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BBB Rolls ~ NOT Cinnamon Rolls

What can I say … They are angel light even using white whole wheat flour.  They are marvelous but then they had a fabulous breakfast filling, which included bacon.  Maybe the rest of the filling ingredients weren’t traditional breakfast fare but they were great for our breakfast yesterday and today.

The part that I don’t get is the yield/serving size.  This was my biggest mistake.  I divided by 2 and only made half the recipe.  I still got 19 rolls … ah, well, when I have guests, I’ll certainly make the full recipe and then bake a fresh batch the next two mornings.  Because I always tend to want to share, I may make the full recipe when it’s just the two of us anyway and share parts of each baking.

BBB logo april 2016

BBB Wacky Rolls and NOT Cinnamon Rolls
Babe Kitchen of the Month: Karen of BakeMyDay
Serving Size: 21
Yield: 21 rolls

480 ml [2 cups] milk
120 ml [1/2 cup] butter
30 grams brown sugar (my modification)
2 – 2.5 teaspoon yeast
520 grams [4 cups] KA white whole wheat flour
45 grams ground flax seed
65 grams [1/2 cup] AP flour (extra, reserve to add later)
1/2 teaspoon heaping baking powder
1/2 teaspoon scant baking soda
1/2 tablespoon salt
melted butter
190 gr [1 cup] sugar, I omitted

1. Oven: 375F / 190 C

2. Room temperature milk, butter, brown sugar and yeast in a bowl.
Add 4 cups of white whole wheat flour. Stir until combined, cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

3. Next, remove the cover and ADD baking powder, baking soda, salt and the remaining 1.2 cup of flour. Stir thoroughly to combine.

Oops!  I already did that in step one ~ why read when you can breeze along …

4.  Roll out the dough in a rectangle or refrigerate for at least an hour or up to 3 days. (Probably need to keep an eye out for overflowing dough, so punch down if it rises to the top). Relatively slack dough so it probably is easier to work with when chilled!
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I did chill my dough BUT the best thing I see here is:  Make all the recipe, DO NOT divide by 2.  Mix entire recipe; bake half one day and the other half a day or 2 later!  Joy in the morning!

5. Proceed as you will with any other rolls you make; roll dough into a large rectangle on a floured surface. My first batch were thicker than the second day with colder dough.  I liked both.

6. To make the filling, use your imagination… go sweet, go savoury, go wacky. Make it yours and make it good!

OK Karen:
butternut squash roasted tiny cubes
bacon chopped
apple chopped
spinach fine chopped
garlic fine chopped
walnuts, roasted and chopped

(pecans didn’t make it; I think cranberries would be marvelous; happily even though I worried I was adding too many different things, this was a great combo!)

7.  Start rolling, I always start with the long side closest to me and roll away from my body. You could do it the other way round, I am easy like that! Just keep a tight roll.

I think I roll about the same as Karen but I need to work on a slightly tighter roll.

Once you have your roll, pinch the seam and roll it once over so the seam is on the bottom. Slice into 1.1/2 inch thick slices. Cover and set aside to rise for at least 20-45 minutes before baking.  15 minutes worked for me both times.

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8. Bake fo 15-18 minutes in a preheated oven (375F/190C)
White whole wheat flour required 24 to 26 minutes.

Rolls - Not a cinnamon roll

And so we have Breakfast Rolls.  NO cinnamon, NEW tradition!

9. Make these rolls all your own.  Cook with what you like to eat and you should be able to create a lovely high and light roll you can enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Just remember:  NO CINNAMON.

What Karen ask was why the leavening? Why not use just yeast, or only the other two?

So yes, you need to use all three in this recipe!

You will probably want to see what Elizabeth who did extensive research on the results with the three rising agents (yeast, baking powder, baking soda) had to say.  I’ll try to link to her page as soon as she posts.

My take on these rolls is all three rising agents aren’t used in Angel Rolls for nothing.  These rise like there is no tomorrow or no top to your bowl unless you use a really big bowl.  The dough is beautiful, light and supple.

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I so wanted this egg to be runny … but it stood still

10. Proof positive once again: ” Bread just wants to be bread. ”  Wisdom from Babe Elizabeth.

Notes:

The original recipe starts with heating milk/oil/sugar to just below a boil and let this cool. Karen didn’t do that and neither did I. Also, the recipe tells you to sprinkle on the yeast and let it sit for a minute to bloom. I never do that… didn’t do it this time and neither did Karen.

Basically this recipe follows the rules for making rolls, as in: make the dough, bulk rise. Roll out in a rectangle, add filling of your choice, roll up from the long side and cut into slices. Proof and bake in a moderate oven.

