Home Baked Bagels

A yummy looking everything bagel!

Nicole of Pinch my Salt sent out a twitter message saying “I need a challenge. Am thinking of baking my way through every single recipe in The Bread Baker's Apprentice. Anyone want to join me?” Well I jumped right in. Both feet, no thought at all. I think I was one of the first 5 that joined…did I even have the book? Nope but I ordered it that night!!!

The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread

We are now over 200 strong with members everywhere on the globe. It’s an incredibly enthusiastic group that wants to share like no group I have ever belonged to before. Awesome!

Our goal is to bake our way through Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker's Apprentice: Mastering the Art of Extraordinary Bread. An intimidating book at anytime but to think that you are going to be baking one of these recipes a week is slightly overwhelming to say the least. But I love a challenge and feel a real need to get out of my comfort zone. Oh yah, I bake all of our bread but I never seem to have the time or the desire to try something new and different. This will change all that!!!

This is week 3 and we tackled Bagels this week!  I was so excited when I saw them and I loved making them.

I did not go out looking for malt in any shape or form.  Call me lazy or  what but I did find some really great local mangrove honey that was really strong in flavor and probably substituted perfectly!!!  None of us noticed any difference at all between our local bagel shop and these ones!

These were delicious fresh out of the oven with just some cream cheese or butter on them and they were delicious as part of my favorite sandwich: toasted bagel with tomato, lettuce and mayo!

I will definitely be making these again!!!

Want to Bake Along With Us?

There are several ways for you to join in the fun! First of all, you need a copy of Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. Then just start baking! Even if you are starting late, just begin with the first recipe and start working your way through. There are several ways to communicate with the group as you begin your journey:

Flickr: We have set up a BBA Challenge Flickr Group where you can upload photos, see photos from other members, and even post questions and comments in the group forum. It’s a private group, so you will need to click on the link that says ‘join this group’ if you want to be able to post photos. As long as you are willing to bake bread all of the bread from the book, you are welcome to join the Flickr group!

Twitter: If you use twitter, you can follow what the group is doing by searching for #BBA or #bba using Twitter’s search box. You can join in on the conversation by adding the #bba or #BBA tag to the end of your tweets when you are talking about anything related to the BBA Challenge. For me, following what people are doing on twitter has been the most fun!

Facebook: If you’re on Facebook, you can join the BBA Challenge Group there and share photos, ask questions, and talk about your bread baking experiences with other BBA members on Facebook.

Next up…Brioche!!!!

As Always…

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com

Dinner Rolls

This recipe is one that I made for Thanksgiving and didn't get a chance to post because I was deep in the heart of the 12 Days of Cookies right after Thanksgiving. I thought with Christmas Day being just 2 days away I had better get the recipes that I am going to be using in one place.

I made these to go with the Pumpkin Sage Dinner Rolls that I was going to be serving. I wanted something that would be a bit more child friendly and these definitely fit the bill. The kids were snacking on these before dinner while we were eating the Brie with Fig Preserve Appetizer!

This is a simple straight forward recipe that made some delicious little rolls.

Dinner Rolls (Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book)

Ingredients:

• 4-1/4 to 4-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup milk
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, margarine, or shortening
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 beaten eggs

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour and the yeast. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm (120 degree F to 130 degree F) and butter almost melts. Add milk mixture to dry mixture along with eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape the dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once. Cover; let rise in a warm place until double (about 1 hour).

3. Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover; let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, depending on what shape of roll you wish to make, lightly grease baking sheets or muffin cups.

4. Shape the dough into desired rolls and place on prepared baking sheets or in muffin cups. Cover and let rise in a warm place until nearly double in size (about 30 minutes).

5. Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Immediately remove rolls from pans. Cool on wire racks. Makes 24 to 36 rolls.

Butterhorns: On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of the dough into a 12-inch circle. Brush with melted butter or margarine. Cut each circle into 12 wedges using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. To shape, begin at the wide end of a wedge and loosely roll toward the point. Place point side down, 2 to 3 inches apart, on prepared baking sheets.

Rosettes: Divide each dough portion into 16 pieces. On a lightly floured surface, roll each piece into a 12-inch-long rope. Tie in a loose knot, leaving 2 long ends. Tuck top end under roll. Bring bottom end up and tuck into center of roll. Place 2 to 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Parker House Rolls: On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion of dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut dough with a floured 2-1/2-inch-round cutter. Brush with melted butter or margarine. Using the dull edge of a table knife, make an off-center crease in each round. Fold each round along crease with large half on top. Press folded edge firmly. Place rolls 2 to 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheets.

Cloverleaf Rolls: Divide each portion of dough into 36 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball, pulling edges under to make a smooth top. Place 3 balls in each muffin cup, smooth sides up.

Make-Ahead Tip: Cover shaped rolls loosely with plastic wrap, leaving room for rolls to rise. Chill 2 to 24 hours. Uncover; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake.

I made these into butterhorns and it seems I need a bit more practice with this. LOL!!!

They were a nice, light, fluffy dinner roll that went well with everything!!!

As Always...

Happy Entertaining!!!

Judy
www.nofearentertaining.com