Category: Yeast raised bread and rolls

Cookies make you popular everywhere you go. These chocolate sourdough treats are almost cookie shaped brownies. Do not despair if you’re not a sourdough baker – there is a substitute in the recipe below. There are a couple of nifty tricks to make these cookies Instagram worthy as well as delicious. The recipe is quick but requires some time to chill the dough.

If you don’t have sourdough starter – there is a substitute below.

The cocoa powder and the chocolate chips are the stars here, use the best quality you can.

Let’s get straight to the recipe. As written, it makes 60 moderate cookies, 40 plus sized cookies.

Ingredients

• 240 grams plain white flour ( 2 cups)
• 80 grams cocoa powder (1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 150 grams of unsalted butter (2/3 cup)
• 75 grams milk chocolate or white chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
• 75 grams dark chocolate chips (1/2 cup)
• 200 grams granulated sugar (1 cup)
• 400 grams light brown sugar (2 cups)
• 4 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 170 grams of sourdough starter discard (or 85 grams of lukewarm water, 85 grams of plain flour = beaten well together). (2/3 cup)

Method

1. In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Add the sugars. Mix well.
2. Place the butter and about 1/4 of the chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, stir. Return to microwave for 15 second intervals, stirring after each until the chocolate chips are dissolved.
3. Start the stand mixer with the dry ingredients in the bowl. Pour in the melted butter and chocolate. Beat until creamy.
4. Break the eggs into a separate bowl. Add vanilla and beat lightly.
5. Pour into the stand mixer and mix well. Do not over beat from this point because you’ll beat the eggs to death. Well combined but no more.
6. Add the sourdough discard or flour/water mixture.
7. Stir in the chocolate chips.
8. Chill the batter in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
9. Preheat oven to 190C (170C fan). Prep baking sheets with silicon mats or parchment. You must line the baking sheets or you’ll end up with a sticky mess. I use parchment for this recipe because I lift the sheets off the baking trays (intact) to help the cookies cool.
10. Scoop batter onto prepared baking sheets. I use my smaller trigger scoop ( size of a cake pop) to get moderate sized cookies. Use the golf ball sized scoop to get larger cookies. Adjust the spacing on the baking sheets accordingly. The cookies will spread – no need to flatten.
11. Keep an eye on the cookies, 8 to 10 minutes depending on your oven.
12. If I’m doing ‘Instagram worthy’ cookies, I put the batter back in the fridge in between prepping baking trays. Otherwise, just get them all ready and cycle through the oven.
13. Remove the cookies from the oven – cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet then lift the liner off the baking sheets with the cookies on it to cool altogether.
14. These cookies benefit from a longer cooling period. They do tend to stick to the parchment so I flip the sheet over and peel it off the bottom of the cookies.

I find these keep well for a week or more (if there are any left) in a airtight container but make sure they are well cooled first.

Thank you for reading the blog and trying the recipes. Feedback much appreciated and tag me @mamadolson on Instagram and Twitter if you’re posting photos.

This recipe was inspired by my baking teacher, Ma Baker. My son does not have much of a sweet tooth but he loves Biscoff. What is Biscoff? It’s a spread, like Nutella, but it seems to be lovely biscuits combined with butter and sugar to make a smooth paste. Once my son knew Biscoff Babka was a thing, I had to make it for him. I adapted this recipe from Astrid Field of the Sweet Rebellion. Her recipe is much more elaborate than mine with the addition of sugar syrup and a Biscoff cookie topping. Looks amazing but too sweet for my son’s tastes.

Babka is a traditional Eastern European dough, rich and slightly sweet with a swirl of filling through it. You can fill your babka with any sweet filling: Nutella, cinnamon, peanut butter, jam. And as it turns out – Biscoff. This recipe makes two loaves but you won’t be sorry that there’s extra. It freezes nicely but my experience is that it doesn’t hang around enough to need freezing.

The braiding and rolling instructions seem complicated but don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect; no one but you will know what it was supposed to look like. Here’s a video on braiding babka, worth a watch before you start.

Let’s get baking.

