Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuit Cinnamon Rolls

Oooh boy!  If you like cinnamon rolls for breakfast, fresh and hot from the oven but you don't like working with yeast or don't have the time to wait for rollin' and risin', then I hope you give this recipe a try.  Have mercy, these were a winner.

I had another recipe for biscuit cinnamon rolls, and it was just like it sounds, biscuits with cinnamon.  Not horrible mind you, but clearly deserving of their biscuit claim, and they were not something I rushed to make again.

So I saw this recipe, hemmed and hawed, reflecting on my past experience, and passed over it several times.  Don't ask me what drew me to it--probably the buttermilk that needed using and the fact that we love pastry type items for our weekend breakfasts. And I don't discount the fact that I have been a huge fan of Mel's Kitchen Cafe for years and years.  She is totally amazing!

And may I say these far exceeded expectations.  While not as light and fluffy as a yeast roll, these were amazing on their own.  Definitely fluffy and tender and full of cinnamon deliciousness.  And huge.  The original recipe said serves 12 to 15.  I am not advocate of puny cinnamon rolls so I made 12.  Just let me say a single roll would easily be more than enough for someone who was wasn't a part of the super-size crowd.  Ahem.  Both Sweetie-Pie and I had two.  What can I say; that's the way we roll.

BUTTERMILK BISCUIT CINNAMON ROLLS
Discovered on Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Biscuits:

4 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour

1/3 cup  granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 1/2 tablespoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

13 tablespoons very cold butter

2 cups buttermilk (plus a few tablespoons more, if needed)

Filling:

4 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup (3.75 ounces) light brown sugar
1/2 to 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Easy Vanilla Glaze
From the good folks at King Arthur's Flour

• 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted to remove any lumps
• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 to 2 tablespoons milk or water
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is like coarse meal and the butter is in small, about the size of a pea.
3. Pour in the buttermilk and mix until just combined. The dough should start to come together but don’t want to overmix the dough. If there are lots of dry patches throughout the dough, add a bit more buttermilk, just a tablespoon or two at a time until the dough comes together.
4. Scrape the dough out onto a lightly floured counter.
5. Gently pat (do not roll with a rolling pin!) the dough to about 1/2-inch thick. Gently fold the dough in thirds (as if folding a letter), repeating three times and pressing gently to 1-inch thick after each fold. These folds, combined with the cold butter, are what help to create flaky layers.
6. With a lightly floured rolling pin (or pressing quickly with your hands), roll the dough into a 1/4-inch rectangle, about 18" x 10". It's important to not overwork the dough if you want tender, flaky biscuits.
7. Spread the melted butter over the top. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and spread evenly over the butter.
8. Start rolling up the cinnamon rolls, beginning with one long edge, rolling tightly without pulling and stretching the dough.
9. Pinch the seam and reposition the long roll until it is seam side down.
10. Cut into 1- or 1 1/2-inch rolls. Tuck the loose end of each roll underneath and place an inch or so apart on the prepared baking sheet(s).
11. At this point the rolls can be covered and refrigerated for up to two days. To bake immediately, bake for 12-15 minutes. If baking straight from the refrigerator, add a couple minutes to the baking time.
12. Let the rolls cool for 10 minutes or so before drizzling with the icing.

For the Vanilla Glaze:
Stir the ingredients together, adding extra liquid or confectioners' sugar to adjust the consistency as needed. Yield: about 1/2 cup glaze.  This made just about enough to lightly glaze all the biscuit rolls.  If you lot a lot of glaze, consider doubling the recipe.

Copycat "Subway" Rolls

In New Hampshire, Sweetie Pie had a favorite sub shop called Moe's and they have several scattered locations throughout the state and they're well-known and loved for their famous Moe's Italian sandwiches.  It's like a cult following; generations of families are avid fans of the Moe's Italian sandwich.  Sweetie Pie and I could never drive by one of their locations where he didn't buy at least two of them, one for now and one for later.  He said when he worked at the local shipyard, on Fridays, the guys would order from their local Moe's, 200 at a time!  And Moe's would ship to servicemen just about everywhere, I guess way back when, for those who missed that special hometown sandwich.  Even now, living in Arizona, when we meet people from New Hampshire, and we ask about Moe's, a moment of nostalgic silence sweeps over us.  You can feel the longing.  Yep, they're that good.

