Seedy Crackers

Hi there!
I've been making these crackers for a good 4 months now and it seems like I ought to share them; particularly since I took them to every holiday gathering I attended. [Gluten- nut- egg-free things are always popular at parties.] People kept asking for the recipe and now, finally, I'm passing it along to the masses.*  Yes, I realize it's now past the holiday party season, but you can still make these, just for you.  They're an exceptionally flavorful snack all by themselves, but they're also great with cheeses or hummus, or tapenade.  The best thing about these pretty little crackers?  They're even easier to make than my go-to wheat crackers.

I first made them for a meat and cheese picnic because I wanted to have a second type of cracker to compliment with my usual crackers, and came across this recipe from a very nice GF website.  I wasn't actually planning to go sans gluten, but I liked the premise of the recipe.  Once I went gluten-free, though, I decided I may as well go nut-free, and once I started getting seedy, it just made sense to use flax seeds instead of eggs, which makes these babies quite vegan... but they don't taste vegan [if you know what I mean], so they're popular with just about everyone.

Gluten-free things need a little extra help holding things together, which is why the inspiration recipe used egg.  The flax seeds work as an egg substitute because they contain a good bit of mucilage, which is a clear gelling agent found in almost all plants that absorbs water and binds it into "mucilaginous gel."  [Cacti and other succulents have lots of mucilage.] Grinding the flax exposes the mucilage and mixing it with water lets it goop everything together. Fun, huh?

Recipe: Seedy Crackers

Granola Cookies

These guys are a variation on my Flourless Oatmeal Cookie.  I was making them for a friend and wanted them to be a sort of homey power food, so I was looking to give them a little more nutritional value and nuts and seeds seemed like a logical way to go... and then I realized I was basically making granola bars in cookie form, except they use egg as a binder [more protein!].

I'm rather pleased with the results.  I decided with the Flourless Oatmeal Cookies that processing the ingredients into tiny bits made them stick together better,  but I missed having chunks of things, so this time I reserved a little of everything and combined them by hand at the end.  Much better.  I also upped the egg to oat ratio, which means they don't have to be pressed flat; they'll spread of their own accord more like a normal oatmeal cookie.

If you have a serious problem with gluten, be sure to get rolled oats specifically labeled "Gluten-Free" since most commercially produced oats will have cross-contamination from other grains processed at the same facility.  If you just have an intolerance, you're unlikely to notice the trace amounts in standard oats.

Recipe:  Granola Cookies

Grandma Sue's Valentine's Cookies

My grandmother used to send us each a big heart-shaped cookie for Valentine's day.  Each one was uniquely frosted with botanically-correct flowers [She once was an in-house artist for a university botany department] and the cookies were as tasty as they were pretty.  These lemony sugar cookies were my first experience with lemon zest, and for a long time I thought it was weird that Grandma Sue put lemon peels in her cookies, but they sure were tasty.

I deviated from the original recipe by swapping in whole grain flours [shocking, I know] and meyer lemons, plus butter for "oleo" [it has the same water content, and isn't hydrogenated]... but they still taste just right to me.  They're fantastic plain and I don't have Grandma's artistic abilities, but I do like to play with the royal icing.

[I'm sending these to my nieces, whose names all begin with A, as thanks to their mom for sending me maternity clothes.]

Recipe: Sue's Granddaughter's Lemony Valentine's Cookies

Silken Sweet Potato Pie

1 1/2 lbs sweet potatoes
8 oz silken tofu
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 T molasses
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ginger
1/8 tsp cardamom
pinch salt
pinch nutmeg

bake crust
puree filling add to baked crust, return to off oven.

Calaveras Cookies

 

I meant to get these posted before Dia de los Muertos [All Souls Day], but that didn't happen.  Instead, you can marvel at them this year and plan to make your own next time... They would, of course, work as Halloween cookies, but since I was using my Mexican Chocolate Cookie dough it seemed only appropriate to wait for November 2nd.  Sometimes decorated cookies don't taste as good as the look, but that cookie is a workhorse and has enough flavor to power through my as-tasty-as-it-gets royal icing. [Royal icing looks great but tastes flatly sweet, even with a goodly amount of almond extract. That's why the flavor of the cookie underneath is so important.]

