Soft and Fluffy Wheat Sandwich Bread

I think I finally found it! The perfect homemade wheat bread! Every wheat bread I have ever made in the past has been dense and heavy. What I have been looking for is a soft and fluffy wheat bread, similar to store bought but without all the preservatives. One of my favorite bread recipes is challah. It always comes out so perfect. So today I decided I would try modifying my challah bread recipe to make a great loaf of wheat bread. So here it is!

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat flour (I used King Arthur)

2 1/2 - 3 1/2 cups of bread flour

3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (this really helps!)

2 1/4 teaspoons fast acting yeast

1 1/4 cups water

3 tablespoons honey

3 tablespoons of butter

1 teaspoon of salt

2 eggs

1 tablespoon of butter

1. In a large mixing bowl mix together the whole wheat flour, yeast and vital wheat gluten. Warm up the water, honey, salt and butter till it reaches 120 - 130 degrees. Add water mixture and eggs to the wheat flour mixture and beat with a mixer for 5 minutes. With a wooden spoon stir in as much of the bread flour as you can. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in as much of the remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. (about 6-8 minutes) Shape the dough into a ball and place in a greased bowl (turning once to coat.) Cover and let rise till doubled in size. The time it takes to double varies. It is generally between 45-60 mintues.

2. Once the dough has doubled in size punch it down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough in half. Shape into loaves and place in two greased and floured 8x4 loaf pans. Cover and let rise till doubled in size (30-45 mins.)

3. While bread is rising preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Once the dough has doubled brush the tops with butter and bake for 30 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees. To prevent overbrowning you can cover the loaves will foil halfway through baking.

4. Immediately remove the loaves from pans. Cool on wire racks.

Chocolate-Hazelnut Smooches

After watching the Halloween episode of Everyday Italian, I couldn't wait to make these cookies for my Halloween party! Not only do they look festive, but they taste great! The only change I made is that I left out the Hershey Kisses. I plan on making these again at Christmas with red and green sugar.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)

1/2 cup butter, softened (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup orange sprinkles, or orange sugar

1 (9-ounce) package of chocolate candy kisses, unwrapped (recommended: Hershey's)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In another medium bowl, place the chocolate hazelnut spread, butter, and both sugars. Using a hand mixer, cream the ingredients together, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and blend until incorporated. Stir in the dry ingredients, just until incorporated.

Shape the cookie dough into walnut-sized balls. Rolls the balls in the orange sprinkles or orange sugar, pressing to adhere. Place the cookies on a heavy cookie sheet about 4 inches apart. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove the cookies from the oven. Quickly place a chocolate kiss in the middle of each cookie. Return the cookies to the oven and bake for another 3 minutes. Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

Cinnamon Buns

OMG, these were so good! I took some elements from the Betty Crocker recipe and some from the allrecipes.com recipe to come up with this one. I will definitely be making this again! I made the rolls the night before and put them in the fridge before the second rise. When I got up I let them rise for 40 minutes then baked them.

Ingredients:

2 – 2 ¼ cup of bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoons of active dry yeast
½ cup of milk
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 ½ tablespoons of butter
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 egg

1/3 cup of packed dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoon butter

½ cup powdered sugar
¼ teaspoon vanilla
½ - 1 tablespoon half-and-half

Directions:

In a mixing bowl stir together 1 cup of the bread flour and the yeast. In a saucepan heat up the milk, granulated sugar, salt and butter until it reaches 120-130 degrees (be sure it is not more than 130 because it will kill the yeast and the rolls will not rise. If it is under 120 the yeast will not activate and they rolls won't rise.) Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and add the egg. Beat with a mixer for about 3 minutes.

With a wooden spoon stir in as much of the remaining bread flour as you can. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the remaining flour until the dough is moderately soft (about 3-5 minutes.) Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl turning once. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and let rise till doubled in size (about 1 -1 1/2 hours.)

Punch dough down and turn onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes. Meanwhile grease and flour a 9x9 baking pan. In a small mixing bowl add brown sugar, cinnamon and butter. Using a pastry blender cut butter into brown sugar and cinnamon until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Roll the dough out into a 12x8 rectangle. Spread cinnamon mixture over the dough leaving an inch around the corners. Roll the dough starting from the 12" edge. Seal the seams by pinching them closed. Using a sharp knife, cut the roll into 12. Arrange the rolls in the baking pan. Let rise until doubled in size (about 30 minutes.) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Once rolls are done rising bake for 20-25 minutes.