Instructions

• 525 grams bread flour
• 10 grams yeast
• 50 grams brown sugar
• 50 grams white sugar
• 5 grams of salt
• 250 mls milk
• 100 grams unsalted butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 jar of Biscoff, 500 grams
  
• 1 egg for washing the dough
• 50 grams of butter to soften the crust after baking

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in the microwave. Combine with the milk and set to one side to cool for about 5 minutes
2. Combine the flour, sugars, yeast and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Mix well.
3. Beat the eggs with the vanilla, add to the milk and butter mixture. The mixture should be just warm or room temperature.
4. Put the dough hook on the mixer, start it turning at slow speed with the dry ingredients.
5. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture with the dough hook turning slowly. When the ingredients are well combined, increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for 6 to 8 minutes.
6. Scrape the sides and bottom to make sure all ingredients are incorporated.
7. The dough will be relatively sticky so handle with care. Tip onto a well floured surface, form into a ball and place in a well oiled bowl. Cover with cling film or a shower cap.
8. Allow the dough to rise for 3 to 4 hours then refrigerate to continue rising. If possible, allow it rise overnight in the refrigerator but a minimum pf 2 hours to firm up the dough. It should have doubled in size.
9. Once the dough is ready, warm the Biscoff either in a bowl of warm water or in the microwave to make it easier to spread.
10. Prep your loaf pans – line them with parchment paper or you will have a sticky mess. Greasing the pans is not sufficient because some Biscoff will leak out and try to bond with your pans.
11. Divide the dough into two halves. Flour your worktop. I have a marble slab and an alternative if you have stone worktops is to lightly oil them with coconut oil or another relatively flavourless oil.
12. Pat or roll the dough into a 30 cm by 20 cm rectangle with the long side towards you. Cover the dough with half the Biscoff, leaving a margin of about a centimetre around the edges. Roll the dough carefully into a cylinder.
13. Cut the cylinder down its length, leaving about 5 cms at the top uncut. PInch the cut edges together to keep the filling inside. Braid the two pieces together by passing one over the top of the other and repeating. Try not to stretch the pieces as you’re braiding. Once the braiding is complete – compress the length so it fits in your loaf pan and place in the pans.
14. Repeat with the second half of the dough.
15. Lightly cover the pans with either a tea towel or a shower cap for the second rise of 1 to 2 hours. The dough will puff up but will not double in size.
16. Preheat the oven to 180C.
17. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt and generously brush the tops of the loaves immediately before placing inn the oven. Bake the loaves for 30 to 35 minutes
18. Remove from oven when golden brown. Brush the tops with butter to ensure a soft top to the loaves.
19. Cool and enjoy.
    
    

Thanks for reading the blog, cooking the recipes, sharing your photos and your feedback. Find me on Instagram and Twitter @mamadolson .

What’s best thing to do with excess ripe bananas? Make banana bread! My recipe is based on this original from Hannah at Make it Dough. I’ve made some adjustments to use whole wheat flour and brown sugar and reduced the amount of sugar as well. That made my version a bit heavier so I went with a traditional loaf shape. It’s the Davinator’s new top snack – combines 3 of his favourites: bananas, peanut butter and chocolate.

I pounced on this recipe because I was ‘long’ on bananas and on peanut butter. I don’t really like the texture of bananas but this bread has a great banana taste, seemingly enhanced by the peanut butter. We try and eat healthy but like our treats, so this recipe is a good compromise.

You can use sourdough discard in this recipe or there is an easy alternative if you’re not a sourdough fanatic.

Let’s get baking.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 95 grams all purpose flour (not self rising)
• 95 grams whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda – SODA not powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 85 grams peanut butter of your choice (chunky or smooth)
• 55 grams unsalted butter – melted and slightly cooled
• 180 grams brown sugar (any type)
• 50 grams sourdough discard or 25 grams flour and 25 grams of water)
• 25 grams of milk (whole or semi-skimmed)
• 2 eggs
• 225 grams of mashed banana (2 large or 3 medium bananas)
• 1 tsp of vanilla
• Handful of chocolate chips or chopped nuts of your preference

Method

1. Preheat the oven 170C (160C fan) or 350F. Prepare a loaf pan (standard 2 pound or 800 gram pan). I line my pans with paper but you can grease and flour instead.
2. Whisk together the flours, salt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
3. Combine the peanut butter, cooled melted butter and the sugar in your mixer bowl. Beat until mixture appears very well combined.
4. Incorporate the eggs one at time, beating until well integrated.
5. Add the mashed banana, sourdough discard (or flour and water mixture) and the vanilla to the mixer bowl and beat until well combined.
6. Using a dough whisk or a spatula, fold in half the flour mixture. Add the milk and the remaining flour. Like any quick bread – resist the temptation to over beat at this stage. Scrape up all the dry bits from the bottom.
7. Sprinkle your chocolate chips or nuts on the top. I pressed down gently to encourage them to sink into the top. They still form a sort of chocolate topping, which we loved.
8. Pour into your pan and transfer to the oven. Bake for approximately 50 minutes. Keep an eye on the top and cover loosely with foil if over browning. Test with a temperate probe – it should be over 90C in the centre or a toothpick should come out clean.