These were pretty fun to make.  As you fill them, different features appear and I'd intentionally leave "highlights" here and there and I found the emerging characters very entertaining... which is good, because I made a double batch (~80) and it did take a while.  On further consideration, I could have made the cookies twice as thick (1/4") and it probably would have made them even tastier.

.

You also don't need the fancy cookie cutter.  I have one (that I think I got after Halloween one year at Williams-Sonoma) so I use it, but you could do the same technique with a simple oval and get almost the same effect (minus the little teeth).  I have no artistic talent*, so I like guidelines.

Recipe: Royal Icing

Gluten-Free Brownie Skins

I recently made these guys over the weekend for a gluten-avoiding friend of mine.  They have very few ingredients and come together in a minute.

The recipe comes from 101 Cookbooks, where they're called "Chocolate Puddle Cookies," but I think they taste like gooey brownies when they're still warm, so I've renamed them accordingly.  They do firm up as they cool but they maintain a thin layer of goo in the middle.  The first time I made them without nuts; this time I used toasted and skinned hazelnuts... both were tasty but a little too sweet for my liking [though JG's a big fan].  I think next time I might swap out some of the powdered sugar for rice flour or buckwheat [which would be a different cookie entirely but a little grain's always better for you, right?].  I'll let you know how it goes.

Also, I made a half recipe and a #60 scoop and managed to get about 20 the size of my palm [10 on each cookie sheet].  The ones in the original recipe must be monsters... which makes sense since each cookie would have almost a quarter cup of powdered sugar.[!]  Even the smaller ones I made have about 1.5 tablespoons per cookie... so, yeah, they're not low-calorie, but they are a decadent, gluten-free addition to the cookie plate.

Undisputed Victory

If you ever read my recipes, you know I generally use equal parts white whole wheat flour (or WWWF, as it's known on my grocery lists) and oat flour to make a whole-grain base that acts just like all-purpose flour. [Regular {red} whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour comes close, but it's a little gritty.]

Back in Texas, the only brand of WWWF available was King Arthur and they make a great product, but it ain't cheap and I use a lot of it.  Several months back, our Trader Joe's started carrying a store brand WWWF at roughly half the price and I was, well, probably more excited than I should have been about that five pound bundle of joy. 

After months of testing, I'm sticking with KA for my WWWF.  As you can [sort of] see in the picture, the TJ flour [right] isn't ground as finely and the baked results have been closer in texture to a red whole wheat base.  It's fine in breads and quick breads when I want a hearty wheat flavor, but in cookies and cakes where the wheat is mostly for structure, it doesn't play nearly as well with others as King Arthur. 
And now that I'm committed, I figured I can save money by buying it in larger quantities once I find a spare corner in my tiny kitchen for a 40lb sack...

Cantaloupe Bars

I entered a farmers' market bake-off this weekend.  I didn't win, but I _did_ come up with a new way to eat cantaloupe.  The judges preferred a blueberry buckle to my quirky melon dessert, but it _is_ melon season and the markets are full of unusual varieties.  I've only recently become a melon lover, but they really are refreshing and "clean" tasting and I think their upgrade to dessert status is overdue.

I thought it would be fun to play on my beloved agua fresca flavors, and the result was a gorgeous melon-y curd paired with a tangy buttermilk/crunchy pepita crust. [The crust is a winner by itself; I've got lots of ideas for it.]  These bars are definitely more rich than my normal fair, so I suggest making them to share... at a Labor Day cookout, perhaps?

Recipe: Cantaloupe Bars

Howdy Cakes

[Where did I go?  I certainly didn't mean to abandon the blog, but in my evergrowing frustration with self-taught web design, I kept working in Dreamweaver until I couldn't possibly sit at the computer a moment longer and stormed away.  My apologies to anyone who reads regularly and has felt snubbed... but that's probably only my mother and she's holed up in the woods for the summer so she probably hasn't noticed.]

Whoopie Pies are a New England thing and not pies at all [chalk another one up to "Yankee know-how"] but two chocolate cake discs and a gooey white filling usually made from a marshmallow fluff base.  [I've also seen the cakes in trendy flavors like vanilla and pumpkin.] Now, chocolate cake is easy and marshmallow fluff ain't hard if you know how to make marshmallows, but I thought I'd try them in a traditional red velvet as homage to my southern roots... and that, of course, means doing it old-school with pureed beets and roux frosting!

