Quinoa, Onion & Rosemary Rolls for BBBs

It’s that time again! Time to reveal the monthly bread for the Bread Baking Babes (BBBs). The host for this month’s bake is Karen of Bake My Day and she chose the Wild Rice and Onion Bread from Peter Reinhart’s book Artisan Bread Every Day.

 

Instead of following the recipe as presented, I took a different approach. I went to the back of the book, got the baker’s percentages, and worked from there.

I have several of Peter Reinhart’s books, including this one, and I really enjoy making breads from them. One of the things I like about this book is that he includes baker’s percentages for every recipe so you can easily customize all of the breads.

Of course, you can make every bread in the book without using baker’s percentages, but the percentages come in handy when you want to adjust the ingredients up or down or add in additional components. You can do this without a formula, but the percentages are really easy once you get the hang of it. I fought this concept, you know the whole math thing, but now that I’ve jumped in, the water is fine. 

 

Using the BreadStorm™ iPad app helped get me over the learning curve with baker’s math.  You just plug the percentages (or weight by grams or kilograms) into the tool and voila! It calculates the other percentages for you.  I just love apps, but at some point, you really do need to know how to do it by hand.

All you do is decide how much flour you want to use and that becomes the 100%.  All the other percentages are based off of the flour %.  I wanted to make rolls so I reduced the amount of flour to 500 grams. The original recipe uses 765 grams of flour which is enough to make two loaves of bread.  I didn’t want that many rolls. My adjustments made 12 rolls and that was plenty. I was able to enjoy some now and freeze some for later.

I didn’t have any wild rice so I used quinoa. I added in some rosemary because I thought the flavor would go well with the quinoa and dried onions. Well, really it’s because I just got a new rosemary plant, and I don’t want it to go to waste.

You can also use brown rice in this recipe, but the quinoa gives it a unique texture. I used kefir milk, but feel free to use any kind of milk in this bread. I’ve been maintaining some kefir grains so I need to continue to find creative ways to use the milk. The kefir worked really well in this recipe.

 

 

 

Quinoa, Onion & Rosemary Rolls

Adapted from: Artisan Bread Every Day by Peter Reinhart

Yield: 12-18 Rolls (depending on how big you shape them)

Original Formula (percentages):

• 100% unbleached bread flour
• 2% salt
• 2.4% yeast
• 7.4% brown sugar
• 44.5% water
• 15% Buttermilk or any other milk
• 3.7% dried minces or chopped onions or
• 30% diced fresh onions

Adapted Formula (percentages):

• 100% unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2% salt
• 2% yeast
• 7.5% brown sugar
• 44.5% water
• 15% Kefir milk
• 3.7% minced onions
• 22% cooked Quinoa
• Chopped fresh Rosemary

Formula by weight:

• 500g all-purpose flour
• 10g salt
• 10g instant yeast
• 37g brown sugar
• 225g water
• 75g Kefir milk
• 18g minced onions
• 110g cooked Quinoa
• 2 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
• Melted butter for brushing *

* You can use an egg wash if you want the rolls to be shiny, but I wanted to soften them up so I brushed them with the melted butter right after removing them from the oven.

 

Do Ahead (the day before or a few days earlier):

Combine all of the ingredients, except the melted butter, in a large mixing bowl.  Stir for a minute using a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk. The dough will be sticky and shaggy.  Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.

Continue mixing, adjusting the flour or water as necessary to form a dough ball. At this point, the dough should be soft and supple and slightly sticky.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured board and knead for a couple of minutes. Add more flour if necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface. The dough will still be soft and slightly sticky, but it should hold together in a ball.

Place the dough in a clean bowl (lightly oiled if preferred), then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate it immediately.  Let it rest in the refrigerator overnight or up to 4 days.

 

On Baking Day:

Remove the dough from the refrigerator about 2 hours before you plan to bake the rolls. Sprinkle a little flour on the work surface to keep the dough from sticking. Divide the dough into 12 (or 18) equal pieces and shape each piece into a round ball. Place the rolls on parchment-lined baking sheets.