Now the difference lies in the leavening combo and that comes to show in the rising method.

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I do love cinnamon rolls and these would make excellent cinnamon rolls but to NOT make them cinnamon rolls presents an excellent opportunity and I definitely think you should join us on this one.

Join us as a Bread Baking Buddy.  Karen is our host this month. Bake these “Not-a-cinnamon-roll rolls” according to the recipe on Karen’s site and post it on your blog before the 30th of this month. Please make sure you mention BBB April 2016 in the subject line and link to this BBB post in your own blog post. If you don’t have a blog do not hesitate to bake and email me at bakemyday at gmail dot com with your name, a 500px wide image of your bread and the link to your BBB post. I will then send you a BBB badge for this bread that you can then add to your post on your blog. The round up can be expected around the 2nd of May.


Auberge Walnut Bread

Nuts.  Do you love nuts?  Walnuts, toasted. Do you love walnuts toasted?

Elizabeth was our lovely hostess for the March 2016 bread ~ I guess I’m a little late it now being April 7.

So, what did I change … I didn’t have to add ground flax!  I didn’t have vital wheat gluten; I did use organic bread flour (no all purpose).  I used powered ginger but there was also fresh ginger sitting on the counter and I gave that several swipes on the microplane; any ginger flavor or aroma was in the background, I didn’t really identify it.

Butter – salted or unsalted.  Before I moved to the woods, I always had both salted and unsalted on hand and used unsalted when called for.  Now, there is a place called Country Dairy   http://www.countrydairy.com/about    just 8 miles from us.  I love this place!
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You may ask what does butter (salted or unsalted) have to do with ice cream.  You can ask that.  Here’s my story, why I don’t buy salted butter anymore:  Growing up I was a lover of ice cream.  What kid isn’t!  In my world as an Air Force brat, I had ice cream from all over this country.  But for me the very best ice cream, the only ice cream worth eating was only to be found in a little mid-west town where we spent all holidays, many other times and actually lived one year while my father was stationed overseas.  My favorite aunt loved ice cream and watermelon as much as I did and so she was always willing to take me into Central Dairy for a cone.  That was childhood when I was always into ice cream.  As we struggle with waist lines in what some might call my “adulthood” (I don’t call it that even into my 70’s because it just doesn’t seem likely that I could be an adult even now.) ice cream is something for rare occasions.  Even so, I did one day find myself in Country Dairy and allowed a treat … that would be ice cream.  I don’t really remember which flavor it was but the first lick … I was suddenly 5 years old again, back on those small black and white floor tiles in Central Dairy.  People, this was ICE CREAM like it is supposed to be.  This was the real deal.

When you have that kind of a moment in a place where the people are terrific, your husband says this is the best skim milk ever, they do wonderful panini breakfast sandwiches and there is terrific cheese and sausage in the counters along with that ice cream, you can count on a VERY loyal customer – that would be me.  They only have salted butter.  Sorry, I just don’t buy unsalted butter any more.
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I brushed the mostly baked loaf with half and half.

Recipe From Elizabeth as found in Auberge of the Flowering Hearth by Roy Andries de Groot
Yield: 2 loaves

TWO LOAVES ~ Amounts
253 grams walnut halves, divided
»    200 grams 200g (2 c) whole walnut halves
»   53 grams 53g (0.66 c) walnut halves, finely chopped
420 grams (1.75 c) boiling water
34 grams (0.5c) skim milk powder
36 grams (2.5 Tbsp) unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
12 grams kosher salt (2 tsp table salt)
0.5g (0.25 tsp) powdered ginger
84 grams (4 Tbsp) dark honey
634 grams (~5 c) flour (de Groot’s recipe calls for 3c white bread and 3 c whole wheat, but that seems like too much. I switched to the equivalent of 2c white and 3c whole wheat.)
»   250 grams 250g unbleached all-purpose flour
»  9 grams 9g vital wheat gluten
»  15 grams 15g flax seed, finely ground
»   360 grams 360g whole wheat flour
29 grams (0.25 c) wheat germ
60 grams (0.25 c) water at ~98F
6 grams (2 tsp) active dry yeast
milk or cream for brushing during baking (de Groot’s recipe calls for egg yolk and milk)
HALF RECIPE ~ Amounts
ONE LOAF
170 grams walnut halves, divided
»   100 200g (2 c) whole walnut halves (I ended up using just 100g)
»   70 53g (0.66 c) walnut halves, finely chopped
210 grams (1.75 c) boiling water
17 grams (0.5c) skim milk powder
18 grams (2.5 Tbsp) unsalted butter (I used salted butter)
6 grams kosher salt (2 tsp table salt)
1/4 teaspoon 0.5g (0.25 tsp) powdered ginger, used powdered & fresh
42 grams (4 Tbsp) dark honey
267 grams (~5 c) flour (de Groot’s recipe calls for 3c white bread and 3 c whole wheat, but that seems like too much. I switched to the equivalent of 2c white and 3c whole wheat.)
»  125 grams 250g unbleached all-purpose flour
»    9 grams 9g vital wheat gluten, omitted
»    15 grams 15g flax seed, finely ground
»   185 grams 360g whole wheat flour
15 grams (0.25 c) wheat germ
30 grams (0.25 c) water at ~98F
1 teaspoon (2 tsp) active dry yeast
milk or cream for brushing during baking (de Groot’s recipe calls for egg yolk and milk)

