oil. Grab a pizza cutter or something similar to slice dough in strips. Put container of flour within easy reach. Line several sheet pans with parchment paper or silpats and place within easy reach.

Oil your hands to help keep dough from sticking to them. Divide the dough in two parts to make it easier to handle. Take the first half, slap it onto the oiled board several times to flatten. Using the dowel, spread into an even rectangle approx. 5"x16" and 1/2" thick. Slice the rectangle into 1/2"x5" strips.

Rotate the board 90° and sprinkle dough strips and board with flour. Taking the strip nearest to you, roll it back and forth to create an even rope. Tie into a knot (over, under, and through) and place on lined sheet pan. Place knots about an 1 1/2" apart. At first it may seem awkward making the knots but with a little practice it will become easy. Flour is your friend to help keep the dough from sticking to itself while forming the knots.

Continue making the rest of the knots with the second half of the dough. After each sheet pan fills up, cover with a dry sack towel, and place in a warm, draft-free spot to rise.

Preheat oven to 400° F

After knots have doubled in size (or about the time it takes the oven to preheat), take off dry sack towel and place sheet pans in the oven. Bake for approx. 12-15 min. or until golden.

While knots are baking, make garlic coating. Gently warm olive oil, butter, and garlic in a small saucepan (if you like your garlic with less of a bite, cook it for a few minutes in oil/butter mix until soft & slightly golden). Re move from the heat and once the mixture has cooled a little transfer to a large bowl. Once mix has cooled a few minutes add a little parm and the chives.

After removing knots from oven, while still warm, place knots in the large bowl and toss with garlic coating. Season with sea salt to taste.
Best served warm, but still good when at room temp.

Whole Wheat Brownies

Holy fudgey brownie Martha Stewart!!

There are a lot of different kinds of brownies out there. There are really moist oil brownies, buttery flakey brownies, there are dryer cakier brownies, there are low-fat applesauce brownies, hell there are Katherine Hepburn brownies!!! Well these brownies are totally dense, totally dark, totally ridiculous. Redic!!

I wanted to make them because of the whole wheat flour thing but I got to my mom's house to bake and realized I had no chocolate chips! But I did have plenty of unsweetened bakers chocolate, so I started thinking... What if I substituted bakers chocolate and sugar for semisweet chocolate chips? Well I did it and it was awesome!!

Original recipe can be found at Martha's Website. I made a few changes, and I think it paid off. Besides the chocolate switch, I used half special dark cocoa powder and half regular cocoa powder, totaling 1/3 cup. I also left out the chocolate chips that Martha puts in at the end- you really don't need them.

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour (spooned and leveled)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used half regular cocoa powder and half special dark cocoa powder)
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 large egg
8 ounces unsweetened bakers chocolate plus 10 tbsp white sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish; line with parchment, then spray the parchment too, leaving a 2-inch overhang on all sides.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

In a double boiler melt the 8 oz bakers chocolate and add the 10 tbsp white sugar and stir until combined and melted together- it's ok if the sugar is still sandy and unmelted in there- mine was.

In a large bowl, stir together brown sugar, applesauce, and egg.

Add butter to melted chocolate and stir until melted over the double boiler.

Stir chocolate mixture into applesauce mixture.

Stir in flour mixture.

Pour into pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs attached, 40 minutes.

Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Use parchment to lift cake from pan and cut into 16 squares.

Photo Credit: Martha Stewart

Cinnamon Swirl Povitica Bread

Remember those cinnamon swirl pinwheel snack cakes that your mom used to put in your lunch when you were little? I used to unroll them before I ate them. Well this bread is exactly like that.

I made the dough, went to the coffee shop for an hour to do some work, walked over to the new Green Street Consignment and got a pair of AG Jeans for $24.00, then went home and made my bread. The dough needed 90 mins to rise so I had plenty of time to do some shopping, and since I had to leave my mom at the consignment shop because she was taking so long to try on dresses, I ended up rolling the dough out all by myself- my first adventure with yeast was a huge success!!