I don't know their secret as to what makes them better than other Italian sub sandwiches, but they are pretty darned good, and I've tried to duplicate them at home, with limited success.  One thing for sure is, they have good sub rolls.

I debated on sharing this recipe, because in full disclosure, in my opinion, the dough was a stinker to work with.  I've made a fair amount of homemade bread and rolls throughout my lifetime and feel I have a little bit of a knack for working with yeasted bread dough and so I proceeded with smug confidence.  But boy, I'll tell you what, this was a bit of a challenge.

Recipe is easy enough to follow, grins.  What confounded me was the final steps where the dough had to be shaped into the "sub" shape.  It just would not cooperate the way I wanted it to.  I wanted a nice long, slender cylinder of bread, and instead I would ended up with these squat, chubby mini loaves.  Well, after working and rolling, and a bit of stretching and praying, the shape was acceptable.  Not perfect, but acceptable.

And if I didn't cause myself enough angst, after the second rising I noticed that two of the loaves were touching.  And I thought, if I'm careful, I should be able, ever so gently to move it.  Big huge, deflating mistake.  Nothing I could do.  I went ahead and baked three nicely risen sub loaves and one pathetically deflated one.  A lesson in humility, sigh.  And I swore never to make this recipe again.  Ever.  Never.  Until I ate one.

There is a step at the end of the recipe that calls for buttering the top of the hot-from-the-oven loaves and then covering with a clean tea towel.  I was going to skip this step, but let assure you, I think it makes all the difference in the world to the quality of these.  Rolls turned out better any commercially made sub roll I ever had.  Oh my word.  Tender, fluffy, flavorful, and substantial.  In spite of all the challenges, I would definitely make these again because the flavor was so worth it.

Sweetie-Pie loved these so much he ate just the bread the following morning for breakfast, grins.

Can you see the deflated roll in the back?  In spite being the ugly duckling it still tasted good.

COPYCAT SUBWAY ROLLS
(Makes 4 hearty loaves)

1 cup warm water (110* Fahrenheit)
1/2 tablespoon yeast ( 1  1/2 teaspoons)
1 tablespoon sugar
1  1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
2  1/2 to 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1. In a stand mixer with dough hook already attached, combine the water, yeast, sugar, salt, and olive oil.  Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes, allowing the yeast to foam and proof.
2. Add 1 cup of flour and mix on slow speed for 3 to 5 minutes.  add an additional cup of flour and mix until well combined.  continue to add 1/4 cup of flour at a time until a soft dough is formed.  the dough will stick to the bottom of the bowl but pull away from the sides.  You may have to scrape the dough from the hook time to time.  All this should take about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Remove the dough hook set aside.  Remove the bowl and dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface and continue kneading by hand until the dough is soft and supple.  Shape into a ball and return to the bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap or a clean towel, and place in a warm, draft free area, allowing the dough to rise for about 30 minutes.
4. After the dough has risen, turn it out onto a clean surface and divide it until four.  Roll each piece into a long skinny loaf that is about 9 to 10 inches long.
5. Place the rolled loaves onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or baking mat), about two inches apart, across the short way on the pan. Spray plastic wrap with a cooking spray and lightly place across the loaves so it won't stick when you remove it.  Allow the loaves to rise until doubled, about one hour.
6. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat your oven to 350* Fahrenheit.  Remove the plastic wrap or tea towel, and place the loaves in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when lightly thumped with the back of your knuckle.
7. Remove the loaves from the oven.  rub the tops with a stick of butter and cover them with a tea towel to finish cooling.

COOK'S NOTES:  All right, I will make these again, the flavor and overall character of this bread warrants another try.  I'm thinking of pizza dough, you know how it's supposed to rest before shaping it into a pan to give the gluten time to relax to make the dough more manageable?  I'm thinking it's the same with this.  Needs to rest a few minutes before being shaped into loaves.  And I need to remember to give it the space it needs to rise properly and if I misjudge, not to be all confident and deflate them.

Also, the recipe says to let it rise a second time for an hour.  Well, I suppose that's true for a lot of kitchens, but here in Arizona the house is always warm.  We are cooling our house to 75 degrees.  If  I remember correctly, dough doubled in about 40 minutes, so keep that in mind.

The other thing I'm thinking, perhaps I could've used a tad more water.  Living in arid conditions I think affects the humidity of my flour and perhaps it was a little parched for water.  The dough seemed to work okay, but maybe a couple extra tablespoons of water would've been in order.

