Breads

[Sharikee]

[Sharikee]

Chocolate/Cherry Bread

1 1/2
teaspoons baking powder
1/2
teaspoon baking soda
1/4
teaspoon salt
3/4
cup sugar
1/2
cup butter, softened
2
eggs
1
teaspoon almond extract
1
teaspoon vanilla
1
container (8 oz) sour cream
1/2
cup chopped dried cherries
1/2
cup bittersweet or dark chocolate chips

Steps

1
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening; lightly flour. In medium bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
2
In large bowl, beat sugar and butter with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs until well mixed. Beat in almond extract and vanilla. On low speed, alternately add flour mixture with sour cream, beating just until blended after each addition. Stir in cherries and chocolate chips. Spread batter in pan.
3
Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool completely, about 1 hour. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate.

[Sharikee]

Pecan Sticky Buns
DOUGH:
Ingredients
1/4 cup lukewarm water (105° to 115°F)
1 packet (2-1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup sugar
1-1/4 cups milk
2 large eggs plus 2 yolks, at room temperature
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, soft, cut into pieces finely grated zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons salt
4-1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions

Pour the water into a small bowl and sprinkle with yeast. Set aside. Combine the oats and sugar in a very large bowl. In a small pan over medium heat, warm the milk until it shimmers, then pour it over the oats and sugar. Stir, then set aside for 5 minutes. Whisk the eggs and yolks in a separate bowl. Add the eggs to the milk, along with the butter, lemon zest, vanilla, salt, and dissolved yeast. Stir in 3-½ cups of the flour and beat vigorously with a wooden spoon for 100 strokes. Set the dough aside for 10 minutes.

Gradually stir in enough of the remaining flour, about ⅓ cup at a time, to make a soft dough. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and, with lightly floured hands, knead for 6 to 7 minutes. Dust the work surface with flour, as needed, to keep the dough from sticking. Put a tablespoon of oil into a large bowl. Using your fingers, spread it to coat the bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and rotate to coat the entire surface. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot for 1-½ to 2 hours, until doubled in bulk.
FILLING:
Ingredients
1/2 cup (1 stick) plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
1-1/2 cups packed light-brown sugar, divided
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 cup raisins
1 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, cooled
Instructions

Melt the ½ cup of butter. Brush the bottom and sides of two 10-inch cake pans (preferably deep ones) or one 13x9-inch baking pan with the melted butter. Sprinkle cup of brown sugar in each cake pan. (If you are using a larger pan, sprinkle 1 cup of brown sugar into it.) Set aside. In a food processor, combine the remaining ½ cup of brown sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and nuts. Process until the mixture is finely chopped. Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a small bowl.

Lightly flour the work surface and turn the dough out onto it (do not punch down the dough). Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18x12 inches, with the long edge facing you. Brush the surface of the dough with the melted butter. Spread the filling evenly over the dough and tamp lightly to embed. Starting with the long edge nearest you, roll the dough up snugly, like a carpet. Using a sharp, serrated knife, cut the dough roll into 12 equal slices. (To better gauge equal slices, score the dough with a serrated knife first, instead of cutting all the way through.) Lay the slices in the pan(s), evenly spaced, with the spirals facing up. Press down gently to spread the slices slightly. Cover with plastic wrap and set the pan(s) aside in a warm, draft-free spot for 45 to 60 minutes, until almost doubled in bulk.

Preheat the oven to 375°F. When the slices are doubled, remove the plastic and bake on the center oven rack for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown. As soon as the buns are done, carefully invert them onto a baking sheet, taking care not to spill hot syrup on your arms or hands. (I suggest wearing long sleeves and mitts.) Cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
Yield:
Makes 12 large buns.

[Sharikee]

Baking Powder Biscuits
Ingredients

3 cups (361g) Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon (14g) baking powder
1 tablespoon (12g) sugar
6 tablespoons (85g) butter, at room temperature
1 to 1 1/8 cups (227g to 255g) cold milk or buttermilk (use whole milk for the most tender biscuits)
Instructions

Preheat your oven to 425°F with a rack in the upper portion. Get out a baking sheet; there's no need to grease it. Line it with parchment if you like, for easiest cleanup.