Enjoy! We topped ours with cream cheese or a couple of spoonfuls of Greek yogurt.

Thanks for reading the blog, cooking the recipes and sending in your requests.

Chain coffee shops have done a lot of damage to the reputation of cinnamon rolls. A cinnamon roll should not be a microwaved stale glutinous mass half the size of a brick and covered in gritty glaze. Make your own cinnamon rolls and eat them still warm from the oven. A warm cinnamon roll you’ve made yourself is a treat not a dietary sin requiring two hours atonement on your Peloton bike.

These cinnamon rolls are perfect for sharing over a lazy breakfast and relatively easy, even for first time bakers. Imperfect cinnamon rolls are just as delicious as ‘instagram perfect’ ones but I’ve included a few of my favourite tricks to help make yours picture perfect.

The recipe makes two dozen nice sized cinnamon rolls, cooked in two 9 inch cake pans and is perfect for sharing. Cut the recipe half to make a dozen and keep them all for yourself

Useful specialised equipment; paper liners for your cake tins, some dental floss or fishing line, a measuring tape and a stand mixer for dough. It’s a very sticky dough – which also gives it richness. You can also use your food processor to knead or ‘stretch and fold’ in the bowl. The dental floss is used to cut the rolls without crushing or compressing them.

Top tips for great looking rolls:

• spread the filling evenly and don’t leave too much empty edge space;
• roll up your dough loosely (link to short video);
• use the dental floss technique or your sharpest knife to avoid compressing your sections (link to short video) ;
• line your cake tin with paper (link to tin liners):

Cinnamon rolls are a multi-step process: so here’s a quick overview:

• Make dough and let it rest for 10 minutes or so,
• Make cinnamon filling
• Roll out the dough and cover it with the filling.
• Roll up the dough and cut into pieces, allow to rise.
• Bake the dough.
• Allow the rolls to cool and then glaze.

It sounds intimidating but step by step instructions are in the recipe. Time to get baking.

Recipe

Ingredients

Dough

• 700 grams plain flour
• 100 grams granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4  teaspoons active dry (or instant) yeast 
• 240 mls whole or semi-skim milk
• 120 mls water
• 100 grams of unsalted butter
• 2 eggs

Filling

• 90 grams unsalted butter
• 2 Tablespoon ground cinnamon 
• 100 grams light brown sugar

Icing

• 120 grams powdered (confectioners) sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 30 – 45 mls milk

Instructions

1. Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Melt butter in the microwave until well softened. Add milk and water to the melted butter. It should be warm but not boiling.
3. Start the mixer and add the melted butter mixture to the dry ingredients. Roughly beat eggs and add to the dough.
4. Knead for 3 to 5 minutes. The dough will be soft and will not form and tidy ball. Cover the dough and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Make the filling.
5. Filling: melt the butter, add the cinnamon and brown sugar, combine well and set to one side.
6. Prep your cake tins. Line with paper.
7. Generously flour the work top. Turn the dough out on to the work top, divide in half. Put one portion to the side and cover while working with the other half.
8. Roll into a rectangle, 14 inches by 8 inches. (36 cm x 20 cm). Don’t be tempted to roll it out thinner.
9. Spread one half of the filling on the rectangle. Spread to within 1/2 or a centimetre of the edges. Gently lift the long edge and gently roll up the dough into a cylinder.
10. Cut a length of dental floss or fishing line, about 20 cms or 12 inches. Slide the dental floss under the roll about one inch in – cross the ends and cut the first segment off the end of the roll. Repeat and cut the roll into approximately 12 segments. Place the segments carefully into the first cake tin. The segments will expand to fill the tin when they rise. Cover with a shower cap or cling film.
11. Repeat with second portion of dough.
12. Allow the filled dough to rise until doubled. The length of time this will take is based on how warm your kitchen is. If it’s cold, heat your oven to 100C. Turn off the element, wait 15 minutes and put your covered dough in. It will double in 45 to 60 minutes.
13. Remove and preheat oven to 190C (no fan).
14. Bake the rolls for 25 to 28 minutes. Rotate the pans half way through if they are on different shelves.
15. Remove from the oven and cool. Prepare the icing and drizzle over the rolls.

