This is my husband’s favorite cookie. I made 200+ of them as favors for our wedding guests. After trying many recipes I found that the one on the bottom of the lid of the Quaker Oats container was my favorite. But when I saw this one in my Test Kitchen cookbook I thought I’d give it a try. You know, for research. They are quite good and may give the Quaker recipe a run for its money.
But really a fair comparison can’t be made. I’d probably have to have them side by side to decide which is better. These are puffier and more tender than the others, they are more full of oats and are flavored with nutmeg instead of cinnamon. I kind of missed the cinnamon, so I’d add some the next time. I might also add more raisins.
The challenge for the Daring Bakers this month was Easter Bread, which was perfect. Easter was on the 20th this month, so of course you’d make your Easter bread and serve it at your Easter meal and then post about it a week later. Unless of course you’re like me and procrastinate most of the challenges until just a few days before the posting date! So while I did make an Easter bread for Good Friday, this bread is just for The Daring Bakers and was made well after Easter.
The April Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den . She challenged us to Spring into our kitchens and make Easter breads reflecting cultures around the world.
I chose to make a Dutch Easter bread called Paasbrood. I noticed many similarities in Easter breads as I searched for one to make. Many had dried fruits, like raisins, and many were braided either in long loaves or circles. This Dutch bread has raisins, and candied fruit peel (which I did not use) and is twisted into a long loaf. Oh, and it’s stuffed with almond paste! I couldn’t imagine anything better.
I found a recipe that looked reliable here, and I changed just a few things. I used pre-made almond paste instead of making my own. I also used a mixture of all-purpose flour and almond meal in the bread dough. I could not find candied fruit peel, and to be honest I didn’t try all that hard. I also added in some cinnamon with the cardamom. As a result this bread was very similar to the Hot Cross Buns I made last week, with the exception of the almond filling. The dough was pretty easy to deal with and had good texture and flavor after baking. The almond paste, which I was totally excited about, wound up being a little much for me. Maybe I should have used less of it. I divided a 7 ounce tube in half, rolled the halves into long ropes and put them inside each piece of dough.
When I ate a piece of the bread just after glazing I found myself breaking up the paste a little and kind of spreading it out onto the bread instead of taking a bite of mostly almond paste. And while the flavor of the bread was terrific, I wasn’t all that impressed with the almond paste filling. Maybe it just needed to be less concentrated. Or maybe I should have made my own so that the texture would’ve been different. But overall the bread was nice and toasting a slice and spreading a little butter on it is a really nice way to enjoy it.
1 1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus extra flour for dough and counter
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 teaspoon caradmom
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons of butter, melted
1 cup raisins
1 tube (7 ounces) almond paste
powdered sugar
water or milk
red food coloring (optional)
Directions
Combine milk, yeast and sugar in a small bowl or measuring cup and allow to sit for 5 minutes, until foamy.
Whisk flour, spices, salt and lemon zest in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add in milk mixture, egg and butter and turn mixer on low to start mixing, then on medium for 4-5 minutes. Add in a few tablespoons of flour if dough is very sticky. Once dough reaches a consistency where it is becoming more elastic than sticky, cover bowl with a towel and allow to rise in a warm place for an hour.
Divide almond paste into two equal sized pieces and roll each into a log about 12 inches long.
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Flour a clean work surface and turn dough out. Knead in the raisins, then divide dough in half. Roll each half into a long rectangle a little longer than the almond paste log and a couple inches wide.
Place the almond log in the center of the dough piece and enclose it by pinching the dough around it. Repeat with the other dough and almond paste.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place the dough pieces side by side on the sheet and pinch two end together, then twist the dough about 4 times, then pinch bottom ends together.
Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes, until bread is nicely browned. Cool completely on a wire rack before drizzling with the glaze.
Make the glaze: Mix about 1 cup of powdered sugar with either water or milk (you could also use lemon juice, like I did, but I would not do it again) a teaspoon at a time until it reaches a good drizzling consistency. You can color with food coloring if you’d like at this point. Drizzle over the bread and allow to set before cutting and serving.
Beauty surrounded the Daring Bakers this month as our host, Sawsan, of chef in disguise, challenged us to make beautiful, filled breads. Who knew breads could look as great as they taste?