Weigh your flour; or measure it by gently spooning it into a cup, then sweeping off any excess.

Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

Work the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers, a fork or pastry blender, a stand mixer, or a food processor; your goal is an evenly crumbly mixture (think breadcrumbs).

[Sharikee]

Flourless Peanut Butter Bread

This gluten-free flourless bread is easy to make with just five ingredients. It's a quick and easy bread option for those looking for something flourless, gluten free or low carb. It bakes, looks, feels and taste similar to wheat flour breads.

Ingredients:

1 cup smooth peanut butter
3 large eggs
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp granular sweetener

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease two 3 inch x 5-inch mini loaf pans. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients. Hand whisk or use mixer to mix until everything is smooth.

Divide batter equally between the two loaf pans. Bake for about 25 minutes until breads are fully cooked or toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let breads cool before slicing and serving.

[Sharikee]

Peach Cobbler Bread

Ingredients

1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup diced peeled peaches
1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped pecans
TOPPING:
2 tablespoons chopped pecans
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

In a bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in water and extracts. Stir in peaches. Combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder; gradually add to the creamed mixture. Stir in pecans.
Pour into a greased 9x5-in. loaf pan. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350° for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

[Sharikee]

Sweet Potato Biscuits
with Honey Butter

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup mashed sweet potatoes
1/2 cup half-and-half cream
HONEY BUTTER:
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a small bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine sweet potatoes and cream; stir into crumb mixture just until moistened. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead 8-10 times.
Pat or roll out to 1/2-in. thickness; cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter. Re-roll and repeat once. Place 1 in. apart on a greased baking sheet.
Bake at 400° for 9-11 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, beat the butter, honey and cinnamon until blended. Serve with warm biscuits.

[Sharikee]

One Hour Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients

3 Cups Warm Water approximately 110 degrees
1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
2/3 cup Honey
1/3 cup Oil plus a little extra for hands
7 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour may use half whole wheat/half white flour
1 Tablespoon Salt
Butter to spread on top of bread

Instructions

Heat oven to warm about 200 degrees.
Place warm water in large mixing bowl. Add yeast and stir. Stir in honey and let proof (start to form a creamy foam) for 5 minutes.
Add oil, flour, and salt. Begin by adding 7 cups of flour. Start to mix using the dough hook. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour until dough pulls away from sides of mixing bowl. Using Bosch or Kitchenaid, knead for 10 minutes at medium-high speed. If you don't own a stand mixer, you can knead by hand.
Place a little oil on hands and shape into two bread loaves. Spray loaf pans with non-stick cooking spray. Put pans in a warm oven to let rise until double -- about 20 minutes.
Once bread has raised, turn oven to 350 degrees. Leave bread in oven and set timer for 25 minutes.
Check bread to see if it is golden brown. Once bread is done, remove from oven and spread butter all over warm loaves. Let cool for several minutes before removing from pan.
Spread butter and jam or honey on warm bread.
May freeze bread or eat within 2 days.

[Sharikee]

Homemade Soft Pretzels
Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 standard packet)
1 cup warm water
1 tbs unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 cups all-purpose flour + up to 3/4 cup more if needed
2 cups water
4 tbs baking soda
1 tbs coarse salt, for sprinkling on top
6 tbs salted butter, melted

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees and line a large baking sheet or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Combine yeast with warm water and sugar in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with hook attachment. Once mixture becomes "frothy" your yeast is ready. Stir in salt and 1 tbs of melted butter. Add flour 1 cup at a time until a dough forms and is no longer sticky. You may need more or less depending on temperature differences. If you press your finger into the dough and it bounces back, it's ready to knead. Knead dough for 5 more minutes until smooth and pliable. Form dough into a ball and place it back into the bowl to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, prepare baking soda bath.

In a medium sized pot, boil 2 cups of water with 4 tbs of baking soda. Once the baking soda is mostly dissolved, take mixture off heat and allow it to come down to a lukewarm temperature. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish once cooled down.