I found this recipe on Brownie Bite's Blog. I added raisins to the filling and I'm thinking next time apples or chunky applesauce in there too. Or some kind of a coffee cake crumble filling. There are a lot of possibilities. I also added some extra cinnamon, right before I rolled up the dough in a spiral. Ooooh I should have sprinkled some on top before I put it in the oven too!! Next time...

Ingredients:

ACTIVATING THE YEAST:
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons warm water
1 1/2 teaspoons of active dry yeast

FOR THE DOUGH:
1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups all-purpose flour, measured then sifted

FOR THE FILLING:
1 1/2 cups walnuts, ground or chopped
1 1/2 cups raisins
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

FOR THE TOPPING:
1 egg, beaten (to brush onto the dough)
Mixture of demerara (or any raw sugar), cinnamon, and cardamom


Method:

ACTIVATE THE YEAST:
In a small bowl, stir 1/2 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp flour and yeast into 2 TBS warm water. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow it to stand for 5 minutes until bubbly.

MAKE THE DOUGH:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk to just below boiling , stirring constantly. Allow to cool slightly.

In bowl of mixer, add the scalded milk to 3 TBS sugar and 3/4 tsp salt until combined. Add the beaten egg, 1 TBS melted butter, and the yeast mixture. Add 1/4 cup of the sifted flour. Stir until combined. Slowly add small amounts of the remaining flour (1 3/4 cups) until the dough begins to clean the bowl. (I had to add a couple more tbsp of flour to really get the dough to pull together).

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, continuing to add small amounts of flour until the dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Place dough ball into a greased mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.

Go shopping

TO MAKE THE FILLING:
In a bowl, mix together the walnuts with sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.

In a saucepan, heat the milk and butter to boiling, and then pour over the nut mixture.

Allow to cool slightly and then add egg yolk and vanilla. Mix thoroughly. Allow mixture to come to room temperature.

ASSEMBLING THE DOUGH:
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and with a floured rolling pin roll out dough to a rectangle approximately 10×12 inches. Continue rolling until dough is very, very thin. Occasionally lift the dough and sprinkle extra flour on your surface as needed to prevent sticking and tearing.

Spread nut filling over the top of dough, leaving a little room around the edges. Spread raisins on dough as well. Shake some extra cinnamon on there while you're at it.

Carefully and slowly roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Starting at the center, gently pull the log toward the edges to make it slightly longer.

Using a 9×5 loaf pan as a guide, create an S-shape with your dough that will fit inside of the pan.
Thoroughly grease your pan and lay the dough inside. Then brush with a beaten egg and top with raw sugar, cinnamon, and cardamom.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes. Turn down oven temperature to 300F and bake an additional 45 minutes. Add an aluminum foil tent to dough if it starts to brown too quickly or too much. Bread is done when it is a deep golden brown, begins to pull away at the edges, and has a hollow sound when you thunk on it.
Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pan. Slice with a serrated knife. Sometimes it’s easiest to turn the loaf upside down before cutting.

Summer Garden

My uncle Bruce sent me a picture this morning. That's my grandparent's old collie-german shepherd mix Shannah, my cousin Audrey, me, my sister Nora, and cousin Arthur up at my grandparent's farm in Tioga PA. They had a pretty impressive veggie garden every summer. Lots of squash and wax beans if I remember correctly. They had really rocky soil so a lot of our time was spend de-rocking the garden and then covering the weeds in black plastic to keep them down.

I have a nice garden space at my Dad's house that is just waiting to be planted, not that I have the time to do it right now- I'm having enough trouble keeping up with the laundry as it is. After school is done I'll get in there and get my hands dirty.

Today's baking plan includes that cinnamon Povitica Bread, possibly some whole wheat brownies that Martha Stewart emailed me today, and in between a little studying.

Thanks for the memories Brucey!!

Photo credit: Uncle Bruce

Bread Lessons

I've been trying to find time to get my mom to teach me how to make bread for a while now. Since I just had a big test on Thursday I am prepared for a less stresses-out weekend- I usually ease up on the studying the weekend after a test and then dive in again on Monday. Cumulative final May 2nd- only a few weeks to study everything I learned this semester!!