Despite the magenta batter, beet-colored red velvet cake is not as bright as the artificial kind and the rosey hue can easily be overwhelmed by the cocoa content.   The beets actually go really well with chocolate and give it a little more sweetness and earthy complexity. I wanted a chocolaty cake, but was bummed at first by the normal brown-black color of the final product. The taste, however, is fantastic and I'm not going to quibble because the tint wasn't as odd as I hoped. 

Roux frosting is traditional for red velvet cake and amazing -- if you don't try these pies you should at least try the frosting the next time you have a need. It's equal parts milk, butter, and sugar (plus a few other things) and it's got all the texture of a great buttercream but without the overwhelming sweetness and is far less likely to break into grainy bits when it gets warm. I added a little buttermilk powder and amaretto for flavor, but if you don't have those things you shouldn't let it stop you.  I'm in love with this stuff -- real love, too, not just some trashy fling.**


Recipe: Howdy Cakes
I refuse to call them pies.

Chocolate Macarons

JG and I are spending a bit of time in the heartland, which meant we had to clear out the fridge and put the garden in the bathtub [it wasn't easy].  I had 6 egg whites leftover from a couple projects and chocolate that was starting to bloom in my warm pantry, so I figured I may as well make a triple batch of David Libovitz' chocolate macarons and my own low[er] fat caramelized chocolate ganache.    

My only adjustment was that I sifted the dry ingredients into the whites because the nut oil/cocoa powder combination was clumping together... and the final result was still a little too bumpy.

 As for the ganache, I caramelized the sugar and browned the butter before adding fat-free evaporated milk [in lieu of heavy cream] and then stirred in nearly a pound of chocolate... and had nearly a pound of the resulting ganache left over, waiting for me in the freezer when I come home.

Recipe: Caramelized Chocolate Ganache

Tres Leches para mi Cumpleaños

I like making myself birthday cakes. I also like throwing parties near my birthday so I have an excuse to make a goodly-sized cake that I won't then eat all by myself, one shameful bite at a time.  The best part is that if the party is not actually on my birthday, no one feels compelled to sing to me before we all dig in.

Last year I made a rum cake, but a baker friend of mine [You know those beautiful little tarts in the case at Whole Foods? Those are hers.]  brought over a tres leches or "three milk" cake... made all the more fantastic because where she's from in Brazil, they use coconut milk in lieu of heavy cream... It was the best tres leches I've ever had.

So I decided it had to be tres leches for mi fiesta... but, being The Whole-Grain Texan, I had to mix things up a little. Diana Kennedy has a recipe for an almond sponge cake in her Cuisines of Mexico that uses almost the same ingredients for the cake itself [crucially: 5 eggs, separated, and no butter] but used almond meal in lieu of flour... really more like a financier. I wasn't sure how it would hold up to the thorough dousing required of a tres leches so I opted to use more [white whole wheat] flour... and fat-free milks and light coconut milk....and was well pleased with the results. It tastes decadent, but it's only a little heavier than a stack of pancakes... and with a lot more protein!

This isn't a traditional tres leches, but I think we've pretty well established that I don't think traditional=better.... and it tastes fantastic, if I do say so myself. As one guest -- and San Antonio native -- put it, "This is really, really good; but you could never sell it at a Mexican bakery." I'm sure he's right, but I bet I could put it on the menu at a fancy hotel restaurant in Mexico City and have it singled out in at least a few travel books.

Am I getting a little too full of myself on this one? Well, you'll just have to make it [for Cinco de Mayo?] and decide for yourself.