Anyway, live and learn, grins.  I'm looking forward to next time.

Now to figure out their olive oil dressing.  Hmm... 

Cheers!

No Knead, Whole Wheat, English Muffin Batter Bread

I love my no-knead breads.  I love my kneaded breads, too, of course, but there are times, especially in the mornings, when I just want to get a dough in the oven without a lot of fuss and bother, and have a result that is beautiful, hearty, full of glory, grins.

My Sweetie-Pie surprised me a while back with a gorgeous bouquet of lilies, for no reason, just because he saw something beautiful and he thought of me.  How sweetie-pie is that?!  I'm telling you.  So, of course I had to bake him something that he particularly likes, whole wheat bread.

I'm an early morning riser, he tends to be a sleepyhead so it's no effort for me to have this ready and cooling by the time he finally makes it out to the kitchen.  Usually it's the aroma of something wonderful that awakens him and I see him standing there rubbing his eyes with his knuckles, sniffing the air, and mumbling, "What is that wonderful smell?"  Too cute sometimes.


NO KNEAD, WHOLE WHEAT, ENGLISH MUFFIN BATTER BREAD

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons whole wheat gluten (optional but gives a higher rise)
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1 tablespoon yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup milk
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
Cornmeal, for sprinkling the pan

Lightly grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan with cooking spray or grease with shortening. Roll and shake the cornmeal around the sides and bottom of the pan.  Shake out any excess. Set pan aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flours, vital wheat gluten flour (if using), brown sugar, yeast, salt, and baking soda.

Combine the milk, water, and oil and gently heat until the liquid reaches the temperature directed by the yeast manufacturer, usually between 110*-120* Fahrenheit, but check package for manufacturer's recommendations. Stir the liquid together well before taking the temperature, and for best results, use an insta-read or digital read thermometer.  If you don't have one, temperature should be pleasantly warm but not hot.

Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients, then beat the mixture on high speed for one minute. The dough will be very soft, somewhat sticky, and moist, kind of goopy. Transfer the dough to the prepared pan, then gently stretch it with your impeccably clean hands to make it as even as possible.

Cover lightly with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray or a clean kitchen towel, in a warm, draft-free place, until the dough just barely rises over the top rim of the pan, about 1 hour, depending upon the temperature of your kitchen. (Alternatively, you can place the loaf in your refrigerator to rise overnight. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes prior to baking.) Towards the end of the bread’s rise time, place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 400* Fahrenheit.

Once dough has risen, remove the plastic wrap and bake for 22 to 27 minutes, until it is golden brown and the interior temperature registers 185*-190* Fahrenheit, or sounds hollow when given a good thump with the back of  your knuckle. Check the dough at the 15-minute mark—if it's browning too quickly, lightly tent the pan with foil, then continue baking until the bread is done.

Remove the bread from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes in the baking pan. Gently turn the bread out from the pan and place on a cooling rack. Allow bread to cool completely before slicing.

NOTE: I live in the desert, my kitchen is always warm and almost always no humidity, grins. Cooling a kitchen to 75* Fahrenheit is a lot different than heating it, grins.  My flours are parched! There was not nearly enough liquid so I ended up adding close to another 1/4 cup of lukewarm water.  The rising time for my dough was only about 40 minutes.

Breakfast is Ready

Darned Good Salsa on Cheese Omelet and English Muffin Batter Bread

Breakfast Burrito

No new recipes, just messing with my camera.

Previously posted recipes are here though.  Some recipes I just have to make over and over because they're that good.

https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2018/04/darned-good-salsa.html

 https://cactuskateskitchen.blogspot.com/2017/09/english-muffin-batter-bread.html

Just a word about that salsa on the egg and cheese omelet.  Stop the train!  It was so darned good with the "darned good salsa."  Never thought I'd eat salsa on eggs, but boy am I glad I tried it.  Oooh the flavors. Swoon.  Swoon.  The salsa definitely kicked up the omelet to new heights.  I question whether I'll ever be able to eat a "plain" omelet again.  We've since been out to breakfast and I ordered the restaurant's omelet and salsa special, and all I'm going to say, in all humility, is they do't have anything over on me.  Going to save myself a bundle and make it at home.  Plus I get to eat breakfast in my pajamas.  Win-win all around I'd say.