But back to baking... This is how I relieve stress- pounding dough, chopping chocolate, beating butter. Baking is the most amazing creative outlet I know. Sometimes I clean stuff, getting totally dirty in the garden is nice when it's really sunny out, or painting and drawing are also fun things that I do to de-stress and tire myself out. (I drink a lot of coffee) I have mastered cookies and muffins and a few weeks ago I made my first pie, but anything involving yeast- I have avoided. That's probably why I made yeast-free cinnamon rolls the other day.

There's no more avoiding it!! I have wanted to make "Monkey Bread" forever now. The smell of cinnamon sugar in the air... Conquer your fears and open that packet of yeast!

I have a recipe for "Povitica Bread" from Brownie Bites that I'm going to attempt, I'll let you know how it turns out.

Photo Credit: Apple Pie, Patis, & Pate

Stressed Out Baking: Compost Cookies

Oh my god I am so stressed ouuuuuuuuuut!! So much stuff to do for school and so little time and patience. I wanted to make these cookies- I sort of got the recipe from The Yum Yum Factory but changed a lot of the ingredients in the end.

I've been downloading compost cookie recipes and "kitchen sink cookie" recipes for a while now so the ideas have been piling up in my head. The idea behind this cookie is sweet and salty combined in a pretty basic cookie dough. The Yum Yum Factory recipe calls for pretzels, some people used salted peanuts, potato chips, you name it. I used blue corn chips because that's what I had and I've seen them used before with good results. For the sweet you can use your typical chocolate chips, other chocolate candy like heath bar pieces, butterscotch or toffee bits, coconut, raisins, whatever you want. You can't really go wrong with this recipe. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

1 stick Butter
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 cup tbsp Brown sugar
1/2 tbsp Corn syrup
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 large Egg
3/4 & 2 tbsp cups All purpose flour
1 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 cup Dark chocolate (some easter eggs and the head of a dark chocolate bunny coarsely chopped)
1/4 cup Old fashioned oats
several handfuls of crumbled Blue corn chips
1/2 cup Sweetened coconut
1/2 cup Raisins
1 1/2 tbsp Coffee grounds (yes- freshly ground coffee beans)

Method:

First cream the butter, sugars, and the corn syrup in your stand mixer on medium high for 2 or 3 minutes, until it's nice and fluffy.

Next, throw in the egg and vanilla and mix for another 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl mix the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add the flour mix to the butter mixture with the mixer on low speed. Mix just until combined.

Now you add in the sweet and salty ingredients that you chose.

Use a big spoon to form your cookies - it should be about 3 tbls in each cookie. Put them on a tin foil lined cookie sheet, making sure that there is at least 3" between each cookie so they can spread. Put the sheets in the fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat to 375F

Bake for 14-18 minutes depending on the size of the cookies and your oven. They are done when they start to brown around the edges but we left ours in longer because they're good when they're extra brown.

Muffin Thursday: Pear Almond Chocolate Spice Muffins

Christmas has come early!! Muffin Thursday has arrived a whole day early this week. Instead of studying for a huge test that I have tomorrow- I can't look at my notes anymore I'm going insane- I decided to make cookies and these delish muffins. From Pastry Affair, these muffins have the perfect balance of spice and cocoa powder.

Unfortunately I was halfway done the recipe when I realized my mom didn't have any cardamom, so I changed the recipe to ginger and nutmeg. And I threw in some allspice and extra cinnamon. I'll try to remember all of the changes I made. I also halved the sugar. Remember- muffin not cupcake. I think this same basic recipe would be really good with cranberries and walnuts or chocolate chips and hazelnuts instead of the pear and nuts. The basic batter recipe is really easy and lends itself to a lot of different flavor possibilities. It's easy to take cake recipes and make them into muffins by backing off on the sugar and changing the bake temp from 350 to 400 and the bake time from an hour to around 25 mins.

Ingredients:

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-3 pears, diced (I used Red Pears)
1/2 cup chopped almonds

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put muffin papers in a 12 cup muffin pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together boiling water and cocoa powder until cocoa is dissolved.