Recipe: Tres Leches de Maria
If you have a standing mixer, you can whip the egg whites while you're mixing the batter, but keep an eye on them. This cake is "frosted" with whipped cream, which I whipped myself [which actually makes it Quatro Leches, plus the coconut milk]. I imagine you could use a lower-fat pre-made something, but I won't vouch for the texture. You could also just garnish it with a big pile of fresh or macerated strawberries... I think I might do that next time. The pictured cake is actually 1.5 recipes, 3-8x8 pans, because I wanted it to be tall and square like a fancy cake... but two layers would have been plenty... and you can certainly bake it in a more traditional 9x13 sheet pan.
Cake:
5 eggs, separated
1 cup milk [I used skim]
1 cup sugar, divided use
1 tablespoon amaretto [almond liqueur]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup almond meal [2 oz, ground]
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter [or 1 teaspoon lemon juice]
Leches:
1 can fat-free evaporated milk
1 can fat-free sweet and condensed milk
1 can light coconut milk (3rd press)
Optional Cream "Frosting":
1/2 pint, heavy cream (optional)
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
Slivered almonds or fresh fruit to garnish
Cake:
Preheat oven to 300F. Line the bottom of 2-8x8 baking pans with parchment, then grease and flour the pans.
Put egg yolks in a big bowl and whites in a suitable one for whipping, and allow both to come to room temperature. Add milk, amaretto and 3/4 cup sugar to the yolks and whisk together to dissolve sugar, then whisk in remaining dry ingredients except the cream of tartar.
Whip egg whites on low speed until foamy, then add tartar and gradually increase speed as you slowly pour in the remaining 1/4 cup sugar. Beat on high speed until the whites are stiff and glossy.
Add about 1/3 of the whites to the batter and whisk in to incorporate and lighten. Switch to a rubber spatula and add remaining whites, gently folding the batter over itself until no big clumps of whites remain and batter is pretty much the same shade all over. Divide into two pans and bake for 60-75 minutes or until cake is evenly toasty golden brown and does not jiggle when moved. Move to a cooling rack and allow to cakes to cool to room temperature without removing from the pans.
Once cool, go around the edges of the pan with a knife, then turn out the cakes and remove the parchment. [Cake layers can be wrapped tightly in plastic and stored on the counter for a day or in the freezer for a week. Thaw completely before continuing.]

Leches:
One to 4 hours before serving, combine leches in a 4-cup measuring cup or medium bowl. Place bottom cake layer on a serving plate or platter with a deep rim [and place that plate in a larger roasting pan, if possible]. Poke holes all over and slowly pour or spoon about half of the soaking liquid over the top. Try to get as much of the edges as possible. Let it sit ten minutes, then place the second layer on top and repeat the process. You will likely overflow your plate, but the cake will do its best to soak up everything you give it. Whip cream with sugar and almond extract and refrigerate until ready to serve. [The cake can sit out.]
To serve, use a big spoon and offset spatula to dollop and spread whipped cream all over the cake. Garnish with slivered almonds or fruit as desired.

Bread Basics

I started baking my own bread when a trip to the grocery store revealed that most of the whole-grain breads used mostly of enriched [non-whole wheat] flour and all of the sandwich breads used corn syrup. Bread need only have flour, water, yeast and salt, and if you are looking for a squishier bread some fat and sweetener, but they should be lower on the list than everything except the salt.

Over time, I've developed a very loose formula for bread. Baking your own bread is not inherently difficult... There is a certain mystique attached to it these days, but small children used to do this in olden times and you can, too! [I've even included some step-by-step pictures after the jump.]

It may take a few gluten bricks to get the hang of it, but you can always slice them very thin and use them for crostini or take your true failures to the park and feed the ducks [...or, if you're my brother, the varmits which you will later shoot]. Soon you, too, will be able to amaze your friends and family by serving homemade bread(gasp!) without breaking a sweat.

I think a natural yeast starter (aka sourdough starter) makes every bread more interesting {and not necessarily sour}, but you can certainly just use dry yeast and pump up the flavor with other things. I usually add a teaspoon of dry yeast along with the starter, because the one I have now just doesn't seem as strong. If you are interested in building a natural yeast culture (or "fridge pet"), I referenced this website called Sourdough Home when I was getting started ~4-5 years ago now. I abandoned my original starters (I had two) last summer because it was too much effort to keep them going on the month long car trip to Yankee Land. I created a new one once we settled in our little attic.

[As for people who pride themselves on the longevity of their starters, I have to say that an individual yeast cell doesn't live indefinitely and there are only a few strains of yeast that can handle the life of a fridge pet, so sooner or later your unique-to-your-house wild yeast culture will whittle itself down to a couple strains from your larger geographic region. I'm pretty sure my starter is the same as every other in the greater Bay State area {and I bet there're plenty)... and that's perfectly okay.]

Recipe: Basic Bread
Sweeteners and fats are optional for more tender sandwich-style bread. Filling options are listed below the recipe. With the exception of spices, nothing should be added before kneading as it will tear the gluten strands you're trying to build. Free-form loaves -- those not baked in a pan -- are best when baked on a baking or pizza stone.