And, of course, I love the buttery crunchiness of my English muffin batter bread and warm yeasty aromas.  It's a bread that has substance, not air.  Mmmm.  If I want to spoil myself, a little jam goes great.  My Sweetie Pie likes to dob on peanut butter and let its melty goodness just sink into it.

Nothing fancy with the breakfast burrito.  Just some scrambled eggs and diced ham rolled up in a tortilla.  A burrito makes everyday items look kind of fun and fancy, plus it's convenient to eat.    

Potato Hamburger Buns

Potato Hamburger Buns

Sometimes there is nothing like a nice juicy burger to satisfy a craving and for us it's not just a summertime thing; it's a year-round, oh-I-need-a-burger thing, and we must give in to it for nothing else satisfies when the craving strikes.

Growing up, our burger buns were two slices of white bread that would soak up all the hamburger grease and became a goopy white mass that would drip in sheets between your fingers as you tried to eat your sandwich.  Who knew?  We thought it was supposed to be like that.  

So fast forward through the years; the designer bread for hamburgers was discovered and consumed many times over but never did I stop to think I could make them at home. Until one day I had discovered a very popular recipe from a well-known baking site and it was a disappointment.  The roll just could not, in my opinion, hold up to a truly juicy hamburger.  Good for chicken salad.  Good for luncheon meat.  Not good for hamburgers.

More time goes by and I didn't seen anything that even tempted me to try, that is, until I saw this recipe on Smells Like Home.  I was immediately intrigued.  Potatoes add moistness and a kind of body to bread, helps to make bread stay fresher longer.  I jumped on it and I'm glad I did.  

These buns are beautiful and hearty.  They stayed fresh for several days and yes!  They hold up to a juicy hamburger.  These look like a lot of work, and I suppose they are a little work.  But if you want to impress for a special occasion, these are totally worth the effort.

Potato Hamburger Buns

1 pound potatoes, peeled, rinsed and cut into 1-inch pieces (about two large potatoes, maybe a third for good measure)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ¼ cups bread flour
1 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs (1 for the bun batter and 1 for the glaze)
5 tablespoons of reserved potato water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds (nice but totally optional)

Put the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water.  Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low; simmer until the potatoes are easily pierced with the tip of a knife or fork, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Transfer 5 tablespoons of the potato water to a tiny bowl and reserve the liquid.  Drain the remaining  liquid in the saucepan and return the potatoes to the hot saucepan. Shake the potatoes over low heat to remove the surface moisture, about 1 minute.  Turn off heat.

Mash (or rice) the potatoes until very smooth. Measure out 1 cup of potatoes, add to a medium bowl and mix in the butter until melted. Keep the potatoes warm.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Add the warm potatoes and mix with your impeccably clean hands until combined.

Mix in 1 egg and the reserved potato water with the dough hook attachment and continue to mix on low speed until the dough is soft and a little sticky, about 8-10 minutes. The dough should still be warm.  Remove the dough and shape into a ball.

Lightly grease the mixer bowl and return the dough to the bowl, turning the dough in the bowl to coat it lightly in the oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm spot until almost doubled in volume, about 30-40 minutes. Very warm kitchens will require less time.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, pat it into an 8-inch square.  Cut the square into 9 equal pieces; separate the pieces and cover them loosely with plastic wrap or clean lint-free kitchen towel to prevent a skin from forming on the top.

Working with one square at a time, roll the dough rounds into a tight balls and return them to the work surface under the wrap; allow them to rest for 15 minutes.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper. Firmly press each dough round into a 3 ½-inch disk, pushing out large pockets of air from the dough. Line the disks up on the baking sheets and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Allow the dough to proof at room temperature until almost doubled in size, another 30-40 minutes. While the dough proofs, preheat the oven to 425° F with the racks in the two center positions of the oven.

In a small bowl, mix the remaining egg with a tablespoon of water. Lightly brush the tops of the dough rounds with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating pans halfway through the time from top to bottom and front to back, until the buns are a deep golden brown. Transfer the pans to wire racks to cool for 5 minutes then transfer the buns to the racks to cool completely before slicing.

Hamburger Plate

COOK'S NOTE: The original recipe says to put these on two sheets, but I was able fit the it all on one sheet by staggering them.

