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| Breads & Rolls (Read 310 times) |
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posted: 10/8/2007 at 3:34 PM |
SOFT PRETZELS - perfect for any oktoberfest gatherings, go very nicely with beer!
originally from a recipe on allrecipes.com, with my own notes
makes 12 pretzels
4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
5 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup baking soda
4 cups hot water
1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping
proof the yeast by dissolving it with 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
in a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, and salt. make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture. mix and form into a dough (my girls and i add more water if we feel we need to-- the pretzel dough doesn't seem to suffer too much). knead the dough until smooth and then place the dough in a lightly-oiled bowl and turn to coat with oil. cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (in a warm kitchen, it takes about an hour).
preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). in a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
after the rise, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces. roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel knot. once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. sprinkle with kosher salt.
bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.
we also brush them with butter after the bake and sprinkle again with salt, or with a sugar-cinnamon mixture (hello, mall pretzels, these pretzels kick your mall a**es!).
these pretzels, by the way, are *delicious*-- especially right out of the oven. they tend to get chewier and less awesome by the next day, so if you're making a bunch for a party or gathering of some kind, you can make the dough a day ahead, shape it into knots-- AND THEN REFRIGERATE OR FREEZE to halt the rise. we left them out overnight on accident once and ended up with pretzels that were more like dinner rolls. delicious, but not exactly pretzelish! |
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posted: 10/8/2007 at 6:01 PM |
| Quote from littlem on 10/8/2007 at 3:34 PM: SOFT PRETZELS -
Thanks for the delicious recipes Michele!! Re: allrecipes, don't you love that site? It's one of the first places I go to when I need to find/ get a new recipe! My FIL told me about it.; just love it! 
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posted: 10/8/2007 at 6:32 PM |
yeah, allrecipes is great, especially if you just quickly want to modify the size of the batch of a given recipe.
my other go-to site is cooksillustrated.com - you have to pay for full-access, but it's worth it if you cook lots and enjoy learning about WHY a great recipe is so great! |
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posted: 10/9/2007 at 1:31 PM |
| Quote from littlem on 10/8/2007 at 6:32 PM: my other go-to site is cooksillustrated.com - you have to pay for full-access, but it's worth it if you cook lots and enjoy learning about WHY a great recipe is so great!
I'll have to check that out!!
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posted: 10/9/2007 at 3:42 PM
modified: 10/9/2007 at 3:44 PM |
| joni, they have a 14-day free trial membership over there if you do want to check them out! you get access to 14 years of recipes, articles & equipment tests. the articles are really great. fascinating, even. |
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posted: 10/9/2007 at 9:10 PM |
| Quote from littlem on 10/9/2007 at 3:42 PM: joni, they have a 14-day free trial membership over there if you do want to check them out! you get access to 14 years of recipes, articles & equipment tests. the articles are really great. fascinating, even.
Oh boy...maybe I'd better not! I might not come back out of there!  It's been awhile, but I think I might re-subscribe to one of the Taste of Home magazines. I LOVE those things! I stopped because I started to buy the annual recipe books, but the magazines have all kinds of great articles, tips, etc. in them too. They have different series- regular, cooking light, quick cooking, country cooking, etc. Great stuff if you're not familiar with them. Ebay is a terrific place to find subscriptions too. Haven't checked on those particular mags, but I got 2 yrs of Runner's World for $4 not too long ago!
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| view log Funky Monkey |
posted: 11/17/2007 at 1:10 PM |
Pumpking Grudgematch
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1 t baking soda
1/2 t. salt
1 tbs mixed homemade pumpkin pie spice
Sift above ingredients together
2 large eggs
1/2 cup turbinado sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 c. vegetable oil (such as canola)
1 Tbs. vanilla extract
Whisk liquid ingredients together
1 1/2 cups baked and pureed pumpkin, drained
1/2 c. walnuts,
1/2 c. chocolate chips
Place in a bowl. Make a well. Add combined liquid ingredients. Gently fold to barely moisten all of the dry ingredients. Fold in tenderizers (zucch, nuts, chips).
Pan up in a greased and floured 9" tube pan, 9" round or 9" square. A loaf could be used too, but baking time will lengthen. Bake in a preheated 350 oven for 45-50 minutes. |
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posted: 4/22/2008 at 3:55 PM |
OK, I am bumping this back up ..specifically looking for favorite whole wheat & multigrain breads. I started making our own bread again...very dangerous for my waistline but dear god, we were spending so much money on bread (why is it that the GOOD bread is so $$)
Got my plain 100% whole wheat recipe working so the bread is nice and light...I dont mind the dense loaves, but the kids and dh complain and I seem to eat the same # of slices whether a 1.5 lb loaf is 6 inches tall or 12  . Now I am ready to venture onwards!
I think my next experiment will be adding some steel cut oats, ground flax, whole flax, sunflower seeds and maybe sesame seeds - depending on what is in house.
But if you have a good recipe, please share! |
Beware the Pink Boxing Gloves of DOOM!