~1 cup starter [optional]
1 cup liquid [water, milk, yogurt, beer, juice, meat stock, a splash of soy sauce...]
1 tablespoon sweetener for a golden crust [honey, sugar, maple, sorghum]
1 tablespoon fat for sandwich-style [various oils, butter...]
2 1/2 - 3 cups flours [no more than 1 cup of l rye, barley, buckwheat, or oat)
1 tablespoon instant or rapid-rise yeast
1 teaspoon table salt

1 egg, beaten, to glaze [optional]

Combine everything but salt and egg glaze in bowl of standing mixer, and stir into shaggy ball with a rubber spatula. Cover and let sit for at least 17 minutes for gluten formation. Uncover and add salt. Attach dough hook and stir on medium-low speed [“3” on my KitchenAid] for 7 minutes. Add more flour, a tablespoon at a time, if dough does not clear sides of the bowl after 5 minutes. Add more liquid -- a tablespoon at a time-- if dough does not form solid ball around hook.

Let dough rise in bowl until doubled in size ~1.5-2 hours. Scrape onto floured countertop or pastry cloth [pictured] and stretch into 8x12 rectangle [and scatter with optional fillings, below].
To make a simple loaf: Roll tightly from short end, tuck ends under, and pinch the seams together.
To make a twisted loaf: Roll tightly from the long side, pinch the seam, and roll it out a little skinner (like a play-dough snake). Pinch the log in the center to make two sausage links, and twist the links over one another.
After shaping, place loaf seam side down on parchment or in a lightly greased loaf pan.

Turn on oven to 400F. Let rise again until roughly doubled in size and dough no longer springs back when poked, ~45 minutes-1 hour. Brush with beaten egg, place in oven and reduce temperature to 375F. Bake ~50 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 200F. Cool on wire rack ~2 hours before slicing.

* You can fill your bread with up to 1 cup of whatever combination of fresh or dried fruit, cheese, nuts, veggies, olives, herbs can be added after the first rise and before shaping the loaf. Anything that may release water or oil (really anything but dried fruit, nuts, and herbs) should be dusted with flour to absorb some of it and prevent big holes from forming while it bakes.

12-Hour Whole-Wheat French Bread

I have a confession to make. I haven't been sharing my bread with you.

I'm sorry.

The problem is this: I don't follow any recipes, I don't closely measure how much of anything I put in, I almost never make the same thing twice, and I have a sourdough culture that I add for flavor and supplement with more reliable instant yeast. It took me a while to get the hang of it, but once you know how to bake a decent loaf, you can really wing it... and I do, at least once a week, with whatever I have on hand. End of a bottle of olives=olive bread; leftover polenta=mutli-grain, sale on sunflower seeds= seeded loaf, and so on. I can't tell how much of anything went into it because throwing things in at random necessitates a certain amount of tweaking as you go to get the texture right, sometimes I add an extra 1/4 cup water or so, sometimes I'm way off on the liquids and have to add a couple cups more flour -- and use the big loaf pan.

There is, however, one exception to my freewheeling bread style, and that is French bread. If I want a deep golden crust with that special chewy-soft center, I measure everything and proceed in the same way [almost] every single time. It's a little fussy. It requires adding the flour by weight. This is what restaurants and bakeries do to make every loaf look the same.It's what you must do if you want specific results... even I've embraced that. I've also embraced that this recipe really works best with a little high-protein bread flour. I tried very hard to banish it, but I simply can't from this particular recipe and I'm not ashamed.

The last thing about this recipe is that it really does benefit from a sturdy standing mixer. Of course you can do it by hand [like everyone did until the last century] but it requires a thing called "crashing," which can be fun but the people downstairs don't appreciate it. The mixer is much, much easier.

The bottom line? This bread recipe works every time.

Recipe: Whole-Grain French Bread
** Bear with me, I'm working on making the recipes more printer-friendly**
I use starter for flavor and instant yeast for rise. You can use a medium lager like Budweiser in lieu of water in the overnight "sponge" for more flavor. The yogurt also adds flavor and protein, you can use water or skim milk [no fat, fat inhibits gluten]. This takes 11-ish hours start to finish, but you can leave the "sponge" for longer if it suits your needs. Start at night for morning baking or in the morning for evening baking. [or start in the afternoon, stick the sponge in the fridge, and finish the next afternoon. Did I say I did this the same way every time?I think I have a problem with rules.]

