Sourdough...I Finally Bit the Bullet

I consider myself a comfortable bread baker.  I can churn-out a decent basic sandwich loaf, a pretty delicious no-knead country round, and pretty awesome english toasting bread.  I've done different types of rolls for thanksgiving, pita bread, naan, english muffins, and pizza.  But there's one thing I've never gotten around to mastering.  Sourdough.

For the uninitiated, sourdough is similar to making any other kind of yeast bread except you grow your own yeasts...from scratch.  You do this by creating a "sourdough starter," essentially a slurry of flour and water that encourages the natural yeasts already present in the flour to start growing and crowd-out and kill any bad bacteria.  Once they get going, these natural yeasts ferment, contributing not only the carbon dioxide that you need to bake bread, but a beer-like yeasty flavor, a little alcohol, and lactic acid, which makes the starter taste sour.  It's the very same process used to brew beer and make yogurt.

The main reason I haven't gotten into sourdough before now is time.  It takes a week or more to get a starter going and it can be temperamental to try to do it during the warmer months.  Also, once you have a starter going, you can let it snooze and slow-down in the fridge, but it still must be "fed" with fresh flour and water at least once a week so the yeast doesn't die.  It's a bit of a commitment...kind of like owning a pet that only needs to be fed once a week.

Last week, I happened to be listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Splendid Table, and they happened to air a segment about sourdough featuring Bridget Lancaster from America's Test Kitchen.  She described it as so easy and casual and I was in the right frame of mind, so that night, I looked-up her method (see link above), gathered the ingredients, and stirred-together the beginnings of a sourdough starter.

I was pleasantly surprised that after just about a week of feeding, I had a starter that smelled divine and seemed to be doubling itself about every 8-12 hours.  So on a whim, I fed my starter one morning before work and used the throw-away portion to put together a sponge for a no-knead sourdough loaf.  I figured if it didn't puff-up like it should, I'd at least have pizza dough for that night's dinner.  However, it turned out to be a smashing success!  My first sourdough loaf:

It was pleasantly tangy, not too sour, and the crust and chew were perfect.  I brought half of the loaf in for my co-workers to try and they enjoyed it every bit as much with a slather of my homemade blueberry jam.

If you happen to be a bread baker who's ready to take the next step, I encourage you to try Bridget's sourdough starter method and the no-knead sourdough bread recipe.  It's an incredibly satisfying achievement to take that first bite of something you truly made from scratch, with nothing but a little flour and water and a whole lot of time and patience.

And the Loaf is Declared Delicious

In my last post, I spent a good deal of time singing the praises of a new hamburger bun recipe that I had tried out from King Arthur Flour.  In the very same post, I pledged to try to make this into a sliceable sandwich loaf and report back on the experiment.  I'm happy to say that it was a great success!

The bread came out tender and soft, just as you'd expect from a great sandwich bread.  It slices nicely into sandwich-width pieces, and it keeps exceptionally well for a home-made bread without dough conditioners and shelf-life extenders.

Unfortunately, I didn't write down how long it took me to bake the loaf, which is more or less the only recipe alteration I had.  Until I bake it again and write down that small yet significant detail, I'll leave you with instructions for checking it with an instant-read thermometer--which works, by the way, because you're looking for just about the point where the water hasn't yet become steam and wafted away from your loaf to leave it dry.  Since we know water boils (and turns to steam) at 212, keeping it around 190 is a good target point (it'll have some carry-over cooking that'll coast it up closer to 200).

My New Favorite Sandwich Bread

1. Spray a standard loaf pan with nonstick spray or coat lightly with vegetable oil or butter
2. Mix the dough as directed in the original hamburger bun recipe and continue following the directions through the first rise.
3. Instead of shaping the dough into buns, pat the dough out into a rectangle roughly the length of the pan.  Roll the dough jelly-roll style and pinch the seam closed.  Turn seam-side down and tuck the ends over, pinching to the bottom as well.
4. Place the loaf into the pan seam-side down and use your fingers to tuck and push it so that it looks even all the way around.
5. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise until the center of the dough is 3/4 to 1 inch over the top of the pan, about 45-60 minutes depending on the room temperature.
6. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Remove the plastic wrap and bake the loaf about 20-25 minutes.  After about 25 minutes, start checking the internal temperature by placing a probe thermometer into the side of the loaf (do this sparingly so you release as little steam from inside the loaf as possible and don't end-up with a swiss cheese appearance).
7. Once the bread hits 190-195 degrees internal temperature, remove it from the oven and brush with the reserved butter (this makes the crust soft instead of "crusty").
8. Allow to cool 5 minutes and remove from the pan.  Optionally, brush more butter over the sides of the loaf that touched the pan.

