Cinnamon Raisin Buns

I do not like hot cross buns. I do not like them Sam I.. luns. It rhymed? They taste like fruitcake with those spices and fruits which is the taste of nastiness. Sorry if you love and that means I am talking to you Paps. When one of the coolest country gals around posted a recipe for hot cross buns that wasn't loaded with the gross factors, hot cross buns crept in to my future.  

This recipe was followed almost to perfection up until the actual cross bit came along. We all settled for some delicious cinnamon raisin buns with honey, peanut butter, jam or butter. We are simple folk. These have a nice crust with the egg wash but are nice and soft on the inside. If you don't like hot cross buns (amen.) then these are in your honour.

Cinnamon Raisin Buns

From the Pioneer Woman

buns
2 cups whole milk
½ cups canola oil
½ cups sugar
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
4 cups all-purpose flour
½ cups (additional) flour
½ teaspoons (heaping) baking powder
½ teaspoons (scant) baking soda
2 teaspoons kosher salt
¼ cups sugar 
2 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cups raisins, plumped*
glaze
1 whole egg white
splash of cream or milk

Combine 2 cups milk, canola oil, and 1/2 cup sugar in a saucepan. Stir and heat until very warm but not boiling. Turn off the heat and allow to cool until mixture is still warm, but not hot–about 30 minutes. Sprinkle yeast over mixture. Add 4 cups of flour and stir to combine. Mixture will be very sticky. Cover with a towel and set aside for 1 hour in a warm place. Add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir till combined.  At this point the dough can be placed in a bowl coated in oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and it can refrigerate overnight. Combine 1/4 cup sugar with cinnamon and whatever other spices you want to use. Lightly flour surface. Press to slightly flatten dough. Sprinkle a couple tablespoons of the sugar/cinnamon mixture. Sprinkle on about a third of the raisins. Then fold the dough over on itself and flatten again so the dough is “plain” again. Repeat the sugar/raisin process, then fold the dough again. Repeat a third time until all the raisins are used. Pinch off ping pong or golf ball-size bunches of dough. With floured hands, quickly roll it into a ball, then turn the edges under themselves slightly. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise in a warm place for at least 30 minutes…an hour-plus is better. Preheat the oven to 400º. Mix the glaze ingredients together. Brush onto each roll. Bake for 20 minutes, give or take, or until tops of buns have turned nice and golden brown. Remove from pan to a cooling rack. Dig on in. Makes 18 rolls or 16 slightly larger rolls.

* To plump the raisins, place them in a bowl and cover them with hot water, coffee, booze or whatever floats your boat. 

Pretzel Rolls

Back in the day the mall was the place to be. Looking back I don't know where the money was coming from because each trip was spent shopping, seeing movies and purchasing pretzels or food court chinese or movie popcorn or all of them. My only employment was babysitting once a year. This simply proves that my parents had to put up with a lots of stupid stuff from us and yet they love us anyways. Another question is how my weight remained stable but that is for another time. 

But back on track. I had a craving for pretzels the other night and the only cure was more cowbell.. or to make some soft pretzels. Lately yeast breads have been calling my name. In the back of my mind I remembered seeing this recipe and I had a hankering to make it. They literally taste just like the pretzels but make sure you liberally salt them. Kosher was what I had and it worked out great taste wise.

 

Pretzel Rolls
From Smitten Kitchen who adapted from Bon Appetit

2 3/4 cups bread flour
1 envelope quick-rising yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (about) hot water (125°F to 130°F)
Cornmeal
8 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
1 egg white, beaten to blend (glaze)
Coarse salt

Combine bread flour, one envelope yeast, one teaspoon salt and one teaspoon sugar in food processor and blend. With machine running, gradually pour hot water through feed tube, adding enough water to form smooth elastic dough. Process one minute to knead. Grease medium bowl. Add dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap, then towel; let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 35 minutes. Flour baking sheet, or clear area of counter. Punch dough down and knead on lightly floured surface until smooth. Divide into 8 pieces. Form each dough piece into ball. Place dough balls on prepared surface, flattening each slightly. Using serrated knife, cut X in top center of each dough ball. Cover with towel and let dough balls rise until almost doubled in volume, about 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line another baking sheet with parchment and sprinkle with cornmeal. Bring 8 cups water to boil in large saucepan. Add baking soda and 2 tablespoons sugar (water will foam up). Add 4 rolls and cook 30 seconds per side. Using slotted spoon, transfer rolls to prepared sheet, arranging X side up. Repeat with remaining rolls. Brush rolls with egg white glaze. Sprinkle rolls generously with coarse salt. Bake rolls until brown, about 25 minutes. Transfer to racks and cool 10 minutes. Serve rolls warm or room temperature. Makes 8 buns.

