What are You Baking the Week of December 16, 2018?

[BakerAunt]

It's time to get that Christmas baking underway--or so says the woman who, other than baking a snowflake cake in a mold last week, has yet to start hers. Today, I'm baking my version of Moonie's (Ellen's) buns as 10 sandwich buns. We will each have a leftover pork chip sandwich with them tonight.

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[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I had a yearning for biscotti. I have a cinnamon biscotti recipe from KAF. Its biggest problem is the 1 cup of cinnamon chips. These are not a problem because KAF no longer sells them; I had a lot of them tucked away in the refrigerator where they are taking up space. They are a problem because like all chips, they are loaded with saturated fat. I reduced the amount to 1/3 cup, which is still 14 g., but for about 34 biscotti, even accounting for oil and the eggs, it is ok as long as I confine myself to one or two per day. I also substituted in white whole wheat flour. The biscotti came out well. They are not quite as sweet, but that is fine.

Part of the low-saturated fat food plan is that biscuits do not fit into it. To go with soup for Monday’s dinner, I made a new recipe, “Buttermilk Scallion Flatbreads,” a recipe from Jennifer Beckman of Falls Church, Virginia, who won best recipe in whole wheat for a competition. It was printed in Sift (Fall 2017), p. 13, and is on the KAF website.

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/buttermilk-scallion-flatbreads-recipe

I made just one change: I replaced the 3 Tbs. melted butter with slightly more than 2 Tbs. canola oil to accommodate my low-saturated fat requirement. My version meant that each flatbread had about .25 g sat fat as opposed to 5g in the original recipe. These are fantastic! My husband said, “You have to make these again!” They are easy and fast. They would also make good bread wraps.

[Joan Simpson]

They look nice too,think I'd like this.

[Mike Nolan]

I just took a batch of Vienna bread out of the oven. I needed to make sure I've got lots of bread on hand, since we have all 4 family members coming in later this week.

[chocomouse]

Today I made two loaves using KAF's Super 10 Flour Blend. It's my new favorite bread. The blend is so flexible, I'd think it could be used in any bread recipe. I also made a batch of molasses cookies for my Christmas cookie tray.

Baker Aunt, I am going to try that flatbread next week. Thanks for sharing!

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
The buttermilk scallion flatbread looks interesting. How big are these when they are cooked? Is the texture anything like Chinese scallion pancakes?

I did a cheese pizza on Sunday with Mexican Oaxaca cheese as a mozarella substitute and Vermont Cheddar for more flavor. I should have put on more cheese. The pizza puffed up into a dome and sent the melted cheese running to the edges.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--I'm not familiar with Chinese Scallion pancakes, so I cannot compare. I rolled these out to a little more than 6 inches, using a small wooden rolling pin that came with a ravioli pan. These did puff up. Once cooled, they are a little flatter but they were still good when I warmed them in the microwave wrapped in waxed paper. I could see cutting these in quarters as part of a bread tray and being eaten cold, perhaps with a dip or cheese.

• This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I baked another apple pie, with crumb topping (Bernard Clayton's French Apple Pie) on Tuesday evening, using a combination of Winesap and Jonathan apples. I reduced the topping by 25%, and I used that oil-based pie crust recipe again. I like it with buttermilk rather than milk, and I substituted in ¼ cup of white whole wheat flour.

[chocomouse]

Right now I have dough for Mrs. M's Cinnamon Buns rising on the kitchen counter; these will go home with our two children and families for their Christmas morning breakfast, a nice tradition we started a few years ago.

Yesterday I did a Bake for Good pie class at KAF. They gave us the ingredients and instructions and supervised/coached us making the crusts, and the class was free. The recipe was their classic, all butter crust. The instructor stressed that it's all about keeping the butter cold! We mixed the butter and flour until it was all crumbly, one size pieces, quite small, about 1/4 of an inch. They had prepped the apples, saving us a lot of time. We actually made crostatas, not double crusts, which was disappointing because I was hoping to get some tips about crimping the edges. KAF bakes the pies and takes them to a local homeless shelter/food shelf. They have similar classes for cookies, cinnamon buns, and rolls. Next year I will try a different class.

[Joan Simpson]

Today I'm baking my husbands favorite Lemon Supreme Pound Cake from Duncan Hines with a drizzle of glaze over the cake.I'd rather have real pound cake with lemon juice but...

[skeptic7]

I did a carrot quick bread with no sugar. Its flavored with dried thyme and had fresh rosemary on top. Its very pretty but I gave it away whole so I don't know what it will taste like. The sweet versions of this bread were quite good. This went to a neighbor who is avoiding sugar.

[BakerAunt]

We were out of bread, so on Friday evening I baked a loaf of what I’ve named Buttermilk Barley-Whole Wheat Bread, using the bread machine to do the kneading. My starting point was the KAF Oatmeal Toasting bread, the same recipe I used last week, except that this time, in addition to making it half whole wheat and half bread flour, I used barley flakes in place of the oats. (I’ve discovered that I have a LOT of barley flakes). I used buttermilk again but increased it to 1 cup because the dough was dry. I also needed to add another tablespoon of water. I cut the salt to 1 tsp. and used about 1 ½ Tbs. canola oil. I needed to add 7 minutes to the baking time to get it to 200F. It’s a heavier bread but it rose nicely and baked well. My husband really liked it for his sandwich, and I enjoyed a slice with soup for lunch on Saturday. We clearly like barley! I think this recipe is a good base for a variety of grains.

We went hiking at a reservoir on Wednesday, then stopped off at Countryside Orchards and bought more apples: traditional Winesaps (the little ones!) and another, larger variety of Winesaps. We also bought Melrose and Ever Crisp for eating, and a jug of fresh cider for drinking. As I’m still using up the apples we picked in November, on Saturday morning, I again baked my Barley-Buttermilk Apple Cinnamon bread that began its life at Bob’s Red Mill as a gluten-free one. I again used AP and barley flour in the same proportion as the second time and buttermilk and boiled apple cider. I reduced the sugar in the bread further (originally ¾ cup; I’d used 2/3 but this time cut it to ½). I also added 2 tsp. chia seeds. This bread became a favorite of my husband’s the first time I baked it, so I’m curious to see if the changes work for him. When I stop fussing with it, I’ll post it at Nebraska Kitchen.

[chocomouse]

I've spent the last few days baking for my cookie trays, since we'll be doing our Christmas celebration tonight. I also made cinnamon buns and tins of cookies to send home with the kids. I've made Buckeye Bars, Crack!, molasses cookies, Cranberry-Coconut cookies, Chocolate-Orange Cookies, and Pecan Tassies (recipe from lsb of the old Baking Circle).

I wish all my baking friends a joyous season and hope you will be able to spend time with friends and family!

[skeptic7]

Saturday I did a pan of gingerbread in a cast iron skillet with candied orange peel and candied ginger peel and regular and black strap molasses. It was very tasty but I gave much of it away.

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