Coconut Bread (or Cake)

No doubt about it, we enjoy our sweet treats and this surely delivered. Lots of delicious coconut flavor in this bread (though why isn't it called a cake?)  Perhaps because the original recipe called for it to be baked in two loaf pans and I decided to bake mine in a tube pan. Yeah, I can be a rebel like that sometimes, grins.

Regardless, this is nice sweet cake. Was very good with coffee in the morning, and with a cuppa tea later on. One slice goes a long way towards satisfying that sweet tooth. I wouldn't say the cake is the greatest keeper. It's a dense cake, a little crumbly, and no surprise, the outside edges tended to get a bit try. Trim them off and the inside was moister.

I had a couple of different bags of coconut I wanted to use up: one was the shredded type, more commonly known I suspect, and the second was a bag of flaked organic coconut, so it had the big white snowy flakes of that delectable nut. Perhaps the flaked coconut contributed to the crumbliness of the cake, I don't know. I just know I liked it.

COCONUT BREAD (OR CAKE)

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons coconut extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 cup shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour two 9" x 5" loaf pans, or a tube or bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda and salt.

In a large bowl, mixing by hand, combine the sugar, oil, eggs, and coconut extract.

Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to the sugar mixture and stir only until moist.

Stir in shredded coconut.

Pour batter into pan (s).

Bake for one hour or until it tests done.** Let rest in pan for about ten minutes before removing to rack to complete cooling.

COOK'S NOTE:  Because I cooked this in a heavy metal tube pan (angel food pan) the cake/bread was done around 45-50 minutes.  So start checking around 45 minutes and adjust time accordingly.

Anadama Cornbread

Ever had Indian pudding, you know, that old New England specialty made with molasses and cornmeal?  It takes forever to cook in the oven?  If you like homemade bread and you're not in a hurry, this is a delicious, hearty bread with similar flavors.

I laugh at myself.  I might not have undertaken this breadmaking feat it if I read through the recipe with any kind of comprehension and saw that there were two 2-hour rises.  Fortunately I was making this on a day when I had other chores that easily fit in between the rise times so it wasn't a horrible inconvenience but just be aware that there are two longish rise times involved.


ANADAMA CORNBREAD

1/2 cup water, plus 1/3 cup water for proofing yeast
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup fine yellow cornmeal
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup molasses
2 teaspoons dried yeast
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
1 teaspoon salt
vegetable oil for greasing
1 egg, beaten, for glazing

Heat and milk and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil; add the cornmeal. Cook for a minute or two until it thickens and then remove from the heat.  Add the butter and stir until it is well mixed.  Beat in the molasses; set aside to cool.

Dissolve the yeast in 1/3 cup warm (not hot) water and stir well.  Pour the flour and salt into a large bowl and make a well.  Gradually stir in the cornmeal mixture and then add the yeast mixture to make a soft, sticky dough.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead for about ten minutes until soft and pliable. Knead in additional flour as necessary to be able to work the dough, keeping in mind the dough will remain fairly sticky but should not stick to your hands.  Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap or a clean towel and leave to rise in a warm place, up to 2 hours.  The dough will not double in size but should be very soft and pliable when well risen.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and gently punch it down.  Knead briefly and shape it into a flattened oval, tucking the sides underneath the center of the dough to get a tight, even shape.  Place on a large baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Leave it to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.  The dough is ready to bake when it's tight and well risen, and a finger gently poked into the dough leaves a dent, which springs back quickly.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place one oven rack in the middle of the oven and one below it, close to the bottom.  Bring a small pan of water to a boil.  Brush the loaf all over with a little of the beaten egg and gently slash the top of the dough diagonally 2 or 3 times with a sharp knife.    Slashing the dough will allow the dough to continue to rise in the oven.  Dust the top of the dough with a little flour (if desired, gives a nice artisan look).  Place the bread dough on the middle shelf.  The pan with the boiling water should be placed on the bottom shelf.  Shut the oven door.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the crust is nicely browned and the bottom sounds hollow when gently thumped with the back of a knuckle.  Remove from oven and leave to cool on a wire rack.

COOK'S NOTES:  I found this dough to be very wet and sticky, and as a result I added quite a bit of additional flour in order to be able to knead it without the dough sticking to everything.  I worried it would make the bread heavy, but all in all, I think it worked out just fine.  I think this is a recipe that may not be suitable for those who are yeast-phobic or who do not have a lot of experience in breadmaking.

