Category Archives: Breads

More Muffins

  By skurtz | 01/31/2012 - 11:48 am | Breads, What's For Dinner
Leave a comment

20120131-114424.jpg

20120131-114438.jpg

So I made another batch and they don’t really look that different. They are a little more uniform in shape and a little flatter and just as yummy. I poked around the Internet and found the results of other people’s experiments were similar to mine. My conclusion: I will start making this on a regular basis and stop spending $2-$4 on a pack of store-bought ones.

THE Pizza Dough Recipe

  By skurtz | 09/23/2011 - 11:34 pm | Breads, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
THE Pizza Dough Recipe

4 12-inch pizzas

I've been trying out different pizza dough recipes from all over. This is a nice thin crust that I've actually come across a few versions of in my internet travels. This is the way that worked for me.

Ingredients

  1. 4 1/2 cups bread flour
  2. 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
  3. 1 teaspoon instant yeast
  4. 1/4 cup olive oil
  5. 1 3/4 cups water ice cold

Instructions

  1. Combine flour, salt and instant yeast in mixer bowl. Add water and olive oil. Mix with paddle attachment until flour is absorbed.
  2. Switch to dough hook and mix on medium speed 5-7 minutes. The dough should clear the sides of the bowl, but stick to the bottom. Add water or flour as necessary to achieve these results.
  3. Turn dough onto floured surface and divide into 6 equal parts (for 6 9- to 12-inch pizzas). Shape each into a ball. Coat dough with oil and cover.
  4. Let the dough rest in the refrigerator overnight (or up to 3 days). At this point, you can also opt to store dough in freezer for up to 3 months. If storing in freezer, remove from freezer the day before you plan to use it and let rest in refrigerator overnight.
  5. Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before you plan to bake it. Keep it covered while you let it rest at room temperature.
  6. Preheat pizza stone and oven (or, in my case, bunch of cheap unglazed tiles I bought at the floor store and propane grill out back) to 500˚F or higher. Note the oven is going to take a little longer to get those stones warmed up, so give yourself plenty of time – up to 45 minutes.
  7. Place a piece of baking parchment on a pizza peel or a large cutting board. Stretch dough to appropriate size and thickness and place on paper. If the dough springs back and you are not able to stretch it as much as you would like, let it rest 5 to 10 minutes and try again.
  8. Top dough as desired, but keep in mind this is thin crust and you’ll want to keep it light. Slide topped pizza onto stone. When using my outdoor grill, I turn off the 2 center burners so the pizza is not directly over the heat source. Check pizza after 2 minutes to see if it needs to be turned. Pizza should cook up fully in 5 to 8 minutes.
  9. Remove cooked pizza from oven and allow to sit 3 to 5 minutes before serving so cheese can set.

Another Pizza Dough

  By skurtz | 08/17/2011 - 5:20 pm | Breads, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
Another Pizza Dough

An alternative pizza dough recipe.

Ingredients

  1. 5 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 1 tablespoon sugar
  3. 3 teaspoons kosher salt
  4. 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  5. 2 tablespoons olive oil
  6. 1 3/4 cups water room temperature

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the yeast in water and then combine all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir. Once all of the ingredients have been combined, let dough rest for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir dough again for 5 minutes. Add more water or flour, if necessary.
  3. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. Place each piece in an oiled bag (for freezing) or container (for rising now). If you are not going to bake the dough today, you can freeze until the day before use, then thaw in fridge. If baking today, allow to rise in fridge and then for at room temperature for at least an hour or two before baking.
  4. When ready to bake, preheat baking stones in oven or grill at 375˚F. Stretch dough into a circle and let rest 5 to 10 minutes. Stretch dough a little more after resting and top with meats and cheeses as desired. I used about 1/2 lb of cooked meat and 8oz of shredded cheese per pizza.
  5. Bake on stones for 15 to 20 minutes, checking frequently and turning as necessary as ovens vary A LOT.

Plain Ole White Bread

  By skurtz | 08/17/2011 - 4:58 pm | Breads, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
Plain Ole White Bread

Another bread-baking experiment.

