Category: Breads

I’ve adapted from Cook’s Illustrated to use a bread machine for the dough. I’d love to make these up and have them available in the freezer but they never last that long!

When you bake the crescent rolls, make sure the light in the oven is switched off. If it’s on the steam may crack the bulb. You can make the dough up to 4 days ahead of time or even partially bake the rolls and freeze them for longer storage. To do this, begin baking the rolls as instructed, but let them bake at 350F for only 4 minutes, or until the tops and bottoms brown slightly. Remove them from the oven and let cool. Place the partially baked rolls in a single layer inside a zip-loc and freeze. When you’re ready to serve them, defrost at room temperature and place in a preheated 350F oven for 12 to 16 minutes.

Dough
3/4 c skim milk
16 Tbs (2 sticks/8 oz) unsalted butter, cut into 16 pieces
1/4 c sugar
3 eggs
3.5 c (17.5 oz) flour
1 tsp yeast
1.5 tsp salt

Egg wash
1 egg white beaten w/ 1 tsp water

1. Microwave milk, butter, and sugar in 4c measuring cup until butter is mostly melted and mixture is warm (about 110F.) Whisk to disolve and blend in sugar. Let cool slightly.

2. Place dough ingredients, including milk/butter/sugar mixture in bread machine, following the manufacturer’s direction. Process on the “dough” setting.

3. Line rimmed baking sheet with plastic wrap. Sprinkle dough with flour to prevent sticking, and punch down. Turn dough onto floured work surface and form into rough rectanagle shape. Transfer rectangle to lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

4. Turn dough rectangle onto lightly floured work surface. Roll to a 20×13″ rectangle, use a pizza wheel to trim edges. Cut dough in half lengthwise, then cut 16 triangles. Elongate each triangle of dough, then starting at wide end, gently roll ending with pointed tip on bottom. Arrange crescents in four rows on parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; wrap baking sheet with plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to 3 days.

5. Remove baking sheet with chilled rolls from refrigerator, unwrap, and cover. Let rise until crescents feel slightly tacky and soft and have lost their chill, 45 to 60 minutes. Meanwhile, turn oven light off, place rimmed baking sheet on lowest rack, adjust second rack to lower middle position, and heat oven to 425F.

6. With pastry brush, lightly dab risen crescent rolls with egg wash. Transfer baking sheet with rolls to lower-middle rack and, working quickly, pour 1 c hot tap water into hot baking sheet on lowest rack. Close door immediately and bake 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 350F and continue baking until tops and bottoms of rolls are deep golden brown, 12 to 16 minutes longer. Transfer rolls to wire rack, cool for 5 minutes, and serve warm.

Posted with reservations. This came highly recommended on an internet forum recently and with so many fans I had to give it a try. Eric & A love it, but it’s a little too rich for me–and that’s saying something. I’ve I’m going to have that much butter in something I also want it iced in chocolate!

2 packages Jiffy Cornbread mix
16oz sour cream
4 eggs
2 sticks melted butter or margarine

Mix all ingredients together, pour into ungreased 13×9 pan. Bake at 350 for 30-45 mins until lightly browned on top and sides pull away from the pan.

I can’t vouch for this personally because I hate, loathe, and despise bananas and everything they touch. My husband and daughters, however, love the damn things so being the devoted wife and mother that I am, I clothespin my nose and make them bread when the bananas go south. This is Kerri’s recipe, verbatim.

1/2 C butter
1 1/2 C Sugar
2 Eggs
1 C crushed banana (I usually put whatever I have that is speckled – usually
2 bananas – the more brown the better)
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 C Flour
1 tsp Soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 C sour milk (Regular milk with a dash of vinegar will make it sour)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas and vanilla; mix well. Sift Flour with soda and cinnamon, add all at once(I am a lazy cook – I never do the sifting part and it seems to turn out fine – I just kind of dump it all in the mixer). Beat until smooth. Pour in greased and floured loaf pan. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

(Editor’s note: I typically make mini loaves instead. Each pan takes about 2/3c of batter and it makes 9-10 loaves. They bake for 20-30 minutes.)

I made these one recent afternoon with a friend. By seven they’d vanished! I couldn’t bear the thought of not having fresh bagels for breakfast so I cranked out another batch that evening.