This bread is an excellent keeper.  Well wrapped, it stayed fresh for us for the entire week.  I took thick slices of it to work as a little break snack.  So good!

No Knead, Easy and Delicious, Overnight Refrigerator Rolls

Overnight Refrigerator Rolls

Do you want hot rolls for a special meal but don't have the time to measure and wait and roll?  I have an easy solution for you:  overnight refrigerator rolls.  Mix, let rise in the refrigerator, and the dough is good for up to four days (I find a maximum of three days is best for the best rise).  Take your dough out about 90 minutes before you are planning to serve, roll quickly into little balls and let rise and bake.  Easy peasy lemon squeezey.  I kid you not.

Some good years back, too many to recount, I received a solicitation from a recipe club or a book company or some such organization to receive laminated recipe cards in the mail every month, along with a handsome box and separator cards identifying each section.  Along with this amazing offer I also received some sample recipe cards with drool-worthy photos of the recipe.  And among those, was this recipe for overnight refrigerator rolls.

I never did sign up for the recipe cards (I was skeptical that these were the best of the lot--kind of like a movie trailer where they show you the best two minutes of the movie and the rest of the movie is a yawner).  Anyway, never mind all that.  What's important is that I tried the recipe and I've made it numerous times through the years.  Numerous.  Almost every holiday.  Almost every family gathering.  I've made this a lot of times.

They are fluffy and warm and golden brown goodness.  And they can be timed to pop into your oven when you take out your roast or casserole (if you happen to be making one) if the oven temperature is different, to let the other food rest while these are baking and then bringing everything to the table all hot and perfect at the same time.  Now that's a feat!

Overnight Refrigerator Rolls
(makes 2 dozen rolls)

1 cup of warm water (105-115 degrees Fahrenheit)
2 packages active dry yeast (not instant yeast) (4 1/2 teaspoons if going by volume)
1/2 cup butter melted
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 4 4/1 cups all-purpose flour (may need more less depending upon humidity)
additional butter for brushing on top of finished rolls - optional

In a large bowl, combine the warm water and yeast, proofing the yeast for about five minutes until it's foamy.  If it doesn't become foamy, you need to start over; the yeast isn't any good or your water was too hot.

Stir in butter, sugar, eggs, and salt.

Beat in the flour, one cup at a time, until the batter is too stiff to mix, but it will still be kind of goopy, if you know what I mean.

Cover and refrigerate anywhere from 2 hours, up to 4 days.

Grease a 13"x9" baking pan.

Turn the chilled dough out onto a slightly floured surface.  Divide the dough into 24 equal-sized pieces.  Roll each into a smooth ball.  Place balls in even rows in the pan.  Cover and let rise in a warm place, until double in bulk, about one hour.  (Allow consideration for the temperature of your room, may take more or less time.)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Place rolls in oven and bake until they are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.  Brush with melted butter if desired.  Break apart rolls to serve.

COOK'S NOTES:   A couple of thoughts on this recipe.  This dough will RISE in the refrigerator, and if you used a bowl that's too small, it will overtake your shelf.  No kidding.  I have a huge Jadeite mixing bowl I use and it's just about right.  It may need to be punched down to keep it in control, grins.

You don't have to bake all two dozen at the same time.  Only want or need 8 rolls, then that's all you need to bake.  Just use a pan small enough to accommodate them and bake fresh rolls daily.  Muffin tins work great, one ball in each muffin cavity and you're good, or if you're feeling fancy, you can make cloverleaf rolls.

And a caveat:  The original recipe as I've posted it, says to bake in a 9"x13" pan.  Well, I've tried that on a couple of occasions, and for the life of me I cannot get the middle row of buns to thoroughly bake without the outside row of buns being overdone.  What I've found to be a much better solution is to do what my grandmother did and that was to use a cake pan, 8 or 10 in a cake pan.  I baked 8 in a pan this last time, and I probably should've gone smaller and made 9 or 10.  There's no wrong in any of this, just preference.

