What are you Baking the Week of January 4, 2026?

[Mike Nolan]

I plan to make Banh Mi buns today.

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[aaronatthedoublef]

I made scones this morning. It's the first baking I've done for my family since Thanksgiving. I subbed chocolate chips for the raisins because we haven't had enough chocolate in the last few weeks.

[BakerAunt]

Can any of us ever have enough chocolate?

On Sunday, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last Monday. Scott is very happy to have his crackers again.

Thank you to everyone for your good wishes after Scott's fall on the ice. He is doing ok, but his right arm is swelling somewhat and when he forgot and moved it instinctively to catch a falling coat, he had some intense pain. We will follow up with our doctor this week.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I finally baked a recipe that I have been wanting to try since last year: "Butternut squash and Pepita Pull-Apart Breadsticks. It was in an email that Red Star Yeast sent me, but in 2024, our farmers market had few butternut squashes. This year, there was a bonanza, and I bought a lot which I am now roasting and turning into puree. The recipe specified platinum yeast, which I do not have and have no intention of buying. I used regular yeast. I also made it half whole wheat, substituted olive oil for butter, added some milk powder and flax meal, and used buttermilk rather than whole milk. I also replaced half the water with more buttermilk. What could possibly go wrong? I allowed for longer rising times, but neither rise was spectacular. However, when I baked it, the oven spring was great. Although these are described as breadsticks, they are baked in a 9 x 9-inch pan, so it is more like long slices in a square loaf. It is topped with an egg wash, chopped pumpkin seeds, and a sprinkle of coarse salt. Scott and I both like the flavor. I think, however, that next time, I would bake them as rolls in the 9 x 9 pan and delete the salt in the topping. The recipe is a keeper as a bread but not as bread sticks.

[skeptic7]

BakerAunt;
I googled the recipe and it looks like the Lobster Rolls ran into a pan and were sprinkled with pumpkin seeds. I can't see how these are pull apart unless you brushed them with oil or butter to keep from merging together. The pictures on the internet do look tasty.

[BakerAunt]

Skeptic--They are certainly NOT bread sticks. They do, however, pull apart nicely when cooled. It's like rolls where you bake them next to each other, but they break apart easily. I plan to try them as rolls next time.

[BakerAunt]

I made Maple Granola on Tuesday. We were almost out, and it is a staple around our house.

[Joan Simpson]

I made Oatmeal Raisin Cookies for the poker ♥️ ♣️♦️♠️ game and infused the raisins with a couple tablespoons of Vanilla Crown heated in the microwave for 1 minute makes the raisins so much softer.

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[BakerAunt]

Yum, yum on the cookies, Joan.

I baked three loaves of my Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread on Friday. Once again, I'm pleased with how the Ankarsrum mixer performs. One of these loaves, along with a jar of blackberry jam will be a gift for the couple who helped us last week when Scott fell on the ice.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday evening, I made dough and shaped it for Cinnamon Swirl Pumpkin Rolls, a recipe that I adapted from King Arthur. It has always been a fussy recipe because I use pumpkin puree, and the level of water is thus not constant from one batch of puree to another. Sometimes, I have gotten it too dry; at other times too wet. I have been using the Zo bread machine to mix and knead it, but I decided to try the Ankarsrum tonight and see how it does with a smaller amount of dough, which was something that my Cuisinart 7-qt. mixer did not do well. It was easier to mix in the Ankarsrum than in the deep bowl of the Cuisinart. It was easier to make adjustments on the flour amount with the new mixer. The dough always takes about 90 minutes on the first rise. I left out the spices in the dough this time to see if that would speed up the process, but it did not. My big surprise was that when it came time to roll the dough out before sprinkling it with the cinnamon sugar, it rolled out beautifully, with no fighting me. I think this is the first time I got a 14 x 22-inch rectangle. I also found it easy to roll up with the filling. I am wondering if that is the result of the roller and scraper method that the mixer employs rather than a dough hook. One of the videos I watched suggested that dough hooks "tear" the dough. The pumpkin rolls are now in the refrigerator for an overnight rise. I will bake them tomorrow morning.

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