Pain au Chocolat

 Here is one of my proudest accomplishments in a long time.  I made, at home, one of my favorite indulgences in the world.  And thanks a million times over to my stud husband for a camera that can show you all the buttery layers it took three days to achieve.  And you can taste each one.

 In case you missed it, I won the latest Dessert Club with these.  So I'm gonna brag.  They are amazing.  I got the good stuff, the pain au chocolat sticks from King Arthur.  But you can use chocolate chips or home-chopped chocolate if you please.  But use the good stuff.  If you're putting this much time in, you want a perfect product.

Speaking of, there were so many steps I went ahead and took pictures of some.  I don't usually do that because my hands are messy or I'm working with a tight time window, but for these, I went the extra mile.  For you.  For me.  For these heavenly pain au chocolat!

Pain au Chocolat (print recipe)
 Makes 16 rolls

The Dough:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/4 cup sugar
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp instant yeast
2 tsp salt
2 T unsalted butter, softened

The Butter:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold

Assembly:
16 or 32 pain au chocolat sticks (depending on whether you want one or two sticks inside each roll)

The Glaze:
1 large egg beaten with a pinch of salt


The Dough:
1.  In a large mixing bowl, stir together the water, sugar, two cups of the flour, yeast, salt and butter. Mix until fairly evenly blended.

2.  Add the remaining flour and stir until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Turn the dough out and knead it until smooth and springy.

3.  Place it in a lightly greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour, until puffy. (The dough can be prepared to this point in a bread machine with at least a 1 1/2 pound capacity. Simply place all of the ingredients in the bucket, select Dough or Manual, and press start.)

4.  After an hour (or the end of the cycle), turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, flatten it gently and fold it in thirds, like a letter. Place the dough in a lightly greased plastic bag that has enough room for the dough to expand, and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until thoroughly chilled. (For best flavor, refrigerate it overnight.)

The Butter:
While the dough is chilling, prepare the 2 sticks of butter for rolling into the dough. Cut each stick in half lengthwise and place all four pieces on a floured piece of waxed paper or plastic wrap. Sprinkle flour on the top surface of the butter, cover with another piece of paper or plastic and gently pound it with a rolling pin until it becomes malleable. Then roll the butter out until it's about 6 x 9 inches. Wrap the butter well and put it back in the refrigerator.

Assembly:
1.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator, place it on a lightly floured surface and roll it out until it's about 10 x 20 inches. Remove the butter from the refrigerator and place it in the center of the dough.

 2.  Fold the upper third of the dough over the butter and the lower third over the upper third (like a letter). Pinch the edges together so the butter is completely enclosed. Roll the dough out again until it's about 10 x 24 inches. This time fold the two ends so they meet in the middle and then fold that in half like a book.

  3.  Wrap the dough in lightly floured plastic wrap and refrigerate it again for at least 2 hours (or, you can leave the dough in the refrigerator for several days, until you're ready to use it).

4.  To finish your Pain au Chocolat, remove the dough from the refrigerator, cut it in half and return one half to the refrigerator.

5.  Roll the other half out until it's about 9 x 25 inches. Trim each edge to make it 8 x 24 inches. With a bench knife, cut the dough into eight 4 x 6 inch pieces.

6.  Place 1 (or 2) pieces of chocolate at one end of each piece and roll it up into a tube. Place, seam side down, on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Press down on the tops of the rolls to flatten them into a rectangle shape. Cover and let rise in a warm place until they are light and puffy looking. Repeat with the remaining dough.

 7.  Just before baking, brush the egg/salt glaze over the tops of the Pain au Chocolat. Bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 13 to 16 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow them to cool a bit before you bite into them; the structure needs a chance to set.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Red Hot Cinnamon Bread

 Hey, friends.  Happy Valentine's Day.  I've got some love for you.

You remembered to stock up on red hots, right?  If not, run out and hunt some down - in some places, this is the only time of year you can find them! 

Why do I need them, you ask?  Well, for starters, there's Cinnamon Candy Cider and Red Hot Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.  They also make great sugar cookie decorations, pancake add-ins, or soak them in hot water to make Cinnamon Tea for a tea party, hello.

And, natch, there's this bread.  I just love fun bread.  Because once you eat your fill warm from the oven, you can always use what's left for toast, French toast, or bread pudding.  You cannot go wrong with great bread.  This one is studded with fabulously red Red Hot candies, which melt into cinnamon gooey goodness while it cooks.  Amazing!

 Red Hot Cinnamon Bread (print recipe)
Makes 1 loaf or 9 buns (I have two loaves because I doubled it)
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup softened butter
2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg, lightly beaten
3 cups King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup cinnamon Red Hot candies

1.  Combine all dough ingredients except candies and mix and knead together - by hand, mixer or bread machine - until you have a soft, pliable dough.