When I saw this challenge I felt a little intimidated. I don’t feel 100% comfortable with bread, always fearing I will make a mistake somewhere along the way and the dough won’t rise or the end product will be dry and inedible. But I wound up with two wonderful loaves of beautiful bread that even my kids loved. It was referred to as the “special bread” by my son.
This challenge gave Daring Bakers the freedom to choose what they used to fill their bread and also what design they would create. Being the non-creative type I just used the suggested methods for twisting my loaves of bread. And if any part of you thinks, “I can’t do that.” trust me, you can. It’s easier than it seems. For fillings I made a savory bread and a sweet bread. I used the same dough recipe for each.
For the savory loaf I chose basil pesto and mozzarella cheese. My only regret is not adding just a little more cheese to the layers. But it was delicious and something I would definitely go through the trouble to make again. It would be a lovely and impressive bread to bring to a dinner party or pot luck.
For the sweet loaf I went with classic cinnamon sugar. We ate this bread for breakfast over the course of 3 days and Carson was sad when it was gone. Again, this is something I’d make again without hesitation. The method I used in twisting the dough was a little more complicated and tedious than the pesto bread, but baked up beautifully.
I drizzled this bread with a simple milk and powdered sugar glaze before serving. Almost like eating a cinnamon roll, possibly better.
Here are a few pictures of the process, none of the actual twisting of the bread since I am my own photographer and could not manage to get any action shots.
The instructions I am going to try to write for how to shape your bread will probably fail in perfectly communicating how to do it. So here are a few links that will help you.
This one has a good video on the entire process. This is not the twisting method I used, but I think it looks beautiful and wish I’d found it before I made my bread!
And this one is what I used. I found the pictures and instructions to be very helpful.
Pesto Star Bread
Ingredients
Dough
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (start with 3 1/4, add more if you need it)
Filling
3-5 tablespoons basil pesto, store bought or homemade
3-5 tablespoons shredded mozzarella cheese
Topping
olive oil
faked salt
Directions
Dough
Heat butter, milk and water just until butter has melted and mixture is between 100 and 110°F, warm but not hot.
Put milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in egg and sugar, then sprinkle yeast on to the mixture, stir once then let sit for 10-15 minutes. Mixture should be foamy after this, if it’s not your liquid was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast was no good to begin with.
Place the dough hook on your mixer and begin mixing, adding about a cup of flour at a time. Once all the flour has been added, mix until dough comes together.
Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.
Filling and Shaping and Baking
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized pieces.
Roll one dough piece out, just big enough to fit your template. I used an 8-inch cake pan, but I think if you can manage to roll your dough out well enough you could get a 9 or 10-inch circle out of the dough. 8-inch was a nice size, though.
Place the template onto the dough and trim off the excess. Transfer to the cookie sheet.
Spread with a heaping tablespoon of pesto, just about to the edge, then sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of cheese.
Repeat with the remaining balls of dough, but not topping the top layer with pesto and cheese. Press and tuck the edges of the top piece to enclose the bread somewhat.
Brush the top layer with olive oil.
With a small sharp knife or a bench scraper, cut the bread into 12 wedges, leaving the outer edge intact, making sure to cut all the way through the layers.
Take one triangle and twist it gently 3 times and place back in the center. Repeat with the rest of the wedges, twisting in the same direction.
Let rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450°F. Sprinkle with flaked salt and bake for 5 minutes, then lower oven temp to 375°F and bake for 10-15 more minutes until bread is golden brown. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t get too dark.
Cinnamon Star Bread
Ingredients
Dough
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup milk, room temperature
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg, room temperature
1/4 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-1/4 to 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Filling
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Topping
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon sugar
Glaze (enough for 4 pieces, double for the entire loaf)
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons milk
Directions
Dough
Heat butter, milk and water just until butter has melted and mixture is between 100 and 110°F, warm but not hot.
Put milk mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk in egg and sugar, then sprinkle yeast on to the mixture, stir once then let sit for 10-15 minutes. Mixture should be foamy after this, if it’s not your liquid was too hot and killed the yeast or your yeast was no good to begin with.
Place the dough hook on your mixer and begin mixing, adding about a cup of flour at a time. Once all the flour has been added, mix until dough comes together.
Place in a large greased bowl, cover with a clean towel and let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours, until doubled in size.
Filling and Shaping and Baking
Whisk sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.
Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized pieces.
Roll one dough piece out, just big enough to fit your template. I used an 8-inch cake pan, but I think if you can manage to roll your dough out well enough you could get a 9 or 10-inch circle out of the dough. 8-inch was a nice size, though.
Place the template onto the dough and trim the excess. Transfer carefully to the cookie sheet.
Brush bottom layer with butter, then sprinkle generously with cinnamon sugar. Repeat with the remaining dough, but only brush the top layer with butter.
Using a small sharp knife or a bench scraper cut circle of dough into 8 equal-sized wedges, making sure to cut all the way through the layers.
With a small knife cut a slit in the center of each triangle leaving space at the top and bottom, the cut should not reach either the base or the tip of the triangle.
Take the tip of the triangle and gently bring it up, over and through the slit, then repeat once more making two twists. Place the triangle back on the baking sheet and repeat with the remaining pieces.
Take the outside edge of each triangle and pinch the ends up and together.
Whisk together the milk and sugar and brush onto the bread.
Let rest for 15 minutes while you preheat the oven to 450°F.
Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes until golden brown.
Glaze
Sift powdered sugar into a bowl.
Whisk in milk until mixture is smooth.
Glaze entire loaf (with a doubled recipe of the glaze) OR glaze each piece individually. If you don’t plan to eat all the bread in one sitting I’d recommend waiting to glaze the remaining bread until you plan to eat it.
Store any leftover bread wrapped in foil at room temperature for 3-5 days. Re-warm in a low oven, toaster oven or microwave. You could also freeze this bread, wrap it well in plastic wrap, then foil. Thaw then reheat in a low oven.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Of course it’s necessary to share some heart shaped food today.
I have very fond memories of eating brown sugar and cinnamon pop tarts before school as a kid. Once I decided to try my hand at making my own pop tarts I knew what kind they would be.
All you need to make these tarts is your favorite pie crust recipe, I adapted a pâte brisée from Martha, and a filling. I chose brown sugar and cinnamon, but your favorite jam, nutella, or peanut or almond butter and chocolate chips are all great choices.
You can either leave these plain, brush them with an egg wash before baking, or top them with a simple glaze. The egg wash makes them beautiful (the ones on the right below), but the glaze is super delicious.
I cut these into hearts for Valentine’s Day, but you can also cut them into 2 by 3 inch rectangles. Or use another shape if you like.
The end result is a flaky pastry that beats out a Pop Tart any day. You can make a batch on the weekend and have them ready for a quick breakfast all week long. You can reheat these in a 300°F oven or in a toaster oven. I’d worry about a stand up toaster if you’ve glazed the pastries, or if any filling has leaked out, it might make a mess (and be a fire hazard) in the toaster. But if your pastries are tightly sealed and unglazed, then you should be in good shape.
In a food processor combine flour, salt and sugar, and pulse to combine.
Add in butter and pulse until coarse crumbs form.
Add in egg and pulse to combine, then stream in 1/4 cup ice water and run the processor, adding more water if necessary, until dough just comes together.
Turn out onto your work surface, pat into a disc, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour,
For the filling
Whisk sugar, cinnamon and flour together in a small bowl.
Whisk egg in a separate bowl.
For the glaze
Make this while the tarts are cooling
Sift the powdered sugar and cinnamon into a bowl.
Whisk in the milk until smooth.
Assembling the tarts
Remove dough from the fridge. If it has been more than 1 hour, let it warm up a bit before trying to roll it out.
Sprinkle a clean work surface with flour, then roll your dough out to about 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut out as many hearts as you can (my heart cutter is the size of my palm, about 4 inches across at the widest point) and set these onto a 2 parchment lined cookie sheets. Re-roll the scraps and cut more hearts. You should have 20-24 total hearts to make 10-12 tarts. You can re-roll what remains if you need more hearts, or just bake the remaining scraps to snack on.
Brush some of the beaten egg all over a heart, then spoon about 2 heaping teaspoons of the filling on the heart, leaving an edge all around. Place another heart on top of the filling and press along the edges to seal. Use a fork to crimp the edges tightly together. Poke a few holes in the top of the tart to let steam escape during baking. Brush with egg wash if desired. Repeat with the remaining hearts. You should have two cookie sheets with 5-6 tarts per sheet.
Place the sheets in the freezer for 10 minutes, or in the fridge for 20 minutes.
Remove and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just slightly golden brown.
Let cool completely before drizzling glaze on to the tarts.
I gave in and bought a donut pan. It was 30% off at Sur la Table. How was I supposed to resist? It’s just this simple one from Wilton and will only set you back $10.
I’ve made fried cake donuts a couple of times, but frying makes such a mess. The worst part, in my opinion, is dealing with the oil afterward. Baking donuts eliminates the mess AND makes you feel a little bit better about eating the donut. I must admit something, though. And it should come as no surprise. They’re not as good as fried. Frying gives such a lovely crunch to the exterior that you just cannot duplicate in the oven. They are still good, just not as good.
Originally I tried the recipe printed on the wrapping of the pan for basic baked donuts. They looked lovely, especially after a good coating of powdered or cinnamon sugar. But they weren’t fantastic. They were dry, crumbly and close to tasteless. So I went on the search for a moister cake donut recipe and found this one for sour cream blueberry donuts. I adapted it a little and turned it into an apple cinnamon sour cream donut. The kids and I have been reheating and enjoying these for breakfast, but they really are best the day they’re made. They are super moist and the grated apple provides just a little texture.
This recipe makes about 10 donuts. Be careful not to overfill your pan because you will have half donut, half muffin top type things. I tried both brown sugar and white sugar with the recipe below. Not a huge difference, but I did prefer the white sugar. I also tried more sour cream and less applesauce, and liked the variation with more applesauce thinking it added more apple-ness to the final product. Definitely do use a plastic bag to pipe the batter into the pan. You’ll have a mess on your hands otherwise. Enjoy!
This recipe is from a Junior League of Austin cookbook that I borrowed from my mom’s house. Thanks, mom : )
These cookies are called English Toffee Cookies in the cookbook, but I took the liberty of changing their name to be more descriptive. They are a little like toffee with their salty sweetness, but not sticky or chewy like toffee. These cookies are crispy and light. They are sweet, but not too sweet. The cinnamon is wonderful. I think a little nutmeg would be nice as well. They are quite tasty on top of vanilla or coffee ice cream, next to a cup of coffee or tea, or all alone.
So very easy. Mix up the dough, roll it out in one big slab on a cookie sheet (use parchment or a silpat to avoid sticking) brush with egg white, sprinkle with pecans, bake, cut and enjoy!
Crispy Cinnamon Pecan Cookies
Courtesy of The Collection from the Junior League of Austin
Ingredients
1 cup shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup ground pecans
Directions
Cream shortening and sugar.
Add beaten egg yolk and vanilla.
Sift dry ingredients together and blend into creamed mixture.
Roll dough out onto a cookie sheet to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness.
Coat with egg white then sprinkle with pecans.
Bake at 300°F for 25-30 minutes.
Let cool, then cut into squares or break into pieces.
If you bake at all, then you can bake this bread. Not only is it incredibly easy, but the ingredient list makes me oh so very happy. I almost always have every single item in my kitchen. Glorious! The only thing that I didn’t have was buttermilk and we all know how easy it is to make your own buttermilk, don’t we? If not, see this blog. I do love Smitten Kitchen. Her blog makes me hungry.
Back to the cinnamon bread.
I made this for a neighbor who I made some cinnamon Amish friendship bread for a while back. He kept asking me to make more of it, but I’d let my starter die and couldn’t do it. I found this to be a great substitute and I can make it without having to keep feeding the friendship starter and making more loaves than I could ever hope to eat.
The recipe is from allrecipes.com, here is the link to the original recipe. I changed the method for mixing the batter together to something I was more comfortable with. I doubt it makes much of a difference, if any. For the topping I used 2 tablespoons of melted butter and about 3 tablespoons of cinnamon sugar I already had mixed up. Maybe this mixture swirled on top of the batter made it rise up all weird in the center but not on the edges? I don’t know. It isn’t pretty, but it is good. Enjoy.
Cinnamon Bread
Courtesy of allrecipes.com
Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and sugar one 9×5 inch loaf pan.
Beat the oil and sugar, then add in eggs and vanilla.
Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, and salt then mix into wet ingredients, followed by the buttermilk. Beat 3 minutes. Pour into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top.
Combine 3 tablespoons white sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and butter. Drizzle topping over smoothed batter. Using knife, cut in a light swirling motion to give a marbled effect.
Bake for about 50 minutes. Test with toothpick. When inserted it should come out clean. Remove bread from pan to rack to cool.
Finally. I have missed more than one of the Daring Bakers challenges in the last few months. I am glad that I got back on track with this one!
The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.
I managed to get the coffee cake made this week despite the fact that my son has not been a fan of napping for more than 30 minutes at a time. At the moment I am trying to get this post written before he wakes up! So, forgive me if this one is short and sweet.
The dough wasn’t too difficult to put together, but even after an hour and a half rise it hadn’t really doubled in bulk. I do not have a great relationship with yeast. I added 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon of cardamom to the flour mixture.
The filling. Oh my goodness. The filling. How can you argue with this? Sweet meringue, chopped pecans, cinnamon sugar and chocolate chips. I did one ring with chocolate, and one without. I prefer the one without if I’m enjoying this for breakfast. I found that the chocolate hides the other flavors too much.
Rolling this up was easy, but when I went to form the ring I couldn’t get the edges to completely seal together. I also didn’t have much filling on the edges, so a section of my ring was just bread…which still tasted delicious.
After baking, the meringue puffed out of the vents and got nice and brown. It is so lovely! I couldn’t resist breaking off a piece of it to enjoy. Yummy.
I made the coffee cakes the day before and sent half of each one to work with Ben the next morning. I was worried that it wouldn’t stay fresh overnight, but I had a piece the next afternoon and it was quite good.
Here is the link to the recipe. I am too pressed for time to put the recipe on this post! Ok, now off to get the kitchen cleaned before the little man wakes! Enjoy!
My house now smells of deep frying, I have a pot of oil cooling on the stove that I have no clue what I am going to do with, and a sink full of sticky dishes. On the bright side I have a rack of apple cake donuts and donut holes covered in cinnamon glaze awaiting consumption. I guess I can’t complain.
The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.
There were quite a few donut options for this deep-fried challenge. All the Daring Bakers could choose from a yeast donut, a buttermilk cake donut, filled bomboloni or pumpkin donut. I was quite close to choosing the pumpkin since I have been on a pumpkin kick lately, but chose the buttermilk cake donut and added some grated apple and cinnamon to the dough.
The recipe says the dough will be sticky. I was not prepared for the level of stickiness. Use as much flour as you need to keep the dough from sticking to the cutters and your counter. I even found that after my first cutting and re-rolling the donuts cut and handled much better thanks to the additional flour that had been incorporated. Do not be shy with the flour.
After frying these beauties to a golden brown, let them drain on paper towels. After cooling you can glaze them. I used a simple glaze of powdered sugar, cinnamon and milk. If you don’t want to glaze, you could dip the donuts in cinnamon sugar while they’re still warm and get a nice crunchy exterior. Or just sprinkle them with powdered sugar. (more…)
These muffins, while a tad bit crumbly, are so incredibly delicious. I have a true and undying love for pecans, and so these had me from the very beginning. The combination of cinnamon and pecans in these muffins is wonderful, and greasing and sugaring the muffins cups gave them such a great crunchy, sweet exterior. You can always use paper muffins cups instead of greasing the muffin pan. These are on the sweeter side for breakfast muffins, but I don’t mind that. Anything I can do to fit in another dessert in my day is a good thing.
I found the recipe on Group Recipes, but used melted butter instead of the oil originally called for in the recipe. Here is the link to the original recipe. The oil would probably make them more moist, so I might try that the next time I make these…and there will be a next time.
These are great when enjoyed warm, but also great at room temperature. I warmed mine in the microwave for about 15 seconds each morning as I enjoyed them all week. That’s just one of those things you must deal with while living with only one other person, leftovers always last a long time. Sometimes this is a good thing, like with these muffins. Other times I wish I had more people to eat the last couple servings of a dish. Our family is growing, but Baby won’t be enjoying these muffins for a while!
Cinnamon Pecan Muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon shopping list
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup, 1 stick, melted butter
1 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Mix first 5 ingredients together, then add egg, milk and butter.
Mix until almost blended, adding pecans. Do not over mix batter.
Fill greased and sugared muffin pans two-thirds full.