In a bowl mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and enough of the half-and-half to make a drizzling consistency. When you take the rolls out of the oven transfer them to a plate and drizzle them with the frosting.

Fettuccine Alfredo

This recipe is from the Cooking Light website. I had some Parmigiano-Reggiano on hand so decided to give it a try. I have never made an Alfredo sauce before, but order fettuccine Alfredo often when we go out to eat. I am glad this came out so good! I will now be making this at home since it is a healthier and cheaper version of the Alfredo I order out. I made a few modifications to the recipe. I used skim milk instead of 1%. I didn't use low fat cream cheese. I used rotini instead of fettuccine. I also cooked less pasta and added some chopped broccoli to make the dish a bit healthier.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups 1% low-fat milk

1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided

2 tablespoons 1/3-less-fat cream cheese

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 cups hot cooked fettuccine (8 ounces uncooked pasta)

2 teaspoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Cracked black pepper

Preparation:

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Stir in flour. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk. Cook 6 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, cream cheese, and salt, stirring with a whisk until cheeses melt. Toss sauce with hot pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and chopped parsley. Garnish with black pepper, if desired. Serve immediately.

Yield 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)

Source: Cooking Light, JANUARY 2007

Risotto

I've never tried risotto before, let alone made it. I have been wanting to try it for a while now, and I finally made some tonight. I found a recipe in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook I decided to try. It came out great! I can't wait to try out other risotto recipes!

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup uncooked arborio rice
2 14-ounce cans reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese (2 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan cook the onion and garlic in the oil and butter until onion is tender; add the rice. Cook and stir over medium heat until rice begins to brown.

2. In another saucepan bring broth to a boil, reduce heat and simmer. Slowly add 1 cup of broth to rice. Stir constantly. Continue to cook and stir until rice is absorbed. Add another 1/2 cup of broth to rice mixture, stirring constantly until liquid is absorbed. Add remaining broth and stir until broth is absorbed.

3. Stir in the remaining butter, cheese and pepper.

Caraway-Rye Bread

I just bought the Better Homes and Garden cookbook and this was the first recipe I decided to try. It came out so good. I think this may be my best loaf yet. I think I may have finally found a perfect sandwich bread. The texture was perfect and the crust was just right, not too hard. I added 4 teaspoons of vital wheat gluten.

Ingredients:

4 - 4 1/2 cups bread flour

1 package active dry yeast

2 cups warm water (120-130 degrees)

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons cooking oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups rye flour

1 tablespoon caraway seeds

Cornmeal

2 teaspoons milk

Directions:

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 3/4 cup of the bread flour and yeast. Add the warm water, brown sugar, oil and salt. Mix well. Stir in the rye flour, caraway seeds and as much bread flour as you can.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining bread flour until the dough is smooth and elastic. About 6-8 minutes) Place dough in a lightly greased bowl. Turn once to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until dough has doubled in size (about one hour.)

Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Lightly grease two baking sheets and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Shape each dough half into an slightly flattened 8 inch log and place on baking sheets. Score the tops of each load with a sharp knife. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise until nearly doubled (about 30 -45 minutes.)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush each loaf with the milk. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the tops are golden brown and the bread sounds hollow with tapped. Cool completely on wire racks.

Honey Wheat Bread

I slightly modified the recipe on the back of the package of King Arthur whole wheat flour. I substituted 1 ½ cups of bread flour for whole wheat. I also used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. This is the first time I actually kneaded the bread by hand. It was actually a lot of fun! I normally use my Kitchen Aid mixer, but I think I might start kneading by hand more often. This bread was good, but a bit too dense for sandwiches. It was great toasted with some jam. I will have to keep looking for a sandwich bread.

Ingredients:

2 ½ tsp. active dry yeast
1 ⅓ cup of water (105° - 115° F)
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cup bread flour
¼ cup nonfat dried milk
1 ¼ teaspoons salt

Directions:

Dissolve the yeast in two teaspoons of the warmed water. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough for 6-8 minutes, or until it becomes smooth and supple. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise till dough is puffy (it does not need to double in size) about 60 minutes.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and shape into an 8 inch log. Place the log into a slightly greased 8 ½ x 4 ½ inch load pan. Allow the bread to rise for an additional 30-60 minutes or until it has risen about one inch above the loaf pan.

Bake the bread in a oven preheated to 350° for about 40 minutes, tenting it lightly with foil after 20 minutes. The loaf is ready when it sounds hollow when you tap it. You can also test in internal temperature. It is done when the thermometer reads 190°. Allow to cool completely before slicing.