Helpful Tips

• If you find that the bread is browning too fast, lower the oven temp to 350.
• While the bread keeps fairly well in a large zip-top bag, you'll have best results if eaten within 2-3 days.  Since this is impractical for most people, I like to slice the whole loaf and wrap half of it tightly in plastic wrap and freeze it.  To use, just allow it to thaw on the counter or toast-up the frozen slices.
• We also store our bread in the fridge during the summer, a usual no-no, but I find it helps it keep longer.  Eating it at room temp helps as the butter tends to make it firmer when chilled.
• This bread makes AMAZING toast with just plain 'ole butter or some homemade jam.
• I find that the recipe calls for too much water.  Use the smaller amount listed and add some if it really doesn't seem to be coming together.
• If it gets too sticky to work with or sticks to the bottom of the mixer bowl (you probably used all the water), add more flour--you can add up to a cup without ruining the batch.
• I realized quite recently that Whole Foods carries SAF Yeast in a one-pound package for about $5.95.  If you do the math, it's way cheaper to buy yeast this way as opposed to the little yellow packets, even if you end-up tossing half the package because it goes bad.  I store mine in a 32oz jar in the refrigerator or freezer so it'll last as long as possible.  2 1/2 teaspoons of yeast equals one packet.

Easy Weekend Cinnamon Rolls

I think we all have memories of Saturday mornings at home. Maybe yours is about the cartoons. Maybe a special family member visited every weekend bearing pastry. Or, maybe it was just a time to roam about the house in your bathrobe or PJ's, cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa in-hand.

Of course, with me, it was the food. I know. Big surprise. :-) But Saturdays were a day when Dad would often take-over the kitchen and make us non-weekday treats like homemade waffles, pancakes, french toast, or cinnamon rolls. Mmmm... Cinnamon rolls.

Real cinnamon rolls and sticky-buns, of course, involve yeasted dough and a long slow rise. That's why most of us won't tackle them for breakfast. It requires a lot of work and a good deal of forethought. However, we used to make a recipe that was on the back of the Bisquick baking mix box (or the Jiffy Baking Mix...I'm not entirely sure). They're made with a basic rolled biscuit dough and they can be out of the oven in less than 15-20 minutes. I thought I'd share the recipe with you today.

Quick Cinnamon Rolls 2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (about 1/3 cup) cold butter
3/4 cup milk (very cold)
1/2 stick butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

1) Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, stir the flour, baking soda, and salt together until well blended.
2) Dice the butter and work into the flour mixture with your hands until the butter is in the size of small peas.
3) Pour the cold milk into the bowl and mix gently just until it combines. It's better to under-mix than to over-mix.
4) Dust a clean countertop with flour and scrape the dough onto the counter. Fold-over 3 to 5 times to get a uniform dough. Do not knead.
5) Using lots of extra flour as needed, roll the dough into a rough rectangle on the countertop.
6) In a separate bowl, mix the butter, sugar, and cinnamon to form a paste. It should be spreadable like wet sand. If it's too soupy, add more sugar.
7) Spread the cinnamon mixture evenly on the dough, working it as close to the edges as you can.
8) Gently start rolling the dough up jelly-roll style from the bottom, working your fingers from left to right along the roll so you don't tear the dough.
9) Turn the roll to seam-side-down. Slice into 9 equal pieces, discarding the skinny ends that you'll have unless you rolled-out a perfect rectangle.
10) Grease an 8x8 pan with cooking spray, shortening, or butter. Place the rolls, sides-touching in the center of the pan.
11) Bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until the tops begin to brown and they appear cooked-through when poked gently with a skewer or a fork.
12) Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.

The Cheat Method: Use the recipe on the side of a box of baking mix (such as Bisquick or Jiffy) to make the dough. Follow the rest of the recipe to roll, shape, and bake the cinnamon rolls.

Optional Icing Topping: Mix 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons of milk, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract together until it is well combined, lump-free, and soupy. Drizzle over still-warm cinnamon rolls. Feeling adventurous? Use orange juice or some other flavored liquid in place of the milk.

Nuts: If you like, sprinkle 1/2 cup of finely-chopped walnuts or pecans on top of the cinnamon mixture before rolling-up the dough.