seeded multigrain truffle rolls

Now that the focaccia's gone, it is time to get back to a salad and roll for dinner.

Yield: 12 small rolls

140 calories per roll

Active time: 10 minutes

Total time: 130 minutes

ingredients

2 cups high gluten flour

½ cup semolina 

½ cut rye flour

1¼ cup lukewarm water

1 tablespoon truffle oil (or olive oil)

2 teaspoons salt (I’m still loving the roasted garlic gray salt that my friend gave me, using it in any recipe I can)

¼ cup everything topping (or sesame seeds)

2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk

1½ teaspoons yeast

preparation

1. In a small 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Combine the remaining ingredients in your stand mixer bowl and “stir”.

3. Slowly pour in the yeast mixture until a shaggy dough forms.

4. Increase the stand mixer speed to 2 to form a smooth and cohesive dough, about 5 minutes.

5. Turn the dough out onto your counter top, knead by hand a few turn, form a ball, and place the dough into a lightly greased bowl.

6. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until the dough has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

7. Turn the dough out onto your counter top, divide it into 12 equal pieces, and shape each piece into a roll.

8. Place the rolls on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise for about 1 hour.

9. Brush the rolls with an egg wash and score.

10. Arrange a water bath and place the baking sheet in a cold oven.

11. Bake at 425 degrees until the rolls are golden brown, about 30 minutes. 

Original recipe found here.

(nearly) no-knead italian bread

While a tiny bit of kneading is required to make this bread, the minimal work is well worth the crunchy crust and soft, airy crumb.

Yield: 3 very large loaves

770 calories per loaf

Active time: 5 minutes

Total time: 6 1/2 hours

ingredients

4 cups high gluten flour

2 teaspoons truffle infused salt (or regular kosher salt)

1 teaspoon yeast

3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/4 cup olive oil

preparation

1. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the 1 cup of the lukewarm water and olive oil. Set aside.

2. In a small cup, combine the remaining 1/2 cup water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes. (See "oma buns" for more photos of fermenting yeast.)

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and dry milk.

4. Combine the yeast mixture to the water/olive oil mixture, stirring to combine.

5. Pour the wet mixture into the bowl containing the flour.

6. Stir well to combine, using a spatula to lift and fold the dough over itself for 30 strokes. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 20 minutes (Fold #1).

7. Fold the dough over itself 30 more strokes,  cover, and let rest for 20 more minutes (Fold #2).
(I was having a difficult time folding the dough with my spatula because it is very sticky, so ended up lightly flouring my hands and folding it over inside of the bowl.)

8. Repeat the fold-rest process (Fold #3).

9. Fold the dough over itself 30 more strokes (Fold #4). This is the last time, I promise. Notice how much smoother the dough is compared to how it looked in step 6?

10. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 2 hours.

11. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into three equal pieces.  The dough will be sticky, but you should be able to work with it if you lightly flour the surface and your hands.

12.  Shape the pieces into loaves.  You'll want to roll the dough against the counter top and squeeze out the air so bubbles don't form during the second proof and baking. I rolled the piece into a log, folded in in half, and then rolled it against the counter top to squeeze out the air.

13. Place the loaves in a loaf pan, or on a parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.

14. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until noticeably puffy, about 3 hours.

15. With about 30 minutes left in the final proof, preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

16. Brush the loaves with an egg wash and toppings, if desired.

17. Arrange a water bath. See step 9 of "carbs, glorious carbs" for more on water baths.

18. Bake the loaves until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Original recipe found here.

maple sticky buns

To. Die. For.

Yield: 10 super large sticky buns

440 calories per bun

Active time: 15 minutes

Total time: 5 hours

ingredients

the dough

3 cups all-purpose flour

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1¼ teaspoons salt

1/4 cup dry nonfat dry milk

1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes

2½ teaspoons yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

the glaze

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup agave nectar

3 tablespoons melted butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup toasted nuts

the filling

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup toasted nuts

preparation

1. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine the lukewarm water, yeast, and a pinch of sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes.

2. While the yeast is fermenting, measure out 1 cup of nuts, place on a baking sheet or cake pan, and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. Check out this resource for more on roasting nuts. Set aside to cool.

3. Place the nuts in a Ziplock bag and use your rolling pin to crush into smallish pieces. Or, you can fire up your food processor.  I like to double bag when using my rolling pin to break up dry gods, as there have been more than one occasion when the bag's blown.

4. In your stand mixer bowl, combine the remaining dough ingredients, attach the dough hook attachment,  and "stir" for about 1 minute to blend the ingredients.

5. Slowly add the yeast mixture and "stir" until a shaggy dough forms.

6. Increase the stand mixer speed to 2 and knead until a smooth and cohesive dough forms, about 5 minutes.

7. Turn the dough out onto your counter top, knead by hand a few turns, shape into a ball, place into a lightly greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow to rise until it's doubled in size, about 2 hours. 

8. Turn the dough out onto your counter top and roll out into a large rectangle, roughly 16 by 12 inches.

9. Sprinkle the dough with "the filling" ingredients on top of the dough, leaving about 1 inch on one side. Form a jelly roll by rolling the dough from long side inward. Because the sheet of dough is pretty massive, rolling the dough can be made easier by moving left to right and pinching the dough and keeping it very tight. You'll want to roll the seam against the counter top to seal. See "cheesy sourdough rolls" for more on pinwheeling.

 

10. Cut the jelly roll into even pieces (10 super large or 20 small).

11. In a 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup, combine all "the glaze" ingredients other than the nuts. Microwave for 1 minute and stir.

12. Line a 13 by 9 inch pan or two 8 inch cake rounds with parchment paper.

13. Pour the glaze and remaining nuts into the pan(s) and place the buns on top, with space between them.

14. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until very puffy, about 2 hours.

 15. With 30 minutes left in the final proof, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 

16. Bake the buns until light golden brown, about 30 minutes. 

17. Remove the buns from the oven, set a plate or dish on top of the cake pan, turn the plate over, and lift off the pan.

 

18. Spoon any remaining syrup and nuts onto the plate.

Original recipe found here.