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1. Walnuts: In the morning of the day you plan to bake the bread, spread the walnut halves in a single layer on a cookie sheet and toast them in a 400F oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch them carefully so they don’t burn! They’re done just at the moment you begin to smell them. Set aside 200g (2 c) onto a plate to cool. Using a very sharp knife, finely chop the other 53g to produce about 2/3 cup.

2. Mixing the dough: Pour just-boiled water into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in milk powder. Immediately add butter, honey, salt and powdered ginger and whisk until the butter has melted and the honey is incorporated.

3. Add flours, wheat germ and finely chopped walnuts (de Groot suggests grating them(!)) on top of one side of the large bowl.

4. Warm the water for rehydrating the yeast to around 98F, a little over body temperature. Or are you allergic to a thermometer? Heat it until it’s the temperature safe to feed to a baby: a few drops on the inside of your wrist feels warm but not hot. If it’s too hot, add cold water. (Tap water is okay, but please do NOT use water from the hot-water tap! You don’t know how long things other than water have been festering in the bottom of that tank.) Pour the warmed water into a small bowl and add the yeast. Whisk until the yeast has dissolved. Check to make sure that the milk mixture is not above body temperature (do the baby-bottle test on the inside of your wrist again) and then add the yeasted water to the milk mixture. Stir everything together with a wooden spoon to created a rough dough.

5. Kneading: Knead in the bowl (or use your electric mixer’s instructions for kneading) until the dough is smooth, “elastic and no longer sticky”.

6. Proofing: Cover the bowl with a plate and allow to proof in a draft-free area (oven with only the light turned on is ideal) until the dough has doubled.

7. Prepare the pans: Cover cookie sheets with parchment paper.

8. Walnuts and Shaping: Turn dough out onto a lightly floured board and divide in two. Roll each piece into a ball. Cover with a clean tea towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After their rest, flatten each ball into a disc and even divide the rest of the walnut halves on top, “pressing the nuts in slightly”, then roll each piece of dough to form a log. Joining the ends to make a ring, place each log seam side down on the parchment paper. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise in a draft-free area until the rings have almost doubled.

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9. Baking: Preheat oven to 375F. Just before putting the bread in the oven, spray the tops liberally with water. Put the bread into the oven and immediately turn the thermostat down to 350F. After 35 minutes, brush the tops of the loaves with milk or cream (de Groot suggests using an eggyolk whisked with milk to create this glaze) and continue baking for about 10 more minutes until the loaves are nicely browned and have reached an internal temperature between 200F and 210F (the bread sounds hollow when knuckle-rapped on the bottom). Remove the bread from the oven. Don’t even think about touching that knife!!

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10. Cooling and Finishing: Allow the bread to completely cool on a footed rack before cutting into it. It’s still baking inside! Of course you may want to serve warm bread: reheat it after it has cooled completely. To reheat and/or rejuvenate Unsliced bread, turn the oven to 400F for 5 minutes or so. Turn the oven OFF. Put the bread in the hot oven for ten minutes.

You probably have already seen Elizabeth’s post and know all the fun things she put up about this bread.

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This was a delightful loaf.  Gorn requested it until it was gone … on the 2nd day.  We can really go through a loaf!
This is what we bread heads call a “keeper loaf” meaning I’ll make this one again and again.  I will say this is a keeper of the first order.  The determining factor of when that remaking may occur probably depends on when will the BBB’s run out of great keeper breads to bake.

I hope you found this bread early enough to bake it and make the Buddy list but if not, not to worry, you should still bake this one.  It is just too good to miss.

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Don’t miss out.  Bake this one.