Hamburger Rolls

These rolls are really tasty and to say something completely dorky you will never buy hamburger rolls again after trying these ones. They are easily doubled and freeze well.

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (2.5 tsp) (.25 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm. If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.  And if it’s too cold you will have to reheat it and then it will be too hot and you don’t want to do that. Trust me. I did it. If I can hold my finger in the liquid for 5 seconds then I decide it’s a good temperature.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast. Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together. If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes. Don’t over knead it as it will get really chewy. I know. I did that too. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat. Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 even portions. Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom. Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or tin foil – wax paper will stink. I use tin foil. Let rolls rise for about 20 minutes. Squish each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Brush onto the tops of the rolls. I then like to sprinkle Italian Seasoning or poppy seeds or sesame seeds on top.
5. Bake for 15 minutes or until nicely browned on the top and bottom.

Almond Cinnamon Rolls

I was making cinnamon rolls the other day and thought I’d switch them up a bit. So I made Almond Cinnamon Rolls. I used sour dough bread for the rolls but they didn’t turn out as light as I like them, so I’m just going to cover the filling and you can choose your own dough recipe.

• 4TBS of butter
• 2 tsp almond extract
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tsp ground nutmeg

 

1. Roll dough out to 1/4 inch thick rectangle.
2. Melt butter and add almond extract to it.
3. Drizzle butter mixture onto rolled out dough
4. Mix brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together and sprinkle on top of the dough
5. Roll dough into a long log and cut into pieces as big as you’d like.
6.  
7. Place in greased baking dish, cover and let it rise for an hour or two
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven set at 350 for 25 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top (more or less depending on your choice of dough)
9. Let cool for about 5 minutes then flip the rolls onto a plate.

For the icing you will need

• Icing sugar
• Milk
• Almond extract

I don’t remember how much I used of any of those. But just keep adding until the taste and consistency are how you like them, then drizzle the icing on the rolls. Yum!
 

I have a feeling these would taste great with Almond pieces in them, but I didn't have any when I was baking...

Olive Oil Dip

I made Ciabatta Bread for dinner tonight and my sister suggested I make an oil based dip for it. So I looked up a few recipes and invented!

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 cup mixed herbs I  used a mixture of chives, rosemary, basil, thyme and Italian seasoning.
• 1 or 2 garlic cloves - minced
• 1/8 cup Parmesan Cheese

1. Pour the olive oil into a bowl and mix in the herbs, balsamic vinegar and minced garlic (I put everything in a food processor for a few seconds)
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve (make at least 30 minutes ahead of time but not more than two hours ahead of time, I read that's not a good idea)
3. Right before serving mix in the Parmesan

Everything can be adjusted to your taste. My sister added some salt to hers and I think it tastes better with a bit of salt in it.

Ciabatta Bread

A couple of days ago whilst Stumbling I came across a recipe for One-Minute Bread. The titled had me intrigued and I had to know just how one can make bread in 60 seconds. Well, obviously you can't have the finished product in 60 seconds, but you can mix all the ingredients in that amount of time.

You will need:

• 2 cups warm water
• 1/4 tsp dry yeast
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt

1. Mix the yeast and warm water in a large bowl.
2. Add the flour and salt and mix with a spoon until well mixed.
3. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and place somewhere safe for 8-12 hours. I left mine for 5 hours and it turned out nicely.
4. Preheat the oven to 400
5. Gently pour the dough onto a greased cookie sheet and sprinkle the top with dried oregano, basil, and rosemary.
6. Bake for about 25-30 minutes depending on how crisp you like the crust.

 We ate this bread for dinner with an Olive Oil dip. It was rather tasty!

*I just have to add a note, my sister, her two boys and I ate half the loaf at dinner. Jessica's husband came in from work and ate the other half. If he eats that much of something, it's good.

Buttermilk Bicuits

A couple of weeks ago I was craving Cracker Barrel biscuits and I found a recipe for them on CopyKat and having just made them, I'm quite pleased with the recipe.

• 2 1/4 C. Bisquick Mix
• 2/3 C. Buttermilk
• 1 tsp. Sugar
• 1 Tbsp. Butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. (I think that is too hot, I did this and the bottoms browned before the middle was done cooking, I'd say do it at 350 or 400 for about 15 minutes)
2. Mix first three ingredients together, add melted butter and stir ingredients until soft dough forms. 
3. Knead 20 times on a surface lightly dusted with flour then form into 9 balls. 
4. Place biscuits in a 8x8 baking dish and slightly flatten
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. *see note on step one

I like to put melted butter on my biscuits as soon as they are done baking.

Sourdough Bread

I love this recipe. It tastes better the older your starter is but it make soft loaves of bread that my 3 year old nephew describe as "verra goo" (very good) when his mouth was full of the bread.

• 4 3/4 cups bread flour (I have no idea how much I use but I think it's more than this)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm milk (I used sour milk last time and it added to the sourness of the bread)
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened/metled
• 1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I have never had onions for the top)

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup flour, sugar, salt, and dry yeast. Add milk and softened butter. Stir in starter. Mix in about 3 3/4 cups flour gradually or however much you think you need.
2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turn once to oil surface, and cover. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in volume.
3. Punch down, and let rest 15 minutes. Shape into loaves. Place in two bread pans or shape into rolls or pretzels. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
4. Brush egg wash over tops of loaves, and sprinkle with chopped onion. (I always forget the egg step)
5. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20-30 minutes, or till done. (I find the pretzels and rolls take about 20 minutes and the loaves about 27)
   
   

Sourdough Starter

I love this Sourdough Starter. It’s really easy to do and maintain, as I’m sure they all are but other than Amish Enemy Friendship Bread I haven’t done any. I’ve only used this in one recipe and I’ll post that next. I’m going to try some other recipes at some point to see how they are.
For this starter you will need:
•    1  package active dry yeast (.25 ounce) (2½ teaspoons)
•    2 cups warm water
•    2 cups all-purpose flour
•    Random amount of sugar*
Directions
1.    In large non-metallic bowl, mix dry yeast, 2 cups warm water, and 2 cups all purpose flour and cover loosely.
2.    Leave in a warm place to ferment, 4 to 8 days. Depending on temperature and humidity of kitchen, times may vary. Place on cookie sheet in case of overflow. Check on it occasionally. I’ve never experienced overflow, mine doesn’t seem to grow much at all but I haven’t had a problem with the outcome of the bread so far so I’m sure it’s fine.
3.    When mixture is bubbly and has a pleasant sour smell, it is ready to use. If mixture has a pink, orange, or any other strange color tinge to it, throw it out and start over. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered until ready to bake. My starter only bubbles for the first hour or so after adding to it and then it goes smooth and creamy.
4.    When you use starter to bake, always replace with equal amounts of flour and water mixture with a pinch of sugar. *I don’t measure the sugar, sometimes it’s a tsp other times it is closer to a tbsp. So, if you remove 1 cup starter, replace with 1 cup water and 1 cup flour. Mix well and leave out on the counter until bubbly again, then refrigerate. If a clear to light brown liquid has accumulated on top, don't worry, this is an alcohol base liquid that occurs with fermentation. Just stir the starter to mix it in.