Cinnamon Twists

Yeast batter breads can be tricky to work with. The secret here is to generously flour the board and your hands while working with them. And don't worry too much if they look funky. Taste is what really counts.

Cinnamon Twists

1 1/4 c. hot tap water
2 T. powdered milk
1/3 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. yeast
1 1/2 t. salt
2 eggs
5 c. flour

Filling:
1/2 c. melted butter
1/2 c. sugar
2 T. cinnamon

Mix water, powdered milk, butter, sugar, and yeast in large bowl. Let sit for 3-5 minutes, until yeast starts to bubble. Add in salt, eggs, and flour. Beat by hand just until mixed. Don't knead. It should be a sticky, goody mess. Cover it and set it aside to rise until double, about 1 hour.
On a generously floured board, roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Spread the dough gently with the melted butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Fold the top long edge in about 1/3 of the way. Fold the bottom long edge up to cover it. Cut into strips. Twist each strip one and half times. Set on a greased cookie sheet to rise. Repeat with all the strips.
Cover and let rise for 30-45 minutes, until doubled.
Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes.

If you search online for cinnamon twists, you'll get the idea of what these are supposed to look like.

Thursday Recipe - Focaccia Bread

This is one of the easiest yeast breads ever. It requires a minimum of kneading. It's supposed to be sticky so you don't have to worry about getting too much or too little flour in the dough. It's supposed to be lumpy and misshapen. You don't need any special mixing equipment or really much of anything other than simple, basic ingredients. It's also pretty fast and doesn't require much rise time.

It's a great accompaniment to minestrone or spaghetti. Top it with everything but sauce to make a quick pizza. Try out whatever flavor combos you want.

Focaccia Bread

1 c. warm water
1 T. yeast or 1 package yeast if you use the little packets
3 T. sugar
2 t. salt
2-3 c. flour

Mix warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should blossom, which means it turns into a brown foam. That's a good thing for bread. Stir in the salt and 2 c. of flour. Mix well. Stir in enough more flour to make a very soft sticky dough. Set it aside for 10 minutes.

Grease a cookie sheet. Dump the dough onto the cookie sheet. Use your fingers to spread it out more or less evenly on the sheet. You want a fairly flat dough about half an inch thick. Stab some deeper fingerprints into the dough while you work. It makes the bread look more authentic. It's supposed to be lumpy looking.

Sprinkle with your choice of toppings such as Italian seasoning mix, garlic salt, sesame seeds, thinly sliced onions, thinly sliced tomatoes, grated parmesan, etc. Set it aside for 15-20 minutes until it starts to look a little poofy.

Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned and not doughy in the middle. Use a pizza cutter to slice it into breadsticks. Serve hot for best taste.

Thursday Recipe - Oatmeal Bread

I've been cooking from scratch a lot lately, for several reasons. One, I have plenty of time on my hands most weeks. Two, I control all the ingredients. Three, it's cheaper. Four, it tastes better.

Here's my recipe for a healthy bread. It's very forgiving. Feel free to experiment with other grains or ingredients, just keep the ratio of wet to dry about the same and you should be good.

Oatmeal Bread

2 c. very warm water
2 t. yeast, or one packet or whatever the equivalent is (I buy mine in the big bulk package and keep it in the freezer until it's opened, then in a container in the fridge)
2 T. sugar or honey or molasses or something sweet
1/2 c. plain yogurt or 1/3 c. powdered milk (skip if you're allergic to milk, or use 1 egg instead)
2 t. salt
1 c. quick-cooking oatmeal
2 c. white flour
3 - 4 c. whole wheat flour

Mix water, yeast, sugar, and yogurt in a mixing bowl. Let sit for 5 - 10 minutes, until the yeast is dissolved and starts to bubble. Add the salt, oatmeal, white flour, and 2 c. of the whole wheat flour. Mix into a soft dough, adding more whole wheat flour as needed. Dough should be slightly sticky. Knead until smooth and elastic, at least 5 minutes. Cover and let rise for 1 - 2 hours, until double in size.

Punch down. Knead for another minute or so to smooth out. Divide in half. Shape each half into a smooth roll. Lightly spray two loaf pans - I use the 8x4 inch size, which makes a good size loaf. (Here's a great post I just discovered about choosing loaf pans. I'm headed back over to that blog soon to check out more posts.) Place the dough in the two pans, cover and let rise for about 30 - 45 minutes.

Pre-heat your oven to 375°F. Bake the two loaves for about 25 minutes. They should be lightly browned and sound mostly hollow when you tap the top. Because of the oatmeal, this bread will be a lot more moist than white bread. Remove the bread to a rack to cool.