For the dough:
1 1/8 c water
1 tbs oil
2 tbs malt syrup (can sub 1 tsp sugar & 1 tsp molasses)
1 tsp salt
1 lb bread flour (approx 3 1/3 c)
2 tsp yeast

Finishing:
1 tbs malt syrup
1 egg
sesame seeds

Process dough ingredients in bread machine on dough cycle.

Divide into 8-10 balls, preferably by weight.

Punch a hole in the center of each ball, then enlarge it to form a ring. Remember that they will rise and swell, so make it larger than you expect on the finished product. Set the bagels in a warm place to rise.

While the bagels rise, bring a large pot of water to a boil with 1 tbs of malt syrup (or molasses). Preheat the oven to 400F. Prepare an egg wash by whisking one egg with a tsp of water.

Boil half (4-5) of the bagels at a time, 30 seconds per side. Remove to a greased cookie sheet, brush with egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds, and place immediately into the hot oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Repeat with remaining bagels. (Both cookie sheets can be in the oven at the same time, staggered by a few minutes. Just don’t wait on boiling the second batch to put the first in the oven.)

Ingredients	Single Batch	Double	Triple	Quadruple
Flour	1 1/2 c (7.5 oz )	15 oz	1 lb 6.5 oz	1lb 14 oz
cinnamon	1 1/2 t	1 Tbs	1 1/2 tbs	2 Tbs
baking soda	1 tsp	2 tsp	1 tbs	1 Tbs + 1tsp
salt	1 tsp	2 tsp	1 tbs	1 Tbs + 1tsp
ground ginger	1 tsp	2 tsp	1 tbs	1 Tbs + 1tsp
ground nutmeg	1/2 tsp	1 tsp	1/2 tbs	2 tsp
ground cloves	1/4 tsp	1/2 tsp	3/4 tsp	1 tsp
baking powder	1/4 tsp	1/2 tsp	3/4 tsp	1 tsp
milk	1/3 c	2/3 c	1 c	1 1/3 c
vanilla	1/2 tsp	1 tsp	1/2 tbs	2 tsp
unsalted butter	6 T (3 oz)	6 oz	9 oz	12 oz (3 sticks)
sugar	1c (7.5 oz)	15 oz	4 c	1lb 14 oz
brown sugar	1/3 c (2.5 oz)	5 oz	7.5 oz	10 oz
eggs	2	4	6	8
pumpkin puree	1 c.	2 c	3 c	4 c
coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted	1/2 c	1 c	1 1/2 c	2 c

Preheat oven to 350F, grease a 5×9 loaf pan.

Whisk together first 8 ingredients.

Combine milk and vanilla in another bowl.

In a large bowl, beat butter until creamy, about 30 seconds. Gradually add sugar and beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add pumpkin and beat on low speed just until blended. Add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring with a rubber spatula until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. Fold in walnuts. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly.

Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5 to 10 minutes before unmolding to cool completely on the rack.

3 tb Sugar + 1 tsp.
1/4 c Boiling water
1 c Warm (110 F.) water
2 pk Dry yeast
1 tb Salt
2 tb Melted butter
1 c Skim milk, scalded & cooled to room temp.
1 c Pumpernickel flour
1 1/2 c Med. rye flour.
4 c A/P flour, or as needed

EGG WASH
1 Egg beaten with 1 tb. water

In very small skillet, bring 3 tb. sugar to boil, stirring it over moderate heat. Should melt to rich, dark brown. CAREFULLY add the boiling water and stir to dissolve the caramel. Pour into dish to cool. Combine warm water, yeast and remaining tsp. sugar and let stand until foamy. aprox. 10 min. In large mixing bowl, combine salt, shortening (butter), cooled milk, and liquid caramel. Add yeast mixture. Stir in the pumpernickel and rye flours, then 2 cups of the A/P flour. Spread 1 cup of the remaining A/P flour on work surface and turn the dough out onto it. Gradually incorporate the flour, kneading in as much more as necessary to make a fairly stiff dough. Knead well until the dough is no longer sticky. Form dough into ball and place in greased bowl, turning once or twice. Cover with plastic and place in not too warm place. Let proof until double. Punch dough down, halve it, and roll it into 2 10″ cylinders. Cover with towel and let rest for 10 min. Cut each cylinder into 10 pcs. Cover with dry towel, then damp one, and let rest another 10 min. Roll each pc. into “snake” about. 8″ long, tapered at ends. Wet both ends,
overlap about. 1 inch, and gently pinch ends together. Place finished bagels on 2 baking sheets covered with parchment, cover with towel and let proof until not quite doubled. When ready, brush tops with egg wash and place in 425 F. oven on 2 racks centered in oven. Bake 10 min. Switch pans and bake 5 to 10 min. more until well browned. Cool on racks. Store in plastic bags up to 2 days. Longer–freeze.