2.  Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 45 minutes to one hour or until full and round.  To test, poke dough with index finger approximately 1/2 inch deep.  If the impression remains, the dough has sufficiently risen.

3.  Gently deflate the dough, and pat into a 8" x 10" rectangle.  Knead in the cinnamon candies in 3 stages, using about 1/3 of the candies each time.

4.  Shape the dough into a loaf and place in a greased or parchment lined 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.  Tent the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap.  Allow to rise for 40 to 50 minutes.  Dough should just crest the top of the pan.

5.  If making buns, divide the dough evenly into 9 pieces and shape into smooth, round balls.  Place buns in greased 9x9" square pan.  Tent the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap.  Allow to
rise for 30 to 40 minutes.  Buns will be full, puffy and barely touching one another.

6.  Bake bread (or buns) in preheated 350 degree oven for 30 to 40 minutes (20-25 for buns).  If bread browns too quickly on top, tent loosely with aluminum foil.  Place pan over parchment or foil lined cookie sheet to catch any drips of hot candy.  Bread is done when internal temperature reads 190 degrees on an instant thermometer.

7.  Remove bread from pan and allow to cool on a wire rack.  Place rack over a piece of parchment to catch any drips of hot candy.  Candy will set as bread cools.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour

Don't feel like cinnamon for Valentine's Day?  You could also try:
French Toast Baked in Honey-Pecan Sauce (from my sexiest cookbook!) 
Strawberry Flip Cookies
Red Velvet Cookies

Light Whole Wheat Bread (with BONUS Strata Recipe!)

Unfortunately, after three renewals, my time with The Bread Lovers' Bread Machine Cookbook was up and I had to return it to the library. But not before I had made a few loaves, and copied some recipes for future.

I made this delicious loaf one night, thinking to use it for dinner sandwiches. But when several fixings were lacking, I regrouped and went for a strata. I used part of this, part store-bought sandwich bread in the strata, then sliced up the rest of this to eat on the side, with blackberry jam. What a great, flavorful, substantial-but-not-heavy basic loaf - definitely a keeper for that bread machine cookbook I'm going to write someday...

Light Whole Wheat Bread (print recipe)
1 cup water
1 large egg
2 T vegetable or nut oil
2 1/2 cups bread flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3 T dry buttermilk powder
2 T dark brown sugar
1 T gluten
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Assemble ingredients in the order suggested by bread machine manufacturer. Choose a medium or dark crust setting, BASIC cycle. When it is done, remove immediately to wire rack and cool to room temperature before slicing.

Recipe from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

Skillet Strata with Sausage and Gruyere (print recipe)
1 T butter
8 oz. raw, crumbled breakfast sausage (we used elk sausage because, sigh, that's what we have)
1 onion, minced
Salt and ground black pepper
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 tsp fresh minced thyme
1 cup shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese
5 slices high-quality sandwich bread, cut into 1-inch squares

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Melt butter in 10-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat skillet, until foaming subsides. (*The only 10-inch skillet I have is cast iron, so I just used it and it didn't stick much.) Add onion, sausage and 1/2 tsp salt and cook until onion is softened and sausage is browned, about 6 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, thyme, and 1/4 tsp ground pepper together. Stir in cheese and set aside.

3. Add bread to skillet and, using rubber spatula, carefully fold bread into onion mixture until evenly coated. Cook bread, folding occasionally, until lightly toasted, about 3 minutes.

4. Off heat, fold in egg mixture until slightly thickened and well combined with bread. Gently press on top of strata to help it soak up egg mixture.

5. Bake until edges and center are puffed and edges have pulled away slightly from sides of pan, about 18 to 25 minutes, and serve.

Recipe adapted from The Best 30-Minute Recipe by the Editors of Cook's Illustrated Magazine

Bread Week #4 Banana Sandwich Bread

I know, it's an unusual name and you're trying to figure out what exactly it is. It's definitely not the kind of banana bread you're used to (though I did recently try a new basic banana bread recipe and it's the best...wait for it.) This is a yeasted white bread with a deliciously chewy texture and light crispy crust that happens to have banana in it. Interesting. In a scrumptious way.I made it in the bread machine, yes. But remember, you can easily make it by hand. The reason it is called sandwich bread is because it makes the best darn PBJ you've ever had. Once I baked it and tasted it, I found the banana flavor so slight that I realized it could be used for any kind of sandwich, sweet or savory, so we had sandwich night for dinner. The kids had grilled cheese - oh, it toasted up so beautifully in the pan! Ed and I had BLT's, and he raved about the bread, and couldn't name the "secret" ingredient until tasting the bread on its own. The next day, the few leftover pieces made awesome, fragrant toast. And if there had been any more, I know it would made amazing French toast.
This is one of those I-never-would-have-thought-of-it-but-I'm-so-glad-to-have-it-now breads. Make it today. Or file it away for when you have 1 or 2 ripe bananas and no idea what to make for dinner.