In another small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, spices, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and oil together. Add the eggs one at a time and continue mixing until smooth. Mix in vanilla extract. Alternatively add the flour and cocoa mixtures, mixing gently between additions. Don't mix too much. Using a spatula, fold in the diced pears and chopped almonds.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

And now back to pretending to study.

Salted Black Sesame Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I've been meaning to try this recipe for weeks now. I found it via Taste Spotting on Joy The Baker's Blog. Soy sauce in a cookie? With black sesame seeds? Yes please!!

Next time I'm going to use a full tsp of soy sauce- at least- because I really didn't taste anything with just 3/4 tsp. The black sesame seeds are fun- something a little unusual. Marie found them at Whole Foods in the International isle. For the chocolate I cut up the body of a medium-sized dark chocolate bunny that my aunt Barbie gave me for Easter, but I saved the head for later. Thanks Barb!! This dough was supposed to be fridged for 45 mins before baking- in my world that means in the freezer for about 10 mins while I wash the dishes. Same difference. And mine took more like 15-18 mins to bake, we liked them more golden.

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 to 1 teaspoon soy sauce (don’t be scared)
2 tablespoons black sesame seeds
1 cup dark chocolate chips

about 1/4 cup black sesame seeds for rolling and a few of shakes of coarse sea salt for topping

Method:

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside and we’ll preheat the oven after we chill the dough.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape down the butter mixture with a spatula. Add the egg and egg yolk and beat on medium speed until mixture is fluffy, about 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla and soy sauce. Stop the mixer and add the dry ingredients, all at once to the butter mixture. Beat on low speed until just combined. Stop the mixer, add the sesame seeds and chocolate chunks, and fold together with a spatula until well combined. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 45 minutes. (Or 15 mins in the freezer like the impatient baker that you are).

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place about 1/4 cup black sesame seeds in a small bowl with some sea salt.

Scoop cookie dough by the heaping tablespoonful into your hand. Roll into a ball, and toss around in the black sesame seeds. The dough balls don’t need to be completely covered in seeds, just coated well. Place on prepared baking sheets. Bake for about 12 minutes (or longer if you want them more golden), until lightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven, allow to cool on the baking sheet for about 10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack to cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container. Cookies will last for a day or two. The oils on the seeds can tend to go rancid. These cookies are best eaten within a few days. That shouldn’t be much trouble!

Cinnamon Rolls

Mole and I made no-yeaste cinnamon roles today and talked about life. I love it when my friends hang out with me and help me bake. It's kind of my favorite thing- hanging out in the kitchen with someone fun, listening to music, singing, gabbing, baking.

I found this recipe on Recipe Girl and loved it right away. It's really not that complicated, you just need a little patience and a rolling pin. My dough stuck to the wax paper that I was rolling it out on (even though I spread flour on it first) so I had to tease it off the paper to roll it up in a log for cutting. Next time I'm just going to make sure I have a lot of flour down before I start rolling.

Ingredients:

Filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Dough:
2 cups bread or all-purpose flour, + more for rolling
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten
pinch of salt

Pastry Glaze:
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup milk (or more depending on how drippy you want your icing)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with nonstick spray and put a pea-sized piece of butter and a sprinkle of brown sugar in the bottom of each cup.

2. Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, combine the filling ingredients with a fork until a crumbly mixture is formed.

3. Prepare the dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and salt. Use clean hands (or a pastry blender) to work the butter into the dry ingredients. Add the milk and the egg and stir to combine.

4. Roll the dough out on a floured surface into roughly shaped large rectangle (about 1/4-inch thick). Sprinkle the filling evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border all the way around. Carefully roll up the rectangle starting with long end (the dough will be soft). Use a sharp knife to cut 12 rolls. If you want smaller rolls, cut them a little smaller and you'll get 18. Carefully place the rolls in the prepared muffin tin.

5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes. While the cinnamon rolls are baking, prepare the glaze: Combine the sugar, butter, vanilla, and milk with a spatula. If you want your glaze thinner add a splash more milk. Drizzle the glaze on top of warm rolls and the icing will harden quickly. Try one when it's warm!!

It smells like Ikea in here.