Cover the pans loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let the rolls rise at room temperature for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until increased to about 1 1/2 times their original size.

I used a roll stamper to add a unique imprint in the dough. However, the imprint sprung back so it just barely shows up on the baked rolls. 

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. about 15 minutes before it’s time to bake. Slide the baking sheets into the oven on the middle and bottom racks and let the rolls bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Rotate the pans for even baking and let the rolls bake another 10 minutes until they have a rich golden color. The total bake time should be about 20 to 25 minutes.

Remove the rolls to a wire rack to cool.  Brush with the melted butter (if desired) and allow the rolls to cool for at least 20 minutes (if you can).

 

I’ve been enjoying these rolls all week. I froze half of them and the rest I’ve been eating (one per day) for a snack. They taste great warm with butter. However, I’ve decided that adding some cheese to the dough would enhance them even further.

Thanks to Karen of Bake My Day for choosing this delicious and easy bread for our bake this month.

I’m also sharing these rolls with YEASTSPOTTING and BYOB!

 

Check out what the other creative Babes made this month:

The Bread Baking Babes (current dozen) are:

• Bake My Day - Karen
• blog from OUR kitchen - Elizabeth
• Bread Experience - Cathy
• Feeding my Enthusiasms - Pat/Elle
• girlichef - Heather
• Life's a Feast - Jamie
• Living in the Kitchen with Puppies - Natashya
• Lucullian Delights - Ilva
• My Diverse Kitchen - Aparna
• My Kitchen In Half Cups - Tanna
• Notitie Van Lien - Lien
• Thyme for Cooking - Katie (Bitchin’ Bread Baking Babe Bibliothécaire)

Would you like to be a Bread Baking Buddy? Just make the Wild Rice and Onion Bread (of course you may adapt) - and then send Karen your link  (refer to the info in her announcement post).  Submissions are due by May 29th.  Once you've posted, you'll receive a Buddy badge for baking along.

I hope you will join us!

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Soft Spelt Pretzels

The Back to the Future, Buddies traveled way back this month to make soft pretzels. I missed these pretzels when the Bread Baking Babes (BBBs) made them in 2011 so I was glad Carola chose them this month.

Pretzels have a unique history. Also known as Pretiola (little reward) in Latin, they are said to have been invented by monks around 610 AD to reward their students for memorizing bible verses.

Pretiola’s were made out of bread dough scraps and shaped to represent a child’s folded arms in prayer. Supposedly, the three holes represented the Christian Trinity. Some sources claim that pretzels originated in a monastery near Northern Italy or Southern France, but other sources say they were invented by a German Monk.

Whether it’s Pretiola (Latin), Brachiola (Italian), or Bretzel (German), a pretzel by any other name still smells as sweet (or doughy, rather) and tastes as good.

I’m not certain what type of flour would’ve been used in 610 AD to make pretzels, but I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been the commercial white flour we have today.

These days, pretzels can be made with many different types of flour so I decided to use a mixture of all-purpose and whole grain spelt flours. I also tried Carola’s suggestion and added ground flax seed meal. To top things off, I sprinkled the tops with black sesame seeds and a little bit of kosher salt.

 

Soft Spelt Pretzels

Original recipe from MyRecipes: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/soft-pretzels
My version is adapted from: http://sweetandthatsit.blogspot.ch/2013/12/soft-pretzels-laugen-bretzel.html

 

YIELD: 12 servings (serving size: 1 pretzel)

 

Ingredients:

Pretzel Dough:

• 300 g all-purpose spelt flour (I used VitaSpelt)
• 120 g whole grain spelt flour (VitaSpelt)
• 40 g ground flaxseed meal
• 1 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

Pretzel Bath:

• 6 cups water
• 1 1/2 to 2 T baking soda

Glaze and Toppings:

• Cooking spray
• 1 tsp. water
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp. kosher salt, optional for sprinkling
• Black sesame or poppy seeds for sprinkling
  

Directions:

1) Add the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir with a wire whisk to incorporate.  Gradually add in the water until it forms a soft dough.

2) Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Gently knead until it is smooth and elastic. The dough will feel slightly sticky. Don’t over knead it if you are using spelt.

3) Place dough in a clean bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top.

4) Cover and let the dough rise in a warm place (85° F.), free from drafts, 40 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

5) Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Cover the dough prevent drying. Working with one portion at a time, roll each portion into an 18-inch-long rope with tapered ends. Cross one end of rope over the other to form a circle, leaving about 4 inches at end of each rope. Twist the rope at the base of the circle. Fold the ends over the circle and into a traditional pretzel shape, pinching gently to seal.

 

6) Place pretzels on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or sprayed lightly with cooking spray). Cover and let rise 10 minutes (pretzels will rise slightly).

 

7) Preheat oven to 425° F.

8) Combine 6 cups water and baking soda in a non-aluminum Dutch oven or pot. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer.

9) Gently lower 1 pretzel (or more if the pot is larger) into simmering water mixture; cook 15 seconds. Turn pretzel with a slotted spatula; cook an additional 15 seconds. Transfer pretzel to a wire rack coated with cooking spray. Repeat procedure with remaining pretzels.

 

10) Place pretzels back on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Combine 1 teaspoon water and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a fork until smooth. Brush a thin layer of egg mixture over pretzels; sprinkle with kosher salt and/or seeds. I sprinkled mine with kosher salt and black sesame seeds.

11) Bake at 425° for 10 to 12 minutes or until pretzels are deep golden brown.

 

12) Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  

 

These pretzels have a slightly earthy flavor due to the ground flaxseed and spelt.  They tasted good warm with butter.  They would probably taste really good with spicy brown mustard but I didn’t have any.  They could also use more kosher salt. I sprinkled it lightly, but if I make these again, I will add more.

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

 

 

Sources: 

• http://www.essortment.com/pretzel-history-little-known-facts-21126.html
• http://foodimentary.com/2012/04/26/origins-of-the-pretzel/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pretzel

Make-Ahead Honey Spelt Rolls

I enjoy making different types of breads and rolls with spelt flour.  I’ve had many successes, but some duds as well.

One of my less than glorious attempts at utilizing spelt in a recipe happened on Thanksgiving Day. I converted my favorite yeast roll recipe to spelt sourdough and used all-purpose spelt flour instead of bread flour.

This turned out to be a bit too many changes at one time. The rolls tasted pretty good but the texture was more like a hard biscuit than a fluffy roll. I think the dough fermented too long.  No one complained because we had plenty of food, but this was not the texture I was looking for.

I redeemed myself when I made Spelt Dinner Rolls for Christmas Dinner.  I served them to my son’s girlfriend’s family so I was doubly pleased that they turned out.  They were definitely not duds. They received the thumbs up from everyone that tried them. 

 

These rolls are super easy! The dough can be made ahead of time and frozen. This worked out perfect for my schedule. I went out of town for a couple of days so I was able to make the dough the day before, freeze it and transport it with me on the two-and-a-half-hour drive.  The rolls were just starting to unfreeze when I got to my destination so I put them back in the freezer to rest overnight.

On Christmas Day, I took the rolls out of the freezer and let them warm up a bit.  Then I reshaped them and placed them in a muffin tin to bake. I transported them again during the final proof and baked them once I got to the host kitchen.

Everyone waited with baited breath for the rolls to bake and I’m happy to say they did not disappoint.  They were fluffy and yummy.

 

Make-Ahead Honey Spelt Rolls

Adapted from: Taste of the South’s Make-Ahead Honey Wheat Rolls

Makes: 2 Dozen Rolls

Ingredients:

• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose spelt flour
• 2 cups whole grain spelt flour
• 2 tsp. instant yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• scant 1/3 cup honey
• scant 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 cups warm water (100° to 115°)

 

Directions:

I think these rolls could be made by hand very easily, but I was pressed for time so I opted to use my stand mixer.

