Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Election Day Palmiers: Baked Sunday Mornings


This is our first recipe from the new Baked cookbook, Baked Occasions!!  I am so excited to start baking from this cookbook, I really enjoy baking along with this fine group of bakers.  I am not sure I am worthy, but I love to give as many recipes as I can a try, most of recipes I have baked from the other Baked cookbooks have been winners and many were first time bakes which were great learning experiences....like this one.


I have never attempted Palmiers, although have been tempted to on occasion.  I thought they would be really difficult, but I found these to be not as bad as I imagined.  The recipe included cayenne pepper in the cinnamon-sugar mix, which I fully intended to do, but there was no 
cayenne pepper in my spice cupboard, *sigh*  I thought I had some, 
I forged ahead, with disappointment, sans the cayenne. 


The dough had to be shaped and folded like a business letter and chilled several times which made this time intensive but the end result was worth it as these were light, crispy and so delicious. 


I loved them!


and I could have eaten them all...but 
I had to be happy with just one.

The recipe is here.
Make these....they are worth the effort!
I just may add these to my Christmas cookie line up!

Next up for the Baked group is Campfire Cookies. 
Sounds interesting!
See you then!

As Always,
Enjoy!

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Cranberry-Pumpkin Rolls: ABC



It's pumpkin time!  And the Avid Bakers are baking Cranberry-Pumpkin Rolls from the King Arthur Flour site. These rolls are very easy to make and pretty gosh darn delicious!  They would be perfect for Thanksgiving.  The recipe said to bake them in a muffin pan but there was a suggestion to do them in a 9x13 pan as well....I decided to do that since I wanted a soft sided pull apart roll.


They are light and fluffy and extra special with a little bit of pumpkin butter.
Yum!  


Next month we are baking Chocolate Eclairs! 
OMG!...be still my heart!

Until next time,
Enjoy!



These deep-gold rolls will look lovely in your holiday breadbasket.

4 3/4 cups (20 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves (optional)
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) firmly packed brown sugar, light or dark
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
3/4 cup (6 ounces) canned pumpkin or squash
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (6 ounces) water
1/4 cup (2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup (4 1/2 ounces) dried cranberries or golden raisins
1/4 cup (1 1/2 ounces) diced crystallized ginger
Mix and knead all of the dough ingredients except the fruit and crystallized ginger — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until you've made a soft, fairly smooth dough. Pumpkin varies in water content, so add extra water or flour if needed. Right at the end, knead in the fruit and crystallized ginger. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it's almost double in bulk.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased surface, gently deflate it, and divide it into 16 pieces, roughly 2 3/4 ounces each. Roll each piece into a ball. Place rolls in the lightly greased cups of a couple of standard muffin pans (which will help them maintain their round shape); or onto a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet. Set aside, covered lightly, to rise for 1 hour, or until the rolls look puffy.

Bake the rolls in a preheated 350°F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until they're lightly browned and the center of one reads 190⁰F on an instant-read thermometer. Remove the pans from the oven and turn the rolls out onto a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 16 rolls.