What are You Baking the Week of February 9, 2020?

[Mike Nolan]

My wife is making oatmeal spice cookies with raisins and dates today. The dates came from a friend who bought them at a Farmer's Market in Palm Springs earlier this week, so they're fresh and really sweet. I don't know what kind of date they are, but they're very good.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made scones yesterday for Valentines day. Today my daughter and I made strawberry ice cream cone cupcakes. The frosting had strawberries too and was a little too liquid but it tasted good.

[skeptic7]

I did Yankee style cornbread yesterday -- 1/2 flour, and 1/2 cornmeal and sweetened with honey. It was very good. I baked it in a square cast iron frying pan. I bought this frying pan years ago when I was curious to see how the different styles of cast iron worked. I couldn't find a lid for this, so I don't think I ever used it till now. It worked very nicely but it seems heavier and harder to balance than the round pans.

[chocomouse]

I made bagels again today, and used the same recipe (Bagels, by KAF) that I used before. This time I put brown sugar in the dough and in the boiling water bath instead of the barley malt syrup, and I added baking soda to the water bath. I boiled the bagels for about 1 minute each side, instead of 2 minutes, flip, then 1 minute more. The finished bagels are less brown, but not much. They are still "lumpy" looking, not smooth. They have the same crispy outside but soft inside. Basically, there is no difference between these bagels and the first batch I did a couple weeks ago. We like them, they are good, but not perfection. So, next batch I will try a new recipe. I do have a theory about the lumpiness, and will work on that.

[Mike Nolan]

Do you have either the Bread Baker's Apprentice or Artisan Breads Every Day? I use the bagel recipes in them. (The one in BBA makes more dough, so I probably use the ABED recipe more often these days, though they're very similar.)

Bagel dough should be satiny, and not at all tacky. If you don't want them brown, don't use either brown sugar or barley malt, if you have it, use non-diastatic malt powder, it adds the sweetness of barley malt but not the coloring.

What flour are you using, I generally use KAF bread flour for them. I've seen some ultra-high protein flours labeled as 'for bagels and pizza'. I tried a batch with first clear flour once, wasn't dissatisfied with them but haven't done another one. As I recall the dough wasn't quite as smooth.

[chocomouse]

I have both of those books and also "Whole Grain Breads", plus Hamelman's "Bread" and a dozen others that I have looked at for bagels. There's no shortage of recipes or suggestions. I just need the time to try a few - and people to give them to. I use KAF bread flour, and so far have used just the barley malt syrup but I do have the non-diastatic malt powder on hand too. My dough is satiny smooth until I poke my finger through to make the hole. My finger sticks to the dough inside the middle of the bagel and pulls wrinkles on the outside; if that makes any sense. I need to try the rope method of shaping. The browning has been fine. Since I've tried the KAF "Bagels" recipe twice, I think it's time to try a new recipe next.

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