Banana Sandwich Bread
1 cup water*
1 T vegetable or nut oil (I used walnut oil)
6 ounces ripe banana, cut into chunks (about 1 1/2 bananas)
3 cups bread flour
1/4 cup dry buttermilk powder*
1 T gluten**
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

1. Place all the ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Set crust on medium and program for the Basic cycle; press Start.

2. When the baking cycle ends, immediately remove the bread from the pan and place it on a rack. Let cool to room temperature before slicing. Makes one 1 1/2 pound loaf.

*You may substitute 1 cup buttermilk for the water and buttermilk powder. You can find buttermilk powder in the baking aisle at the grocery store.

**What is gluten?! Also called vital wheat gluten, it is the natural protein portion of wheat. It is responsible for the stretchiness of dough and for the shapes that baked goods hold, and is often added to whole grain breads to make them bake up lighter. I have just discovered gluten as an ingredient so I'm experimenting a bit with its use, but it was included in this original recipe. You can get it from Arrowhead Mills, King Arthur Flour, and other manufacturers.

Recipe from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook: A Master Baker's 300 Favorite Recipes for Perfect-Every-Time Bread - From Every Kind of Machine by Beth Hensperger

BE the Bread Machine (a converting recipes tutorial)

OK, enough complaints and excuses. I love to try and post bread machine recipes because I love the idea of "bread at the touch of a button," but bread machines don't do anything magical that you can't do yourself. ANY bread machine recipe can easily be converted to a manual recipe, and here's how:

1. First, combine the ingredients the way you usually would for bread. Dissolve the yeast in the liquid, add other “wet” ingredients (e.g., eggs, honey, butter), add the flour and other dry ingredients, knead for 8 to 10 minutes, then knead in any “extras” (raisins, nuts, chocolate chips, etc.).

2. Let the bread rise once in the bowl until about doubled. The time will vary and you will have to experiment but it's usually around an hour, give or take. Or if you were going to do exactly what my machine does, rise for 20-3o min, punch down, rise again for 20-30 min.

3. Transfer it to a pan, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise again in a warm place about an hour. A bread machine recipe calling for 3 cups of all-purpose or bread flour or 4 cups of a whole-grain/all-purpose flour mix, will make a 1-lb. (8 1/2” x 4 1/2”) loaf. A bread machine recipe calling for 2 cups of all-purpose or bread flour or 3 cups of a whole-grain/all-purpose flour mix, will make a 10- to 11-ounce loaf (a 7 3/8” x 3 5/8” pan).

4. Bake for about 30 minutes in a preheated 350°F oven.

If there is a recipe in which you only use the bread machine to make the dough, like in the previous post, conversion is even easier. Follow steps 1 and 2 above, then follow the recipe as indicated for whatever you do with the dough.

I got the above information from King Arthur Flour, who I trust when it comes to bread. It varies slightly from exactly what my bread machine does, but follows common bread-making, so I would try what they say first. If it doesn't work out, you could try following more closely what a machine does. In my bread machine user manual, it tells exactly what the machine does and for how long:

Dough-only Cycle (1.5 hours)
20 min - Dough is mixed and kneaded
20 min - Rise
30 sec - Dough is punched down
50 min - Rise

Basic Bread Cycle (3 hours)
10 min - Dough is mixed and kneaded
20 min - Rise
15 min - Knead
20 min - Rise
30 sec - Punch down
55 min - Rise
60 min - Bake

Want to get started right away? Here are all the bread machine recipes I've posted.

Chocolate Swirl Babka-Bread

Contrary to what this recipe's author claims, this is not exactly babka. Babka is more pastry than bread, and has an insane disproportion of chocolate to dough. This is more of a really awesome chocolate swirl bread that hints of babka, so I hyphenated the name for accuracy.

Did I mention this was done in the bread machine? Just the dough part, but still. Yay for ease! I got The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook from the library and somehow don't think I will get through all 300 recipes in the 3 weeks I have it out. But I can get a few made, and then I can renew it (so no one in Arlington request it!!!) If this bread is any indication of the rest, I will just buy it. You know I love my bread machine, and it's not even a good one.I had a plethora of great pictures so I will let them tell you the rest. Chocolate, bread, and a bit of ooey gooey. And it makes two loaves - one to eat hot, one to freeze for later (or give away, if you really love someone.) Or two to eat hot - your choice.
Chocolate Swirl Babka-Bread (print recipe)
Bread:
1 2/3 cups water
3 T unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 cups bread flour
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
2 T sugar
2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp SAF yeast (don't ask me) or 1 T bread machine yeast

Chocolate swirl:
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 T unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
2 tsp cinnamon
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting, optional
Melted butter, for brushing

1. Place all the dough ingredients in the pan according to the order in the manufacturer's instructions. Program for the Dough cycle; press Start. The dough ball will be soft.

