Soft white sandwich bread

July 19, 2019 by Maria Almeida in baking, maria

If you look closely at these photos, you’ll notice that the crumb is a little more open than it should be. Perhaps it wasn’t shaped as tightly as possible or the dough wasn’t developed as well as it could be for even distribution of yeast development. Guess why I don’t care. BECAUSE MY EIGHT YEAR OLD SON MADE IT. I realized one day that he was totally capable of baking bread start-to-finish all on his own and that not only would it be a great learning opportunity for him, but it could also become one of his “chores”. So I walked him through the process and wrote down these ingredients as we baked this loaf together - intended to be easy and forgiving and to yield a loaf that he would be proud of and all the kids would want to devour.

Whole wheat English muffins

June 12, 2019 by Maria Almeida in baking, maria

These English muffins are so vastly different from our sourdough English muffins, both in terms of flavor, texture, method, and time. Our sourdough English muffins are bready and made in the traditional way of a yeasted bread - risen, shaped, proofed, cooked - and in order to develop the sourdough flavor, all of it done over the course of 12-24 hours. These whole wheat English muffins, on the other hand, are soft and wheaty, and the dough is almost more of a batter that gets scooped onto a griddle, flipped, and finished off in the oven - all in a wonderfully short 2 hours. They aren’t perfect circles and they look pretty rustic but they are undeniably yummy. You can get up a little early and make these for a same-day late breakfast or brunch. Kind of magical if you ask me!

great british bake-off challenge May 2019: Iced Fingers!

May 05, 2019 by Maria Almeida in baking, maria

Ok, so I haven’t been able to get Iced Fingers out of my head since I saw them on the show years ago. They looked like hot dog buns filled with whipped cream and jam and topped with icing. And Paul Hollywood’s nostalgia is almost palpable as he tries each one and calls them a childhood favorite. Naturally I was intrigued. Somehow (how exactly though..?) all these years have passed without me actually trying them.

What was I waiting for?! You guys. These. Are. YUM. I almost can’t understand why they are so yummy. They really are just hot dog buns filled with whipped cream and jam and topped with icing. The bun is so soft and light and not very sweet; and the whipped cream is so fluffy and light and not very sweet; the jam is tart and sweet and the icing is pure sweet and it all comes together as a soft, light, sweet-but-not-too-sweet mesmerizing confection.

Cook your books: Maryetta's Oatmeal Bread

March 22, 2019 by Maria Almeida in baking, maria

I have a little gem of a cookbook called Beard on Bread, a collection of bread recipes put together by James Beard at a time when making bread at home was making an upswing in popularity. It’s utterly charming in its simplicity. Beard has a fantastically direct and unpretentious approach to bread. “If you can read and have an oven and a work space, there is no reason why you can’t make a decent loaf of bread,” he says.

I love that so much.

honey cornmeal hamburger buns

March 14, 2019 by Maria Almeida in maria, baking

We were having BBQ pulled pork the other night, and in my mind, BBQ requires cornbread. Problem is, my husband and kids don’t like cornbread (truuuust me, I know…) so if I ever make it I spend a week afterward trying to peddle leftovers to my kids until I end up eating it crumbled and warmed with butter and honey. It doesn’t sound like such a bad ending, but it’s just not worth it (much as I love crumbled up, warmed up, buttered and honeyed cornbread mash). Anyway, so I dreamed up these yeasted cornbread buns. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? I got my honey corn contrast to the salty BBQ and my husband and kids didn’t get … cornbread. Instead, they got these delicious, buttery, honey sweet cornmeal hamburger buns. They are tender and soft but sturdy enough to hold pulled pork (or later on I made them again for zucchini turkey burgers!). They are simply delightful. You know you’ve done something right when the kids ask for a second bun over the (very delicious) BBQ pulled pork.

Challah

February 08, 2019 by Maria Almeida in baking, maria

This is, hands down, my family’s favorite bread. It is so soft and flavorful, a wonderful enriched bread but not too rich. It makes incredible sandwiches and even more incredible French toast. Even just toasted with butter is a treat. And it is easy! The dough comes together quickly, it’s great to work with, and bakes up beautifully. It also just looks really impressive. Try a batch and wow your friends or family ... or just eat it all yourself, slice by slice.

Favorite Cornbread, Northern style with a Crust

October 18, 2018 by Sophie Barrows in baking

Cornbread is close to my heart. I have so many memories of going to Boston Market, hashing out an absurd amount of cornbread for myself. I’m sure I wished I was allowed to eat a whole meal of it (but then, also a meal of mashed potatoes too….). And while I haven’t been in a Boston Market for years, cornbread has remained a great love. And for me, when I say cornbread I mean soft, moist, and sweet (i.e. Northern style) cornbread.

Easiest softest bread

August 03, 2018 by Maria Almeida in maria, baking

Let me share a bread recipe with you. It is incredibly simple but so delicious. It's the perfect recipe to use to introduce new bakers to bread because it's so straightforward, unfussy, and reliable. It produces a loaf of bread like those soft, light-as-air baguettes that you see at grocery supermarkets, but it's BETTER because it's fresh and homemade. And it takes just 2 hours start to finish!

Coconut Chocolate Coffee Sourdough (with regular yeast variation)

May 31, 2018 by Sophie Barrows in baking, sophie

As promised, here is a sweet sourdough bread recipe: coconut, chocolate chips, and coffee all come together for a yummy treat. Special enough to make me smile when we have some for breakfast, but not too sweet to make you feel like you're making an excuse to eat dessert (I'm not the only one, right?).

Family Recipe: Nonna's Bread (Sandwich Bread)

May 16, 2018 by Sophie Barrows in baking, sophie

I was all geared up to share a sourdough bread recipe I've been working on, with a regular yeast variation. It's coconut chocolate coffee sourdough. Yes, it's amazing. But, when I sliced my loaf open to snap a picture this afternoon, I realized I forgot to add the chocolate chips! Mom brain, big time. So, that recipe will be postponed. (I promise to post it soon!)

In the meantime, here is a recipe I knew I'd share at some point. It's a family recipe, coming from Mom Barrows' side of the family. We always refer to it as "Nonna's Bread." It's a soft, sandwich bread that we almost always have in the bread box. We often make large batches of 9-12 loaves, then freeze them for the convenience of pulling them out later. (Confession: that large of a batch will generally last about a week. We're bread lovers.)

bourbon inspired horseshoe dinner rolls

May 04, 2018 by Sophie Barrows in baking, sophie

I recently purchased a seasonal bread cookbook and quickly spotted a bourbon dinner roll suggested for Kentucky Derby weekend. I loved the concept and soon tried it out. Sadly, the recipe didn't do it for me. They buns weren't soft and buttery enough, and the bourbon flavor came through just faintly, even with 1/2 cup in the dough!