Category: Breads

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Little Pumpkin Rolls

Dough:
1 cup milk, whole or non-dairy such as oat preferred
2 1/4  teaspoons (1 packet) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice or freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup pumpkin or winter squash puree
2 tablespoons olive oil or vegetable oil
4 cups bread flour or unbleached white flour
About 10 walnut halves, broken in half longways

Glaze:
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon whole milk OR a few tablespoons of non-dairy milk

Instructions:
Pour the milk into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over and let it stand for about 5 minutes to dissolve. Then add the sugar, salt, pumpkin pie spice, squash or pumpkin puree, and oil. Mix, and add 3 cups of the flour, and continue to mix adding enough of the remaining flour to get a smooth dough that clears the sides of the bowl. If mixing by hand, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-8 minutes, until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as necessary. If using a stand mixer, knead on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Shape the dough into a ball, and either leave in the mixing bowl and cover the bowl, or transfer to a plastic container with a lid. Let rise for about an hour until doubled.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide in half, then cut each half into 6-7 portions for 12-14 rolls in all. Shape each piece into a smooth ball.

Line two large baking sheets with parchment. Cut 12-14 lengths of kitchen string, each about 27 1/2 inches. Place one dough ball in the middle of the string with the smoother side down, then bring each end up and cross them over the dough ball as if wrapping a package. Trying not to tighten the string around the dough (you don’t want the string to cut into the ball), carefully turn the dough ball over. Repeat this wrapping with the string so that it marks out 8 sections of the dough ball, ending on top. Tie the string in a knot to secure it and place the ball on one of your parchment lined sheets. Repeat with the remaining dough balls. Cover the balls loosely with a damp towel and leave them to rise for about 45 minutes, until nearly doubled in size.

While the dough is rising, prepare the glaze by beating the egg with the 1 tablespoon of milk OR simply pour a few tablespoons of non-dairy milk into a small bowl that you can dip your pasty brush into. Heat the oven to 350.

Brush the rolls with the glaze carefully, staying away from the strings as much as possible. Bake the rolls  for 25 minutes, until they are risen and deep golden brown. Leave to cool for 2–3 minutes, until they are just cool enough to handle, then carefully snip and remove the string. Press a piece of walnut into the top of each pumpkin for a stalk.

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Lottie’s Carrot Breakfast Muffins

This recipe is adapted from an original by Lottie Bedlow, @lottiegotcake who was a contestant on the Great British Bake Off in 2020, series 11 in the UK, series 8 in the US. The contestants had to live in a pandemic bubble. And oh gosh, I was inspired to make Battenberg cake by that series. Lottie’s had rhubarb; mine was pumpkin.

Anyways, the carrot muffins. Lottie says they are accidentally one of the best things she made in 2025.

Yogurt topped carrot muffins

I actually made them twice, once with eggs and once with applesauce replacing the eggs. The egg ones got a little too dark, because as Lottie points out, some of the muffins have a little dip in the top – that she filled with yogurt. I thought the dip was because in Lottie’s recipe, the muffins bake at 160°C, with the fan on. I calculated that to be 320°F, and I thought maybe that coolish temperature was what made the dip; if the oven was hotter I thought they’d get that initial spring.  But turning the oven up to 375° for the last few minutes just resulted in darker muffins. Oh well. The applesauce ones that cooked at 375°F no fan were still a little flat on top, too. It’s just how they are.

Makes 9 muffins
Ingredients:
1/2 to 2/3 cup light brown sugar (optionally use more sugar if your applesauce is unsweetened)
1 cup grated carrots, 2-3 smallish carrots, I like to peel them but it’s not necessary
2 eggs OR 1/2 cup sweetened or unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup neutral oil, such as safflower or canola
grated zest of one orange
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/4 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
good pinch salt

Optional topping: Full fat Greek yogurt, sweetened with a bit of agave ( I used honey), a bit of vanilla or vanilla bean paste, and grated orange zest

Heat the oven to 375° and line 9 cups in a 12-well muffin tin with paper liners, or grease the wells. Measure the brown sugar into a medium bowl and grate carrots on top. Beat in the eggs, then pour in oil and mix well. Grate the orange zest into the bowl give it another stir and set aside. Whisk together the dry ingredients in another bowl. Add the wet ingredients and combine. Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, and back for 18-20 minutes, till firm.

