Braided Challah Loaf

I seen this on the Lodge Cast Iron website and thought this would be interesting to make.

Ingredients

Dough

1½ tablespoons active dry yeast

½ cup honey, plus 1 tablespoon

1¾ cups warm water

½ cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

2½ teaspoons salt

8 cups bread flour

Egg Wash

1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon water

Directions

In a bowl or a stand mixer, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon honey in 1¾ cups warm water. About 5 minutes.

 

Use the hook attachment to whisk in the eggs and oil and the rest of the honey and salt. Add flour a little at a time until the dough comes together. Knead the dough on medium speed until smooth, about 10 minutes. The dough should pull cleanly away from the mixing bowl. Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 1 hour until doubled.  

Punch the dough down and recover. Let it rise a second time in a warm place, about 30 minutes.

Divide the dough in half and cover one portion with plastic wrap.

Using half, the dough, cut the dough into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a 20-inch rope. You may need to let the rope rest for a few minutes before continuing to stretch it out. 

Lay the three dough ropes parallel to one another on a clean work surface. Press the ends of one side of each rope together. Braid the ropes in an overlapping pattern until you reach the end. Press the ends together and place on a sheet of parchment paper.

Repeat these steps with the other half of the dough and cover the loaves with plastic wrap for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with one rack in the center of the oven and one rack on the bottom. Place a large cast iron skillet on the bottom rack to preheat.

Brush loaves with egg wash all over. Place loaf on a pizza pan sprayed with oil and place in the oven. Add one cup of water to the preheated skillet already in the oven, just before closing the oven door. The trapped steam will help give the bread a quick start, essentially searing the exterior. Bake for 35-40 minutes, rotating once halfway through baking. Challah should be golden brown, and the internal temperature should be 195 degrees F checked with probe thermometer. 

Cool on wire rack before eating.

Pro tip: To ensure even browning, quickly brush the loaves again with egg wash after 15 minutes in the oven.

Dutch Oven Bread (Recipe #2)

OK, so were all stuck inside due to the Covid-19 virus and everyone seems to be baking and cooking up a storm.

I really do like sourdough bread, but who has the time (no pun intended) to make the starter and keep that going?

The other recipe I have, takes about 12 to 18 hours.  Yea, I can do that, BUT, why not have some bread while it's still breadfast?

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1 pack dry active yeast, about 2 1/4 teaspoons
4 cups flour + some for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Lukewarm water add a splash extra if needed
1 egg
1 tablespoon Olive Oil + for greasing

Stuff you will need

Kitchenaid stand mix with dough hook, or strong arms
Large mixing bowl

Directions

In a mixing bowl, stir yeast packet into a warm to touch milk and sugar, and allow yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. When it starts to bubble and foam it means the yeast is active and ready to be used.

In your stand mixer, mix together flour and salt, then create a small well in the middle and pour in the milk and yeast mixture.

Mix one egg with warm water to warm up cold egg, and add to the flour.

Using your stand mixer, (or wooden spoon or spatula) start combining everything. Once combined, knead the dough, when it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl it is ready to rest. 

Knead for about 5 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, add more flour, a couple of tablespoons at a time and vice versa, add a splash more water if it’s too dry. Drizzle olive oil and tap/glaze all over the dough.

Cover the bowl with a large kitchen towel and let it rise until it doubles in size. It takes about 2 hours, sometimes less if the house is warmer.

Uncover the dough and give it a few pokes with your finger. If the dough has risen properly it should indent under the pressure of your fingers and slowly deflate.

Using your hand fold the dough. Light pressure-kneading. Add more flour until it comes together. Cover and let it rise for one more hour. You may leave it for up to 3 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 F

Once the dough has doubled in size one more time, knead it again just to shape it.

Line the dutch oven with wet parchment paper and place your dough in the middle. Sprinkle the top with a bit of flour and score lines on top. It’s not necessary but it looks better. 

As the bread bakes, it will expand and those scored lines will become more visible.

Bake for about 45 minutes, removing the lid completely for the last 10 minutes. This will allow the bread to get a deeper color and crispier.

Remove bread from a dutch oven, wrap it in the kitchen towel and let it cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Trust me on this one. If you cut it when the bread is hot it will become sticky inside so better wait for just a bit.

Pro Tips

You may skip the egg. 

You may use water instead of milk. 

The outcome of the bread depends on the water temperature, oven, flour, yeast even air. 

You may preheat your dutch oven or you can actually make it in the regular baking pan. You do not have to use parchment paper, substitute pam cooking spray. 

If you going to make a larger bread, add 6 cups of flour, 1 tablespoon Salt and enough liquid to make it wet enough. I would say about 2 1/2 cups. Everything else is the same.

Thin, or softer dough, in a warm kitchen, will rise in about 45 minutes, or less.

A firmer dough, with less moisture, will take longer to rise.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Sourdough Bread without the Starter

Who hasn't had Sourdough Bread?  Most of us have, but don't feel like trying to make your own at home.  Why?  The starter.  You need to prepare the starter, about a week in advance.  Then you also have to invest time and effort to keep the starter going.