Cinnamon Chocolate Raisin Swirl Bread

I have not been getting a lot of sleep lately. Sickness has taken over and it doesn't help that Conan believes that two in the morning is time to play. Apparently they do not get tired from running around all day. However, my little boy has to go in and get neutered and shots and all that tomorrow so he is forgiven. For now. 

 

I have made this bread before, minus the chocolate, and it was very good. As I felt like switching up the old cookie routine that I have been stuck lately, bread seemed like a nice way out. Whipped out the handy book and found myself drooling over the same recipe as before. But instead of fighting myself about not trying something new, I added something to make it new-ish. Chocolate.

Madness I tell you. Sitting there, it dawned on me that I love cinnamon and raisin toast with peanut butter and with peanut butter I love chocolate. It melted right in and it is good. Toasted with peanut butter? Amazing. Then it hit me, with honey and bacon too? But that is for next time.

Cinnamon Chocolate Raisin Swirl Bread

Adapted from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes

bread

2 cups lukewarm water
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tbsp/ 2 packets yeast (any kind)
1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt
2 tbsp sugar
6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

filling

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

1 heaping cup raisins*
1 heaping cup chopped milk chocolate

For the bread, mix the yeast, sugar and salt together. Add the buttermilk and water. Add the flour and mix until completely combined, but do not knead. You may have to use your hands to get all of the flour mixed in. Cover this large bowl, but not airtight and let it rest for about two hours at room temperature. I cover it with plastic wrap but leave a bit open so its not airtight. Once it has had time to rise for about two hours, you can put in the fridge or use right away. When you choose to make this, grease three 9 x 5 pan with butter. Then sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Take a jagged knife and cut off about 1/3 of the dough.** On a floured surface, plop the dough down. Using a rolling pin, covered in flour so it doesn't stick to the dough, roll out the dough to an 8 x 16 inch rectangle. I keep a measuring tape close by when doing this. In a little bowl, make the egg wash by mixing the egg and water together until combined. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the dough with the egg wash. There will be lots of left over egg wash. In another separate small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Evenly sprinkle this mix over the dough until it is all covered. There will also be a fair amount of cinnamon sugar leftover. Next sprinkle the raisins evenly over the dough., then the chocolate. Gently press them in. Now starting on the short, 8 inch side, start rolling the dough up like a jelly roll. Pinch the ends together. If it sticks to the counter/surface use a spatula or pastry scraper to get it off. Plop it in the greased pan with the seam side down. If the dough was from the fridge, it will need to sit for an hour and forty minutes. If it was freshly made dough, it only needs to rest for forty minutes. About ten minutes before bake time, preheat the oven to  375º so its ready to go. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely and then eat!
* I plump raisins with about 2 tsp of vanilla and boiling water until they are covered, in a small bowl. Let them sit while preparing the bread. Drain and use.

Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

I was going to title this "Cinnamon Rolls" but that's not right. These aren't cinnamon rolls, they are the Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls. These have a rep around town and it's one of her, if not most, famous recipes. And not to break tradition, they were delicious. 

The only problem, actually it wasn't a problem, but the icing wasn't really strong flavoured. I followed it word for word but I guess I was just expecting the coffee to play a bigger part in the icing. So next time I would use instant coffee or espresso.

What a glorious cinnamon roll mountain. These were made for my amigo, Saliva, who turns nineteen today. It is a big deal up here in the big North. Nineteen gives you the freedom to openly drink (in a bar, not the streets), smoke (outdoors) and gamble like a mad man. She's pretty reserved, she is actually turning ninety. Saliva enjoys a good glass of wine and three naps a day. We're best friends because opposites attract, clearly. But we do have a common love for the beloved Pioneer Woman! I bought her the cookbook and made her these as well. 