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together the flours, yeast, salt, and sugar using a wire whisk or wooden spoon.

2. Add the honey and oil and gradually add in the warm water. Using the dough hook, beat at medium speed until all of the ingredients are incorporated. Spelt does better if you don’t over mix it.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead it until it is soft and supple. Place the dough in a large bowl; spray with nonstick cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover, and let rise in a warm place, until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

4. Punch the dough down. Cover large baking sheets with parchment paper or wax paper, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Divide dough into 24 portions. With lightly floured hands, shape each portion of dough into a ball. Place dough balls on prepared baking sheets 1 inch apart. Cover and freeze until firm. Remove dough balls from baking sheets; place in resealable freezer bags. Seal bags, and freeze. (Dough is best if used within 2 months.)

5. To bake frozen dough, remove dough balls from freezer. Place each dough ball in a muffin cup coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover with a dish towel, and let rise in a warm place (85° F.), until doubled in size, about 1 to 1½ hours. I only had 1 muffin tin with me so I baked half in the muffin tin and the other half on a baking sheet.  They both looked and tasted great.

 

 

6. Preheat oven to 350° F.. Uncover dough; bake until golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, and let cool completely on a wire rack.

7. To bake rolls on the same day you make the dough, place dough in muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray. Cover, and let rise in a warm place (85° F.), until doubled in size, 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover; bake at 350° F. until golden brown, 17 to 20 minutes. Let cool in pans for 5 minutes. Remove from pans, and serve warm or let cool completely on a wire rack.

 

These rolls were special because they were made with Spelt but also because I used Roman olive oil, the same oil my youngest son brought back with him from Rome. I’m sure they would taste good with any olive oil, but they were particularly delicious and memorable because I included his olive oil.

 

I’m sharing these rolls with:

BYOB - Il Cestino del Pane

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy

Pumpkin ‘n Spice Chocolate Babka

I just love this time of year and baking with seasonal favorites like pumpkin, apples, and spices galore. I haven’t gotten my fill of pumpkin bread yet so when I found out we were making Spice Breads for the Twelve Loaves baking challenge, I knew I wanted to make something with pumpkin and spice.

In another virtual room, the Artisan Bread Bakers have been making Chocolate Babka. I’ve made Chocolate Cinnamon Babka previously so I thought about skipping the BOM this month. However, I was on call this past weekend for a project implementation and I was craving something sweet to keep me motivated. I usually try to take a little time to bake even when I’m working on the weekend, if possible. I decided that treating myself to some Babka sounded like the perfect incentive to get through the system deployment.

Since I had already made chocolate cinnamon babka before and I wanted to make something with pumpkin, the logical transition was to combine the flavors.

I looked for inspiration for pumpkin babka on Pinterest. I found a few references but none of them really grabbed my attention so I decided to create my own bread.

 

I started with the Chocolate Cinnamon Babka recipe from Peter Reinhart's book Artisan Breads Every Day.  This recipe makes one very large freeform loaf and I wanted two loaves that could be baked in loaf pans so I converted the recipe to baker’s percentages, added some pumpkin and spices, then increased the amounts of the other ingredients accordingly. It was a fun and tasty project.

 

Pumpkin ‘n Spice Chocolate Babka

Makes: Two Medium Loaves

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 T instant yeast
• 130 g (~2/3 cup) lukewarm milk (any kind; at about 95 degrees F.)
• 105 g (7 T) unsalted butter, melted or at room temperature
• 105 g (7 T) sugar
• 4 large egg yolks 
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 100 g (scant 1/2 cup) pumpkin puree
• 525 g  (~4 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour, more for dusting
• 8 g (1 1/2 tsp) sea salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves

Filling:

• 255 g (1 1/2 cups) semisweet and dark chocolate chunks
• 56.5 g (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter

Egg Wash:

• 1 large egg white, whisked with a little sugar until frothy
• raw sugar for sprinkling on top

 

Directions:

1) Mixing and Kneading the Dough:

Whisk together the yeast and lukewarm milk until dissolved, then let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cream the butter and sugar until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes at medium speed on the mixture, using the paddle attachment.