2. Grease two 8x4-inch loaf pans. Combine the ingredients for the filling in a small bowl.

3. When the machine beeps at the end of the cycle (1 1/2 hours for my machine), press Stop and unplug the machine. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough in half. Pat each piece into a 10-by-14-inch rectangle. Brush each lightly with some melted butter. Sprinkle each with half of the filling, leaving a 1-inch space all the way around. Starting at a short edge, roll up jelly-roll fashion. Tuck the ends under and pinch bottom seams.

4. Place the loaves seam side down in the pans. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray and cover lightly with plastic wrap. Let rise at room temperature until doubled in bulk, about 5 minutes.

5. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat oven to 350.

6. Bake the loaves for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown and the sides have contracted slightly from the pan. Cool on a rack and dust with powdered sugar, if desired.Recipe from The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger

Soft Rolls...just in time for Thanksgiving!

Are you hosting Thanksgiving this year? I am. First time. I sat down and mapped out the menu and immediately realized the difficulties of doing this with one oven. But it will work out.

Ed's one requirement for the meal is soft rolls. Which is good, because I happen to have just tried this recipe and it's wonderful - buttery, rich, pull-apart tender, ever-so-slightly sweet. I have only made the pan roll recipe, but the variations that follow look promising as well. And the fact that the dough makes itself in the bread machine while I am busy doing other things, and only has one short additional rise, makes this a PERFECT Thanksgiving recipe. Gobble, gobble!Butter-Rich Roll and Bread Dough
1 1/3 cups water
1/2 cup butter
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1/4 cup dry milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Egg Glaze:
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons water

Measure all ingredients into bread pan in order suggested by your manufacturer. When cycle is finished remove dough from pan and shape according to recipe directions. Cover dough, let stand as recipe directs.

Egg glaze: beat together egg and water. Brush generously over shaped loaves or rolls prior to baking. Bake as directed in each recipe until golden brown.

Pan Rolls:
Prepare Butter-Rich Roll and Bread Dough. On a lightly floured surface, shape dough into a ball. Divide dough into equal quarters. Cut each quarter into 8 pieces. Shape each piece into a ball. Place on lightly greased or sprayed cookie sheet. Brush with egg glaze if desired. Cover dough, let stand 20 to 30 minutes or until dough rises. Bake at 375 degrees F 15 to 20 minutes. Makes 32 rolls.

Cinnamon-Raisin Rolls:
Prepare Butter-Rich roll recipe. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into an 8 x 9-inch rectangle. Spread surface with 1/4 cup butter, thinly sliced. Sprinkle each rectangle surface with 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Then sprinkle 1/3 cup raisins over dough. Start with 8 inch side and roll dough jelly-roll style, pinch seam to seal. With seam side down, cut in 8 one-inch pieces. Place on a greased baking sheet 2 inches apart. Cover lightly with damp towel, allow to rise in warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 to 20 minutes. Makes 16 rolls.

Cinnamon-Raisin Swirl Loaf:
Prepare Butter-Rich Roll and Bread Dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll a quarter of the dough into an 8 x 5-inch rectangle. Melt 2 tablespoons butter or margarine. Brush over dough. Sprinkle dough with a mixture of 1/4 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Then sprinkle 1/3 cup of raisins over dough. Beginning with long side of dough, roll up jellyroll style. Seal ends by pinching edges of dough together with fingertips. Place dough in a greased 5 1/2 x 3 inch loaf pan or on a large baking sheet. Allow to stand 15 minutes. Bake at 375 degrees F for 30 or 40 minutes or until golden brown. When loaf is cool, glaze with a mixture of 2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar and 1 tablespoon milk. Makes 4 loaves.

*Optional - add 1/4 cup of brown sugar also to cinnamon sugar mix.

*You can make bread sticks, bread loaf or cloverleaf rolls also. Sprinkle salt or sesame seeds on after the egg glaze.

Recipe from Recipegoldmine.com

Cranberry Walnut Bread

This is so close to my favorite Cinnamon Raisin bread that I hesitated to even post it. But it is a little different. I mean, it has cranberries and walnuts instead of raisins for one. Plus I got it from a different source, so that makes it a different recipe. I am always, always collecting good recipes for my bread machine so even though it is close, I'm calling it a different recipe.

It fills the house with cinnamon goodness while it cooks and is great with dinner, breakfast, toasted, French toast, snack, etc. The day I made it, I started it a little too late to have it with dinner but we could smell it while we ate, so when it did come out the kids asked for a piece for dessert. It was all soft and stretchy and warm - who could blame them? It was one of the best desserts we'd had in awhile (and in my house, that is saying something.)

Cranberry Walnut Bread
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 tsp butter, softened
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cups bread flour
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. In bread machine pan, place the first seven ingredients (water through yeast) in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting; choose crust color and size setting (1.5 lb loaf.) Bake.