"It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds" - Captain Hammer
2008 Goals New PR's in 5K 10K HM, M What now?
I failed the 12 minute run in 11th grade... |
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| view log dork.major dork. |
posted: 4/22/2008 at 6:28 PM |
YUMMY.
I often just get the bread to the stage where it is yeast and water and flour to pancake batter consistency, then I let it sit there for an hour (this is the "sponge" stage). Then I will add whatever grains I want (often a mix of rolled oats and oat groats cooked together with butter and brown sugar or maple syrup) and whole wheat flour until it is ready to knead and set to rise... but really, you can play with this a good deal.
Other favorite grains/sugars/flavors
- millet and honey
- sunflower seeds
- cooked potatoes
- molasses and oatmeal
- wheat germ
- other things hiding in the pantry
I also love this book: http://www.overstock.com/Books-Movies-Music-Games/King-Arthur-Flour-Whole-Grain-Baking/2033467/product.html?cid=123620&fp=F&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=10333643-000-000
One thing they suggest is to use orange juice as part of your liquid if you are using a lot of whole wheat, which I agree with.
Also: Try "white wheat". Usually the whole wheat flour we buy is red wheat, which has that nutty deep flavor to it (which I love, but others don't). You can buy whole white wheat flour, which has the same protein and fiber benefits of whole grains, but a more "white bread" taste. Your DH and the kids might like that.
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posted: 4/22/2008 at 7:52 PM
modified: 4/22/2008 at 7:56 PM |
| Quote from imogene on 4/22/2008 at 6:28 PM: YUMMY.
Also: Try "white wheat". Usually the whole wheat flour we buy is red wheat, which has that nutty deep flavor to it (which I love, but others don't). You can buy whole white wheat flour, which has the same protein and fiber benefits of whole grains, but a more "white bread" taste. Your DH and the kids might like that.
Thanks imogene--I'll look at that book. I am a bread machine user. I dont have the patience for the whole thing. And with ds the way he is right now he would probably get in the rising dough and .. 
My kids have never had white flour bread except at restaurants or other peoples houses, so I think they like the red whole wheat just fine, and dh will just have to suffer--I am trying to train his tastebuds healthier anyway. As long as it isnt heavy, the taste is ok with them. dd's favorite bread has a bunch of nuts and seeds in it. Texture. yummm. (it is a problem when other kids visit...they look at our bread and our natural peanut butter and refuse to eat  )
- I've never cooked the oats before adding them...but I think I have only used rolled oats. I am afraid I am going to gain a lot of weight playing with recipes!
MTA: What does the orange juice do? I always add gluten to my whole wheat for texture. |
Beware the Pink Boxing Gloves of DOOM!
"It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds" - Captain Hammer
2008 Goals New PR's in 5K 10K HM, M What now?
I failed the 12 minute run in 11th grade... |
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| view log dork.major dork. |
posted: 4/22/2008 at 8:14 PM |
I think the orange juice is mainly a taste thing, but I also think it also makes it a little more tender.
Cooking the oats or groats or both, just gives them a different texture. Cooked rolled oats will sort of disappear into the dough and make the whole thing chewier. Cooked groats are soft and nutty.
I grew up in one of those whole wheat natural peanut butter households... until my mother went all crazy lo-fat in the early 90s and then there was a lot of processed lo-fat cr*p in the house. BUH.  That was a bad period. Who knows what my own eventual kids and their peers will do with my food. Probably refuse to eat it. Oh well.
Also, I find that when I make good bread, after the initial "it just came out of the oven and is so amazing" 2-3 slice over-indulge, I actually eat less of it because it is actually filling. |
| Reaching 1,243 in 2008 -- one day, one week, one mile at a time. |
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| view log Bif! Bam! Pow! |
posted: 4/23/2008 at 1:59 AM |
| yumm yumm yummy...I am starting to dream in bread. I think I will get some of the white wheat for when our "if its healthy I wont touch it" friends come over. It is always such a struggle to cook for them. |
Beware the Pink Boxing Gloves of DOOM!
"It's not enough to bash in heads, you've got to bash in minds" - Captain Hammer
2008 Goals New PR's in 5K 10K HM, M What now?
I failed the 12 minute run in 11th grade... |
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posted: 11/3/2008 at 4:28 PM |
I recently went to Great Harvest and found out what DH was paying per loaf of bread and decided to start baking again. He loves their pumpkin chocolate chip bread and was going through a loaf a week. Friday I made this, and he says it is better than the Great Harvest Bread.
Pumpkin-Walnut Bread (with chocolate chips added) - makes 2 medium loaves
1-3/4 c fresh or canned cooked pumpkin
1-1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c butter, room temperature
3 eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
4 c flour (approximately)
2 T baking powder
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t grated nutmeg
2 c chopped walnuts
1 or 2 c chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350.
Blend together the pumpkin, brown sugar, butter, eggs. Mix in the baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg. Spoon 3 c of flour in and mix thoroughly. Stir in the walnuts. Add more flour if necessary to make a firm batter.
Spoon into greased pans, pressing into the corners. Bake until loaf tests done - about 1 hour.
Original recipe says this improves if allowed to age several days before slicing. We haven't tried that out yet.
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