Apricot Maple Cinnamon Rolls

I feel like I could post a picture and present without comment (but I'm a chatterbox so that would be impossible to do). However, I essentially did just that on my Facebook page and boy-oh-boy did the offers start rolling in! I had one friend beg me to come back to Seattle, another started plotting a road trip over to Madison and all the while, "A" is gloating in the glory that is homemade apricot maple cinnamon rolls. Freshly baked on a Sunday morning. All to himself. Even though I did offer up the leftovers, no one seemed willing to make the journey. Oh well, "A's" gain.

While I was ambitious enough to make cinnamon rolls for our weekly Sunday brunch, I was just lazy enough to do the prep work the night before. Make the rolls according the directions but instead of having them do the final rise on the counter, plop them in the fridge overnight for a slow rise. The next morning, bring them to room temperature on the counter before baking.

The thing is, friends, these rolls are shockingly uncomplicated to make. Granted, I do have a KitchenAid stand mixer to do most of the dirty work for me. Even if you don't have a mixer, the dough is so soft and pliable that it would be too difficult to work with by hand.

Apricot Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Adapted from the Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients:

• for the dough:
• 2¼ tsp. (1 pkg) active-dry yeast
• ½ tsp. + ¼ scant cup granulated sugar
• ¼ cup water, lukewarm (~115° F)
• ½ cup almond milk milk, at room temp.
• 2 TBSP. packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 2¾ c. all-purpose flour + more for kneading
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 4 oz. (½ cup) goat butter, softened

for the filling:

• ½ cup packed light brown sugar
• ½ cup finely chopped walnuts
• ½ cup dried apricots, chopped
• 1 TBSP. ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp. salt
• pinch ground cloves
• 3 TBS. pure maple syrup
• ¼ cup goat butter butter, melted

for the glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• ⅛ cup almond milk

Instructions:

Dough:

1. Combine yeast, ½ tsp. of sugar, and water in the bowl of a mixer. Stir and let sit until foamy, 5-10 minutes.
2. Add remaining sugar, almond milk, brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk. Beat until well combined. Using a dough hook, add flour and salt to bowl and mix at medium speed until dough just begins to come together. Turn mixer to medium-high and knead for ~4 minutes.
3. Add the softened butter and continue to knead for ~6 minutes. The dough will be wet and sticky. Knead in another ⅓-½ cup of flour into the dough. Dough should be just slightly tacky and very soft, but it should not stick to your hands.
4. Place in a large, greased boil. Cover with plastic or clean kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size, 1½-2 hours.

Filling:

1. While dough is rising, combine sugar, walnuts, apricots, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a medium bowl. Stir in the maple syrup and set aside.

Dough (again):

1. When dough has doubled in bulk, tip it out of the bowl onto a heavily floured work surface. Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, adding ~3 Tbs of flour as needed for ~2 minutes. At this point, the dough is soft, silky, supple, and totally sexy. Let rest on counter for 5 minutes.
2. Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into roughly a 10"x20" rectangle. Position dough so that the long sides are parallel to you (you'll be rolling from the long side). Brush about half of the melted butter over the top of the dough, enough to coat it well.
3. Dump all of the filling onto the buttered dough and spread evenly, leaving a 1" border at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed. Lightly press the filling into the dough.
4. Roll the dough into a tight cylinder. Pinch all along the edge to seal. Place dough, seam side down, on a cutting board. Cut into equal slices.
5. Arrange slices, cut side up, in a greased pan (I used a large pie pan). Each roll will have a bit of space on all sides. Cover with plastic wrap and leave to rest in a warm place for 1 ½-2 hours, until they've puffed up nice and big and are touching. (NOTE: is you would like to refrigerate overnight, place the covered unbaked rolls into the fridge at this point. Bring to room temperature before baking.) Place oven rack in upper ⅓ of oven and preheat oven to 375° F during last 15 minutes of rise time.
6. Slide into preheated oven and bake for ~30 minutes, until golden and bubbling. Rub some goat butter on the rolls just after you've pulled them from the oven.