At this time, 15 minutes of dough resting time should be up. Take dough out of the bowl and flatten slightly with the palm of your hand. Cut dough into 8 sections (like a pizza). Roll each triangle into a long rope, about 19-20 inches long. Shape dough into pretzel shape and place in baking soda bath for 2 minutes. If the whole pretzel isn't covered by the water, spoon it on top of the areas is doesn't reach. Once the 2 minutes is up, carefully pick pretzel up either by your hand or with the help of a fork and place on prepared baking sheet. You may have to re-shape slightly. Sprinkle the pretzel with coarse salt while still wet (optional). Repeat these steps until all 8 pretzels are prepared and on the baking sheet(s).

Bake pretzels for 8-9 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately from the oven, brush (heavily) with 6 tbs of melted butter.

These homemade soft pretzels are best served hot and fresh out of the oven but will keep for about 2 days stored at room temperature in an airtight container. Pop them in the microwave and they're good as new!

[Sharikee]

Chocolate Banana Bread
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
3 large brown bananas 1 1/2 cups mashed
1/4 cup unsalted butter melted and slightly cooled
1/4 cup canola vegetable oil, or melted coconut oil
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips divided

Instructions

Heat your oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork. Add the melted butter and oil and stir until combined. Stir in the brown sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir until smooth.
Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, don't overmix. Stir in 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup of chocolate chips over the top of the bread. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out mostly clean, you might have some melted chocolate chips on the toothpick and that is fine. You just don't want a lot of gooey batter. Check at 50 minutes, just to be safe. Oven times vary.
Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire cooling rack. Let the bread cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the bread and carefully remove from the pan. Let the bread cool on the wire cooling rack until slightly warm. Cut into slices and serve.
Note-the bread will keep on the counter, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 4 days. This bread also freezes well. To freeze, cool the bread completely and wrap in plastic wrap and aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 1 month. Defrost before slicing.

[Sharikee]

Fluffy Sweet Potato Dinner Rolls
Ingredients

2 1/4 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons butter, softened
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Instructions

In a large bowl, combine yeast, white sugar, and warm water. Stir together and let stand for 5 minutes or until foamy.
Add brown sugar, mashed sweet potatoes, softened butter, eggs, and salt to the bowl. Stir using a wooden spoon to incorporate the ingredients.
Add 3 cups of the flour and stir the dough until flour is moistened.
Stir the mixture until a soft, sticky dough forms and gathers at the center of the bowl, sprinkling in the remaining 1/2 cup flour as needed to help manage the stickiness.
Generously flour a working surface as well as your hands. Turn the dough over and knead it until it is smooth. Add more flour as needed to prevent the dough from sticking to hands and to the working surface.
Once the dough is manageable, stop adding the flour. Continue to knead just until the dough is smooth but still slightly sticky.
To test if the dough has been kneaded enough, take a small portion of dough, stretch it out using fingers to create a little square and a translucent film should form in the center before it tears.
Shape the dough into a ball and place in an oiled bowl. Cover and let rise for about an hour, until doubled in size.
Once the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 16-20 portions.
Shape each piece into a smooth ball and place on a greased 9×13 baking sheet. Cover the rolls loosely with plastic or a clean kitchen towel.
Let rise for 40 to 60 minutes or until puffy and have doubled in size. Bake in a 375 F oven for about 12 to 16 minutes or until the tops are golden.