Serve with Lottie’s topping, or just spoon a little yogurt over and enjoy.

 

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Giant Yeasted Cimmy Roll

Based on King Arthur Baking and Smitten Kitchen recipes, this giant cinnamon roll can be made ahead, and is fun to shape.

Dough
3 ½ cups unbleached or all-purpose flour
2 ½ teaspoons (1 packet) instant yeast
1 teaspoons salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk, whole, 2%, or buttermilk, slightly warmed. I have not experimented with non-dairy milks but expect they would work
2 large eggs, room temperature
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, but OK if it’s still cold, cut into small pieces

Filling
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons unbleached or all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Good pinch salt (or use salted butter)
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Glaze
1 ¼  cups confectioners’ sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla
2 to 3 tablespoons milk or water

Make the dough:

  • Measure the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer.
  • Beat the eggs and milk together, and make sure the mixture is only lukewarm, then pour into dry ingredients.
  • Using the paddle attachment, mix until there’s almost no dry flour – about 30 seconds – then drop in the butter pieces a few at a time and mix until blended.
    Knead on low-mdium speed for 5 minutes

At this point you have two choices of method:

  • One: Transfer the dough into a plastic container with a lid that holds at least 2 quarts, and refrigerate at least 8 hours and up to two days;
  • Two: Let the dough rise at room temperature until it almost doubles – about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Then, refrigerate the dough for 1 hour.

Assemble the roll:

  • Make the filling: Combine all the filling ingredients either in a bowl, or the pan you used to melt the butter. It will look pretty runny, but will spread just fine on the chilled dough.
  • Line a large baking sheet with parchment. Grease a 10-inch cast iron skillet, cake pan, or spring form pan, and line the bottom with parchment. Place the baking pan on the baking sheet.
  • Remove the chilled dough from the fridge, and place on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half and roll each piece into a 9 x13 inch rectangle. Spread half the filling in one piece of dough, and then stack the second piece on top.
  • Cut the stacked dough into 6 strips, each about 1 ½ inches x 13 inches.
  • Roll up one of the strips and place it in the center of the pan with the spiral up. Wrap another strip around the outside of the first roll, filling side in. Continue with the strip, wrapping the same way. Cut the last 3 strips in half and wrap them around the roll too.

If you did method two, so your dough has only risen about 3 hours, you can cover the roll, refrigerate overnight, and bake in the morning. For method one, let the dough rise at room temperature for about 45 minutes to an hour. Heat the oven to 350° near the end of the rise time.

Bake the roll for 50-55 minutes, covering loosely with foil after about 35 minutes. The internal temperature should be 180° in the center.

Cool the roll in the pan for about 10 minutes, while you mix up the glaze. Transfer the roll to a cutting board or platter, drizzle with the glaze and serve warm or at room temperature.

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[Relatively] Quick Crescent Rolls

These rolls are of course inspired by poppin’ dough crescent rolls. They’re not as quick as smashing open a tube of purchase dough, but they’re easy and can be made when you have a couple of hours and can be refrigerated and baked later, or baked, cooled, and frozen to be reheated. You do need softened butter which can take planning ahead – but the butter that goes into the dough (the 4 tablespoons) is cut into pieces so will soften pretty quickly and the butter that you spread on the dough will soften during the dough’s first rise. You can also start it in the microwave. To get your egg up to room temperature quickly, place it in a small bowl or custard cup and run warm water on it. Let stand while you gather the ingredients for the crescents.

1 packet, 2 1/4 teaspoons, active dry yeast
6 tablespoons warm water
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I think honey would also be good, but have not tested)
1 egg, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and allowed to come to room temperature
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 egg beaten with a splash of water for egg wash

Pour the warm water into a mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand about 5 minutes until dissolved.