Glaze:

1. While the rolls are cooling slightly, whisk together the powdered sugar and almond milk until smooth. Drizzle over warm rolls.
2. Share with friends. Make people happy. Smile.

Yeasted Apple Cider Doughnuts

I just committed the cardinal sin for food bloggers - I forgot to take a picture of my food before it was inhaled by co-workers and housemates.  So, you are left with the tupperware remnants of the apple cider doughnuts I made.  For this being my first time frying dough (I do make onion rings from time to time, so I'm not a complete stranger to frying), I think they turned out quite well.  I was happy that I was able to find a recipe for yeasted apple cider doughnuts - most of the recipes out there are for cake doughnuts (a texture I am not too fond of).  I had the most trouble with keeping the oil at a consistent 360 degrees.  One second it would be at a perfect 360 degrees then shoot up to over 400 degrees and take forever to cool back down.  Next time I make doughnuts, I'll work harder for temperature regulation.

Apple Cider Doughnuts

Adapted from Coconut & Lime

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup apple cider, at room temperature
• 1/4 cup warm apple cider (about 110 degrees)
• 3 1/4 cups flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 3 egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoons salt

apple cider frosting

• 3 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup apple cider

Cinnamon Sugar Topping:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

For the frosting:

1. Beat all ingredients together until a spreadable icing forms.

For the doughnuts:

1. In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm cider in the bowl of a stand mixer or large mixing bowl. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the flour, remaining cider, milk, butter, egg yolks, sugar, and salt until you have a soft, elastic dough that comes together easily into a ball.
3. Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.
4. Flour a clean work surface. Place the dough on the surface and roll it out. Roll until it is about 1/2 thick. Cut out doughnut shapes.  With excess dough, reform into a ball and let it rest in the refrigerator until ready to roll out again.
5. Meanwhile, heat (to 360) about 3 inches of oil in a heavy pot. Fry the doughnuts flipping at least once to insure that they are golden brown on all sides, about 1.5 minutes. 
6. Drain on paper towel lined plates or baking pans. Repeat for remaining doughnuts. Frost cooled doughnuts if desired, then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture. Eat the same day they are made.

Crusty No-Knead Bread

I have been baking bread for about 3 years.  Sometimes the bread comes out beautiful, crusty, flavorful, and just like I wanted.  Other times I knead bread for hours and hours praying that I will be rewarded with a bread that was worth the effort.  Usually the longer I work at getting a bread to be perfect, the worse it turns out (not ALWAYS though - sometimes my effort is graciously rewarded).  I was a little skeptical about trying this recipe - a bread the promised all the results with none of the effort?  Alas, it is true!  While I was studying for Ethnobotany and writing up some things for my journalism classes, the dough slowly rose in my kitchen and I don't think it could have been easier to cook.  I did use the "speedy" recipe for no-knead bread (about 4 and a half hours compared to 12 to 18 hours) from The New York Times, but I plan on trying the original no-knead bread sometime in the future.  Check back in the morning to see how the bread tastes (the housemates and I are using it for our sandwiches tomorrow).

Speedy No-Knead Bread
Adapted from the New York Times

Ingredients:

• 3 cups bread flour (I used Kind Arthur Bread Flour)
• 1 packet ( 1/4 ounce) instant yeast
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (I used Kosher Salt)
• Oil as needed (Pam cooking spray works fine)

Directions:

1. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups water and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest about 4 hours at warm room temperature.
2. Lightly oil a work surface and place dough on it; fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest 30 minutes more.
3. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6-to-8-quart heavy covered pot (I used a dutch oven) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under dough and put it into pot, seam side up. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes.
4. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack for about 30 minutes before cutting into and enjoying!

Look at that texture!

Cinnamon Rolls

This is a tried and true favorite from one of my favorite (and most abused/covered in food) cookbook: The Tassajara Bread Book. I made these for a couple of reasons. First, my grandpa really likes cinnamon buns - I dropped them off at my grandparents house Friday afternoon and they loved them! Second, I have to keep my co-workers at Bivoauc fat and happy. Third... does they need to me a third? Who doesn't like cinnamon buns? Most of the cinnamon buns turned out well, but the final pan of buns that I put in the oven kinda were a little over cooked. I fell asleep for a hot second... so those were a little over cooked. Oh well - I'm pretty sure people still ate them. If you did get one of the kinda over cooked ones - I swear I'm usually better than that.