Ingredients

  1. 2 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 1 cup bread flour
  3. 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
  4. 1 teaspoon salt
  5. 1/8 cup sugar
  6. 1 cup milk warm
  7. 2 tablespoons butter
  8. 1/4 cup water lukewarm

Instructions

  1. Dissolve the yeast in the water.
  2. Mix the dry ingredients, then add the wet ingredients and butter. Add four or water as necessary until dough can be formed into a ball.
  3. Knead dough for 5 minutes using a stand mixer dough hook attachment. Take dough from bowl, form into a ball, then return to dough to stand mixer to knead another 5 minutes.
  4. Place dough ball in oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise for 90 minutes or until doubled in size.
  5. Shape the dough into a loaf pan, cover and allow it to rise another hour.
  6. Bake at 350˚F for 40 to 45 minutes.

A Basic Loaf Of Bread

  By skurtz | 08/16/2011 - 9:14 pm | Breads, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
A Basic Loaf Of Bread

I've tried bread a few times. It never worked. This recipe worked. For real. I made it twice in the last 4 days and both loaves are GONE!

Ingredients

  1. 3 cups all-purpose flour
  2. 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  3. 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
  4. 1 1/8 cups water

Instructions

  1. Heat water in microwave for 30 seconds. Dissolve yeast in warm water.
  2. Mix everything together. Add a little more flour if dough sticks to the bowl or your fingers.
  3. Knead dough for 5 minutes with stand mixer dough hook attachment. Pull dough from bowl, reform ball, put back in and knead 5 more minutes.
  4. Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled in size – about 90 minutes.
  5. Punch down, re-cover and let dough rise for another 90 minutes.
  6. Shape dough into a loaf shape and put on a piece of parchment paper; let rise for another hour or so.
  7. Bake loaf on preheated stones in oven (I used the grill) at 375˚F for 40-45 minutes..

Blueberry French Toast

  By skurtz | 06/26/2011 - 10:18 pm | Breads, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
Blueberry French Toast

Mom said, "We made the Blueberry French toast today it is a keeper so we took a picture you now have to add it to your cooking web site."

Ingredients

  1. 16 ounce cream cheese
  2. 1/2 cup sugar
  3. 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  4. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  5. 2 large eggs
  6. 1 1/2 cups milk
  7. 10 slice french bread
  8. 2 cups blueberries

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350˚F, and lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
  2. Beat the cream cheese, granulated sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large bowl, with a stand mixer on medium speed, until well blended.
  3. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the milk, and mix well.
  4. Arrange the bread in the prepared baking dish, and spread the blueberries on top of the bread. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the bread. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before baking (or cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight). Bake for 40 o 45 minutes, until golden brown.
  5. Serve with maple syrup and confectioners’ sugar.

Ginger Pear Muffins

  By skurtz | 03/26/2011 - 10:27 pm | Breads, Cakes, Frostings, Fillings, Cooking, Recipes
Leave a comment

Print
Ginger Pear Muffins

Pear + Ginger + Muffin = HOORAY

Ingredients

  1. 1 large eggs
  2. 3/4 cup milk
  3. 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  4. 2 cups all-purpose flour
  5. 1/3 cup brown sugar
  6. 3 teaspoons baking powder
  7. 1 teaspoon salt
  8. 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
  9. 3 tablespoons crystallized ginger
  10. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  11. 1 medium Anjou pear peeled, cored and chopped
    12. For the Topping:
  12. 1/4 cup brown sugar
  13. 1/4 cup walnuts chopped
  14. 1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 Tbsp crystallized ginger

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease bottoms only of cups in muffin pans. In large bowl, whisk together egg, milk, and oil. Add remaining ingredients except pears and stir until well mixed. Stir in pears. Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 full with batter.
  2. In small bowl, combine topping ingredients. Carefully sprinkle about 2 teaspoons mixture evenly over top of each muffin.
  3. Bake at 400˚F for 18 to 20 minutes (15 minutes for mini muffins) or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 to 10 minutes and serve warm or allow to cool completely and store tightly covered.