Add the sugar, egg, salt, and one cup of the flour to the mixing bowl, Begin mixing with a spatula or the flat beater. When it looks like a dough, add the butter pieces and continue to mix to incorporate. Add enough of the remaining cup of flour to make a soft dough that’s not too sticky. If your mixing by hand, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5-10 minutes until smooth. If you’re using a stand mixer, beat with the padel for about 3 minutes.

Place the dough in a container with a lid and let rise for an hour to 90 minutes, until doubled.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Scrape the dough out of the container onto a floured surface and roll out into a 12-inch circle. Gently spread the 2 tablespoons of butter onto the dough. Cut the circle into quarters and then cut each quarter into 3-4 wedges. Roll the wedges towards the point to form crescents and place on the parchment lined tray. Cover loosely and let rise another hour, or place in the fridge for up to overnight and bake later. Towards the end of the rising time heat the oven to 400°.  Brush the rolls with the egg wash and place in the oven.  Immediately reduce the heat to 375°. Bake for about 12-15 minutes until golden brown. Eat right away or cool completely and freeze for later.

Recipe a month for April 2024

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Cream scones

Americans like our scones with all kinds of flavors, like blueberry, pumpkin, chocolate chips, apricot & white chocolate …  but traditional British scones are plainer, and are a vehicle for jam and cream. This cream scone recipe is plainer, and is perfect for conveying large amounts of jam and cream to the eater’s mouth. The picture shows scones made with some whole wheat flour. Since real British clotted cream is hard to get in the US, I recommend spreading plain scones with ricotta (homemade or purchased) or strained or Greek yogurt, or crème fraîche (homemade or purchased) and of course your favorite jam. The British method of eating scones is to break off parts of scone, and cream and jam the pieces individually rather than spreading the entire surface of a halved scone, as an American might.

For more tea party recipes see this document.

3 cups flour, all unbleached white or up to 1 cup whole wheat
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, plus a little extra for brushing

Combine the flour(s), baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in the smaller amount of cream and the vanilla. Stir with a fork until you have a cohesive dough, adding more cream if necessary.

Libe a baking sheet with parchment. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and divide it in half, and shape each half into a disk. Cut each disk into 6 wedges. Place the baking sheet in the freezer while you heat the oven to 425°.

Remove the scones from the freezer and brush the tops with some cream, if desired. Bake the scones for about 15 minutes until browned and there’s no wet dough in the center. Serve warm with butter and jam and any other creamy toppings you like.

To keep the scones for longer, when frozen remove them from the baking sheet to a bag or container. Bake from frozen for 20-25 minutes. Baked and cooled scone can also be frozen for longer storage.

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Blueberry corn muffins

A mildly sweet corn muffin accented with blueberries

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup white or brown sugar or honey
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk or buttermilk, plus a little extra if needed
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries – if using frozen do not thaw

Heat the oven to 375°. Line the wells of the 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners, or grease.

Melt the butter in a microwave safe bowl. Cool slightly then add the sugar or honey and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs, and whisk again until smooth and emulsified.

Add the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, salt, and baking soda, then add the sour cream and milk. Switch to a silicone spatula and fold together just until there are no dry spots. You should have a smooth, thick batter. Add the extra milk if necessary, then gently fold in the blueberries.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and bake for about 20 minutes until firm and browned.

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Orange-scented Ricotta Chocolate Chip Muffins

On a Monday morning, I was musing on what kind of muffin to make, using up various things that I had in the fridge and kitchen; banana? No, we’ll probably want to eat the bananas. Buckwheat flour? No, I made some buckwheat-date muffins recently, the ones I always make after Passover to use up the charoset. Ricotta? Yes! These are based on Yossi Arefi’s Black- and Blueberry Ricotta cake. I only have frozen blueberries right now, so was considering, and when I saw her suggestion of chocolate chips, that did it.