Share the rolls out equally amongst members of your household or guests. People can be very crabby when they feel shortchanged on their allotment of cinnamon rolls.

Thank you for following the blog, reading and cooking the recipes. Please send requests, comments and share photos if you make the recipe. Tag #mamadolsonbakes

Why make your own buns for Independence Day or summer barbecue season? Because you can, I say. And they are yummy. The recipe that served as a basis for this blog was badged as ‘easy’. My experience suggests that’s stretching the definition of easy but it’s well within the grasp of most bakers. There are a couple of techniques that don’t change the taste of the buns but actually help your make your buns look like (but taste much better) than store bought ones.

A couple of great things about these buns – the dough is all machine kneaded and the first rise is in the refrigerator. You can refrigerate your dough for a couple of hours or 24 hours – the recipe works around your schedule.

You want your buns to be short cylinders (like hockey pucks but less dense) and not spheres (like a baseball or cricket ball). A couple of crucial techniques here to make this happen. First, weigh your dough and divide it into 8 equal pieces then roll each piece between your hands into a smooth ball. The second step is to place a a second piece of parchment paper over the shaped dough then a second baking sheet over the parchment. This forces the ‘rise’ to move out rather than up producing the cylindrical shape.

Once you’ve got the techniques in this recipe, you may never buy buns again. I’m working on perfecting the shaping and baking of the hot dog buns so watch this space. Have a great Fourth of July. On to the recipe.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 500 grams all purpose or bread flour
• 130 grams whole or semi-skimmed milk, room temperature
• 90 grams water, room temperature
• 8 grams (2 tsps) active dry yeast
• 12 (1 1/2 tsps) grams salt
• 15 grams (1 tbsp) caster sugar
• 30 grams vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• Oil for the bowl
• Egg for egg wash
• Sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Combine the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Beat the water, milk and egg in a separate bowl.
3. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix to combine.
4. Put the dough hook on and knead the dough for about 5 minutes until it forms a smooth ball. If it feels dry add water a tablespoon at a time. Be cautious – the dough needs to be quite wet.
5. Add the oil and knead for 8 to 10 minutes. You will stare at it during the early period of kneading thinking it’s never going to come together. Be patient, it will. If it’s not smooth and shiny at the end of 10 minutes, add flour a tablespoon at a time and knead for another minute each time. Don’t make the dough too dry – it will firm up and be easy to work with when its chilled.
6. Transfer the dough to a clean oiled bowl, cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 24 hours.
7. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Cut a second sheet to place over the top of your shaped buns.
8. Weigh your dough (tip – put a piece of parchment on the scale) and cut into 8 equal pieces.
9. Roll each piece into a firm ball and place on the parchment sheet about 7 cm (3 inches) apart.
10. Press each piece to flatten to a disk. Lightly dust the tops with flour, place the second parchment over the top, and cover with the second baking sheet. Cover the entire thing with plastic wrap.
11. Allow the dough to rise for about an hour. On a cold day, this might take longer or less time on a warm summer day.
12. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F) about 30 minutes before baking.
13. Beat the egg with a pinch of salt. Wash the tops of the rolls with the egg wash. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
14. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven when golden brown and puffy. Best eaten on the same day or wrapped tightly in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy! Thank you for reading the blog and baking the recipes. Please tag @mamadolson with photos on social media. Send requests!

Well isn’t that a cheery title for a blog post? We are living through something that seems unique in the modern era. Here in the UK, as of the date this is written, many working from home, leisure establishments are closing as of tonight and waves of panicked shoppers are emptying the supermarkets as fast the staff can restock.

My ‘normal’ supply chain for baking supplies is not supermarket dependent; I tend to bulk buy flour of various kinds and mail order speciality ingredients. This for both cost and certainty of supply – I find that supermarkets are increasingly purveying ‘meals’ and processed food and much less likely to have anything but the most commonly used basic ingredients. And those only in smaller packages.

I’m facing some supply chain issues as those stockpiling are turning to alternative suppliers – including mine.

I’m embracing this challenge and will try to use up some of the niche and speciality ingredients in my store cupboards. The likelihood that you will have the same weird assortment of ingredients is very low, but improvisation and imagination are your best friends. I’ll try to describe what can be substituted and how.

