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I have always hand-shaped my burger buns, but after buying a set of ring molds for English muffins, I saw the opportunity to create perfectly identical buns. I took my usual burger bun dough and portioned it into a dozen round balls. I then lightly oiled the inside of each
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The Flour bakery is a local institution. While it has its faults and limitations, Joanne Chang synonymous cookbook is a useful collection of recipes and techniques.Her brioche au chocolat is a perennial hit. The buttery brioche dough (which is surprisingly light and airy considering the ingredients) envelops a balanced
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I love to make quick breads like banana bread. They are an easy way to use up leftover ingredients and require minimal effort. The main downsides I’ve run into are the long baking times (often an hour or more) and the disagreements about the appropriate add ins. Nuts or
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I used to attribute the dark color of pumpernickel to its rye flour, but it is in fact artificial, typically contributed by added cocoa powder or caramel color. Even knowing this secret, the rich dark color combined with the slight bitterness of rye adds a certain air of sophistication. Why
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Amateur bread bakers often struggle to create a crisp crust that gives way to a soft crumb beneath, using high-hydration dough and various techniques to infuse steam into the early stages of baking. Recently, I became aware of a shortcut that uses a crunchy topping to achieve something similar. While
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One of the best aspects of my buttermilk bread dough is it's versatility. It works equally well in loaves, rolls, and even cinnamon rolls. It's a classic, soft white bread with a bit of sweetness and richness, but no one would confuse it with a cake
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Bagel dough is typically characterized by low hydration dough, with a hydration (weight of water/weight of flour) typically hovering around 60%. This results in a dense texture that many associate with bagels, but can make the dough hard to work with.I made a batch my traditional bagels, but
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While I prefer alkali-boiled bagels, I have this lingering feeling that their crust is a bit softer than the ones I boil in neutral water. In an attempt to (excuse the term) neutralize this effect, I cooked my latest batch of baking soda boiled bagels for 30 minutes instead of
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Homemade bagels can require some effort, but offer substantial payback for picky eaters. I have hopped from recipe to recipe over the years, each better than the previous. My current favorite comes from Serious Eats. I have tweaked this version several times with slightly different results, but all varieties are
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Instead of throwing out leftover bananas, they are best used up in banana bread. If you don't have 3 large ones sufficient for this recipe, freeze them until your stock is adequate. This is a tweaked version of a recipe that I enjoy ever time. It has a
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Homemade bagels are never perfected. They can always be tweaked and improved upon. The goal posts shift. Tastes evolve. New ingredients and techniques highlight different strengths and weaknesses.My current recipe is based off of this recipe by Bruce Ezzell. The main difference from my initial forays into home bagel
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The New York Times recently had a piece about baking bagels with lye. Given my predilection for homemade bagels (and strong support of the use of lye) I took a look at their recipe for Baron bagels. While I've had good success with Peter Reinhart's recipe