Ingredients:

1 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup unflavored oil, such as safflower or canola
1 1/2 to scant 2 cups ricotta (16-oz. container with like a spoonful out)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon kosher salt
grated zest of one organic orange
1 3/4 cups + 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 3/4 cups mini chocolate chips
coarse sugar for sprinkling on top

Grease or line the wells of a 12-cup muffin tin with papers. You might need one extra muffin cup or ramekin – I got 13 muffins, baker’s dozen. Heat the oven to 375°

Break the eggs into a large mixing bowl, and add the sugar. Beat with a whisk until it’s looking a bit lightened – about 3 minutes. Pour in the oil and whisk until it’s nicely emulsified. Beat in the ricotta, breaking up the lumps until smooth. Add the vanilla and salt, grate in the orange zest, and stir. Switch from the whisk to a silicone spatula, and mix in the flour, the baking powder and soda, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tin, and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for about 25 minutes until nicely browned and firm.

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Definitive Buttermilk Cimmy Buns – 2022 Update

See original recipe here, makes about 2 dozen buns; updates based on this Bon Appetit recipe, April 2020.

Makes 9 large buns

For the dough:
1/4 cup  water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk or whole milk yogurt at room temperature
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons salt (or just a pinch if you use salted butter)
3 cups unbleached white flour

For the filling:
3/4 cup King Arthur Baker’s Cinnamon Filling, and 2 – 3 tablespoons water
OR
Use this filling
OR
Date filling:
1 lightly packed cup of pitted and chopped dates, preferably Medjool
!/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
pinch of kosher salt

For the glaze:
2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened – microwave for about 10 seconds if you forget to leave it out
1 lightly packed cup powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Make the dough: Pour the 1/4 cup water into the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle in the yeast, and let it soften. Add the sugar and buttermilk or yogurt. With the paddle beater, mix in the salt and a cup or two of flour. Start adding the butter by tablespoons. Add enough of the rest of the flour to make a very soft dough. Mix/knead on medium speed for five minutes. Form the dough into a ball and transfer to a plastic container with room to let it rise. 2 quarts is a good size if you have one, otherwise cover the mixing bowl airtight. Refrigerate the dough for 8 hours or up to 24.

Make the filling: Place the dates in a heat proof bowl and pour in 1 cup boiling water. Let stand to soften, 10 minutes or more. Drain the dates, and puree in a food processor with the sugar, oil, and salt. You can refrigerate the filling while the dough rises in the fridge. Let it come to room temperature before assembling the buns or it wil be difficult to spread.

Assemble and bake the buns: Grease a 10-12″ cast-iron skillet or 9-10″ cake pan with vegetable oil or butter. Remove the dough from the fridge, and scrape out onto a very lightly floured surface. I like to use a pastry cloth (sometimes called a frame); it’s a piece of heavy cotton printed with a ruler and circles for rolling out the dough. Roll the dough out to an 8″ square. Fold in half into an 8 x 4″ rectangle, then fold rectangle over itself to form a 4″ square. If the dough resists, let it rest about 5 minutes to relax and try again. After the second folding, roll out the dough to a 10 x 12″ rectangle. Dollop the cinnamon filling of your choice onto the sough and spread it, leaving about a 1-inch border on one of the long sides, and going right up to the edge on the short sides.

Roll the dough up tightly and pinch closed. Cut the roll into 9 slices with a chef’s knife or (unflavored!) dental floss and place them in the pan. Cover the pan with a domed lid if you have one, or greased foil if not. Let the covered buns rise until puffy, 1 to 1 1/2 hours depending on how warm your kitchen is.

Heat the oven to 350° and bake the still-covered buns for about 20 minutes, until they are risen and firm but not browned. Remove the lid, and continue to bake another 15-25 minutes until nicely browned.

Finish: While the buns are baking, mix up the glaze. Put the cream cheese in a bowl and whisk in the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla.

When the buns are done, remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Drizzle the glaze over and serve warm!

