08 Mar

Asiago Bagels

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 27 Comments

Bread and cheese is quite possibly one of the best culinary combinations, ever. Unless you throw in bacon and then, well, I think you have heaven. Whether it comes in the form of a French baguette and a chunk of your favorite cheese, a perfectly melted grilled cheese, or, in this case, Asiago bagels, there is something so intensely satisfying about the taste of warm, fresh bread paired with the salty smoothness of cheese. These bagels are now the third adaptation I have made to Peter Reinhart’s original recipe for bagels, and they just keep getting better and better. I love getting specific baking requests and when my Chief Culinary Consultant suggested Asiago bagels a few weeks ago I thought that it was a fantastic idea. Having now eaten them, fantastic doesn’t even begin to describe the deliciousness that awaits you with this recipe. From the crusty, melted cheese on the outside of the bagel to the magnificent cheesy bubbles floating throughout the inside, if you make these I guarantee you will never be tempted to go to Panera or Bruegger’s again.

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02 Mar

Rich Coffeecake with Sweet Cheese Filling

Posted by Michelle as Coffee Cakes, Yeast Breads | 35 Comments

If you only think about bread when you think about baking with yeast, think again. This cake is all sorts of fantabulous. I had heard rumblings about yeasted coffeecakes before and officially added them to the master baking list, but it took awhile for me to get down to it. I loved the recipe that is in my treasured Baking Illustrated cookbook, but it makes two cakes. And I kept thinking that I had no idea what I would do with two large coffeecakes. Well, I finally had a brainstorm. It’s now Lent and a local fish fry includes a bake sale every Friday, so I checked to see if they accepted donations (of course they do!) and my problem was solved. Throw in that as soon as I decided to bake these my mom said she needed a dessert for her monthly card club and was there anything I could whip up. Cakes #1 AND #2 now had homes. Although that meant that I couldn’t eat half of one all on my own, which is what likely would have happened had I not been a good citizen and sent them on their way. I admit I was mildly disappointed at only being able to taste a sliver, especially after realizing how absolutely delicious it was. I mean, it looks like a giant cinnamon roll – what’s not to love?!

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02 Feb

English Muffins

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 47 Comments

English muffins are one those foods that never really occurred to me to make from scratch. I had a similar revelation with pita bread, actually. Sure, I bake loaves of bread quite often and have even made things like brioche, challah and bagels. Yet, for some reason it seems that there are foods that somehow magically appear in their packaging and surely must not have been made by human hands. For me, English muffins always fell into this category. They are perfectly split, have those nooks and crannies that so expertly collect pools of butter and jam, and are covered with a dusting of cornmeal that may have been sprinkled by the bread fairy. Imagine my shock when I finally hunkered down to make English muffins and discovered that they are actually EASY! No harder, in fact, than a simple loaf of white bread. They are delicious, their aroma will make your mouth water, and they have nooks and crannies that provide little swimming pools just waiting to be filled with sweet, creamy butter. Move over store-bought English muffins, you’re no longer needed!

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04 Jan

Chocolate Babka

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 28 Comments

Rich, rich, rich is the best way to describe this out-of-this-world, decadent bread. This babka was a long time coming, as I had seen it on other food blogs ages ago, and have stared at it in my Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook countless times. So what took me so long to make it? Well, it makes 3 loaves of intensely rich bread. What would I do with three loaves of something I have no business consuming all on my own? I finally decided that the holiday season was the perfect time to finally dive into the babka so that I could share the riches with others. Up until this bread, my only knowledge of babka came from a Seinfeld episode, but wow, now I know what I had been missing out on. If you haven’t had it before, you should certainly plan on making this bread.

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10 Dec

Date Nut Spice Bread

Posted by Michelle as Quick Breads | 16 Comments

I had been dreaming about this bread since the moment I saw Ina Garten mix it up on one of her shows. Quick breads are always a favorite of mine, but combining cold-weather spices with dates, pecans and orange? That was more than a potential favorite; that was heaven. I quickly bookmarked the recipe and plotted for a time to make it. Well, busy minds tend to forget things like the most delicious-looking bread ever. It wasn’t until a few months later when I got Ina’s Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics book and saw that the bread was in there that my infatuation with it began to swell again. And now, finally, ANOTHER month or so later, I have made the bread. Hallelujah! Being a good Pittsburgh girl, I know the Heinz ketchup mantra of “good things come to those who wait” but man oh man, this is better than good, this is indeed heavenly.