First up, buttermilk rye rolls to use molasses, rye flour and potato flour (not starch) and a limited amount of bread and whole wheat flour. The recipe is based on one in King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking.

The flour mix is flexible except for the quantity of potato flour. This is different from ‘potato starch’. Potato flour is dried potatoes ground very fine. If you don’t have potato flour you can substitute a cup of mashed potatoes and reduce the buttermilk by half initially. Keep an eye on the dough, if it seems dry add more buttermilk a tablespoon at a time. Otherwise, flex the flour components to your taste. This version is a little lighter than the Davinator’s favourite version which has much more rye flour.

I kneaded in my new mixer, the Anskrarum Assistent. It’s cool, it rotates the bowl not the hook and I love to watch it. You can hand knead or machine knead. Get the dough smooth and glossy.

Time to dig deep in the store cupboards and make up some yummy baked goods.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 285 mls of buttermilk, heated to lukewarm. If no buttermilk, sour 280 mls of milk with 5 mls of lemon juice, leave it ‘curdle’ for 10 minutes.
• 60 grams of unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons molasses or black treacle
• 60 grams whole wheat flour
• 110 grams rye flour
• 180 grams bread flour or plain white flour
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 35 grams potato flour
• 2 teaspoons instant dry yeast
  
• Topping – 60 grams of butter, melted

Instructions

1. Combine all the ingredients except the topping butter in the bowl. Mix well then knead until smooth and glossy. Cover with a damp towel, cling film or a shower cap.
2. Allow the dough to rise for a couple of hours. It may not double but it should get puffy and elastic.
3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled surface. Separate into 12 or 16 pieces. I made 16 rolls of approximately 50 grams each. The dough will weigh about 800 grams.
4. Prepare a baking pan – I used a 30 cm (12 inch) round tin, lined it with paper. Parchment works best.
5. Flatten each piece into a rough circle. Fold from the outside to the middle to make a little bundle that looks vaguely like a Chinese dumpling. Turn over and create surface tension by rolling it under your hand or between your hands. Place in the prepared pan, should not touch each other at this point.
6. Cover the pan and allow a second rise of 2 to 3 hours. Preheat the oven to 170C (160fan) when nearly ready to rise.
7. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Temperature test or tap to hear a hollow sound.
8. Leave the rolls in the pan while you melt the butter. Brush butter over the top, twice then remove from the pan to complete cooling.

These rolls make great sandwiches in the larger version or little buns with cheese in the smaller version. They basically disappeared in my house while still warm each time I made them.

Keep well everyone. Be of good cheer and be good to each other.

Send requests. I’m flexing my baking skills to avoid wasting anything. Let me know if you’ve got any strange ingredients you want to use yp. Thanks for reading, commenting and baking my recipes.

Who doesn’t love a cinnamon roll or a lightly toasted slice of cinnamon bread with just enough raisins? There were a number of false starts before we arrived at the lovely golden brown destination. I resorted to the heavy artillery and consulted Cook’s Illustrated after several less than satisfactory attempts and inconsistent outcomes.

Readers of the blog will know – Cook’s Illustrated, IMHO, is one of the few cooking websites worth paying for. Why? They apply science and sweat to cooking problems. The cinnamon swirl bread recipe that I used as the foundation for the recipe below is a case in point. I have adapted some of the methods and tweaked the ingredients but the genius is theirs.

Several warnings before you read on. Equipment – you must have a KitchenAid or equivalent mixer to knead the dough. I don’t think it can be hand kneaded or done by stretch and fold. Ingredients – you are unlikely to have dry powdered skim milk in your store cupboard. It’s important for texture and lightness for the dough. Nerves of steel – after 10 minutes of machine kneading you will be convinced that the dough is not going to come together. Trust me, it does. Instructions – the folding and braiding instructions seem complicated but aren’t. Be methodical.

If you haven’t running screaming back to an easier recipe, bake on!