2. Just before final kneading (most machines beep), add the walnuts and cranberries.

*Sorry no picture. It was just one of those days. Use your imagination.

Recipe from Quick Cooking, Sept/Oct 2004

Easy Sourdough French Bread

I've never made sourdough bread before. You start talking about a starter that must be fed and my eyes start to glaze over. I think of Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove and his biscuit starter. I just can't commit to that; I've got enough kids to take care of.

HOWEVER. If someone handed me a cheater recipe to make sourdough in my bread machine, in the usual 3 hours, faking the way to the signature tang with vinegar and sour cream, I would try it. Did try it, I mean. Awesome! Perfect, great big loaf of sourdough white, ready to go with whatever you're having for dinner, or to impress friends and neighbors. Don't know what makes this French, but hey, it sounds good in the title. French makes all bread better.

Easy Sourdough French Bread
1 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
4 cups bread flour
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Measure carefully, placing all ingredients in the bread pan in the order listed by manufacturer.Select the Basic/White cycle. Use medium or light color crust. Do not use delay cycle. Remove baked bread from pan and cool on wire rack. Makes a 2 pound loaf

Recipe from recipegoldmine.com

Coconut Bread (in the Bread Machine!)

The thing for me about coconut is that I love the smell and flavor, don't love the texture (I am coming around.) I can handle it in cookies, and will tolerate it on and around cakes because it just tastes so good, but I can't have too much of the straight stuff. Luckily there are such things as coconut milk and coconut extract to boost flavor without overwhelming texture.

I was recently trying a new recipe for Polynesian Chicken for dinner, and was looking for something exotic but easy to accompany it. Google "bread machine coconut bread." I skimmed through a few results until I came to this one, which had good reviews and an ingredient list I could live with. Some folks said the flavor was too mild but they had also left out the extract, so what did they expect? Also, the recipe said to cook it on the Sweet cycle, which I've never used, so I looked it up in my machine manual and it explained that the sweet cycle is for breads that have more sugar and/or fat and therefore brown more easily. It's 10 minutes shorter than the Basic cycle. I figured since coconut milk is the only liquid, and there is also an egg yolk, we'd try Sweet. It came out beautifully.

The smell, as you might imagine, was heavenly. The bread was sturdy but very soft and was pretty much all I would hope for. It was slightly sweet, as it should be, but not like a dessert or quick bread. It was perfect for our polynesian dinner, and equally perfect toasted for breakfast the next day. Since it only took 1 cup of coconut milk, and there was almost as much left in the can, I made another loaf after dinner and took it to my sister at 11pm - why not? Next time I'll make the second loaf for myself and see what kind of French toast or bread pudding it makes - mmm!

Coconut Bread
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp coconut extract
3 cups flour (recipe says all-purpose is fine but I used half all-purpose and half bread flour)
1/3 cup coconut (the stuff from a bag in the baking aisle)
2 1/2 T sugar
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast

Measure ingredients into bread machine pan according to manufacturer instructions. Cook on the sweet or basic cycle. Makes one 1.5 lb loaf.

Recipe from Recipezaar.com

Ranch Hamburger Buns

So a few months ago I found a website chock full of new and unusual bread machine recipes. I bookmarked it and have gone back to make a few. There are still oh-so-many to try. I think sometimes of doing a separate bread machine blog, a brownie blog, a cookie blog, etc. But there is only one of me and that kind of thinking is too big. Back to the topic at hand.

"Ranch Hamburger Buns" caught my eye on the alphabetical list. Sounds like there's no way around that being good. Plus we hadn't had hamburgers for dinner in ages; homemade buns was a great excuse to change that. The ranch flavor comes from a packet of ranch dip mix, and since you don't use it all in the buns, just throw the rest in with the meat as you make your burgers (along with breadcrumbs, egg, seasoning, Worcestershire, whatever else you love in there.)

These guys are straightforward. Make the dough in the machine, shape them into rolls, rise again and cook. Turned out my rolls weren't exactly uniform; some were smaller, some larger. But it actually worked out even better that way. I created my hamburgers in different sizes to match - some smaller, some larger - and so the small ones were just the right size for my 3 and 5 year olds. They actually loved having mini burgers. And me? I loved having another winning bread machine recipe!

Ranch Hamburger Buns (print recipe)

1/2 cup water, 70-80 degrees F

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1 egg

3/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder

4 1/2 tsp sugar

1 tablespoon dry ranch salad dressing mix

1 1/2 tsp salt

3 cups bread flour

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast

1. In bread machine pan, place the ingredients in order suggested by machine manufacturer. Select dough setting. Check dough after five minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 tablespoons water or flour if needed. When the cycle is completed, turn dough onto a lightly greased surface.

2. Cut into 12 pieces, then shape each into a round ball. Place in greased jumbo muffin cups or in 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 35 minutes), then brush buns with an egg wash mixture of 1 slightly beaten egg and 2 tablespoons water.Sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired. Bake 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees F or until lightly browned. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool. Makes 12.