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Focaccia with Roasted Peppers

focaccia
Based on Carol Field’s Focaccia from Genoa, in Focaccia, Simple Breads from the Italian Oven
10-12 servings
Takes about 45 minutes active time, plus 2 hours to overnight to rise

Sponge:
2 1/2 teaspoons (scant tablespoon, or one pack) active dry yeast
2/3 cup warm water (105° to 115° F – should feel just barely warm)
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

Dough:
all of the sponge
1/2 cup room temperature water
1/3 cup white wine – also room temp
1/3 cup olive oil
2 3/4 – 3 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons table salt

Topping:
About 2 tablespoons olive oil, and about 2 teaspoons flakey salt
2-3 roasted peppers, technique below

Make the sponge: Pour the water into a mixing bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer. Sprinkle in the yeast, then add the flour and mix with a rubber spatula until smooth. Cover the bowl and let rise for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 hours until bubbly and puffy.

Make the dough: Pour the water, wine, and olive oil into the bowl with the sponge. Add 2 1/2 cups of the flour, and the salt. Mix with a wooden spoon or with the flat beater of the stand mixer until you have a soft dough that pulls away from the sides of the bowl, adding the additional flour as necessary. If you are using a stand mixer, increase the speed to medium, and beat/knead for 3 minutes. If you are making the dough by hand, turn it out onto a floured surface and knead for 6-8 minutes adding just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking. For both methods, form the dough into a smooth ball in the bowl, cover, amd let rise for about 1 hour, until doubled. The dough can also be refrigerated at this point for several hours, and up to overnight.

Roast the peppers: there are lots of ways to do this, but the method I like best is to arrange whole peppers on a parchment- or foil-lined baking sheet, and place them under the broiler. Broil until they are well charred, turning to get all sides. Put the peppers into a heat proof bowl, and cover with a plate or lid. Let steam and cool for at least 15 minutes. Place a cutting board tipped into your sink, and lay a pepper on the board. Split it open with a paring knife, and let the (possibly very hot!) juices run into the sink. Remove the stem, veins, and seeds, and turn the pepper over and peel off the skin.

Shape the dough: Pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a 10 x 15 1/2 in. baking pan and dump the risen dough out into the pan. Turn it over to coat it with oil, and start stretching & pushing the dough to the sides of the pan. Let rest for about 15 minutes – 30 if refrigerated – and then continue stretching and dimple the dough with your fingertips. Add the toppings at this point – up to another tablespoon of olive oil plus the roasted peppers and salt. Let the dough rise for about 45 minutes to an hour.

Bake the focaccia: About 30 minutes before the end of the rising time, heat the oven to 425°. When the dough is risen, place it in the oven and spray the top of the dough and bottom & sides of the oven with water from a mister. Close the oven and reduce the heat to 400°. Spray with water twice more during the first 10 minutes of baking. Bake 25 – 30 minutes total, until golden brown. Serve warm or room temperature.

The example in the picture has roasted poblano chiles and potatoes, parboiled & sliced thin, and roasted delicata squash, also thinly sliced.

Summer 2021 CSA box recipes

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Banana Streusel Muffins

We had instant summer here in Wisconsin this week, and that meant I bought the bananas too ripe to last. We really only had one day when it got up close to 80° and today it’s chilly and rainy, but still, on Thursday morning there were 7 getting-almost-too-ripe bananas in the  fruit bowl, so I made these muffins.

For the streusel:

  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup rolled oats
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 4 tablespoons butter (half a stick)

For the muffins:

  • 1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 small)
  • grated zest of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 egg
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1 1/2 cups flour (I used unbleached white but some whole wheat would probably be good)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine grain salt, or a nice pinch of kosher salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar

To make the streusel, combine the flour, brown sugar, oats, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Slice in the butter and use a pastry blender or your fingers to cut in the butter until you have large crumbs.

Heat the oven to 375° and grease or line a 12-well muffin tin with papers.

Mash the bananas, and transfer them to a 2-cup spouted measuring cup. Add the lemon zest, and the sour cream, egg, and melted butter, and mix.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Make a well in the center, and add the banana, sour cream, butter mixture. Mix just until all the flour is moistened – a few lumps are OK.

Divide the batter into the muffin tin (I got 9 large muffins, but YMMV), and top each muffin with about 2 tablespoons of the streusel.

Bake for about 25-30 minutes until firm and brown.

Based on a 1997 State Fair Baking Contest recipe in the NYT; Originally posted April 2021

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