Bread Progress

I never thought I would enjoy baking bread as much as I do. I thought baking bread was so easy and the hardest part was kneading. I WAS SO WRONG. Well its not hard but all the patience and time to make the perfect loaf is taking lot longer than I wanted it to. I thought it was going to come naturally and easily as cooking has. Guess I’ve found my culinary weakness.. other than my shoddy chopping skills but no one really cares about that at home so that’s OKAY.

I’m also doubting my skills because I can achieve great results with one recipe and the other one fails. User error or am I just rushing through the steps?

Here are some pictures from last week:

 

Then this week using Chad’s recipe:

They both tasted great. The latter just didn’t rise and look the same as last week’s. I did use AP flour instead of bread and I may have over proved it because it was tearing like crazy.

I won’t be able to bake anything for a while because I have 2 failed loaves to finish before then. I pre-sliced the bread so I wouldn’t be too hard to do later on and I stuck them in the freezer so I could eat them gradually.

 

Nutella Brownies

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a jar of Nutella on our counter when I was cleaning the kitchen and I realized that I had barely made a dent in it and I needed to used it STAT before it went bad. I wanted to make something easy and with things around the house so I went looking for recipes and I found this one.

I wasn’t sure how my family would take it or if they would turn out but I had some time during the week and just went for it.

globs of nutella on top!

salt

THEY TURNED OUT SO GOOD – according to everyone that had some. I am not too fond of baked treats and rarely try anything I make so I just take everyone’s word for it if it tastes good. My family will not and do not hold back on criticism so I know if something is really horrible. I also know because my brother will comment, “Oh. This actually tastes good.”

I also know they were the best because everyone at work raved about them. A co-worker who isn’t too fond of chocolate even liked it. Another co-worker who was trying to pull the “new year, new me” BS even grabbed one and grabbed another on the way out when he left. I think that’s enough evidence that these may be the best nutella brownies you will ever make!

Plate for work

Cece

Husband’s Pick #2: Cinnamon Rolls

Cravings have really been taking over, impairing our decision to eat healthy this year and cinnamon rolls were no exception! We live fairly close to the mall and we’ve already made at least a trip to Cinnabon in the last month. We think about going again but we decide against it because we’re responsible adults.. and would drive even further for Coldstone (smh).

Anyway, since I was on a roll last weekend, I wanted to make something special for my husband when he woke up and decided to make cinnamon rolls! I used this recipe. It was wonderful! I did use yeast that was probably a couple months too old and it took a while for the dough to rise but it did eventually rise.

dough- before

dough- after

I didn’t think it would rise for the second proof but it did and all other steps after that was a breeze. I mixed the frosting by hand instead of a mixer as suggested in the recipe and that was difficult. It was also a cold day so use a mixer to help you out and soften everything out a bit.

 

butter, sugar and cinnamon

frosting

By far, I think this is the best recipe for cinnamon rolls and I’m definitely going to make more in the future!

cut and ready for second proof

ready to bake!

post bake

 

So try it out and make some cinnamon rolls this weekend!

Cece

Husband’s Pick: Pretzels

This past weekend my husband suggested that I use my sourdough starter to make something new: pretzels. I’m sure he had intentions to encourage me to broaden my knowledge but I’m also sure that he was probably craving pretzels as well. Either way, we both benefited this weekend.

I actually wanted to bake another round of bread this weekend but I’ve had such a hard time lately that I decided to just skip it. The morning of my levain hadn’t risen as much as I would have liked it to anyway. And just when I decided to discard the whole thing, I decided to use it for the pretzels. After limited searching, I came across a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website and it seemed to fit what I was looking for. Luckily, I had everything on hand. I usually don’t have dry milk on hand but I had to use it for something else earlier in the year (SCORE!).

The recipe I used was this one. I pretty much followed everything listed except the last part when they brushed sugar(?) on the pretzels to achieve the brownish color. I read a lot of the reviews and other pretzel recipes and they all pretty much mentioned the baking soda bath that this recipe lacked. I agree with most of the commentators, how can it be a pretzel if it doesn’t look/taste like one? Then it would just be… bread right?

Starting out was pretty simple. Mix everything and let it rise:

levain

everything mixed

rise

Then it was forming and making sure it didn’t dry out:

I thought I did pretty decent with the twist!! Especially for it being my first time. The only thing I wish I had was pretzel salt. My husband LOVES that! But he’s trying to cut back on salt, so it really didn’t matter that I didn’t have it. Kosher salt it is!

At first, I had taken it out too early. My husband took a bite and we can clearly see that it was still a little under cooked and so back into the oven it went. It looked nicer with a deeper brown color. They were good. I could definitely improve but it was a good first try and it fulfilled a craving. They were chewy and salty. My husband said it was a little sour from the starter but not overwhelming. I wish they were a little bigger like at Wetzel’s Pretzels! I should try making pizza pretzels…

Process: 10/10
Taste: 6/10

Cece

The First Cookie I Baked for my Co-Workers

Close friends know that I used to work in a toxic environment and 2017 was a roller coaster of events filled with drama and anger in the workplace. I had moved between 3 different jobs by the end of 2017 and I had major trust issues and I didn’t/couldn’t open up to my co-workers. Almost 2 months with my department and I’ve warmed up a bit to my co-workers and I decided to bake for them. I baked fresh chocolate chip cookies and even wrapped them up all fancy. First impressions are everything and I didn’t want to be handing my new co-workers a cookie in a plastic baggie! I really didn’t have any fancy wrapping so I just used whatever was handy in the kitchen. Lots of parchment paper (thanks Costco!) and twine!

I used this recipe. I’ve been eyeing this blog and have been wanting to use this recipe for a long time and I finally decided to try it this past weekend! It made wonderful big cookies. At first when I had my husband try them he didn’t seem to like them too much because they were crispy on the outside. My family loves chewy and soft cookies so anything crispy makes them a little skeptical. The next day however, they set and were more chewy and he enjoyed them a lot more!

Look at those ridges! Of course this technique isn’t the only way you can achieve those ridges but it does create a cookie with nice and crispy edges and a chewy gooey inside.

 

So grab a glass of milk and dig in!

Cece