Recipe from recipegoldmine.com

Parker House Rolls

I have no idea what "Parker House" is. All I know is, we went strawberry picking. So I made freezer jam. So I wanted a really good dinner roll to put it on. So I found this recipe and it looked as good as any to try. Unfortunately it was lacking in some details, like how thick to roll it, or how many rolls it makes. But I think I can wing a roll recipe.

OK, fine, a simple internet search informed me Parker House rolls are "made by flattening a ball of dough with a rolling pin so it becomes oval-shaped, then folding the oval in half. " Check. "They are made with milk and are generally quite buttery, soft and slightly sweet with a crispy shell." Well, lucky me. I chose well. Didn't even know the definition but it was exactly what I was looking for.

And now, lucky you. Because I am giving you a good recipe, the dough part of which can be made in the bread machine (or not), with some details filled in. So whip these up and get your jam on.

Parker House Rolls

Rolls:
1 1/3 cups milk

2 to 3 T butter

1 egg

1 T plus 1 tsp granulated sugar

2/3 tsp salt (I know, what a ridiculous measurement! Just estimate)

3 1/3 cups bread flour

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) yeast

Finishing touches:

About 3 T butter, melted

1 egg, beaten

1. Warm milk in microwave or on stovetop until skin temperature or just warmer. Add in butter so it melts a little but not all the way. Add to bread machine pan. Add egg and the rest of the roll ingredients. Choose DOUGH cycle and press START.

2. Remove dough to a clean, floured surface. Knead for about 5 minutes, adding flour as needed. Roll out to about 1/2 to 3/4-inch thickness and cut using a 2 1/2-inch round cookie or biscuit cutter. Brush tops with melted butter. Fold circles in half and place in buttered muffin tins. Cover and let rise 35 to 45 minutes (mine rose longer because I didn't think ahead and preheat the oven during this rise.) WHILE THEY ARE RISING, PREHEAT OVEN TO 400.

3. If you didn't already, preheat oven to 400. Brush roll tops with beaten egg and bake for 17 to 22 minutes (I slightly overcooked mine at 25 min.) Serve warm or room temperature. Yum! Makes about 15 rolls.

Recipe from www.recipegoldmine.com

Buttermilk Bread

Aah...here is simplicity itself, in a loaf of bread. No fancy ingredients, add-ins, chunks, glazes, double-boilers, chopping, grating, shaping, scooping, timing, layering, filling. Just a warm, homey, buttery loaf to go with - or BE - your meal. Serve it with chicken. Make a sandwich. Toast it for breakfast. Whatever. Just enjoy what buttermilk can bring to a recipe that doesn't need anything else.

Buttermilk Bread

1/2 cup plus 2 T warm water

1/2 cup warm buttermilk (70 to 80 degrees)

1 tsp lemon juice

2 T butter

3 cups bread flour

2 T brown sugar

1 tsp salt

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (1 packet)

Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order indicated by manufacturer (mine calls for wet ingredients first, then flour, then other dry ingredients and yeast last.) Choose crust color and press START. Makes one 1.5 lb loaf.

Recipe from Taste of Home Quick Cooking, May/June 2003

Parmesan Herb Bread

When you can't be bothered to make garlic bread, but want the house to smell like it, here is the recipe for you! So good with lasagna (that's what we had it with), it would also made great midnight-snack toast, deli or grilled cheese sandwiches, or if it gets a little stale, croutons for your salad! I did find the long list of 1/4-teaspoons a bit tiresome. If I didn't have one of the herbs, I just substituted something I did have. Also it called for dill, which I don't like and didn't have, so I put in extra rosemary - my favorite. Or you could just dump in a bunch of Italian seasoning - a favorite move in my family! There is obviously lots of room to customize. If you stick with the basic chemistry, you can look forward to one good loaf of bread.

Parmesan Herb Bread

1 cup water (70-80 degrees)

3 T butter

1 egg, beaten

3 cups bread flour

2 T sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried rosemary, finger crushed

1/4 tsp dried marjoram

1/4 tsp dried thyme

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer. Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available. Bake according to bread machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 T water or flour if needed. Makes 1 loaf (1 1/2 pounds.)

Recipe from Quick Cooking, May/June 2002

Chocolate-Cinnamon Toasting Bread

Now this bread is interesting. I got this awesome cookbook, Enlightened Chocolate, for my birthday (thanks Marsha.) The author, Camilla Saulsbury, is one of my heroes, so I was extra thrilled to dig in. It's a book of light-ish recipes using unsweetened or bittersweet chocolate. Sweet, savory, breakfast, drinks, everything. So when I came across a chocolate bread recipe you make in the bread machine, I knew I had my #1 thing to try.