Makes one large loaf or two slender baguettes. [See? More options!]

Special tools: standing mixer, kitchen scale, baking stone [or sturdy rimless cookie sheet, baking peel [or 2nd rimless cookie sheet] spray bottle filled with water.

For the sponge:
6 oz water (3/4 cup)
>6 oz bread flour [a.k.a. high protein]
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast [a.k.a. rapid rise]
3 oz sourdough culture (~1/4 cup, optional)

Stir together in the bowl of your standing mixer, cover with plastic wrap, and leave out on the counter ~8 hours or overnight. [Or refrigerate up to 24 hours.]

For the loaf:
4 oz nonfat plain yogurt (or skim milk)
4 oz whole wheat flour
6 oz white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons table salt
1 tablespoon water

1 egg for glaze

Once the batter doubles in size and had be come light and airy looking with lots of holes -- sponge-like -- add yogurt, remaining flour and yeast. Stir until all flour is incorporated into a shaggy ball. Cover and let rest 17 minutes while gluten forms.

Add salt. Attach dough hook and mix on low for ~1 minute or until dough clings to the hook. Increase speed to maximum [10 on my KitchenAid] and "knead" for 6 minutes, keeping a hand on the base of the machine most of the time so it doesn't walk itself off you counter. [This is what mimics "crashing," where you slam the dough against the counter repeatedly.] Add the tablespoon of water after 3 minutes. It'll get sloppy for a bit, but then come back together.By the time it's done, you should be able to stretch the dough thin enough to see light through it without any tearing [a.k.a. the "windowpane test"... Some people say you can't do this well with whole grains. I beg to differ.]

Eyeball your dough ball. Find a bowl double the size, spray with cooking spray or rub with a little oil, transfer the ball, and cover with plastic wrap, OR find a larger bowl (or stock pot), spray or rub with oil, transfer the ball, and draw a line in the oil with your finger that shows where double should be, then cover with plastic wrap. Let sit until dough fills bowl or reaches fill line, ~1.5 to 2 hours.

Turn on your oven to 500F. Position your baking stone [or heavy duty cookie sheet] on the upper rack, positioned in the second highest slot. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper [or smooth metal countertop] with flour. Pull the dough from the bowl (divide in half for baguettes) and stretch (don't pat) into a ~7"x14" rectangle (or 2- 7"x7" squares). From the short end, loosely fold in thirds [like folding a letter for an envelope]. Using both hands, grab the dough from the far side and roll it under, tucking in the edge with your fingers. Repeat ~4 times or until you reach the other side. [You should now have a log ~12" long.] Pinch seam and lay seam-side down on the parchment. Dust with flour, drape with plastic wrap, and let rise until nearly doubled again, ~30 to 45 minutes.

Sorry, no picture of the tucking, JG wasn't around and I needed both hands.

Whisk egg and brush over loaf. [You can use your fingers if you don't have a pastry brush.] Use a sharp knife to slash three evenly-spaced 1/2"deep slits along the loaf. Spray with water and gently pull onto the peel [or cookie sheet]. Working quickly, open the oven, slide the parchment onto the stone [or 2nd cookie sheet] with a quick backward jerk [and maybe a push with your fingers, but be careful, it's hot!], and close the door. Set your timer for 18 minutes.

After 5 minutes of baking, open the door and spray water onto the bread as evenly as possible. Repeat after another 5 minutes. When the timer goes off, pull the bread from the oven and check the bread. You want an internal temp of 200F+ [or a hollow sound when tapped, but that's subjective] and the bottom should be quite dark but not black at all. Return to the oven for a few more minutes if necessary. [Mine usually takes 22 minutes, but ovens vary and you don't want to go too far.]

Whole-Grain Chocolate Almond Biscotti

I realize I have a biscotti problem -- obsession, really -- but once I gave up coffee I haven't been able to commit to a single flavor. The latest batch were from Joy of Baking, and I followed it pretty closely [except for substituting 1 cup white whole wheat and 3/4 cup oat for the called-for A.P. flour] but I had a little timer problem:

I didn't realize it until I was sitting at the computer and a toasty smell wafted toward me. I looked at the clock, then ran to the kitchen, half-expecting to find biscotti charcoal. They were deeply brown around the edges but just shy of burned, which actually gave them an amazing roasted marshmallow-esque flavor. I'm making a note to add another 15 minutes to the second bake on this recipe. [I think it was actually closer to 20 but they were just a shade away from the trash can, so it's best to undershoot and monitor, know what I mean?]

