Flavorful Rosemary and Olive Bread

I love olive bread, but I've never made any. I have been looking for a good one, so I decided to try this one. There's very little yeast and it takes all night to rise. It's a very wheaty and crusty olive bread.

This one is by Emily Nelson.

2 cup flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

¼ cup rye flour

½ tsp salt

¼ tsp yeast

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

⅓ cup kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

¾ cup + 2 tbsp water

⅓ cup beer

1 tbsp white vinegar

coarse finishing salt for sprinkling on top

special equipment: pizza stone

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, salt, and yeast. Stir in the rosemary and kalamata olives. In a small mixing bowl or liquid measuring cup, mix together the water, beer, and vinegar. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon until well combined.
2. Cover and let rest for 8-18 hours.
3. Place pizza stone on the middle rack of the oven. Place a large rimmed baking sheet on the bottom rack. Preheat oven to 425.
4. Transfer dough to a floured surface and knead 10-15 times. Divide dough to make 10 smaller pieces. Roll each piece to make a 10-inch rope. Twist 2 pieces together and pinch the ends. Repeat with the remaining 8 pieces. Cover and let rise 30-40 minutes, until the indentation springs back when a finger lightly presses the dough. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
5. Quickly sprinkle the pizza stone with cornmeal and gently transfer the breadstick twists to the pizza stone. Pour 2 cups of water in the rimmed baking sheet and quickly close the oven door.
6. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until bread is golden brown.

En Croute

I keep looking for different hand pie recipes, so when I saw this one I had to try it. This one is great! It differs from others in being a yeast dough and not a crust.

1 cup warm water (120°-130°)

½ cup butter, room temperature

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

3½ cups bread flour

2¼ tsp yeast

For the cheese filling

1 egg

½ cup ricotta cheese

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

2 tsp chopped parsley

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

For the sausage cheese filling

½ pound bulk pork sausage, browned and drained

¾ cup grated Swiss cheese

2 tsp prepared mustard

1 tbsp prepared horseradish

Combine the yeast, 1 cup flour, sugar, and yeast in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment.

Add the, water and butter, beat for 4 minutes on medium speed.

Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook.

Gradually add remaining flour and knead for 5-7 minutes until smooth and elastic.

Place dough in lightly oiled bowl and turn to grease top.

Cover and let rise for 20 minutes.

Turn the dough onto lightly floured surface; punch down to remove air bubbles.

Divide the dough into 12 parts.

Roll each piece into a 4-inch circle.

Spoon about 1 tablespoon of filling onto each circle.

Fold the circle in half and seal edges by pressing with your fingers, then with a fork.

Brush tops with a beaten egg.

Bake at 400° for 12 to 15 minutes.

Remove from cookie sheet.

Serve warm.

I made the cheese filling with vegetarian sausage.

Coconut Milk Bread

Coconut Milk Bread! Sounds awesome!! This is a yummy bread, but I would call it an oatmeal bread. It's a lovely oatmeal bread.

 

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup old-fashioned whole rolled oats (not quick cook or instant)

¼ cup water (120-130°)

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tbsp coconut oil, melted (canola or vegetable oil may be substituted)

2 tbsp light brown sugar, packed

2¼ tsp yeast

a pinch salt (optional)

1. Heat the coconut milk until it just begins to boil (about 2 minutes).
2. Add oatmeal to the milk and stir to combine.
3. Set aside and let cool until temperature reaches 120-130° (about 15 minutes).
4. Stir in ¼ cup warm water.
5. To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, combine flour, oil, brown sugar, instant dry yeast, and oatmeal mixture.
6. Knead for 5-7 minutes on low speed, or until a moist, shaggy dough forms. The dough will be quite moist and sticky, but resist the temptation to add additional flour. If it's too dry, add up to ¼ cup water.
7. After kneading, turn the dough out into a large, greased bowl, cover, and let it rise in a warm, draft-free place for about 2 hours, or until doubled in size.
8. Grease the pan.
9. After the dough has doubled, punch it down, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead it for about 3 minutes.
10. Roll the dough into a 10-inch by 6-inch rectangle. The long side should be slightly longer than the baking pan, which is 8 inches.
11. Starting with a long edge, roll to form a tight cylinder.
12. Tuck ends in and under, and place cylinder in prepared pan, seam side down. Optionally, when rolling, sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, raisins, or diced dried fruit.
13. Cover and allow dough to rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled, about 60 to 75 minutes.
14. Bake for about 30 minutes at 350°, or until lightly golden, domed, and puffy. Rotate pan midway through baking if desired. When tapped, bread should sound hollow.
15. Allow bread to cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Buttermilk and Honey Bread

I'm always looking for another bread recipe. One of my all time favorite bread recipes is American Sandwich Bread, though I think it should probably be renamed The Great American Sandwich Bread because it's that good. Still, gotta try some others. This is one my husband thought we should give a go. I made it and we both agree that while it's good, the Great American Sandwich Bread is better.

4½ tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

¾ cup water (110-115°F)

1½ cups buttermilk (110-115°F)

2 tbsp oil

3 tbsp honey

6 to 6½ cups bread flour

1 tbsp salt

1. In large bowl, combine yeast, sugar, and water; let stand 10 minutes.
2. Stir in buttermilk, oil, and honey. Add 2 cups flour and salt. Using a dough whisk or wooden spoon, stir to combine. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough that is easy to handle.
3. On lightly floured surface, turn out dough; knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add more flour if necessary.
4. Place dough in greased bowl. Cover; let rise in warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
5. Grease two 9x5x2-inch loaf pans; set aside.
6. Punch down dough and turn out on lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, forming each half into smooth ball. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.
7. Shape into two loaves. Place in prepared pans. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
8. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake loaves 30 to 40 minutes, until lightly browned and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack to cool.

Simple Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

from America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

I really wanted a coffee cake yesterday, so I looked for a good one to make. This is the one I made. I didn't have the pan size they said, so I had to adjust the cooking time, which is reflected below. I didn't have buttermilk, so I added a tablespoon of white vinegar to milk to sour it. They suggest using plain yogurt, which I would bet is awesome! This is a great coffee cake! 

Topping

⅓ cup packed light brown sugar

⅓ cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup pecans, almonds, or walnuts, chopped coarse

Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp salt

1¾ cups buttermilk or plain yogurt

1 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1.  For the topping: Mix the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter together in a medium bowl until the mixture resembles wet sand. Stir in the nuts.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°.
3. Generously grease a 9 by 9-inch baking pan.
4. For the cake: Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a large bowl.
5. Whisk the buttermilk, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, and melted butter together in a separate bowl until smooth.
6. Gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula and stir until the batter looks smooth and well combined.
7. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
8. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter.
9. Bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 45-50 minutes.
10. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.