And a bonus:  A friend asked if cinnamon rolls could be made out of this.  Well, I hadn't thought of that.  I had the other half of the dough left over from this batch, and I thought, why not.  Next morning, I rolled out the dough, spread butter on it, sprinkled generously with sugar and cinnamon, rolled dough into a cylinder, cut into 8 gorgeous slices, let rise, baked, and voila!  Cinnamon rolls. A little glaze and we were enjoying nice hot cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

 

Easiest Yet No Knead Italian Bread

I have so many friends who tell me they are afraid of trying to make bread because they're afraid of yeast, and I say, "I hear you."  It is intimidating and it does take some skill and experience but it's not impossible.  I don't think there's many of us whose first attempts weren't less than stellar.  My first attempt at white bread resulted in a beautiful golden mass that needed a chain saw to cut through it.  Well, that's an exaggeration, maybe a hacksaw.  No kidding.  My husband took it down to the trash bin below and I heard the resounding clank all the way up to our second-story apartment, windows and doors closed, over city traffic.  Yep, that was me.  I can still remember the ringing.  It was a good laugh but not good bread.  It was also good experience and I tried again.  And again.  And then I got it. That's what I'm doing with tortilla making, and that's not even a yeasted bread!

This bread is virtually goof proof.  I can't think of a way you can mess it up, unless you don't let it rise long enough or the water you use in the batter is too hot and you kill the yeast or you overhandle it when you put it on the pan for baking and you lose some of the holey-ness.  There's no worry about kneading it to a smooth ball, too much water, not enough water, too little flour, too much flour, folding and rolling.  Just mix and plop mostly.

I've made this so many times over the years I've memorized the simple recipe, but simple doesn't equate with flavorless.  Oh. My. Word.  The long slow rise develops the yeasty flavor, combined with a beautiful golden crust on the outside, tender on the inside and you're in bread heaven.  If you're a rustic, holey bread person, this will warm your heart and satisfy your belly.

I've toasted it, made sandwiches with it, eaten it slathered with thick pats of butter.  It's good alongside soup, salad, or anywhere a good artisan type bread rounds out a meal.  Bread here lasts maybe three days. I've shared loaves with a friend who freezes half a loaf and he says it thaws well and is just as good as fresh.  So, that's good to know.  Here, we tend to eat it almost as fast as I make it, grins.

NO KNEAD ITALIAN BREAD

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon yeast
2 cups of warm water 

Oven-proof baking dish or casserole dish with 2-3 cups of hot water to be used while baking bread 

Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl and add the 2 cups of warm water (about 105-115 degrees Fahrenheit). Stir the mixture.  You will have a gloopy, sticky mass.  It's okay; that's perfect!

Cover the bowl with a cloth or plastic wrap (not allowing it to touch the dough because the dough is going to rise).  Let sit in warm place about 4 hours, until double in volume.  The surface will have bubbles about 1/4 inch in diameter. 

Somewhere in this time frame, preheat your oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.  Put the casserole dish with the 2-3 cups of hot water on a bottom rack and allow to heat with the oven.  You're trying to create a steamy, moist environment for the bread to bake.

Dump your dough onto a well-floured surface, covering the outside of the dough with flour as it is still gloopy and sticky.  Handle the dough as little as possible as you're trying not to burst the bubbles, and shape into desired shape.  A little stretching and pulling and patting into a log shape and you're good.  A pastry cloth is handy for rolling the dough onto your baking sheet.  If you've floured the outside of the dough well, you can just roll the dough off the pastry cloth onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  If you don't use parchment, grease the baking sheet well.

Once the dough is on the baking sheet, put it into oven rack that is set at the mid-point.  (Be careful of the steam as you open the oven door.  It's going to come rushing out at your face.)

Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown and bread sounds hollow when thumped with the back of your forefinger knuckle.

COOK'S NOTES:  I've made this enough times to where I can skip the step about putting it onto a well-floured surface and shaping.  I now just generously sprinkle the dough with flour, scraping down the side of the bowl to flour the sides, line a jelly roll pan with parchment paper, flour that well, and scrape my dough out into the pan and shape it there. It does get sticky and can be a little tricky because it wants to stick to the parchment, but nowadays I'm about not having one more thing to clean.

Now the directions say to let rise in a warm place for 4 hours and let me add a thought to that. I live in Arizona and most times of the year we are cooling our house to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.  Every place is a warm place in my kitchen.  Four hours of rising time is too long here so I start checking it after 3 hours or so, and more often than not, the dough just needs another half hour or so, during which time I preheat the oven.  When I lived in New Hampshire where in the dead of winter we heated our house to just 70, well, that was a whole 'nother story.  I put a bowl of warm water in an oven that had been ever so briefly heated to the lowest possible oven temperature and turned off.  Leave the oven door open, put the hot water on the lowest rack, turn on the oven light, and put the covered dough on a rack above that.  Sometimes I had to change the hot water a couple of times to make sure that the air was still warm.  Drafty old New England farmhouses, grins.

