02

May

Cinnamon Raisin Bread

To be quite honest, mushy raisins give me the creeps. But dried raisins that are chewy are so delicious. It’s something about the texture. Is there a food that makes you cringe when you think of biting into it, purely because of texture and not taste?

This bread is so rewarding. You boil raisins in a cinnamon sugar bath so they get soft. Then you sprinkle the raisins inside and on top of the bread. In the oven, the raisins puff up, then bake down and get back to their chewy texture. And, in the meantime, this bread gets huge and lovely! Try it. I’m enjoying the challenge of yeast and finding that baking is really easy to do while you’re at home with family, watching TV, or doing laundry or other world-changing activities simultaneously! Multitasking has never been tastier.

Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Simplified From The Joy of Cooking (75th anniversary, p 597-8)
Makes one large 9X5 loaf, but easily doubled
This classic bread was originally created by Henry David Thoreau, the noted author and philosopher. It is moist, spiced with cinnamon and great any time of the day. Dried cranberries can be used instead of raisins, if you like.


Ingredients
3 TB warm water, 105-115 degrees F

1 package of active dry yeast (2 1/4 t.)
1 cup warm milk, 105-115 degrees F
5 TB butter or margarine, melted
3 TB sugar
1 egg
1 t. salt
4 cups all-purpose or bread flour

Filling
1/2 to 1 cup raisins
1/4 cup sugar
1 TB cinnamon
Brush on top: 1 TB margarine/butter + 1 TB cinnamon + 3 TB sugar

1 Make the dough: In a large bowl (your mixer bowl works), combine 3 TB warm water and yeast. Let sit about 5 minutes, or until yeast dissolves. Then, add milk, butter, sugar, egg and salt. Mix (by hand or mixer) for one minutes. Then add 2 cups of flour. Gradually add 1 1/2 to 2 cups of flour until dough is moist but not sticky. Knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. (Don’t you love mixers for this part? If you don’t have a mixer, I am thoroughly jealous of your biceps.)

2 Multitask: Move the dough to an oiled bowl and turn once to coat it with oil. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour, until it doubles in size. The warm place should be 75-85 degrees, without a draft. Now make the filling.

3 Filling: In a small saucepan on medium heat, add the raisins and about 1/2 inch of cold water. Bring to a boil, drain all but 1-2 TB of water, and add 1/4 cup sugar and 1 TB cinnamon. Stir until sugar melts. Grease a 9X5 bread pan. Punch down the dough and separate it into two pieces (per loaf). Put one piece of dough in bread pan and spread out. Layer 2/3 of the raisin mixture. Then add second piece of dough and spread out. Top with the rest of the raisins. Cover loosely and let rise until doubled in bulk, about an hour.

4 Bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and bake for 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown. In the meantime…In a small bowl, combine 1 TB melted butter, 1 TB of cinnamon and 3 TB sugar. After taking out of the oven, brush with the cinnamon mixture. Serve warm, toasted or cool. Refrigerate or freeze after making.

How great is this bread??? I hope you love it. Happy, happy day, friends.

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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02

May

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

Oh me, oh my, how have I never made my favorite food? Cinnamon rolls. Actually, I’m not sure what my favorite food is, but if I was only allowed to eat one food for the rest of my life…cinnamon rolls would be in the top three, along with chips & queso, and I’m not sure what else. But enough about islands, unless you’re about to offer me a vacation for finishing grad school. (!!!!)

Yes, friends, today I presented my research to professional social workers, counselors, psychologists, professors and peers. And I think it went pretty well. More importantly, though, it was my LAST AND FINAL requirement to complete both master’s. I’ll have some extra letters added to the end of my name, but who cares? I have made cinnamon rolls from scratch. Oh, and I have worked my butt off and have been reminded of the amazing support system around me (you know who you are). I would rattle off these people who deserve gold stars, but it would start with God, continue with family and the dearest friends, and end somewhere with my favorite 2nd grade teacher (Mrs. Gunther) and cinnamon rolls. So let’s skip the acceptance/thank you speech and get straight to the cinnamon rolls. (Oh, and by the way, I would easily be 10 pounds lighter if it weren’t for the gooey sweet cinnamon-y jewels. Just sayin’. That’s why these are definitely a lower fat/sugar version of the store-bought treats. Enjoy.)

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls
Barely adapted from Cooking Light, June 2007
These gooey rolls are guiltless, delicious with a cold glass of milk. If you’re scared of yeast, no worries; if the rolls don’t rise very much (as they didn’t my first batch), they’ll still taste wonderful but be a little smaller. Enjoy these jewels of cinnamon heaven.