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls
Recipe from here, and it gives a great step by step tutorial.

cinnamon rolls
1 quart Whole Milk
1 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Sugar
2 packages Active Dry Yeast
8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
Plenty Of Melted Butter
2 cups Sugar
Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
icing
1 bag Powdered Sugar (enough to make it thick but still pourable)
2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
½ cups Milk
¼ cups Melted Butter
¼ cups Brewed Coffee
⅛ teaspoons Salt

Making the dough: Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. “Scald” the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour. 

After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down). 

Preparing the rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. 

Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it. 

Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans. 

Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
Making the frosting: mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.

Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

While you were sitting in the backseat smoking a cigarette you thought was going to be your last, I was falling deep, deeply in love with you, and I never told you till just now.

a la Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

Ain't that cute? I sure think it is. The song is so funny and blunt which is nice. There is no beating around the bush but honest love. Not that I don't love myself a good metaphor, simplicity is good.

 Speaking of simplicity, let me reintroduce my friend Mr. Kneadless Bread. He is a little different this time around. Just changing up his look you know? Jazzing himself up is no problem to me. I love his new crisp sweet ends and raisin filled middle. I'm going to stop addressing the bread as a person now. But the gist of it all is right there, it is simple and it is delicious. 

Cinnamon Raisin Bread
From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

bread

3 1/4 cup all-purpose bread

2 1/4 tsp yeast, of any kind

2 1/4 tsp sugar

2 1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/2 cup buttermilk*

1 cup lukewarm water

filling

1 egg + 1 tbsp water

1/3 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup raisins*

For the bread, mix the yeast, sugar and salt together with the buttermilk and water. Add the flour and mix until completely combined. You may have to use your hands to get all of the flour mixed in. Cover this large bowl, but not airtight and let it rest for about two hours at room temperature. I cover it with plastic wrap but leave a bit open so its not airtight. Once it has had time to rise for about two hours, you can put in the fridge or use right away. When you choose to make this, grease a 9 x 5 pan with butter. Then sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Take a jagged knife and cut off about 3/4 of the dough. On a floured surface, plop the dough down. Using a rolling pin, covered in flour so it doesn't stick to the dough, roll out the dough to a 8 x 16 inch rectangle. I keep a measuring tape close by when doing this. In a little bowl, make the egg wash by mixing the egg and water together until combined. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the dough with the egg wash. In another separate small bowl, mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Evenly sprinkle this mix over the dough until it is all covered. Next sprinkle the raisins evenly over the dough. Gently press them in. Now starting on the short, 8 inch side, start rolling the dough up like a jelly roll. Pinch the ends together. If it sticks to the counter/surface use a spatula or pastry scraper to get it off. Plop it in the greased pan with the seam side down. If the dough was from the fridge, it will need to sit for an hour and forty minutes. If it was freshly made dough, it only needs to rest for forty minutes. About ten minutes before bake time, preheat the oven to  375º so its ready to go. Bake the bread for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the pan and place on a wire rack to cool. Allow to cool completely and then eat!
* I plump raisins with about 2 tsp of vanilla and boiling water until they are covered, in a small bowl. Let them sit while preparing the bread. Drain and use.

Bread

Gaaaah! I am so behind. I have not posted anything in ages. My exams and final papers are approaching at an alarming speed and yet I seem to find time to go to a hockey game this coming weekend. Not to mention the fact that I went skiing on Sunday..

But I also have time to make this bread. One thing I am not, or at least not yet, is a bread master. Yes, master. I said it. My mum used to make it nearly every week and still frequently does. I've seen her in action. In the old country, Merritt, my Aunty Mel and I made bread together. All the bread making going on around me, all the bread eating I have done still didn't mean I had ever made it on my own. Countless recipes have been bookmarked and my cookbooks have little tabs all over them with recipes "to do". But when I went into Chapters the other day to buy a cookbook, the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day just jumped at me. Sort of like a little spot light came down on it. 

Needless to say, I bought the book (and a couple others..) and I made artisan bread in five minutes today! The book title, as easy as it sounds, still scared me. Yeast can be a scary thing. My fears are conquered. It really did take five (active) minutes, just like they said. 

The Master Recipe. I really just googled it and put the first link with the recipe. I used instant yeast, it doesn't matter what you use though. I mixed it all in one ginormous bowl with a wooden spoon then me hands. It doesn't have a lid so I put two pieces of saran wrap and left a thin slit in between the two so it wasn't air tight. Once it goes in the fridge just cover the slit up. Boom, bread.