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18 Nov

Cheddar and Chiles Bread + Cookbook Giveaway!

Posted by Michelle as Giveaways, Yeast Breads | 252 Comments

After not doing a whole lot of bread baking over the summer I have come back in full force. I’ve been kneading up a storm, and this is one of my new favorite recipes. As you may have guessed from the Soft Cheese and Pepperoni Bread, I love cheese breads. Any kind of cheese, any shape – roll, loaf, bun – you name it and if it has cheese in it I will love it. I especially love sharp white cheddar, so it’s no surprise that this bread was calling my name. As soon as I saw the recipe it seemed like a perfect complement to a warm bowl of chili, and that’s exactly how I served it. Rich and tangy from the cheese with a subtle kick from the chiles, it’s a great bread to pair not only with chili, but any stews and hearty soups, as well as for sandwiches that you want to jazz up a bit.

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09 Nov

Soft Cheese and Pepperoni Bread

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 30 Comments

I have been waiting to share this recipe with all of you for about 10 months now, and am excited to finally unveil it. I was lucky enough to serve as a recipe tester for Peter Reinhart’s new book, Artisan Breads Every Day, and this was by far my favorite recipe of all those that I tested and now that it’s out and in the book, I can share it with you! I have a huge soft spot in my heart for pepperoni bread, as my grandma used to churn out a dozen at a time and we would gobble them up almost as quickly as they came out of the oven. The only way I had ever seen them made was with frozen bread dough – a recipe that I shared in this post. It’s great because it’s quick and you can make large quantities in a short amount of time, but it certainly lacks that distinct homemade bread taste. Using Peter’s cheese bread recipe, I was able to really perfect (if I may say so myself!) pepperoni bread and have to keep myself from making it all the time or I would be in trouble!

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22 Oct

Egg Bagels

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 32 Comments

A few weeks ago I realized that I hadn’t made bagels in a few months and that I was long overdue for whipping up a batch. I asked my Chief Culinary Consultant if he wanted Cinnamon Raisin Bagels (his favorite), plain bagels or something different. He mentioned that he’s always been a fan of egg bagels and wouldn’t mind if I were to tackle a batch of those. I love getting ideas for new things, and jumped at the chance to make them. I ran into a problem, however, after poring over every cookbook I own and realizing that none of them had a recipe for egg bagels. I turned to the web and found multiple recipes that were all very, very similar, so I gave it a shot and they were okay, but certainly didn’t live up to the standard I was used to, which were all variations on Peter Reinhart’s basic bagel recipe. A light bulb finally went off and I emailed Peter to see if he had a recipe for egg bagels that perhaps hadn’t been published, and he was wonderfully generous with his time and explained to me how I could adapt his basic recipe for bagels to make egg bagels.

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19 Oct

Potato Rosemary Bread

Posted by Michelle as Yeast Breads | 33 Comments

Happy Belated Bread Day! World Bread Day was last Friday, October 16th, and while I fully intended to participate my baking schedule was a little behind, so I bring you a delicious bread to start this week. Each year when World Bread Day rolls around I try to choose a recipe that is different than anything I have made before, as well as something that represents a bit of a challenge to me. Two years ago (my first time participating) I made a Brown Sugar Raisin Bread, which was my first attempt at a swirled bread. Last year I tackled Challah, which introduced me to braided breads. This year I started flipping through my bread cookbooks and, as it had countless times before, this recipe caught my eye. Potato Rosemary Bread sounds so good, and when you throw in coarse black pepper and roasted garlic, it’s nearly impossible to resist. Plus it met my requirement in trying something new: potato bread.

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11 Aug

Zucchini Bread

Posted by Michelle as Quick Breads | 24 Comments

We’re turning the corner into late summer (where did it go?!) and right about now is when gardens seem to be overflowing with an abundance of zucchini just begging to be used up. Perhaps you have your own garden, you were given fresh zucchini by a generous neighbor, or just couldn’t resist the mounds of beautiful squash at the grocery store or farmer’s market. However you managed to snag them, you have a stash of zucchini to use and you need a recipe. Zucchini bread is a classic and, amazingly, one that I have not made before. I never used to be a big fan of squash, but I started turning the corner with zucchini in the last couple of years and so I added zucchini bread to my ever-growing list of foods I want to tackle. The gorgeous green squash have been tempting me every time I go to the store, so I finally decided to whip up a zucchini bread.

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