Well, lets skip the starter and make our Sourdough bread without it.

Ingredients

3 cups bread flour (381 grams)
1 x 16 ounce tub plain unsweetened Greek yogurt with active cultures (500 mls)
1/2 cup sour cream (250 mls)
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
scant 1 teaspoon (just slightly less than 1 teaspoon) instant dry yeast

Stuff you will need

Mixer with dough hook, or a really strong arm
Dutch Oven
Patience

Directions

To the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook (or use a large mixing bowl and wooden spoon and your hands), add the flour, Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup sour cream, salt, and yeast.

Turn mixer on low speed and allow it to knead dough for about 5 to 7 minutes (about 7 to 10 minutes by hand using a wooden spoon and then switching to your hands). Add sour cream as needed to form a very moist and wet dough. If it’s at all dry or crumbly, add more sour cream (or Greek yogurt) until it comes together. 

I used 1 x 17.6 ounce tub of Greek yogurt and almost 1 cup sour cream. Dough will be seem like it’s almost too wet and it’s very heavy, but this is what you want. Err on the side of wetter than drier because flour and yeast love moisture when rising.

Remove dough from the mixing bowl, spray a large bowl with cooking spray, pat dough into a round ball, place it in the bowl, and flip it over once so it’s lightly oiled on both top and bottom. It will look like a dimply head of cauliflower.

Cover bowl with plasticwrap (spray it with cooking spray in case dough rises high enough to touch it) and place bowl in a warm, draft-free place to rise for about 6 to 8 hours (I did 6 1/2 hours), or doubled in size. If you want to start this before work or before bed and made as an overnight dough and it’ll go 8-10 hours, that’s fine. 

There’s really no harm in letting it rise for up to 18 hours and the longer you let it go, the more of a classic sourdough/fermented flavor that will develop. 

If you suspect you’re going to allow it to rise on the longer side (12-18 hours), reduce yeast to about 1/2 teaspoon so dough doesn’t get too puffy and overflow the bowl.

After 6+ hours of rising, turn dough out onto a floured surface (without punching it down to preserve the air pockets and bubbles that have been created) and knead lightly for about 2 to 3 minutes.

Pat dough into a round mound, and place it back into large mixing bowl, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for 60 to 120 minutes, or until doubled in size (I did 60 minutes; I suspect the longer you let the second rise go, the more ‘holey’ the bread will be). Placing the bowl on the stovetop is a nice spot for this rise because you’re going to turn on the oven and the residual heat emitted helps with rising.

Shortly after dough begins the 60-120 minute rising, turn oven on to 450F and place a covered Dutch oven (empty) or heavy-bottomed skillet into the oven and allow it to heat for about 45 minutes. Dutch ovens are so heavy and take so long to get truly hot, and when you’re ready to bake the bread, you want the Dutch oven screaming hot.

After about 60-90 minutes or dough has doubled in size, remove Dutch oven from oven (careful, it’s screaming hot, use two pairs of hot mitts) and carefully place a piece of parchment paper on the bottom of Dutch oven to prevent bread from sticking.

Carefully transfer dough from rising bowl to Dutch oven, cover it, and bake covered for 30 minutes. Don’t open the oven door or the Dutch oven lid to peek; you want to seal in the steam.

After 30 minutes, uncover the Dutch oven, and allow bread to bake uncovered for 5 to 10 minutes (I did 8 minutes) or until it’s as browned as desired. Traditional sourdough has a darker crust than most bread (sometimes almost burnt-looking, but I prefer mine on the lighter side).

Remove Dutch oven from oven, and remove bread from Dutch oven. Place it on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing. As tempting as it is, don’t slice too early because the cooling process is important and should be considered an important extension of the baking process. Slice or break off hunks, and serve with honey butter, butter, jam, hummus, etc.

Bread is best fresh, but will keep airtight at room temp for up to 3 days. Older bread may be better toasted.

Notes

The yogurt you use must say ‘active cultures’.

Use closer to 1/2 teaspoon yeast if you plan to allow dough to rise for 12-18 hours.

You can substitute regular flour for the bread flour.  Bread flour has more proteins in it.  Simply add Wheat Gluten (I got some at Bulk Barn), I added about 1 1/2 teaspoon.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!

Pepperoni Bread Roll

Tonya was on Facebook again, looking up recipes.  Floyd, Mylynne, Colby and Aurora are going to be dropping by for supper.

Now...  you would think, she found this, she should make this.

But I don't mind.

Ingredients

1 Can pizza crust (or homemade)
6 oz of sliced Pepperoni
1 1/2 cup of shredded Pizza Cheese or Mozzarella
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Italian Dressing
Italian Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Egg White
Pizza Sauce

Stuff you will need

Cookie sheet
Parchment paper
Rolling pin if using homemade dough
Sharp knife
Cutting board

Directions

Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and brush it with Italian dressing or the Pizza Sauce.

Top with as many pepperonis as you can fit on the dough.

Sprinkle with cheeses and Italian seasoning and roll up tightly, starting with the longest side of dough.

Fold sides under, and place on pan, dough seam side down.

Brush with an egg white and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then slice and serve.

Comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome!