What%u2019s up with dinner rolls? Do people eat them all year round, like on a Tuesday in the middle of March or maybe a nice blue sky sunny day in July? Is that a weird question? But seriously, think about it. Dinner rolls, at least in my world of people, are pretty much only eaten in and around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Huh. Kind of strange seeing that dinner rolls are bread which everyone eats all the time and are basically made specifically for dinner (although can and should be eaten for breakfast and lunch as well) which most people eat. Every. Single. Day. Well, whatever the reason, it%u2019s weird. So yes, I am making these here dinner rolls now at the traditional holiday time but I think as of now, I am going to start making them all the time. It%u2019s going to be my new thing. Fourth of July dinner rolls. Yup.
And so yes, we need dinner rolls right now for the holiday food feasts and these dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any and all dinners. They are nice and fluffy and all dinner roll like, just as any good roll should be, but also slightly more nutty and soft and healthy because oats and wheat flour and homemade which is always the best.
And if you are like, hell yes I am a dinner roll person and hell no I am sticking to store bought cause that is that and how it%u2019s done, well hey, no judgment here. I made these for my people for our family Thanksgiving, (which is happening today at my house. There are going be so many people) and I know that everyone will love and be happy to eat them, but I too also bought some of those super white, take and bake ones that I know if I don%u2019t have on the table next to these gorgeous and amazing rolls, that I will probably get punched in the face. So we will have both. And then at dinner I can bask in the glory of all the comments about how much better my rolls are then the store bought ones. (Secretly why I am having both. Fishing for compliments. HAHA!)
Now to those soft and fluffy dinner rolls!
The stuff. Old fashion oats, all purpose and white whole wheat flour, yeast, oil, water (hot and room temperature), maple syrup, and salt.
First, take the boiling water and pour it over the oats. Mix them and let them soak and cool for 10 or so minutes.
While oats are soaking, add the room temp water to a big bowl with the yeast. Once the oats are soft and cooled off a bit, add them to the yeast mixture along with the oil, and maple. Mix together. The add the flours and mix until combined.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, adding a little more four as needed to keep from being to sticky, but don%u2019t over flour. The dough is and should be a little tacky.
Soft and supple. Kneaded and ready.
Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave alone and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
Once the dough doubles, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 12-16 equal sized pieces .
Roll each roll into a roll shape and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover for another 15-20 minutes to let rest and rise a little more.
Rolls risen again, just a little plumper. And now right before you place them in the oven, brush tops with a maple/water mixture and sprinkle with a few oats. To look pretty. And into the oven they go, 30ish minutes, until nice and golden brown.
Baked to golden dinner roll perfection.
And there you have it. Soft and fluffy dinner rolls. Warm out of the oven, looking and smelling like all the good things that you want and need.
And can, and should, be made now and all year round.
-C
makes 12-16 rolls
1 1/2 cups old fashion oats
2 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups boiling water
1 cup room tempature water plus 2 tablespoons for brushing tops
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons maple or honey
2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup neutral oil
In a bowl, mix oats with boil water and let sit and soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the room temp water with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of maple and mix. Once oats have soaked and cooled to a point that they are not super hot, but still just warm, mix them in with the yeast mixture. Add the salt and oil and mix then and both the white and white wheat flour. Mix until combined. The dough is going to be sticky, but that how is should be. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a little flour as needed to keep from sticking too much, until dough is nice and uniformed in texture. Place dough back into big bowl (after you clean it out and lily oil it) and cover with a damp towel. Place somewhere warm for about an hour until it doubles in size.
Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and with a knife of dough cutter, cut into 12- 16 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, pinching any ends together and place them into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Once all pieces are in, over and let rest for another 15 minutes.
While dough is resting again, preheat oven to 350.
After the dough has rested, and right before you place them in the oven, mix 1tablespoon of maple with about 2 tablespoons warm water and brush the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with a handful of oats and then place them into the oven to bake. 30-35 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown.
Once baked remove from oven and let cool to a reasonable temperature and serve.
These can certainly be made a few days ahead of time of eating. Just remove baked rolls from pan and let cool completely then place the into an airtight bag. To reheat, just place on a baking sheet and stick in a hot oven until warm.
Bread is probably, no, definitely one of my upmost favorite things to bake. There is just something so gratifying about the whole process of mixing ingredients, kneading, watching it rise, shaping, then baking. It calms me and make me a better person. Seriously.
And this might sound sad, but this week when my Dad told me that my grandmother died, well I went home and made bread because that is what felt right to do. It gave my mind and hands a good something to do far a little while. Plus I ended up with a loaf of bread to feed people with. I also like to feed people when I am feeling sad.
I chose to use cinnamon and cardamom because of the smells. They are just delightful and happy smells. And swirls are happy so a happy swirl of happy smells in a loaf of bread that I was making to share that was (and did) make people happy. (See, bread baking is making me so nice because I am sharing it) It was just the right thing to do.
So if you are in need of a little happy pick me up, may I suggest making some bread? It might make you feel a little better, or at least get your mind off of things for a bit. And you will have bread so there is that too. It%u2019s a win win.
Now to the bread, which you can also make when you are happy. Or bored, or hungry, although it takes some time so if you are starting off hungry, you will be starving by the time it is done. Maybe eat a snack will you are making it%u2026..
The stuff. White and whole wheat flour, salt, sweet potato puree, soy milk, yeast, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, cardamom, some flax seeds, and an orange.
In a big bow, mix together the yeast, warm milk, sweet potato puree, a little sugar, and oil. Let it sit for a minute to active yeast.
Flours and salt get a good mix to be mixed.
Then dry gets dumped into the yeast mixture along with the zest of the orange.
Mix it until a dough forms then dump it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough for about 6-8 minutes or until supple, uniform, and smooth.
Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about and hour or so or until it doubles in size (could take a little longer then a hour)
Place risen dough back out onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll it out about 2 feet long and as wide as a bread pan.
Don%u2019t forget mix up your brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom.
Brush rolled out dough with the flax mixture. This will help the cinnamon cardamon sugar stick.
And evenly distribute the mixture all over the dough.
Roll it up nice and tight and once it%u2019s all rolled, pinch then end to the rest of the dough.
Gently place the rolled dough, pinched side down, into a well greased bread pan. Cover in a plastic bag for about another hour or until the dough has risen a good amount and is doming over the rim of the pan. Now preheat the oven.
Once the bread is sufficiently risen, place into hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Now the hard part. Get it out of the bread pan and get it cooling off. You cannot cut into it until it cools or you will smoosh the swirl and make it gummy. Just wait, at least a half hour. For real. Wait. You can do it!
And when the bread cools and the wait it over, slice and be amazed. A thing of beauty that smells of greatness.
Bread is so great. Great great great! Especially a swirl bread. I mean. Look at that.
Happy day to you.
-C
Makes 1 loaf
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sweet potato puree
1 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons (or one packet) yeast
3 tablespoons neutral oil like canola
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 orange
For the cinnamon cardamom filling
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese Cinnamon which is a little spicier and sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground flax mixed with 4 teaspoons warm water
Start by grabbing a big bowl. Mix together the yeast, the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, warm milk, sweet potato puree, and oil. Let sit for a minute to active yeast. In a separate bowl mix together the flours and salt. Dump the dry mixture into the wet. Zest the zest of an orange into bowl and mix it all together until it forms a dough. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough gets supple and shinny and uniform. Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a well floured surface and roll out to as wide as a bread pan and roughly 24 inched long. After you have rolled it out brush the flax and water mixture all over surface . Combine the brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom and evenly distribute the mixture all over flaxed dough. And for the fun part. Careful roll the dough into a log. Roll it tightly so the bread doesn’tt end up with big gaps after it bakes. Once rolled, pinch the rolled end and place the log rolled side down into a well greased bread pan. Place dough into a a plastic bag with plenty of space for dough to rise. Let sit for about another hour or until the dough has risen a little bit above the rim of baking pan.
Preheat oven to 375
When dough has risen, place on middle rack in hot oven and bake for 40-45ish minutes or until bread is a deep golden brown and when you give it a tap, it sounds slightly hollow. Also check it with a intsant read thermometer. Get it to 190.
When it done baking, pull from oven and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and let completely cool. Seriously, you got to let it cool for at least 1/2 and hour, but longer is better!
When it%u2019s cooled, cut into slices. Eat as you wish.
Uneaten bread stores well for a day or two in a airtight plastic bag but if you don%u2019t eat it that fast, cut into slices and freeze. That way you can just pop a piece out and stick it into toaster. Smart.
If you come around my house in the cold months, you will more times then not find yourself faced with fresh bread. Why? Well because I like to bake bread. But mostly, if I am honest, when I am cold, I bake. (We keep the house heat off until at least November 1. After that we keep the heat at a low 60 when it%u2019s on.) I like the house to be kept on the colder side, but sometime, it%u2019s a little brisk so if I am home and cold, I am probably just going to bake something, to stay warm of course. This focaccia was my first foray baking to stay warm of the cold season. It was 40 degrees out and the heat still wasn%u2019t on, and I just so happen to be going through my spice drawer and found a batch of everything bagel seasoning that I had mixed up a couple months ago that needed to be used. Hence the bread.
Cold weather+found seasoning+I should make something for dinner=everything bagel focaccia. Or you can just make it because it is super easy and every time I make focaccia it gets gobbled right up. Especially this time. Barb and the mr ate half of it at dinner. And I think the other half was gone by the next day. To quote the mr. %u201cThis focaccia is professional%u201d. He said it with a mouth full of bread. No shit dude. I am professional. Ha
The stuff. Flour, yeast, warm water, everything bagel seasoning, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Start with getting the yeast and warm water mixed together. Let it sit for a minute or 5, just to make sure it is active (this is more important to do if you are not using fresh yeast)
Once you are sure your yeast is alive, add in the flour and mix together until you are having a hard time mixing anymore.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and start to knead. Probably for 5 minutes, until you dough looks like%u2026.
This. Kneaded until smooth and beautiful .
Place dough into a deep bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole ball is coated. Then cover with a damp cloth and stick in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once dough has doubled, grab your baking sheet (can use a pan) and coat the pan with about 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Place the dough into pan and spread it out using your fingertips. Flip the dough over if you need to and keep dimpling the dough until it hits all the sides. Drizzle on another tablespoon of oil on top.
And don%u2019t forget the seasoning. Sprinkle on all the everything seasoning along with the sea salt and some cracked pepper. Make sure to be somewhat liberal with the seasonings too because you know that%u2019s what you want.
Into the oven for 30ish minutes then out of the oven
Look at all the everything.
Drizzle the top of the bread with a little more olive oil, pop it out of the pan, stick it on a cutting board, and that%u2019s it. Now watch your slab of bread disappear.
Happy bread baking. Stay warm.
-C
make a 9×13 slab of bread
4 cups all purpose flour (plus a little more for kneading)
2 cups warm water
2 teaspoon yeast (or one packet)
3 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning*
1 tablespoon sea salt
cracked pepper
about 1/3 cup very good olive oil
*Note To make your own everything bagel seasoning mix up equal parts dried minced garlic, dried onion flakes, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Or I think you can buy it now at the store with all the other spices. But it%u2019s probably cheaper to make it yourself.
To start, place yeast and warm water in a big bowl. Mix until incorporated and let sit for a minute or two or until you see little bubble form, just to make sure the yeast is active. When your sure it%u2019s good, add in 4 cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough mixer until it becomes hard to mix anymore. Dump the dough onto a flour surface and start to knead, adding a little bit of flour as you go if it became to sticky, until the dough is smooth and uniform. Should take about 5 minutes. Place the kneaded dough back into bowl (scrap any of the extra bits out first) and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole dough is coated. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot. Let dough rise for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375.
Once dough has doubled, grab a 9×13 baking sheet or pan and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Really make sure the pan is well greased. Place dough into pan and with the tips of your fingers, smoosh and spread dough until it has filled up the pan. Drizzle with another tablespoon of oil then take your seasoning and evenly spread it all over the top. Sprinkle with salt and add a little cracked pepper. Now pop it into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the bread has turned a nice golden brown.
Remove from oven and right away drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Let sit for a few minutes to absorb then pop the bread out of the pan and place on a rack or cutting board and either let cool, or not. Warm focaccia is loved by all.
I have been so excited all week to make this star bread.%u00a0About a week ago, while perusing %u00a0King Arthur Flour recipes, I saw this %u00a0amazing star shaped cinnamon bun situation and just knew that I had to make it. I checked the recipe, made a a bunch of tweaks (made it vegan and a little simpler) and set a date with the oven. I figured that Friday was the day because well, this bread is basically a really pretty cinnamon bun and cinnamon buns are great for the weekend and plus the temperature in the world dropped to like super freaking freazing cold and what better way to stay warm then to crank the oven.%u00a0
And make it I did. And honestly. this was one of the most satisfying bread bakes that I have had in a while. It is just so dang pretty and smells so good and was honestly way easier to make then it looks (seriously, really simple). I don’t know if I am ever going to be ale to make cinnamon buns the regular way again. I mean look at this. %u00a0And best to let you know that it feeds a crowd, which is fantastic if you are going to be having any big family/friend gatherings in the next month or two. (or if you are just awesome and want to eat the whole thing to your face). Think about it, if you make this for the people (or yourself) %u00a0how cool and awesome and fancy you are going to seem. It’s really a win win win all around here so I don’t see a reason to not make it. Trust me, and thank me later.%u00a0
The stuff of stars. Flour. salt. yeast and soy milk. A little oil, sugar, mashed sweet potato, earth balance %u00a0and cinnamon.%u00a0
To start, a %u00a0couple of tablespoons sugar and the yeast go into the warm soy milk to kick start that yeast and get mixed together.
Salt, oil, and mashed sweet potato go into the big bowl with the flour.
Then the yeast mixture gets pouted in too. Get ready to mix. And mix.
And after mixing, some kneading. %u00a0A well floured surface with a extra flour on the side is needed here. You are going to want to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour whenever the dough gets to sticky.%u00a0
Once the dough is nice and smooth looking, cover it in oil and stick it into a bowl and cover it %u00a0and let %u00a0rise for about an hour.%u00a0
Make your cinnamon sugar mixture while waiting .%u00a0
Dough doubled in size and dumped onto the well flour counter.%u00a0
Take a dough cutter or knife and divided the dough %u00a0into four equal pieces and roll each piece into ball.
While keeping your surface well floured, roll a dough ball into circle (or as close to a circle as you can get it) about 12 inched wide%u00a0
Place rolled dough onto parchment paper and cover the surface with %u00a0earth balance. Then sprinkle a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture all over that.
Grab another ball of dough and roll it out the same size as the first and place on top the first dough. Repeat the earth balance and sugar mixture and then cover that with another rolled out dough. Earth balance and sugar mixture one more time, then the last dough.
All stacked up.Take the rolling pin and give the whole stacked thing a gentle little roll, just to make sure all layers are stuck together.
The fun part. Grab a small circle cutter or lid (I used small jar lid) and place directly in the middle. Take your dough cutter and score your cuts. Score into quarters then each corner into six pieces. You end up with twenty-four pieces.%u00a0There needs to be a even amount of pieces in order for the design to work so you could do %u00a022-16 pieces. I wouldn’t %u00a0go less.
To get the twist, grab a piece in each hand, give a little tug and twist the pieces towards each other 3 times. Take the ends and kind of tuck and pinch them together. %u00a0Repeat until all the pieces care twisted.%u00a0
%u00a0This is probably the most pretty cinnamon thing I have ever seen.%u00a0
Slide the star on the parchment onto a baking sheet and cover to rise and rest for about half hour or so and get the oven preheated.
After the second rise and right before you stick it into he oven, brush the top with a little plant milk.
And into the hot oven it goes.%u00a0
Aaaaa. So freaking pretty!%u00a0
After a few minutes, if you decided you want a little glaze action, go for it. I made up a super simple one, just a splash of vanilla in powder sugar with a splash of milk.%u00a0
Drizzled and ready for action.%u00a0
makes 12-13 servings%u00a0
For the dough%u00a0
2 3/4 -3 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading.
1/4 cup mashed sweet potato *
1 1/4 cup warm soy (or any plant) milk plus 1 tablespoon to brush on pre bake
1/4 cup neutral oil plus 1 tablespoon to coat dough
1 packet or 2 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
for filling
7 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons room temperature earth balance
For icing (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons plant milk
*I just mashed up a 1/4 cup of a roated sweet potato that I had in the fridge. If you don’t have a roasted potato laying around, you can steam of roast a sweet potato and mash it up for this.%u00a0
Measure milk into a large jar or bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons sugar and the yeast. Set aside to activate.%u00a0In a large bowl mix together the lesser amount of flour and salt. Add in the sweet potato,%u00a0oil, and the soy yeast mixture. Mix together with a wooden spoon or dough spoon until you can’t. If the dough seems really wet, add in another 1/4 cup of flour. %u00a0Once mixed as well was you can get it, dump the dough onto well floured surface. Start kneading the dough, adding a little flour as you go if needed. Knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is a nice soft but not to sticky uniform ball. Cover dough with a little oil and place into large clean bowl. Cover with a towel and let dough rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
Mix the cinnamon and sugar together while waiting.
Once dough has risen, dump it onto a well floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then grab the first ball and roll out into a large circle about 12 inches wide. Don’t worry hear if the circle is not perfect, its going to be fine. Place first circle onto piece of parchment paper and cover the surface with 1 tablespoon of earth balance. Sprinkle with a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Grab another dough ball and roll out to the same size as the first and place onto of the cinnamon sugared dough. Repeat the earth balance cinnamon sugar and top with another rolled out dough. Once more with the remaining earth balance and cinnamon sugar and top with the last rolled out dough. Take rolling pin and give the whole stacked thing a little roll to make sure it’s all stuck together well.
For the design part. Grab a small circle shaped thing about 2 inches wide (I used a jar lid) and place directly in the center of the dough. Take a dough cutter or sharpe knife and lightly score into quarters then each quarter into 6 pieces You could also cut less pieces, but the main thing you need is to have an even number of pieces for the design to work.%u00a0Once your lines are good, cut the lines by pushing down into the dough and not slicing back and forth. %u00a0Grab a piece in each hand and gently %u00a0twist the pieces towards each other 3 times then pinch the ends together. Repeat until all the pieces are twisted together. Slide the star onto a large baking sheet, cover, and let rest and rise for another 1/2 hour.%u00a0
Preheat oven to 400
When the star is risen again and right before it’s going into the oven, brush the top with a little plant milk. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 20- 25 minutes, or until the top is a nice deep gold brown.
Remove from oven and let cool a little bit. If you want a little icing, mix together the vanilla, powdered sugar, and plant milk. Wait until the star is less the hot and drizzle all over.
And now it’s time to get at it. Eat what you want and store the rest in an air tight container.%u00a0
What do you do when you have a bazillion ripe bananas? A sweet banana bread? Banaer ice cream? Mash them up in your oatmeal? These are what I usually do, well these things and just stock my freezer full of bananas because I am pretty sure that there should always be bananas in the freezer. .
I went grocery shopping and bought like a billion bananas because they were dirt cheap (19 cents a pound) and why not. There is plenty of room in the freezer.
And it was a bread making day. I wanted to make bread that involved a good knead, that the mr could have as a sandwich loaf, and that had bananas in it. (I love adding fruit and veggie purees to breads) I needed a multi functional loaf that can be used for toast and sandwiches. So I made it.
This bread doesn’t have a crazy powerful banana flavor, just a light bananerness that adds a touch of sweetness and yum to the bread. Perfect for slices and slathering with peanut butter.
Pretty sure I scored on this one. It was well loved by many and eaten within days. Lucky for the mr I have a billion bananas.
The stuff. Some all purpose flour and some whole wheat (with germ) flour. A couple really ripe bananas, a little earth balance, salt, yeast, and water.
Peel and blended bananas into a smooth banana puree.
Add enough water to the bananas to make 2 cups of liquid.%u00a0 Add in the yeast and earth balance and blend that in too.
Wet gets dumped and mixed into the (mixed) flours and salt.
Wet shaggy dough gets dumped onto the floured counter and kneaded for about 10 minutes into a nice uniform and smooth ball
Once risen twice it’s size, dump dough onto counter, shape into a log and place into a well greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again. Second rise will take a little less time then the first, just wait for the dough to dome over the sides of the pan.
Once it looks good, stick the thing into a preheated oven, close the door, and watch it bake (for about 50 minutes)
Golden brown, hollow sounding, and the instant read thermometer reads 190….Bread is all baked.Now hard part. Let that loaf sit and cool completely. (trust, it needs to cool or you will just mush it)
Now that its cooled, you slice and eat. A loaf of bread with a slight hint of banana ready for you face.
The mr has been eating it toasted with peanut butter like I predicted or dipping it into his split pea soup. (he really liked it with the soup) Just suggestions.
Bye.
-C
makes one loaf
2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat with bran flour (plus a little more for kneading)
2 rip bananas
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons yeast (or 1 packet)
2 teaspoons earth balance (or butter)
1- 1/12 cups warm water
Peel bananas and blend them into a smooth puree. Add enough warm water to the banana mixture to equal 2 cups of liquid. Add the yeast and earth balance to the puree and mix until fully incorporated. Let sit for a few minutes to active yeast.
Whisk together the flours (start with the lesser amount) and salt in a large bowl. Dump the wet mixture into the bowl and mix together with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until you can no longer mix. If the dough is really wet, add in the other 1/4 of flour. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for about 10 minutes.
Place in a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic or wax paper and a towel and place in a warm place to rise. Depending on how warm your place is, it will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to double in size. Once risen, dump onto counter, shape into a log and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again for about 1/2- 45 minutes or until the dough forms a dome over the pan.
Preheat oven to 350.
When dough is done second rise, stick it into the preheated oven and bake. It should be in there for about 50 minutes, but check at 45 for a deep golden color and a internal temperature of 190. Once done, remove from oven, gently remove from pand and set on a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled you can go for it.
Stay fresh for about 3 days in a air tight container, but I would slice and freeze any if not gone by then.
It was the perfect Sunday. Cold, snow covered, cozy and quite. Everything a Sunday should be. (now its warm ,rainy and chaotic. Poop) The perfect day spent reading, drawing, drinking way to much coffee and putzing around. And baking a loaf of bread.. chocolate bread. If everyday was like this………
Chocolate bread? Well yeah, it is the holiday season after all and I figured that it would make something that would last all week and can is multi -purpose.(breakfast or dinner) I could have made more cookies, but I am airing on the side of not feeding the mr sugar bombs for breakfast these days. But this chocolate bread. He can eat it whenever he wants. It’s basically just a loaf of bread (I made it with whole wheat for extra goodness) with a tuch of sweetness ans a lot of chocolate flavor. It makes agreat breakfast toast, a hearty snack, or would be great for some type of french toast situation. Or maybeyou want to make some chocolate bread pudding, or woy are going to be making chili and want something to serve it with. (I was thinking a black bean chili would pair really nicely). There are no rules here. The mr, he has been eating it with peanut butter banana or mashed avocado. Its nothing to complicated, just chocolaty bread.
So of you are around this week, maybe spending some time at home, I think you should make bread.%u00a0 It’s really easy, not much in terms of mess and who doesn’t love the smell of baking bread? And bonus.. IF you have any friends or family visiting, or if you are visiting them, why not impress them with a freshly baked loaf of bread, You will be the coolest.
The stuff. White whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, salt, soy milk, coffee, yeast and turbinado sugar.
The sugar and yeast get whisked together with the soy milk and coffee and left for a few minutes to make sure its active (or if you know your yeast is good, then just get on with it.)
Flour, cocoa powder, and the salt get a good whisk together as well.%u00a0
Then dumped into the yeast mixture.
Mix until the dough starts to come together, then dump it onto a lightly floured surface and start. Gather together with your hands ans start to knead.
Keep kneading (about 5 minutes or so) until the dough is a cohesive texture, slightly glossy, %u00a0ball of goodness.
Place the dough back into the bowl and drizzle and rub down with a oil (use a neutral flavor) Place a damp towel over the top and stick in a warm place to rise and double in size, which should take between an hour,, hour and a half, (depending on how warm you place is)
Once it has doubled, push down dough, shape into a loaf shape, and place in a greased load pan. Rub a little more oil on the top, cover with plastic this time (a towel will absorb the moisture from the dough), and place back into the place to rise again.
And once the dough starts to crest the pan and has double again,(another 30 minutes) it’s tie to bake. Stick the dough into a preheated oven and bake away.%u00a0 Optional step but yoi should do it. Stick a pan with about an inch of water on the bottom of the oven when you stick the dough in. It makes the crust a little crustier and pretty. and keep the bread a but more moist.
And once the bread is done (45-50 minutes, with a internal temp of 190) remove from the oven and let cool(for at least 15 minutes.. (you can do it!)
Sliced to your preferred thickness, eaten as is or slathered with some peanut butter. Save some for the morning for french toast or strawberry jam toast.
The possibilities are endless.
Enjoy you day.
-C
Makes one loaf
3 cups white whole wheat bread flour (plus a little more if needed)
1/2 cup natural cocoa powder
1 cup soy milk
2/3 cup warm coffee
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (can use cane sugar)
2 1/4 teaspoon yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Note. If you want to make 2 loaves (why not right) just double everything except the yeast. Still only use the 2 1/4 teaspoons.
In a large bowl, whisk together the soy, sugar, and the yeast, then add in the coffee last. (just to make sure the coffee isn’t to hot that it kills the yeast) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Once you are sure the yeast is active, dump the dry into the wet and mix with together until the dough starts to form. If the dough seems to wet, add in another tablespoon or two of flour. Dump onto a slightly floured counter and knead until a cohesive texture that is somewhat smooth a glossy. Place dough back into bowl, drizzle and rub with oil, then place a damp towel over the bowl ans stick it in a warm place. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, which should take about 1- 1 1/2 (depending ho warm the spot) Once doubles, dump onto counter and push down. Shape into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan. Rub a little more oil on top and cover with plastic. Let the dough rise for about another 30 minutes or until the dough is cresting the brim of the pan.%u00a0
Preheat the oven to 400
When dough is done it’s second rise, place a pan with about an inch of water into the oven on he lowest rack. Place dough in oven on the middle rack. Turn heat down to 375 and bake between 45-50 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on. (also can check for temperature of 190 with a instant read thermometer)
When done, remove from pan ans let cool completely (or at least 20 minutes) before cutting.
When cooled, cut into slices and do what you will (straight up or covered in peanut butter…..)
Store uneaten bread in a air tight bag for about 3 days or just cut it all up and stick slices in the freezer and grab pieces as you need them. Either toast or lest thaw to room temp.
The other day the mister and I started reminiscing about some of our earliest memories of what our parents fed us or what they used to eat when we were growing up. One of the dishes that we both remember eating was the classic creamed beef on toast, or as my mom use to call it, shit on a shingle. %u00a0 Yup, shit on a shingle. (who ever started calling creamed meat on toast is a freaking genius)%u00a0I think that as a kid, I liked %u00a0the dish just for the mer fact that I could say the word shit and get away with it. %u00a0I think my mom liked it for few reasons; she could make a big butt load of it really fast, for a crap load of kids, on the super cheap. And I think that she just really like it. %u00a0
Shit on a shingle is one of those foods that I like to call “trash food”, you know stuff like beefaroni or pork and beans. Stuff that we all loved as little kids but might think twice about feeding to anyone now. ( I’ll still feed nick a can of beefaroni.. he likes it)%u00a0As a throwback to our earliest food memories, (also a lack of food in the house and wanted to make something fast, easy, and cheap.. thanks mom!) I made the mister my rendition of the classic. Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on toast. Not quite as trashy as creamed beef (lentils, mushrooms and onions are not trashy) but you get the same reminiscing feeling. I guess I could call it something like “stuff on a shingle” or lumps on a shingle”, but what kid (or adult) %u00a0would want to eat that. Let’s just stick with shit, it makes it more awesome to eat it.
The shit%u2026.. A few mushrooms, a bit of onion, cooked lentils, flour, milk, oil, salt and pepper, and garlic powder. And the shingles.. 2 pieces of thick white country bread.%u00a0Slice the mushrooms and the onion and toss into a skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until browned and fragrant..Remove from pan.In the empty pan still on medium heat, add in the olive oil and the flour. Whisky constantly, slowly add in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce thickens. Remove from heat. Add in %u00a0salt, pepper, and garlic powder.Add the mushrooms and the lentils into the sauce and give it a good mix. Oh, and don’t forget to %u00a0toast up the bread. Now dump that shit all over those shingles! Oh the memories.
If you need to, make it classy by serving it with a cloth napkin and a nice fork and knife. But eat it however you need to. (As kids we like dirty hands and no fork, preferably with a big tall glass of overly sweetened red flavored kool-aid)
Enjoy this fantastic Spring weekend!
-C
%u00a0Shit on s Shingle (Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on Toast)
One serving
1 cup cooked lentils
2- 3 mushrooms
1/2 small onion
1 cup milk (cow, nut, plant%u2026 whatever you want)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper
2 pieces of nice thick but soft white sandwich bread
Slice the mushroom and onion and toss into a pan or skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until brown and fragrant than dump onto a plate. In same skillet, add the oil and the flour and mix with a whisk while slowly adding in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat to simmer and add in the cooked lentils and the saut%u00e9d mushrooms and onions. Push down the bread in the toaster.. and when it pops up, dump the shill over it.
%u00a0It’s Friday!!! And what does that mean? Pizza Pizza!!!!But not just Fridays%u2026pizza happens more times then not in our house%u2026It’s the misters favorite food and for real, he could eat it everyday, all day.%u2026He is kind of made of the stuff. As for me, well I don’t mind making it for him because it’s easy. And because I am making it, it doesn’t have 8 million calories, 9 million grams of fat and have 10 million milligrams of sodium like takeout of frozen. %u00a0My pizzas are for the most part pretty freaking heathy. It really depends on how its topped. Like take this one.. Homemade pesto, good quaility cheese, (you can use vegan or low fat)%u00a0chickpeas and tomatoes. Not to shabby. And really, it isn’t any more complicated then calling the take-out place or unwrapping the frozen plastic disk from the box. All you need is some good dough (I guess you could use store bought) and some good quality toppings%u2026 and you’re there%u2026Pizza in your face.
For this pizza I used the skillet cooking method. This crust is one of %u00a0the misters favorites. It is a basic pizza dough but cooked on the stove in a skillet. It’s almost like a pita bread, but not. And I like to make it this way because its really fast (once the dough is made) and I can even make up a few crusts to have on hand for later.
Fast, healthy, and tasty%u2026..Why not eat pizza every day?%u00a0
Not too many ingredients here. 3 cups of all purpose flour or 2 cups all purpose and 1 cup white whole wheat. A teaspoon salt, a teaspoon honey (use sugar if vegan), yeast and warm water%u2026%u00a0
Start with the dough. %u00a0Add honey or sugar to yeast and warm water and let sit to active, which should take about 5 minutes.
%u00a0Mix together the salt and flour(s) and add the foamy yeast mixture. Mix until it all comes together and dump out onto a floured surface. (if the dough seems to dry add a splash of water..if way to wet, add a little flour) Give the dough a good 2-3 minute knead session, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Form a nice ball, place back into bowl and drizzle with oil. Cover bowl with a towel and stick in warm place to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
When dough has doubled, dump back onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized balls (or as many balls at whatever size you want)
Now you have a few choices here. You can either cook up all the dough now if you need it, or freeze dough balls for future use. If you think you are going to make pizza again within the next few days, it can be refrigerated, or you could also blind bake the dough and freeze or fridragerate that and have pre baked crusts all ready to go. So many options%u2026 just do whatever works for you.%u00a0
To make the dough in a skillet, oil the bottom of a 15 inch skillet, turn burner on to high and let preheat until the oil is sizzling. Roll dough out to roughly the size of the skillet and when it has preheated, place dough on in there and let cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the dough starts to bubble and the bottom has started to brown. Turn burner down to medium and flip. Cook this side for another 3-5 minutes.
If you want oven crust, just roll out and place on a baking sheet and bake with topping on at 475 degrees for about 20 minutes
Now the crust is ready for the toppings!!
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.%u00a0
Smear the pesto (for this pie, I used the last of my homemade pesto from last summer%u2026sad face) Mince garlic and distribute evenly on top of that. Then do the cheese, followed by the tomato slices and chick peas. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, cracked pepper and some parmesan cheese.%u00a0
Stick into oven for 10 or so minutes or until the chesse is nice and bubbly and the crust os crispy and brown.
And that is pizza. A super duper, yummy, healthy, not too fatty or overly salty%u2026 %u00a0can be eaten breakfast lunch or dinner time, pretty, satisfying, pizza. %u00a0
Make it for yourself, for you lover, for a friend. Make it in the shape of a heart or an elephant. Give you kid(s) a ball of dough and have them make their own%u2026 I know%u2026 such a good idea.%u00a0
Everyday, all day.. Happy Friday and Happy Pizza
Stay warm!
-C
For the dough ..Makes about four 10 inch pizza doughs or three 12 -14 inch doughs. This is also the same recipe I use for all of my pizzas (skillet and oven)
3 cups of all purpose flour or %u00a02 cups all purpose and 1 cup white whole wheat
2 1/4 teaspoons of yeast or 1 packet
1 teaspoon of honey or sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
The Pizza Toppings (for a 15 inch crust..adjust amounts to your need or liking)
1/4 cup of pesto
1 large %u00a0roma tomato thinly sliced
a few cloves of garlic minced
1/1 cup of prepare chick peas.. rinsed and drained
1/2- 3/4 cup of cheddar cheese (or any kind you like..use vegan cheese if you want too)
salt, pepper, and parmeasan (optional) to sprinkle on top
To start, place honey, yeast and water into a jar or bowl and let sit to active until mixture starts to foam. Mix together flour and salt into a large bowl and add in yeast mixture. Stir until combined and dump onto a well floured surface. Knead dough for a a few minutes and form into a ball. Place back into bowl, drizzle with oil and top with a towel. Place somewhere warm to rise for an hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
When dough is done rising, dump back onto floured surface and divide into 4-8 equal sized balls.( 4 balls make %u00a015 inch pizza%u2026 8 balls are good for individual size pizzas) Place whatever dough you are not going to use into a closable plastic bag and either stick in fridge(if using within a few days) or freeze for future use.
Place skillet on high heat on stove and drizzle with oil. Also, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out you dough and when the skillet is has gotten really hot, place dough right on in. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes or unit the cough has started to form bubbles and the bottom has started to brown. Turn heat down to low and cook other side for another 3-5 minutes or until browned.%u00a0
Now pizzafy it.. Add on the toppings. Smear with pesto, add minced garlic, then evenly sprinkle cheese. Top with the chick peas and the sliced tomatoes. A sprinkle of salt and pepper and a dusting of grated parmesan%u2026%u2026Right into the oven for about 10 minutes to melt it all together%u2026..
THE LOVELY CRAZY
January 10, 2020 by maximios • Blog
What%u2019s up with dinner rolls? Do people eat them all year round, like on a Tuesday in the middle of March or maybe a nice blue sky sunny day in July? Is that a weird question? But seriously, think about it. Dinner rolls, at least in my world of people, are pretty much only eaten in and around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Huh. Kind of strange seeing that dinner rolls are bread which everyone eats all the time and are basically made specifically for dinner (although can and should be eaten for breakfast and lunch as well) which most people eat. Every. Single. Day. Well, whatever the reason, it%u2019s weird. So yes, I am making these here dinner rolls now at the traditional holiday time but I think as of now, I am going to start making them all the time. It%u2019s going to be my new thing. Fourth of July dinner rolls. Yup.
And so yes, we need dinner rolls right now for the holiday food feasts and these dinner rolls are the perfect accompaniment to any and all dinners. They are nice and fluffy and all dinner roll like, just as any good roll should be, but also slightly more nutty and soft and healthy because oats and wheat flour and homemade which is always the best.
And if you are like, hell yes I am a dinner roll person and hell no I am sticking to store bought cause that is that and how it%u2019s done, well hey, no judgment here. I made these for my people for our family Thanksgiving, (which is happening today at my house. There are going be so many people) and I know that everyone will love and be happy to eat them, but I too also bought some of those super white, take and bake ones that I know if I don%u2019t have on the table next to these gorgeous and amazing rolls, that I will probably get punched in the face. So we will have both. And then at dinner I can bask in the glory of all the comments about how much better my rolls are then the store bought ones. (Secretly why I am having both. Fishing for compliments. HAHA!)
Now to those soft and fluffy dinner rolls!
The stuff. Old fashion oats, all purpose and white whole wheat flour, yeast, oil, water (hot and room temperature), maple syrup, and salt.
First, take the boiling water and pour it over the oats. Mix them and let them soak and cool for 10 or so minutes.
While oats are soaking, add the room temp water to a big bowl with the yeast. Once the oats are soft and cooled off a bit, add them to the yeast mixture along with the oil, and maple. Mix together. The add the flours and mix until combined.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for about 3-5 minutes, adding a little more four as needed to keep from being to sticky, but don%u2019t over flour. The dough is and should be a little tacky.
Soft and supple. Kneaded and ready.
Place the dough back into the bowl and cover with a damp towel. Leave alone and let rise for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
Once the dough doubles, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into 12-16 equal sized pieces .
Roll each roll into a roll shape and place them in a lightly greased baking dish. Cover for another 15-20 minutes to let rest and rise a little more.
Rolls risen again, just a little plumper. And now right before you place them in the oven, brush tops with a maple/water mixture and sprinkle with a few oats. To look pretty. And into the oven they go, 30ish minutes, until nice and golden brown.
Baked to golden dinner roll perfection.
And there you have it. Soft and fluffy dinner rolls. Warm out of the oven, looking and smelling like all the good things that you want and need.
And can, and should, be made now and all year round.
-C
makes 12-16 rolls
1 1/2 cups old fashion oats
2 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2 cups boiling water
1 cup room tempature water plus 2 tablespoons for brushing tops
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons maple or honey
2 teaspoons yeast
1/4 cup neutral oil
In a bowl, mix oats with boil water and let sit and soak for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, in a large bowl, mix the room temp water with the yeast and 1 tablespoon of maple and mix. Once oats have soaked and cooled to a point that they are not super hot, but still just warm, mix them in with the yeast mixture. Add the salt and oil and mix then and both the white and white wheat flour. Mix until combined. The dough is going to be sticky, but that how is should be. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-5 minutes, adding a little flour as needed to keep from sticking too much, until dough is nice and uniformed in texture. Place dough back into big bowl (after you clean it out and lily oil it) and cover with a damp towel. Place somewhere warm for about an hour until it doubles in size.
Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a lightly floured surface and with a knife of dough cutter, cut into 12- 16 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball, pinching any ends together and place them into a 9×13 inch baking pan. Once all pieces are in, over and let rest for another 15 minutes.
While dough is resting again, preheat oven to 350.
After the dough has rested, and right before you place them in the oven, mix 1tablespoon of maple with about 2 tablespoons warm water and brush the tops of the rolls. Sprinkle with a handful of oats and then place them into the oven to bake. 30-35 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown.
Once baked remove from oven and let cool to a reasonable temperature and serve.
These can certainly be made a few days ahead of time of eating. Just remove baked rolls from pan and let cool completely then place the into an airtight bag. To reheat, just place on a baking sheet and stick in a hot oven until warm.
Bread is probably, no, definitely one of my upmost favorite things to bake. There is just something so gratifying about the whole process of mixing ingredients, kneading, watching it rise, shaping, then baking. It calms me and make me a better person. Seriously.
And this might sound sad, but this week when my Dad told me that my grandmother died, well I went home and made bread because that is what felt right to do. It gave my mind and hands a good something to do far a little while. Plus I ended up with a loaf of bread to feed people with. I also like to feed people when I am feeling sad.
I chose to use cinnamon and cardamom because of the smells. They are just delightful and happy smells. And swirls are happy so a happy swirl of happy smells in a loaf of bread that I was making to share that was (and did) make people happy. (See, bread baking is making me so nice because I am sharing it) It was just the right thing to do.
So if you are in need of a little happy pick me up, may I suggest making some bread? It might make you feel a little better, or at least get your mind off of things for a bit. And you will have bread so there is that too. It%u2019s a win win.
Now to the bread, which you can also make when you are happy. Or bored, or hungry, although it takes some time so if you are starting off hungry, you will be starving by the time it is done. Maybe eat a snack will you are making it%u2026..
The stuff. White and whole wheat flour, salt, sweet potato puree, soy milk, yeast, brown sugar, oil, cinnamon, cardamom, some flax seeds, and an orange.
In a big bow, mix together the yeast, warm milk, sweet potato puree, a little sugar, and oil. Let it sit for a minute to active yeast.
Flours and salt get a good mix to be mixed.
Then dry gets dumped into the yeast mixture along with the zest of the orange.
Mix it until a dough forms then dump it out onto a lightly floured surface.
Knead dough for about 6-8 minutes or until supple, uniform, and smooth.
Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for about and hour or so or until it doubles in size (could take a little longer then a hour)
Place risen dough back out onto a lightly floured surface.
Roll it out about 2 feet long and as wide as a bread pan.
Don%u2019t forget mix up your brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom.
Brush rolled out dough with the flax mixture. This will help the cinnamon cardamon sugar stick.
And evenly distribute the mixture all over the dough.
Roll it up nice and tight and once it%u2019s all rolled, pinch then end to the rest of the dough.
Gently place the rolled dough, pinched side down, into a well greased bread pan. Cover in a plastic bag for about another hour or until the dough has risen a good amount and is doming over the rim of the pan. Now preheat the oven.
Once the bread is sufficiently risen, place into hot oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.
Now the hard part. Get it out of the bread pan and get it cooling off. You cannot cut into it until it cools or you will smoosh the swirl and make it gummy. Just wait, at least a half hour. For real. Wait. You can do it!
And when the bread cools and the wait it over, slice and be amazed. A thing of beauty that smells of greatness.
Bread is so great. Great great great! Especially a swirl bread. I mean. Look at that.
Happy day to you.
-C
Makes 1 loaf
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sweet potato puree
1 cup soy milk
2 teaspoons (or one packet) yeast
3 tablespoons neutral oil like canola
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 orange
For the cinnamon cardamom filling
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon (I used Vietnamese Cinnamon which is a little spicier and sweeter)
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground flax mixed with 4 teaspoons warm water
Start by grabbing a big bowl. Mix together the yeast, the 2 tablespoons brown sugar, warm milk, sweet potato puree, and oil. Let sit for a minute to active yeast. In a separate bowl mix together the flours and salt. Dump the dry mixture into the wet. Zest the zest of an orange into bowl and mix it all together until it forms a dough. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes or until the dough gets supple and shinny and uniform. Place dough into a well oiled bowl and cover for about an hour or until doubled in size.
Once dough has doubled, dump out onto a well floured surface and roll out to as wide as a bread pan and roughly 24 inched long. After you have rolled it out brush the flax and water mixture all over surface . Combine the brown sugar with the cinnamon and cardamom and evenly distribute the mixture all over flaxed dough. And for the fun part. Careful roll the dough into a log. Roll it tightly so the bread doesn’tt end up with big gaps after it bakes. Once rolled, pinch the rolled end and place the log rolled side down into a well greased bread pan. Place dough into a a plastic bag with plenty of space for dough to rise. Let sit for about another hour or until the dough has risen a little bit above the rim of baking pan.
Preheat oven to 375
When dough has risen, place on middle rack in hot oven and bake for 40-45ish minutes or until bread is a deep golden brown and when you give it a tap, it sounds slightly hollow. Also check it with a intsant read thermometer. Get it to 190.
When it done baking, pull from oven and remove from pan. Place on a wire rack and let completely cool. Seriously, you got to let it cool for at least 1/2 and hour, but longer is better!
When it%u2019s cooled, cut into slices. Eat as you wish.
Uneaten bread stores well for a day or two in a airtight plastic bag but if you don%u2019t eat it that fast, cut into slices and freeze. That way you can just pop a piece out and stick it into toaster. Smart.
If you come around my house in the cold months, you will more times then not find yourself faced with fresh bread. Why? Well because I like to bake bread. But mostly, if I am honest, when I am cold, I bake. (We keep the house heat off until at least November 1. After that we keep the heat at a low 60 when it%u2019s on.) I like the house to be kept on the colder side, but sometime, it%u2019s a little brisk so if I am home and cold, I am probably just going to bake something, to stay warm of course. This focaccia was my first foray baking to stay warm of the cold season. It was 40 degrees out and the heat still wasn%u2019t on, and I just so happen to be going through my spice drawer and found a batch of everything bagel seasoning that I had mixed up a couple months ago that needed to be used. Hence the bread.
Cold weather+found seasoning+I should make something for dinner=everything bagel focaccia. Or you can just make it because it is super easy and every time I make focaccia it gets gobbled right up. Especially this time. Barb and the mr ate half of it at dinner. And I think the other half was gone by the next day. To quote the mr. %u201cThis focaccia is professional%u201d. He said it with a mouth full of bread. No shit dude. I am professional. Ha
The stuff. Flour, yeast, warm water, everything bagel seasoning, sea salt, pepper, and olive oil.
Start with getting the yeast and warm water mixed together. Let it sit for a minute or 5, just to make sure it is active (this is more important to do if you are not using fresh yeast)
Once you are sure your yeast is alive, add in the flour and mix together until you are having a hard time mixing anymore.
Dump dough onto a floured surface and start to knead. Probably for 5 minutes, until you dough looks like%u2026.
This. Kneaded until smooth and beautiful .
Place dough into a deep bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole ball is coated. Then cover with a damp cloth and stick in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.
Once dough has doubled, grab your baking sheet (can use a pan) and coat the pan with about 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Place the dough into pan and spread it out using your fingertips. Flip the dough over if you need to and keep dimpling the dough until it hits all the sides. Drizzle on another tablespoon of oil on top.
And don%u2019t forget the seasoning. Sprinkle on all the everything seasoning along with the sea salt and some cracked pepper. Make sure to be somewhat liberal with the seasonings too because you know that%u2019s what you want.
Into the oven for 30ish minutes then out of the oven
Look at all the everything.
Drizzle the top of the bread with a little more olive oil, pop it out of the pan, stick it on a cutting board, and that%u2019s it. Now watch your slab of bread disappear.
Happy bread baking. Stay warm.
-C
make a 9×13 slab of bread
4 cups all purpose flour (plus a little more for kneading)
2 cups warm water
2 teaspoon yeast (or one packet)
3 tablespoons everything bagel seasoning*
1 tablespoon sea salt
cracked pepper
about 1/3 cup very good olive oil
*Note To make your own everything bagel seasoning mix up equal parts dried minced garlic, dried onion flakes, sesame seeds, and poppy seeds. Or I think you can buy it now at the store with all the other spices. But it%u2019s probably cheaper to make it yourself.
To start, place yeast and warm water in a big bowl. Mix until incorporated and let sit for a minute or two or until you see little bubble form, just to make sure the yeast is active. When your sure it%u2019s good, add in 4 cups of flour. Mix with a wooden spoon or dough mixer until it becomes hard to mix anymore. Dump the dough onto a flour surface and start to knead, adding a little bit of flour as you go if it became to sticky, until the dough is smooth and uniform. Should take about 5 minutes. Place the kneaded dough back into bowl (scrap any of the extra bits out first) and drizzle with olive oil. Make sure the whole dough is coated. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot. Let dough rise for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375.
Once dough has doubled, grab a 9×13 baking sheet or pan and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Really make sure the pan is well greased. Place dough into pan and with the tips of your fingers, smoosh and spread dough until it has filled up the pan. Drizzle with another tablespoon of oil then take your seasoning and evenly spread it all over the top. Sprinkle with salt and add a little cracked pepper. Now pop it into the preheated oven. Bake for 30 -35 minutes or until the bread has turned a nice golden brown.
Remove from oven and right away drizzle on another tablespoon or so of olive oil. Let sit for a few minutes to absorb then pop the bread out of the pan and place on a rack or cutting board and either let cool, or not. Warm focaccia is loved by all.
I have been so excited all week to make this star bread.%u00a0About a week ago, while perusing %u00a0King Arthur Flour recipes, I saw this %u00a0amazing star shaped cinnamon bun situation and just knew that I had to make it. I checked the recipe, made a a bunch of tweaks (made it vegan and a little simpler) and set a date with the oven. I figured that Friday was the day because well, this bread is basically a really pretty cinnamon bun and cinnamon buns are great for the weekend and plus the temperature in the world dropped to like super freaking freazing cold and what better way to stay warm then to crank the oven.%u00a0
And make it I did. And honestly. this was one of the most satisfying bread bakes that I have had in a while. It is just so dang pretty and smells so good and was honestly way easier to make then it looks (seriously, really simple). I don’t know if I am ever going to be ale to make cinnamon buns the regular way again. I mean look at this. %u00a0And best to let you know that it feeds a crowd, which is fantastic if you are going to be having any big family/friend gatherings in the next month or two. (or if you are just awesome and want to eat the whole thing to your face). Think about it, if you make this for the people (or yourself) %u00a0how cool and awesome and fancy you are going to seem. It’s really a win win win all around here so I don’t see a reason to not make it. Trust me, and thank me later.%u00a0
The stuff of stars. Flour. salt. yeast and soy milk. A little oil, sugar, mashed sweet potato, earth balance %u00a0and cinnamon.%u00a0
To start, a %u00a0couple of tablespoons sugar and the yeast go into the warm soy milk to kick start that yeast and get mixed together.
Salt, oil, and mashed sweet potato go into the big bowl with the flour.
Then the yeast mixture gets pouted in too. Get ready to mix. And mix.
And after mixing, some kneading. %u00a0A well floured surface with a extra flour on the side is needed here. You are going to want to knead the dough for about 5 minutes, adding a little flour whenever the dough gets to sticky.%u00a0
Once the dough is nice and smooth looking, cover it in oil and stick it into a bowl and cover it %u00a0and let %u00a0rise for about an hour.%u00a0
Make your cinnamon sugar mixture while waiting .%u00a0
Dough doubled in size and dumped onto the well flour counter.%u00a0
Take a dough cutter or knife and divided the dough %u00a0into four equal pieces and roll each piece into ball.
While keeping your surface well floured, roll a dough ball into circle (or as close to a circle as you can get it) about 12 inched wide%u00a0
Place rolled dough onto parchment paper and cover the surface with %u00a0earth balance. Then sprinkle a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture all over that.
Grab another ball of dough and roll it out the same size as the first and place on top the first dough. Repeat the earth balance and sugar mixture and then cover that with another rolled out dough. Earth balance and sugar mixture one more time, then the last dough.
All stacked up.Take the rolling pin and give the whole stacked thing a gentle little roll, just to make sure all layers are stuck together.
The fun part. Grab a small circle cutter or lid (I used small jar lid) and place directly in the middle. Take your dough cutter and score your cuts. Score into quarters then each corner into six pieces. You end up with twenty-four pieces.%u00a0There needs to be a even amount of pieces in order for the design to work so you could do %u00a022-16 pieces. I wouldn’t %u00a0go less.
To get the twist, grab a piece in each hand, give a little tug and twist the pieces towards each other 3 times. Take the ends and kind of tuck and pinch them together. %u00a0Repeat until all the pieces care twisted.%u00a0
%u00a0This is probably the most pretty cinnamon thing I have ever seen.%u00a0
Slide the star on the parchment onto a baking sheet and cover to rise and rest for about half hour or so and get the oven preheated.
After the second rise and right before you stick it into he oven, brush the top with a little plant milk.
And into the hot oven it goes.%u00a0
Aaaaa. So freaking pretty!%u00a0
After a few minutes, if you decided you want a little glaze action, go for it. I made up a super simple one, just a splash of vanilla in powder sugar with a splash of milk.%u00a0
Drizzled and ready for action.%u00a0
makes 12-13 servings%u00a0
For the dough%u00a0
2 3/4 -3 cups all purpose flour plus more for kneading.
1/4 cup mashed sweet potato *
1 1/4 cup warm soy (or any plant) milk plus 1 tablespoon to brush on pre bake
1/4 cup neutral oil plus 1 tablespoon to coat dough
1 packet or 2 teaspoon yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
for filling
7 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons room temperature earth balance
For icing (optional)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2-3 teaspoons plant milk
*I just mashed up a 1/4 cup of a roated sweet potato that I had in the fridge. If you don’t have a roasted potato laying around, you can steam of roast a sweet potato and mash it up for this.%u00a0
Measure milk into a large jar or bowl. Mix in 2 tablespoons sugar and the yeast. Set aside to activate.%u00a0In a large bowl mix together the lesser amount of flour and salt. Add in the sweet potato,%u00a0oil, and the soy yeast mixture. Mix together with a wooden spoon or dough spoon until you can’t. If the dough seems really wet, add in another 1/4 cup of flour. %u00a0Once mixed as well was you can get it, dump the dough onto well floured surface. Start kneading the dough, adding a little flour as you go if needed. Knead for about 5 minutes or until the dough is a nice soft but not to sticky uniform ball. Cover dough with a little oil and place into large clean bowl. Cover with a towel and let dough rise in a warm place for about an hour or until it doubles in size.
Mix the cinnamon and sugar together while waiting.
Once dough has risen, dump it onto a well floured surface and divide into 4 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a ball then grab the first ball and roll out into a large circle about 12 inches wide. Don’t worry hear if the circle is not perfect, its going to be fine. Place first circle onto piece of parchment paper and cover the surface with 1 tablespoon of earth balance. Sprinkle with a third of the cinnamon sugar mixture. Grab another dough ball and roll out to the same size as the first and place onto of the cinnamon sugared dough. Repeat the earth balance cinnamon sugar and top with another rolled out dough. Once more with the remaining earth balance and cinnamon sugar and top with the last rolled out dough. Take rolling pin and give the whole stacked thing a little roll to make sure it’s all stuck together well.
For the design part. Grab a small circle shaped thing about 2 inches wide (I used a jar lid) and place directly in the center of the dough. Take a dough cutter or sharpe knife and lightly score into quarters then each quarter into 6 pieces You could also cut less pieces, but the main thing you need is to have an even number of pieces for the design to work.%u00a0Once your lines are good, cut the lines by pushing down into the dough and not slicing back and forth. %u00a0Grab a piece in each hand and gently %u00a0twist the pieces towards each other 3 times then pinch the ends together. Repeat until all the pieces are twisted together. Slide the star onto a large baking sheet, cover, and let rest and rise for another 1/2 hour.%u00a0
Preheat oven to 400
When the star is risen again and right before it’s going into the oven, brush the top with a little plant milk. Pop it into the oven and bake for about 20- 25 minutes, or until the top is a nice deep gold brown.
Remove from oven and let cool a little bit. If you want a little icing, mix together the vanilla, powdered sugar, and plant milk. Wait until the star is less the hot and drizzle all over.
And now it’s time to get at it. Eat what you want and store the rest in an air tight container.%u00a0
What do you do when you have a bazillion ripe bananas? A sweet banana bread? Banaer ice cream? Mash them up in your oatmeal? These are what I usually do, well these things and just stock my freezer full of bananas because I am pretty sure that there should always be bananas in the freezer. .
I went grocery shopping and bought like a billion bananas because they were dirt cheap (19 cents a pound) and why not. There is plenty of room in the freezer.
And it was a bread making day. I wanted to make bread that involved a good knead, that the mr could have as a sandwich loaf, and that had bananas in it. (I love adding fruit and veggie purees to breads) I needed a multi functional loaf that can be used for toast and sandwiches. So I made it.
This bread doesn’t have a crazy powerful banana flavor, just a light bananerness that adds a touch of sweetness and yum to the bread. Perfect for slices and slathering with peanut butter.
Pretty sure I scored on this one. It was well loved by many and eaten within days. Lucky for the mr I have a billion bananas.
The stuff. Some all purpose flour and some whole wheat (with germ) flour. A couple really ripe bananas, a little earth balance, salt, yeast, and water.
Peel and blended bananas into a smooth banana puree.
Add enough water to the bananas to make 2 cups of liquid.%u00a0 Add in the yeast and earth balance and blend that in too.
Wet gets dumped and mixed into the (mixed) flours and salt.
Wet shaggy dough gets dumped onto the floured counter and kneaded for about 10 minutes into a nice uniform and smooth ball
Once risen twice it’s size, dump dough onto counter, shape into a log and place into a well greased loaf pan. Cover with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again. Second rise will take a little less time then the first, just wait for the dough to dome over the sides of the pan.
Once it looks good, stick the thing into a preheated oven, close the door, and watch it bake (for about 50 minutes)
Golden brown, hollow sounding, and the instant read thermometer reads 190….Bread is all baked.Now hard part. Let that loaf sit and cool completely. (trust, it needs to cool or you will just mush it)
Now that its cooled, you slice and eat. A loaf of bread with a slight hint of banana ready for you face.
The mr has been eating it toasted with peanut butter like I predicted or dipping it into his split pea soup. (he really liked it with the soup) Just suggestions.
Bye.
-C
makes one loaf
Peel bananas and blend them into a smooth puree. Add enough warm water to the banana mixture to equal 2 cups of liquid. Add the yeast and earth balance to the puree and mix until fully incorporated. Let sit for a few minutes to active yeast.
Whisk together the flours (start with the lesser amount) and salt in a large bowl. Dump the wet mixture into the bowl and mix together with a dough whisk or wooden spoon until you can no longer mix. If the dough is really wet, add in the other 1/4 of flour. Dump dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for about 10 minutes.
Place in a clean greased bowl and cover with plastic or wax paper and a towel and place in a warm place to rise. Depending on how warm your place is, it will take about 1 to 1 1/2 hours to double in size. Once risen, dump onto counter, shape into a log and place into a greased loaf pan. Cover again with plastic or wax paper and set to rise again for about 1/2- 45 minutes or until the dough forms a dome over the pan.
Preheat oven to 350.
When dough is done second rise, stick it into the preheated oven and bake. It should be in there for about 50 minutes, but check at 45 for a deep golden color and a internal temperature of 190. Once done, remove from oven, gently remove from pand and set on a wire rack to cool completely.
Once cooled you can go for it.
Stay fresh for about 3 days in a air tight container, but I would slice and freeze any if not gone by then.
It was the perfect Sunday. Cold, snow covered, cozy and quite. Everything a Sunday should be. (now its warm ,rainy and chaotic. Poop) The perfect day spent reading, drawing, drinking way to much coffee and putzing around. And baking a loaf of bread.. chocolate bread. If everyday was like this………
Chocolate bread? Well yeah, it is the holiday season after all and I figured that it would make something that would last all week and can is multi -purpose.(breakfast or dinner) I could have made more cookies, but I am airing on the side of not feeding the mr sugar bombs for breakfast these days. But this chocolate bread. He can eat it whenever he wants. It’s basically just a loaf of bread (I made it with whole wheat for extra goodness) with a tuch of sweetness ans a lot of chocolate flavor. It makes agreat breakfast toast, a hearty snack, or would be great for some type of french toast situation. Or maybeyou want to make some chocolate bread pudding, or woy are going to be making chili and want something to serve it with. (I was thinking a black bean chili would pair really nicely). There are no rules here. The mr, he has been eating it with peanut butter banana or mashed avocado. Its nothing to complicated, just chocolaty bread.
So of you are around this week, maybe spending some time at home, I think you should make bread.%u00a0 It’s really easy, not much in terms of mess and who doesn’t love the smell of baking bread? And bonus.. IF you have any friends or family visiting, or if you are visiting them, why not impress them with a freshly baked loaf of bread, You will be the coolest.
The stuff. White whole wheat flour, cocoa powder, salt, soy milk, coffee, yeast and turbinado sugar.
The sugar and yeast get whisked together with the soy milk and coffee and left for a few minutes to make sure its active (or if you know your yeast is good, then just get on with it.)
Flour, cocoa powder, and the salt get a good whisk together as well.%u00a0
Then dumped into the yeast mixture.
Mix until the dough starts to come together, then dump it onto a lightly floured surface and start. Gather together with your hands ans start to knead.
Keep kneading (about 5 minutes or so) until the dough is a cohesive texture, slightly glossy, %u00a0ball of goodness.
Place the dough back into the bowl and drizzle and rub down with a oil (use a neutral flavor) Place a damp towel over the top and stick in a warm place to rise and double in size, which should take between an hour,, hour and a half, (depending on how warm you place is)
Once it has doubled, push down dough, shape into a loaf shape, and place in a greased load pan. Rub a little more oil on the top, cover with plastic this time (a towel will absorb the moisture from the dough), and place back into the place to rise again.
And once the dough starts to crest the pan and has double again,(another 30 minutes) it’s tie to bake. Stick the dough into a preheated oven and bake away.%u00a0 Optional step but yoi should do it. Stick a pan with about an inch of water on the bottom of the oven when you stick the dough in. It makes the crust a little crustier and pretty. and keep the bread a but more moist.
And once the bread is done (45-50 minutes, with a internal temp of 190) remove from the oven and let cool(for at least 15 minutes.. (you can do it!)
Sliced to your preferred thickness, eaten as is or slathered with some peanut butter. Save some for the morning for french toast or strawberry jam toast.
The possibilities are endless.
Enjoy you day.
-C
Makes one loaf
Note. If you want to make 2 loaves (why not right) just double everything except the yeast. Still only use the 2 1/4 teaspoons.
In a large bowl, whisk together the soy, sugar, and the yeast, then add in the coffee last. (just to make sure the coffee isn’t to hot that it kills the yeast) In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and salt. Once you are sure the yeast is active, dump the dry into the wet and mix with together until the dough starts to form. If the dough seems to wet, add in another tablespoon or two of flour. Dump onto a slightly floured counter and knead until a cohesive texture that is somewhat smooth a glossy. Place dough back into bowl, drizzle and rub with oil, then place a damp towel over the bowl ans stick it in a warm place. Let the dough rise until it has doubled in size, which should take about 1- 1 1/2 (depending ho warm the spot) Once doubles, dump onto counter and push down. Shape into a loaf and place into a greased loaf pan. Rub a little more oil on top and cover with plastic. Let the dough rise for about another 30 minutes or until the dough is cresting the brim of the pan.%u00a0
Preheat the oven to 400
When dough is done it’s second rise, place a pan with about an inch of water into the oven on he lowest rack. Place dough in oven on the middle rack. Turn heat down to 375 and bake between 45-50 minutes or until the dough is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on. (also can check for temperature of 190 with a instant read thermometer)
When done, remove from pan ans let cool completely (or at least 20 minutes) before cutting.
When cooled, cut into slices and do what you will (straight up or covered in peanut butter…..)
Store uneaten bread in a air tight bag for about 3 days or just cut it all up and stick slices in the freezer and grab pieces as you need them. Either toast or lest thaw to room temp.
Shit on a shingle is one of those foods that I like to call “trash food”, you know stuff like beefaroni or pork and beans. Stuff that we all loved as little kids but might think twice about feeding to anyone now. ( I’ll still feed nick a can of beefaroni.. he likes it)%u00a0As a throwback to our earliest food memories, (also a lack of food in the house and wanted to make something fast, easy, and cheap.. thanks mom!) I made the mister my rendition of the classic. Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on toast. Not quite as trashy as creamed beef (lentils, mushrooms and onions are not trashy) but you get the same reminiscing feeling. I guess I could call it something like “stuff on a shingle” or lumps on a shingle”, but what kid (or adult) %u00a0would want to eat that. Let’s just stick with shit, it makes it more awesome to eat it.
If you need to, make it classy by serving it with a cloth napkin and a nice fork and knife. But eat it however you need to. (As kids we like dirty hands and no fork, preferably with a big tall glass of overly sweetened red flavored kool-aid)
Enjoy this fantastic Spring weekend!
-C
%u00a0Shit on s Shingle (Creamy Lentils and Mushrooms on Toast)
One serving
Slice the mushroom and onion and toss into a pan or skillet with a drizzle of oil. Cook on medium heat until brown and fragrant than dump onto a plate. In same skillet, add the oil and the flour and mix with a whisk while slowly adding in the milk. Keep whisking until sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat to simmer and add in the cooked lentils and the saut%u00e9d mushrooms and onions. Push down the bread in the toaster.. and when it pops up, dump the shill over it.
%u00a0It’s Friday!!! And what does that mean? Pizza Pizza!!!!But not just Fridays%u2026pizza happens more times then not in our house%u2026It’s the misters favorite food and for real, he could eat it everyday, all day.%u2026He is kind of made of the stuff. As for me, well I don’t mind making it for him because it’s easy. And because I am making it, it doesn’t have 8 million calories, 9 million grams of fat and have 10 million milligrams of sodium like takeout of frozen. %u00a0My pizzas are for the most part pretty freaking heathy. It really depends on how its topped. Like take this one.. Homemade pesto, good quaility cheese, (you can use vegan or low fat)%u00a0chickpeas and tomatoes. Not to shabby. And really, it isn’t any more complicated then calling the take-out place or unwrapping the frozen plastic disk from the box. All you need is some good dough (I guess you could use store bought) and some good quality toppings%u2026 and you’re there%u2026Pizza in your face.
For this pizza I used the skillet cooking method. This crust is one of %u00a0the misters favorites. It is a basic pizza dough but cooked on the stove in a skillet. It’s almost like a pita bread, but not. And I like to make it this way because its really fast (once the dough is made) and I can even make up a few crusts to have on hand for later.
Fast, healthy, and tasty%u2026..Why not eat pizza every day?%u00a0
Not too many ingredients here. 3 cups of all purpose flour or 2 cups all purpose and 1 cup white whole wheat. A teaspoon salt, a teaspoon honey (use sugar if vegan), yeast and warm water%u2026%u00a0
Start with the dough. %u00a0Add honey or sugar to yeast and warm water and let sit to active, which should take about 5 minutes.
%u00a0Mix together the salt and flour(s) and add the foamy yeast mixture. Mix until it all comes together and dump out onto a floured surface. (if the dough seems to dry add a splash of water..if way to wet, add a little flour) Give the dough a good 2-3 minute knead session, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. Form a nice ball, place back into bowl and drizzle with oil. Cover bowl with a towel and stick in warm place to rise for about an hour or until it has doubled in size.
When dough has doubled, dump back onto a floured surface and divide into 4 equal sized balls (or as many balls at whatever size you want)
Now you have a few choices here. You can either cook up all the dough now if you need it, or freeze dough balls for future use. If you think you are going to make pizza again within the next few days, it can be refrigerated, or you could also blind bake the dough and freeze or fridragerate that and have pre baked crusts all ready to go. So many options%u2026 just do whatever works for you.%u00a0
To make the dough in a skillet, oil the bottom of a 15 inch skillet, turn burner on to high and let preheat until the oil is sizzling. Roll dough out to roughly the size of the skillet and when it has preheated, place dough on in there and let cook for about 3-5 minutes, or until the dough starts to bubble and the bottom has started to brown. Turn burner down to medium and flip. Cook this side for another 3-5 minutes.
If you want oven crust, just roll out and place on a baking sheet and bake with topping on at 475 degrees for about 20 minutes
Now the crust is ready for the toppings!!
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.%u00a0
Smear the pesto (for this pie, I used the last of my homemade pesto from last summer%u2026sad face) Mince garlic and distribute evenly on top of that. Then do the cheese, followed by the tomato slices and chick peas. Sprinkle with a bit of salt, cracked pepper and some parmesan cheese.%u00a0
Stick into oven for 10 or so minutes or until the chesse is nice and bubbly and the crust os crispy and brown.
And that is pizza. A super duper, yummy, healthy, not too fatty or overly salty%u2026 %u00a0can be eaten breakfast lunch or dinner time, pretty, satisfying, pizza. %u00a0
Make it for yourself, for you lover, for a friend. Make it in the shape of a heart or an elephant. Give you kid(s) a ball of dough and have them make their own%u2026 I know%u2026 such a good idea.%u00a0
Everyday, all day.. Happy Friday and Happy Pizza
Stay warm!
-C
For the dough ..Makes about four 10 inch pizza doughs or three 12 -14 inch doughs. This is also the same recipe I use for all of my pizzas (skillet and oven)
The Pizza Toppings (for a 15 inch crust..adjust amounts to your need or liking)
To start, place honey, yeast and water into a jar or bowl and let sit to active until mixture starts to foam. Mix together flour and salt into a large bowl and add in yeast mixture. Stir until combined and dump onto a well floured surface. Knead dough for a a few minutes and form into a ball. Place back into bowl, drizzle with oil and top with a towel. Place somewhere warm to rise for an hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
When dough is done rising, dump back onto floured surface and divide into 4-8 equal sized balls.( 4 balls make %u00a015 inch pizza%u2026 8 balls are good for individual size pizzas) Place whatever dough you are not going to use into a closable plastic bag and either stick in fridge(if using within a few days) or freeze for future use.
Place skillet on high heat on stove and drizzle with oil. Also, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Roll out you dough and when the skillet is has gotten really hot, place dough right on in. Let cook for about 3-5 minutes or unit the cough has started to form bubbles and the bottom has started to brown. Turn heat down to low and cook other side for another 3-5 minutes or until browned.%u00a0
Now pizzafy it.. Add on the toppings. Smear with pesto, add minced garlic, then evenly sprinkle cheese. Top with the chick peas and the sliced tomatoes. A sprinkle of salt and pepper and a dusting of grated parmesan%u2026%u2026Right into the oven for about 10 minutes to melt it all together%u2026..
Pizza Pizza!!!