2 c Warm water (100 to 115
-deg.F)
2 pk Active dry yeast
3 tb Sugar
3 ts Salt
About 5 3/4 cup all-purpose
-flour (unsifted)
3 qt Water with 1 Tbl sugar
Cornmeal
1 Egg yolk beaten with 1 Tbl
-water

Combine water and yeast in the large bowl of an
electric mixer; let stand 5 minutes. Stir in sugar and
salt; gradually mix in 4 cup of the flour. Beat at
medium speed for 5 minutes. With a spoon, mix in about
1 1/4 cups more flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out
on a floured board and knead until smooth, elastic,
and no longer sticky, about 15 minutes; add more flour
as needed (dough should be firmer than for most other
yeast breads). Place in a greased bowl, cover, and let
rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 40
minutes. Knead dough lightly, then divide into 12
equal pieces. To shape, knead each piece, forming it
into a smooth ball. Holding ball with both hands, poke
your thumbs through the center. With one thumb in the
hole, work around perimeter, shaping bagel like a
doughnut, 3 to 3 1/2 inches across. Place shaped
bagels on a lightly floured board, cover lightly, and
let stand in a warm place for 20 minutes. Bring the
water-sugar mixture to boiling in a 4 or 5 quart pan;
adjust heat to keep it boiling gently. Lightly grease
baking a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.
Gently lift one bagel at a time and drop into water;
boil about 4 at a time, turning often, for 5 minutes.
Lift out with a slotted spatula, drain briefly on a
towel, and place on the baking sheet. Brush bagels
with the egg yolk glaze and bake in a 400 deg.F oven
for about 35 to 40 minutes, or until well browned and
crusty. Cool on a rack. Makes 12.

WHOLE WHEAT BAGELS —–+—–+—— Follow basic
recipe, omitting sugar; use 3 Tbl honey instead. In
place of the flour, use 2 cups whole wheat, 1/2 cup
wheat germ, and about 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour.
Mix in all the whole wheat flour and wheat germ and 1
1/4 cups all-purpose flour before beating dough. Then
mix in about 1 1/2 cups more all-purpose flour, knead,
and finish as directed.

PUMPERNICKEL BAGELS *+* Follow basic recipe, omitting
sugar; instead use 3 Tbl dark molasses. In place of
the flour use 2 cups each rye and whole wheat and
about 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour. Add all the rye
and 1 cup each of the whole wheat and all-purpose
before beating dough. Then add remaining 1 cup of
whole wheat and about 3/4 cup more all-purpose flour,
knead, and finish as directed.

MORE BAGEL VARIETY —-+—–+——- Try adding 1/2
cup instant toasted onion to the whole wheat or basic
bagels; add it to the yeast mixture along with the
sugar and salt. Or sprinkle 1/2 tsp poppy or sesame
seed or 1/4 tsp coarse salt on each glazed bagel
before baking. Or add 1 Tbl caraway seed to
pumpernickel bagels, then sprinkle each glazed bagel
with 1/2 tsp more caraway seed before baking.

From King Arthur Flour

Mixed in the bread machine and baked in the oven, I use this dough for everything. A large round loaf, crusty rolls, focaccia, etc. The small amount of yeast and long rise really improve the flavor.

1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 c warm water
13 oz bread flour (approx 2.5 c)
1.5 tsp kosher salt

Process on the dough cycle of your bread machine, then leave in the pan to rise for 6-8 hours.

Shaping:
You’ll have enough dough to make eight rolls, eight chewy, substantial breadsticks, one italian-style loaf or baguette, one round loaf, or a 12″ focaccia. For focaccia drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with a black pepper, kosher salt, and some fresh chopped rosemary.

Preheat the oven to 450F 30-60 minutes before baking. I prefer baking on a stone which requires a longer preheat.

Baking:
Bake the bread for 15 to 20 minutes, misting the inside of the oven with cold water three or four times during the first five to eight minutes of baking. Remove the bread from the oven when it’s golden brown, and cool it on a wire rack or bring it to the table and eat it immediately.