But for the actual cinnamon buns, I used a yeasted Norwegian Coffee Cake recipe for the dough.

Cinnamon Buns

Adapted from the Tassajara Bread Book

Ingredients:

For Dough:

• 2 packages of active dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 5/8 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground cinnamon
• 3 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

For Cinnamon Bun Filling:

• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 (ish) tablespoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Dissolve yeast in liquid and stir in the 1 1/2 cups of white flour, adding a couple of tablespoons of the sugar. Beat well, and set aside to rise (I proof mine in an oven heated to 100 degrees and then shut off).
2. Cream the butter, and then cream in the sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
4. Fold the butter mixture into the yeast sponge along with the salt and cinnamon. Then fold in the flour, one cup at a time, as necessary to form a soft dough. Knead the dough until smooth, using more flour as needed.
5. Let the dough rise until doubled in size.
6. After it has risen, roll it out on a floured board in a rectangle 3/8 inch thick. Brush on melted butter.
7. Sprinkle on the brown sugar and cinnamon.
8. Starting at one edge, roll up the dough fairly tight as you would a carpet. Cut the toll in sections about 1/2 inch thick, and place the sections flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, leaving space around them to rise and spread out. Let them rise for 20 minutes.
9. Brush with an egg wash (1 egg beaten together with 2 TBSP of water) and bake at 375 for about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown.
10. Frost with a powdered sugar glaze (powdered sugar beaten with milk until desired consistency is reached).

Handmade Soft Pretzels

There is no story behind making pretzels…. I just really wanted to make pretzels. I adapted this recipe from Alton Brown’s “Pretzel Logic” show – but I made a few changes. First of all, I used kosher salt instead of pretzel salt. And I also made a small batch of pretzels with powdered garlic and Parmesan on them. I must say…. these are AMAZING! But sister just had one of the pretzels from the first batch and she exclaimed how she couldn’t believe I made these from scratch and she thought they were better than the ones you can get for a mall. Making the pretzels was very similar to how one makes bagels, so…next up…. BAGELS!

Handmade Soft Pretzels

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 1/4 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

Directions

1. Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using a spatula, mix until well combined. 
2. Continue kneading for about 10 minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.
3. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.
4. Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.
5. In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.
6. Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. 
7. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Focaccia (Olive Oil Bread with Fresh Rosemary)

As you can tell, I did a lot of baking/cooking today. In fact, I'm no where near done posting recipes for all the things I made today! It was very very rainy and there were a bunch of recipes I wanted to try out. This recipe comes out of the Tassajara Bread Book (thank you Alex for getting me this a few years back) - it is THE BIBLE FOR BREAD MAKING. I cannot praise this book enough. If you already bake bread, or are considering learning how to, please run out to your nearest local bookstore/Borders and buy this book now. Not available in a brick and mortar store? Order it on Amazon....NOW!

Focaccia Bread

Adapted from the Tassajara Bread Book

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water, under 125 degrees Fahrenheit
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (3 packets)
• 3 tablespoons fresh rosemary, minced
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unbleached bread flour (I use King Arthur flour)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 
  
• 3 cups unbleached bread flour
• olive oil for glazing
• coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Stir the yeast into the water, then the rosemary, olive oil, and salt. Stir in the one cup of bread flour and the 1 and a half cups of whole wheat flour. Beat about one hundred strokes.
2. Fold in two cups of bread flour, one-half cup at a time. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead for several minutes using up to one more cup of flour to keep the dough from sticking. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
3. Let the dough rise for about an hour until it doubles in size. Punch don and let rise for another 40 minutes.
4. Divide the dough in half, shape into two loaves.
5. Place on an oiled pan and brush top with olive oil. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt.
6. Let rise for 20 minutes, and then bake at 375 degrees for about 28 minutes until browned, top and bottom.

TIP: place a pie pan of boiling water on the bottom of the oven to help a crust form on the bread.