Whole Grain Bagels

It was just a little chilly in the apartment the other night, so after dinner I decided it was time to turn on the oven.... for bagels.

I've never made them before. Peter Reinhart has a recipe floating around foodblogs that I'm sure is fantastic, but it's a multi-day process and I wanted something to bake posthaste... I found a home-style recipe that used a one-hour rise and decided if that could still produce an identifiable bagel, I could tweak it for whole grains and flavor.They're excellent. They came out of the oven much softer than a standard bagel, and the one I cut while it was still warm gave off a lot of steam and was still so moist inside I wondered if my slap-dash recipe was off, or if you're just supposed to wait until they cool [and finish cooking from the inside] before you cut them.
The next morning, sliced and toasted, I experienced bagel nirvana. The outside was perfectly crisp, the toasted cut side nice and crunchy, and the interior was so soft. I'm not going to say they're authentic, but they were pretty darn tasty... and who wants to boil and bake before breakfast? I think I'll keep my nighttime recipe and enjoy my ready-to-go bagels the morning after.

Recipe: Whole Grain Bagels
These take about 2 hours start to finish, mostly hands-off. I used 1/2 sourdough starter for extra flavor but the rise came from the instant yeast... you can approximate the flavor by adding a tablespoon of Marmite [or Vegemite] or replacing the water with a lager beer like Budwiser, Narragansett [for the Yanks], or Lone Star [for the Texans].

For the bagels:
1/2 cup rye flour
1 1/2 -2 cups white whole wheat flour, more as needed
2 Tbs oil
1 Tbs sorghum [or barley malt, or molasses]
3/4 cup warm water or lager [~110F]
1 Tbs + 2tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 tsp salt

For the boiling water:
2 Tbs baking soda
1 Tbs sorghum [or selected substitution]
2 tsp salt

For baking glaze:
1 egg white
1 Tbs water
optional black sesame, white sesame, poppy, caraway, or celery seeds; onion or pepper flakes; garlic or kosher salt; or any combination thereof

Combine all bagel ingredients except salt in the bowl of a standing mixer. Stir by hand ~1 minue until all flour is hydrated. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 17 minutes for gluten formation.

Add salt, attach dough hook, and mix on medium low (#4) for 7 minutes. After 5 minutes, check the dough and if it doesn't pull away from the sides, add additional flour, 2 Tbs at a time, until it does. The dough will be tacky, but it shouldn't be sticky [or: it'll be clingy, but it should stick to itself more than you... is that better?].

Coat a bowl with non-stick spray. Transfer dough to bowl, spray top lightly, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let rise in a warm place until doubled ~1 hour.

Turn on your oven to 500F. Punch dough down [I love punching dough] and scrape onto a lightly floured surface. Divide into 8 equal pieces (~3 oz each), and roll into balls. Poke an index finger through the middle of each ball, wiggle it until you can get your other index finger in from the other side, and tumble your fingers one over the other to stretch the hole evenly* to a 2" diameter [the ones pictured were a bit bigger]. Cover with a light towel or plastic wrap and let rest 20 minutes.

While formed bagels are resting, find the widest pot you own** and fill with ~2" of water. Add soda and sweetener and bring to a boil. [Turn down to a simmer if it gets there well before the bagels are finished resting, then turn back up when they're ready to go.] Place a parchment-covered or oiled baking sheet as close as possible.

Gently drop 3-4 bagels into the water. [Don't go much over half full, they'll expand quite a bit.] Boil on one side for 2 minutes, then use a spatula to flip them over and boil another 2 minutes. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat with remaining bagels. [They will look soggy and sad, but that's perfectly okay.]

Once all the bagels have been boiled, brush with egg wash and coat with desired toppings. Transfer to the oven and bake 10-12 minutes or until nicely golden brown, rotating the pan after 5 minutes.

Transfer to a cooling rack and cool completely before slicing and toasting.


* Try it, it'll make sense as you go.
** I imagine you could use a roasting pan over two burners, but I haven't tried it.