We made it one afternoon for a snack. It made the house smell like chocolate heaven. The idea is you make the bread, and then you use it to make toast, for snack, for teatime, for breakfast, whatever. I couldn't wait to dig in. We sliced, we toasted, we ate. The kids didn't like it. I was surprised, too, but not unpleasantly.

The thing is, it's not as sweet as you might expect. It only has 1/3 cup sugar and some chopped bittersweet chocolate. So it's sweet, but just barely. If you know that going in, and you're ready for a new way of eating chocolate, make it. I tried it first with peanut butter, but it wasn't quite right. Next I did some butter and cinnamon sugar and was that ever a treat! Strawberry cream cheese, orange butter, things like that would be good on it. Or if you're a mega-dark purest who doesn't need their chocolate sweet, then just plain is perfect.Chocolate-Cinnamon Toasting Bread

1 large egg yolk

1 cup water

2 cups unbleached bread flour

1 cup whole wheat bread flour (or another cup regular bread flour)

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not Dutch process)

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

1 T unsalted butter

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tsp bread machine yeast (rapid rise)

1. Whisk the egg yolk and water in a small bowl; pour into bread pan of bread machine. In a medium bowl whisk the flours, cocoa powder, cinnamon and chocolate; sprinkle into pan, covering the water-egg mixture.

2. Add the butter, salt and brown sugar in opposite corners of the pan. Make a shallow indentation in the center of the pan; spoon yeast into the indentation.

3. Set the machine to the basic/normal setting for a small loaf. Press start. At the end of the baking cycle (3 hours for my machine), turn out onto a wire rack. Cool completely. Makes 1 loaf, 14 slices

Recipe from Enlightened Chocolate by Camilla Saulsbury

Bread Machine Calzone

As some of you may know, Ed went elk hunting last October. They were successful. They had the meat processed into recognizable cuts - top sirloin, chuch roast, ground, etc. And they had a lot made into sausage, cut with pork. Sausage doesn't quite have the culinary range of, say, ground meat, so we still have a lot of it in our freezer. And we're trying to work our way through it.

I decided one night in February to make calzones for dinner, and fill them with sausage, cheese, green peppers, a little pepperoni. I was going to use my old standby pizza dough recipe or whatever but just to see, I did a quick internet search and came upon this. You know I love to use my bread machine. So I just put the ingredients in, processed the dough, rolled it out and filled it up. Per the instructions it makes one big calzone that you slice, but you could just as easily divide the dough into 4 rounds and have everyone make their own classic turnover-type calzone. Either way, it's easy, it's dinner, and in our case it used up another 1/2 pound of elk sausage!

Bread Machine Calzone

Dough:
1 1/4 cups warm water
3 cups bread flour

2 tsp active dry yeast

1 1/2 T white sugar
1 tsp salt

1 tsp powdered milk

Fillings:
(or just do your own - whatever you like)

3/4 cup sliced Italian sausage
3/4 cup pizza sauce
1 1/4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 T butter, melted

1. To make the dough, place water, flour, yeast, sugar, salt and powdered milk in the pan of the bread machine, in the order suggested by manufacturer. Select Dough cycle. After cycle is completed (mine takes 1 1/2 hours), roll out dough on lightly floured surface.

2. Meanwhile, brown sausage in large skillet over medium heat until cooked through. Drain excess fat.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.

4. Shape dough into a 16 by 10-inch rectangle. Transfer to a lightly greased cookie sheet, and spoon pizza sauce lengthwise down the center of the dough, followed by the browned sausage and the cheese. Make diagonal cuts 1 1/2 inches apart down each long side of the dough rectangle, cutting to within 1/2 inch of the filling. Criss-cross cut strips of dough over the filling and seal tears/edges with water. Pinch and tuck ends tightly. Brush top of calzone with melted butter.
5. Bake at 350 for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.Recipe from Kevin K. on Allrecipes.com

Yeasted Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Nutmeg Butter

A woman I know from church was cleaning out her mom's house and, knowing I like to cook, gave me a huge stack of old Taste of Home magazines. At first I paused - the covers were a bit 80's-country-cooking, and many of the dishes seemed heavily laden with mayonnaise. But I decided to go through them because you just never know where the gems are.

And now I have a big stack of ripped-out pages of recipes to try, and I've only gone through half the magazines. I've given the rejects to the girls for cutting and collage-making and they love it. And I will be working my way through the rest.

One of the magazines has the occasional bread machine feature so you know I'm all over that. Always looking to expand my options with that gift-from-heaven appliance. Let me just say that even if the bread in this post were crap, which it is NOT, it was all worth it for the discovery of Nutmeg Butter, which would be great on anything I can think of. It's the new best friend of my morning toast.