  • Dough:
  • 1 1/2 packages dry yeast (about 3 1/4 teaspoons)
  • 3/4 cup warm fat-free milk (100° to 110°)
  • 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
  • 1/4 cup butter, softened 
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 t. salt 
  • 1 t. fresh lemon juice 
  • 1 large egg + 1 egg white
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided 
  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 
  • Cooking spray
  • Filling:
  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/3 cup raisins (optional)
  • Glaze:
  • 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
  • 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • These don’t have to be neat and tidy, they have to be tasty.
  • 5 teaspoons fat-free milk

1 yeast: In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk and water. Let stand 5 minutes, or until foamy. Add butter, honey, salt, lemon juice, egg & egg white, stirring well. Add 2 cups all-purpose flour & 1 1/2 cups wheat flour. Stir until dough forms, then knead for 8 minutes, until dough is smooth and elastic. (A mixer does the work well!)


2 rise up: Put the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let it rise in a warm area (80-85 degrees) until it is doubled, about an hour. Punch dough down; roll it out on a floured surface and roll into a 16X12 rectangle. Coat the dough surface with cooking spray.

3 fill&roll: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and raisins (optional). Sprinkle over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border around the edges. Starting with the long edge, roll up the dough tightly. Press and pinch the end to seal. Cut the dough into 16 rolls, about 1 inch thick each. Set the rolls, cut side up, on a 13X9 baking pan coated with baking spray or with a nonstick liner. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.


4 bake: Preheat the oven to 375 and bake for 22 minutes, or until barely browned. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes (wait to devour–it’s difficult but worth it).

5 ice,ice baby: (Sorry, couldn’t help myself.) Prepare the glaze/icing by putting the vanilla and powdered sugar in a small bowl. Add 5 teaspoons of milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, whisking to form a thick glaze. Drizzle over the rolls.

When you make these, celebrate whatever it is you’re thankful for!

Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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20

Apr

French baguettes

I’m thinking about starting a 12–step program for those of us afraid to use yeast. However, I would be able to come to group saying I am on step 2, I think. A challenge was put before me, and I kind of conquered. And if you’re also afraid of baking with yeast, maybe you should conquer the French baguette, too. And you should be proud, because apparently even the French do not make their baguettes from scratch. Instead, they go to the local artisan bakery because those guys have fancy brick ovens. Even without a brick oven, we can do this!




French Baguettes
Makes 2 loaves
Guidance from The Joy of Cooking, page 601 in my version
Total time needed: 3 hrs, 30 minutes (You will only need 15 active minutes, the rest is letting it sit or bake.)

You’ll need:
4 cups all-purpose flour + more for dusting
2 teaspoons salt
1 package (2 1/4 t.) active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups water at room temp
1 cup hot water
One large bowl + wooden spoon OR 1 Elec. mixer
1 clean kitchen towel
1 baking pan with parchment paper/baking liner

1mix it: In a large bowl or your mixer, combine 4 cups flour, salt, and yeast packet. Then create a little well in the center of the mixture and pour in 1 1/2 cup water, at room temp. Stir for about 12 minutes on low speed (by hand or mixer), until dough is soft and elastic. Look at that dough, isn’t it a beauty?

2leave it: While dough is still in the bowl, cover it with a clean towel and let it rise in a warm place (75–85 degrees). This will take 2 hours, and the dough will double in size. Oo-lala. Go watch a movie, or run an errand, or get some work done.

3form it: Punch down the dough. To shape the dough into two baguettes, split dough in half and pat each section into a rectangle on a floured surface. Then roll the dough out away from you; continue rolling, pressing outward with your hands and tapering the dough toward the ends until you have a long, thin loaf. This will take 5 minutes, tops. Once you’ve formed the two loaves, it’s time to let them rise (proof) again. On a non-stick baking pan (you can grease it, parchment paper it, or baking liner it), transfer the two loaves, giving them plenty of space to double in size. Cover them with a towel and wait 30 minutes.

4steam it: The waiting it over. Preheat your oven to 400 and grab a lined baking pan, putting it in the bottom oven rack. When the oven has reached 400 degrees, pour 1 cup of hot water into that preheated pan. Be careful because steam will quickly rise. Then uncover the loaves, score them (take a knife or blade and cut at least 5  3-inch slices into the bread) and put them in the top rack of the oven. See the photos above for an example of how to score the loaves.

5bake it: Bake the bread at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then decrease temperature to 350 and bake for 25 more minutes. If you want to add an egg wash, mix 1 egg white with 1 tablespoon of cold water. Brush it on the top of the bread at this point and put it back into the oven for 5 more minutes. If you don’t want the egg wash, just bake 5 more minutes (a total of 45 minutes in the oven). When it is fully baked, the crust should be golden brown, and the bottom will sound hollow when tapped. Try not to burn yourself when you slice open the enticing, fresh bread.

You did it! Woo-hoo! I hope this takes your adventures and bravery in the kitchen to the next level.


This was tasty with a broccoli soup I made. The recipe will follow tomorrow. 🙂




Happy eating!
Laurel

~Laurel~

14 years ago Short URL 1 Comment

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