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After many reasonable, but largely uninspiring attempts ate creating German-style soft pretzels at home, I recently tried some new recipes and came across a formula that worked (more to come soon). The strong alkaline condition from lye imparts the prezels with a deep, slightly bitter flavor that adds a distinctive
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Bagels are a food which evoke strong emotions in many people. This simple boiled roll has spread far and wide and, in the process, has led to development of many styles, each of which has their advocates. The most iconic are the New York Bagel, with its characteristic combination of
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The best bagels I’ve found remain the ones I make based off of Stella Parks’ recipe, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t room to try something different. I spotted an ad for Better Brand’s bagels. The company portrays these as a healthier alternative to a
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Although most people don’t place English muffins in a category of haute cuisine, they are a workhorse that can meet a number of breakfast tastes. They were a rare sight at our breakfast table, but since my family enjoys various bread and egg combinations with increasing regularity, their absence
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Most people are familiar with whole wheat bread. Many have strong opinions. But few are familiar with a middle path between white flour and wheat: bolted wheat. White flour is ground wheat with the bran and germ filtered out. May family generally prefers the clean, slightly sweet taste of white
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After giving up on pure sourdough-leavened bagels, I resumed my making usual bagels using a hybrid of commercial yeast and sourdough starter. Driven to expand my bagel repertoire, I recalled my son’s fondness for chocolate chip bagels, but thought I could take it to the next level. After my
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After years of trying different bagel recipies, Stella Parks’ bagels from Serious Eats proved to be the best of the bunch. It produced reliably flavorful bagels with a crisp crust and chewy texture. I modified the recipe by simplifying the yukone step, switching to high-gluten flour, and adding a sourdough
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Having had a steady stream of good outcomes with plain white sourdough bread, I wondered about a sweeter version that might be a breakfast treat or dessert. Strangely, there aren't a lot of these recipes out there. Many recipes adapt traditional sweets (e.g. cakes, quick breads, muffins,
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In the mad dash to hoard flour (and, to be honest, to stuff my virtual shopping cart sufficiently to earn free shipping), I ended up with a two pound bag of buckwheat flour courtesy of King Arthur Flour. I had been curious about the nutty taste so fondly described by
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I've kept my sourdough starter in suspended animation for years, with periodic feedings. A couple attempts at using it for leavening largely failed, so it was relegated to the role of a flavor enhancer in my yeast-based breads. Given the surge in sourdough popularity associated with the COVID-19
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I have kept a sourdough starter in my fridge for at least five years or so. I knew very little when I started, but followed a range of web-based instructions for how to get started. I quickly tired of the twice-daily "feedings" of flour and water (not to
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Unlike my youngest child, who frequently requests the crust of even the softest breads removed before she will touch it, my search for intensely crusty bread seems boundless. The crustier, the better, even if it leaves my mouth ravaged by a trauma only rivaled by several bowls of Cap’n