Add the vanilla to the egg yolks and whisk them gently. Add the yolk mixture to the creamed butter and sugar mixture and mix until fluffy, about 2 minutes at medium speed. Add the pumpkin puree. Scrape down the sides of the bowl a couple of times during the mixing cycle.

Stop the mixer and combine the dry ingredients: flour, salt, and spices and add to the mixer bowl. Pour in the milk/yeast mixture. Begin mixing again at low speed, using the dough hook, and mix for 2 to 3 minutes to make a soft, supple, tacky dough.

Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and knead it by hand for about 2 minutes, adding more flour as necessary to make the dough pliable. The dough will be a beautiful golden color and will feel soft and supple. 

 

2) Bulk Fermentation

Form the dough into a round ball and place it in a lightly greased bowl.  Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let the dough ferment for 2 to 3 hours.

 

3) Prepare the Filling:

While the dough is rising, grind the chocolate in a food processor until nearly powdered. Cut the butter into small chunks, add to the food processor, and pulse until the butter is evenly dispersed into the chocolate mixture.

 

4) Divide and Roll out the Dough

When the dough has risen, divide it into two equal balls using a sharp knife or pastry scraper.

Roll each piece into a 15 by 15-inch square on a lightly floured surface.  You may need to lift the dough frequently (using the metal pastry scraper) and add more flour underneath to prevent it from sticking to the counter.

Sprinkle the chocolate/butter mixture over each rolled out piece of dough and break up any large clumps.  Cover the surface of the dough, leaving a border.

 

5) Shape the Loaves

Roll each piece of dough up jelly-roll style and place seam down on the counter.  Rock the log it back and forth to extend the length to about 18 to 24 inches long.  I forgot to do the lengthening part.

 

Grease two 8 1/2” x 4” loaf pans. Carefully twist the log from both ends being careful not to tear it.  Twist it just enough to accentuate the spiral. Coil the twisted log into a circular snail shape. 

 

Stand the coil on its end.  It should be perpendicular to the counter and not laying flat. Press down on the coil to compress it and place it in the prepared loaf loaf pan. Repeat with the other loaf.

 

6) Proof the Loaves

Cover the loaf pans loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise for 2 to 3 hours at a warm room temperature. 

I placed mine in a 70 degrees proofing box. During this time, the babka should fill the pan and increase by about 1 1/2 times its original size.

 

7) Bake the Loaves

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Using a toothpick, poke a few holes in the top of the loaves. This will help eliminate potential air pockets between the layers of the chocolate and the dough.  It definitely helped, but I think I missed a few places when I was poking with the toothpick because I still ended up with a pocket.

While the oven is preheating, prepare the egg wash. Brush the top of each loaf with egg wash and sprinkle with raw sugar. Bake the loaves for 20 to 30 minutes, then rotate the pans and bake until the tops are a deep rich dark brown. The sides should be a rich golden brown in color and the bottom should sound hollow when tapped lightly on the bottom. The total baking time will be around 50 to 60 minutes.

You may need to tent the loaves if the top starts browning too much due to the egg wash. I thought my loaves were burning so I tented them. Even the darkest places weren’t burnt. The bread will be crispy on the outside when you remove it from the oven, but it will soften as it cools.

Cool the loaves for at least 90 minutes before slicing and serving. This bread tastes best once the chocolate has had time to set. I waited until the next day to try mine.  It was divine.

I’m glad I made this bread on Saturday. I was busy with the deployment Sunday afternoon and it sure was nice to enjoy a slice of this bread after I was finished.

 

I enjoyed one loaf, but gave the other one to a friend in exchange for some work he did for me. I didn’t want to keep all of this yumminess to myself. Bread is an excellent bartering tool. If you haven’t tried it, you should.

 

I’m sharing these loaves with:

BYOB - Il Cestino del Pane

Yeastspotting

 

Happy Baking!

Cathy