But in addition, this yeasted version of lemon poppy seed bread is genius! Slightly sweet, slightly lemony, it would be delicious to accompany either sweet or savory dishes or of course on its own. I just love throwing everything in and getting a loaf of bread 3 hours later. Especially a loaf like this one.
Yeasted Lemon Poppy Seed Bread
3/4 cup water (70 to 80 degrees)
1 egg
3 T lemon juice
3 T butter, softened
3 T sugar
1 T grated lemon peel (about 1 lemon)
3/4 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
2 T poppy seeds
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

In bread machine pan, place all ingredients in order suggested by manufacturer (mine says liquids first; dry on top.) Select basic bread setting. Choose crust color and loaf size if available (this is a 1.5 lb loaf.) Bake according to machine directions (check dough after 5 minutes of mixing; add 1 to 2 T of water or flour if needed.) Push Start!

Nutmeg Butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

In a small mixing bowl, combine butter, sugar and nutmeg; beat until blended. Allow to sit at room temperature if serving soon; if not, refrigerate until serving.Recipe from Taste of Home Quick Cooking, May/June 2002

Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread

I love my bread machine, and I often try new recipes with it, but I only have a handful of tried-and-trues that I know I can rely on, and that are so delicious I come back to them over and over. Naturally this is one of them.

My favorite bread machine feature is the DELAY TIMER. It allows me to dump in all the ingredients, and set the time I want the bread to finish, up to 13 hours from now. The bread cycle takes 3 hours but if I'm going to be gone or busy for longer than that, enter the delay timer. I use it with this bread almost every time, especially to set the bread to finish just as we get home from church - oh, the heavenly smells that welcome us! Or like this week - I set it up at night after doing the dinner dishes, and timed it to finish around 7:30 the next morning, just about the time we are rousing and thinking of breakfast. Waking to such beguiling aromas as yeast and cinnamon - with absolutely no work on my part! - could make me cry if I'm feeling poetic, or at the very least, start my day in the best of moods.

We love this bread with butter, honey, apple butter, blackberry jam, pumpkin butter, even cream cheese. Slice it thick and have it warm the first day, then toast it the next, or use it to make french toast or even croutons for a sweet-and-savory salad (Craisins, spicy sweet pecans, pears, feta, lettuce, etc.)

Bread Machine Cinnamon Raisin Bread
1 1/4 cups water
2 T butter
3 1/4 cups bread flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast
1 cup raisins (or any dried fruit or berries of your choice such as blueberries, cherries, currants, etc. I use Trader Joe's Golden Berry Blend)

1. Place all the ingredients except the raisins in the bread machine pan in the order your machine manual recommends. If you have dry ingredients on top, place raisins on top of them.

2. Process on the basic/white cycle. Seriously, that's it.

Recipe from The One-Armed Cook by Cynthia Graubart and Catherine Fliegel

Orange Bubble Bread

As you can imagine, with all this baking my palate is changing. What used to be considered fabulous is slowly becoming "good." I try a lot of recipes that are only "ok," which just isn't up to par, and don't post them.

So when I say this bubble bread (pluck-it, monkey bread, pull-bread, etc.) is OUTSTANDING, I want you to know I really, really mean it.
Yes, it takes a long time, like anything with yeast does, about 3 1/2 to 4 hours. The mixing and first rise can be done in the bread machine, which I LOVE. It makes me feel like I'm doing less work, though it's not really that much less. Then it rests, you divide it into roll-size balls, dip in melted butter and roll in the perfectly simple combination of sugar and orange rind. Then you pile it all up in a tube or Bundt pan and let it rise again. When it cooks, the butter-orange-rind-sugar turns into sticky glazey perfection and it's JUST. SO. YUMMY.
But can you ever really have enough glaze? Another quick drizzle of powdered sugar and orange juice finishes the job. Seriously, these rolls are positively perfect. There's nothing else to say.
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups bread flour
2 1/2 teaspoons bread-machine yeast
1 large egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange rind
1/4 cup butter, melted
Cooking spray

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon orange juice

1. Combine milk, butter, sugar, water and salt a 2-cup glass measure. Microwave at HIGH for 3 minutes. Cool 5 minutes. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Follow manufacturer's instructions for placing milk mixture, flour, yeast, and egg into bread pan, and select the dough cycle; start bread machine. (OR mix the ingredients into a soft dough, place in greased bowl, cover and allow to rise in warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.)

2. Remove dough from machine (do not bake). Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and knead 30 seconds. Cover dough; let rest 10 minutes.

3. Divide the dough into 24 equal portions, shaping each into a ball (cover remaining dough to keep from drying). Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar and rind. Dip each ball into 1/4 cup melted butter, and roll in sugar mixture. Place balls in bottom of a 10-inch tube pan (or Bundt pan) coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

4. Preheat oven to 350°.

5. Bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack.

6. Remove bread from pan. Cool bread 15 minutes on wire rack.

7. Combine 1/2 cup powdered sugar and orange juice. Drizzle mixture over loaf, and serve warm.

Recipe from Cooking Light, January 2001