[Sharikee]

White Potato Crescent Rolls

Ingredients

3 C. milk
3/4 C. sugar
3/4 C. butter
1 C. potato flakes
1 Tbsp. salt
4 eggs room temperature
1 Tbsp. instant yeast
7-8 C. flour
1/2 C. butter very soft

Instructions

1. In a small sauce pan add milk over medium heat. You want to scald the milk, not boil it. So when little bubbles and foam begins to form around the edge of the pan (a "skin" might also form on the top) then remove from heat.
2. In a stand mixer or large bowl. Add sugar, butter, potato flakes and salt. Add scalded milk once removed from heat and stir well. Let cool to luke warm, about 120-125 degrees if you have a candy thermometer. You don't want this to be too hot when you add your yeast.
3. Add yeast and then eggs and stir again. Add in flour a little at a time, only add as much flour as you need. Different brands of flour make it so the amount will vary. The dough will be very loose and may look shaggy, this is okay. The batter is still fairly sticky at this stage. Add more flour later if needed.
4. Cover the bowl with a towel and let rise for 1 hour.
5. Push down and divide into 3 sections. One section at a time, roll out into a circle like a pizza on a floured surface. Try to get your dough fairly thin like 1/4 of an inch. Slather on some of the super soft butter on top. This will help make the layers even more delicious. Cut like a pizza into 12 pieces and then roll up each slice starting at the wide end (where the crust of the pizza would be) toward the point to form your crescent. Place on a greased cookie sheet. Continue until all three sections of dough have been formed. Use about 1 1/2 cookie sheets.
6. Let rise again until doubled in size (about an hour). Bake in a 350 degree preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Butter rolls with about 5 minutes left of baking!

[Sharikee]

Apple Cinnamon Hot Cross Buns
(no kneading required)
Ingredients
Buns

5 medium apples peeled, cored and shredded
1 tsp salt
2 cups milk lukewarm
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp instant yeast or active dry yeast
6 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg ground
1/2 tsp allspice
1 tsp cinnamon ground
3 large eggs

6 tbsp butter unsalted, melted

Cinnamon Sugar Glaze

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon ground

Cinnamon Icing

3/4 cup icing sugar same as confectioners sugar or powdered sugar
3 tbsp cream cheese at room temperature
1 tbsp butter unsalted, at room temperature
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp water


Instructions
Make dough

Place the shredded apples on 4 sheets of paper towels in a strainer, and place the strainer inside a bowl. Sprinkle 1 tsp of salt over the apples and stir them. This will release the liquid from the apples, this way we can control the liquid in the dough. Let them sit for 5 minutes, then squeeze the juice from the apples, as much as you can. Keep the juice, in case you need more liquid for the dough.
In a medium size bowl, whisk the warm milk with the sugar and yeast. Let it rest for 5 minutes. If using active dry yeast, it might take longer for the yeast to activate, 10 to 15 minutes.
In another large bowl add the flour, the other tsp of salt, nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon then whisk until fully incorporated. Stir in the shredded apple.
To the bowl with the milk and yeast add the eggs, butter and whisk well. Add this to the flour mixture. Mix well with a wooden spoon until well combined. You should have a thick sticky dough, see video. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let it rest until doubled in size, for about 1 hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Remove the towel from the dough and sprinkle with some flour over the top. Also dust your work surface and hands with flour. Place the dough on the work surface and shape it into a log. Cut it into 24 equal pieces.
To shape each piece into a roll, take a piece and flatten it with your palm or fingers. Fold it up into a ball by pinching the sides together, turn it over and roll it briefly.
Place the bun with the smooth side up onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough pieces and line them up 4 x 6.
Cover the baking sheet with a clean kitchen towel and let the rolls rise a second time for about 30 minutes. Do NOT let them rise longer, you only want them to rise about 50% to 75% more as they will finish rising in the oven.
About 10 minutes before the rolls are done rising, preheat your oven to 350 F degrees. Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake the rolls for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Cinnamon Sugar Glaze

In a small sauce pan add all the glaze ingredients and heat over medium heat. After it comes to a boil, turn down the heat and cook for another 3 minutes. All the sugar should be dissolved and the glaze should have thickened a bit. Remove from heat and set aside. The glaze should thicken more as it cools.
Once the hot cross buns are done baking, remove them from the oven and immediately brush them with the glaze. Let them cool for 10 minutes.

Cinnamon Icing

Whisk all the icing ingredients together and transfer the icing to a piping bag or ziploc bag. Snip the piping bag or a corner of the ziploc bag.
Pipe crosses onto the buns with the icing.