If you're going to let your dough rise in the oven, remove it before preheating it to 500.

Oh, one last thought.  That water that you use as you bake the bread is going to be hot, hot, hot.  I let it sit there after I take the bread out and allow it to cool down before handling.  One splash and you're going to get burnt, uh, speaking from experience.

Sweet, Cakey Cornbread

Sweet, Cakey Cornbread

Well, as my hairdresser would tell me, my roots are showing.  This time though we're talking about cornbread, and I mean Yankee cornbread, sweet and delicious, made to go with Sunday's Boston baked beans dinner, fried chicken, or steaming bowls of chowdah.  And if it's not sweet enough for you, slather on the honey butter, all drippy and sticky and wondrous.  Food of the gods, I'm telling you, grins.

This cornbread, as the title suggests is cakey, not crumbly, with a finer texture.  It holds up well to lots of butter!  I happen to use white cornmeal this time but the yellow cornmeal works very well and near as I can tell it's just a difference in color.

One caveat:  As much as I love this recipe, it is not that great for cornbread dressing.  Look to our southern cousins for a recipe, where there is less sugar and can really showcase the savory seasonings.  Good stuff!  You need both in your life to be complete.

SWEET, CAKEY CORNBREAD

1 cup cornmeal
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups sugar (I told you this was sweet!)
2 tablespoons baking powder
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Grease and flour a 9" x 13" pan.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined. Pour into prepared pan and bake 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown on top and toothpick tests clean. 

COOK'S NOTES:  This makes delicious corn muffins.  Reduce cooking time, checking maybe after 20 minutes or so.  I use cupcake liners for easier clean up.

No Knead English Muffin Batter Bread

No Knead English Muffin Batter Bread

If you're new to baking and just a little timid of working with yeast, this is a bread I highly recommend starting with.  There's no kneading, a single rise, no fussy shaping, and the results far outweigh the effort.  This bread is toothsome and yeasty and oh so delicious and makes the crunchiest toast.

NO-KNEAD, ENGLISH MUFFIN BATTER BREAD
Makes 2 loaves

5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour  (more or less) (divided)

2 tablespoons active dry yeast (yes, tablespoons, not teaspoons) 

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups milk

1/2 cup water 

Cornmeal for sprinkling inside baking pans and on top of loaves

Start by greasing two 8" x 4" baking loaves and sprinkling enough cornmeal inside and tipping and rotating the pan to leave a light coating on the sides and bottoms of the pans. Lightly tap out any excess.

In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt and baking soda.  Give it a good stir.  

Heat milk and water to a temperature that falls between 120 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

Pour liquids into the dry mixture and stir; what you should have is something that is about as thick as pancake batter.  Add additional flour as needed.  (See notes below)

Divide the dough between the two pans. Stretch the dough to fit the pan.  Sprinkle with a little corn meal and allow to rise in a warm place about 45 minutes or until the dough has risen about 1/4 inch over the edge of the pan.

Depending on how fast your dough is rising and how long it takes your oven to preheat, somewhere during this time, preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 25 minutes, or until when thumbed with a knuckle it sounds hollow.

Let cool in pan for about 10 minutes and then remove from pan and allow to finish cooling on rack.

COOKS NOTES:  Now you're going to have to use some judgment here.  Recipe says more or less 5 1/2 cups flour.  I can tell you depending on the brand of flour, the age, if it's spring or winter wheat, if it's summer or the winter, the alignment of the stars and if the day of the week you're making this has a "y" in it, you're going to need some judgment on how much additional flour to add.  I add a half a cup at a time and give it a stir until I end up with something that is gloopy (is that a baking term?), and stretchy.  You may not need the full amount; you may need to add a bit more.  This time I only needed 5 cups of flour and it was absolutely fine.

Recipe says to allow dough to rise for 45 minutes.  Well, it's the beginning of September, I live in Arizona, the sun is beating down on us, and my house is cooled to 75 degrees, grins, so needless to say 45 minutes of rising time is out of the question.  I checked at 35 minutes, and the dough was at the near perfect point.  It only takes a few short minutes to heat the oven, and we were good to go.

Mmm, homemade English muffin batter bread for breakfast!