Ingredients

Dough

• 55 grams unsalted butter
• 290 grams strong white bread flour
• 40 grams skim dry milk powder (sift to get rid of lumps if necessary)
• 35 grams caster sugar
• 1 1/2teaspoons active dry yeast
• 170 mls warm water (55 C)
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 100 grams raisins
• 1 medium egg

Filling

• 55 grams icing sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt

Egg wash

• 1 medium egg lightly beaten with a pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Cut the butter into 16 pieces, toss with a tablespoon of flour to coat. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the flour, milk powder, yeast (do not add the salt yet) in the bowl of your KitchenAid (other stand mixers are available but mine is 25 years old and going strong). Attach the dough hook.
3. Add the water and the egg and mix on low speed until a cohesive dough forms. It will not pull away from the sides of bowl and will seem sticky. Scrape down the sides. Cover with plastic wrap or a shower cap. Leave to rest for 20 minutes.
4. Remove the shower cap, add the salt and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic. This can be as quick as 8 minutes or up to 15 minutes. The mixture will seem sticky and will not form a ball of dough. Yet.
5. With the mixer still running, add the butter a few pieces at a time and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic. This is the point where you might start to think ‘this will never work’. It does. As the butter is incorporated the dough starts to form, clears the sides of the bowl and you relax. This might take another 3 to 5 minutes.
6. Add the raisins and give it another 60 seconds of mixing. Using a dough scraper, transfer the dough to a large greased bowl. Do a series of eight clock folds; lifting the edge of the dough, pulling it towards the centre and turning the bowl.
7. Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap. Leave to double in size. After an hour, do another series of clock folds. The first rise may take several hours. I did the first hour on the work bench and then the rest overnight in the refrigerator. As always, the timing of the rise this depends on the temperature of your kitchen.
8. Make the filling by whisking the dry ingredients together and adding the vanilla. It will look very dry.
9. Prep your loaf pan. Either grease well with a hard fat (butter or Trex or Crisco) or line with paper.
10. Lightly flour your work surface. Turn to dough out on to the work surface. Shape into a rough rectangle (15 cms by 27 cms) and fold top third to the middle and bottom third over both. Turn lengthwise, roll away from you into a rough ball. Dust the ball with flour. Flatten with a rolling pin to a rectangle 18 cm by 45 cm. It should about 1 cm thick and fairly even.
11. Spray or sprinkle the dough lightly with water. This makes the filling stick. Be abstemious with the water. Sprinkle the filling over the top, leave clean margins on all sides of the rectangle. Spray it again with water and roll up into a cylinder staring with short side. It should be a firm cylinder that it is about 20 cms in length. Tuck in the ends. Dust lightly with flour, cover with a towel and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
12. Clean your work surface. Gently stretch the cylinder out to roughly twice its original length. Cut it in half with a bench knife or scraper. Turn the pieces so the cut sides are facing up. Pinch the top ends of the two pieces together (you’re going to do a Russian braid or twist). Take the piece on the left, cross it over the piece on the right. Repeat left over right trying to keep the cut sides facing up until the pieces are twisted tightly together. Pinch the bottom of the two pieces together. Poke any raisins back into the dough. Gently transfer to your prepared pan.
13. Allow to rise until almost doubled in size meanwhile preheating your oven to 170 C. Brush the loaf with your egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes until the top is well browned. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 C and cover the loaf with foil. Continue to bake for another 20 to 25 minutes. Your thermometer should register 90-95 C when the bread is baked.

Thank you for reading the blog. Good luck with your baking. Thank you for following, sharing, commenting. Send questions and requests via comments, or Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Search ‘mamadolson’ and you should find me.

You don’t need sourdough starter discard to make this recipe, I’ve included a version below without starter. With the sourdough starter – it is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Without the starter, it’s still great and will make better crackers than you can buy. The recipe is infinitely flexible; you can change the type of flour, the type of fat, the seasonings, the type of seeds and the toppings. I suggest that you make it as per the instructions the first time to get the technique down.

I made this several times, altering the seasonings each time until arriving at this recipe. The Davinator said ‘write that one down quick so you don’t lose it’.

Is this recipe easy? It requires some technique. This is a good recipe to practice your rolling technique and working with parchment paper because the ingredients are inexpensive. There are a couple of gadgets that make it easier and quicker. But you don’t need the gadgets. Useful gadgets for this recipe; a marble rolling pin, a spike dough roller and pizza cutter.

The good trick in this recipe – roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper. You can roll thin and even and make lovely crackers.

Recipe

Ingredients (see all the flexes below)

• 350g sourdough starter discard
• 100g whole wheat flour
• 100g all purpose or bread flour
• 60 mls olive oil
• 1 Teaspoon salt
• Water – a couple tablespoons as needed to bring the dough together
• 1 teaspoon of chilli flakes, crushed ( I ground in a small mortar)
• 2 teaspoons of Italian herbs
• 2 teaspoons of sesame seeds
• Salt grinder for topping
• All purpose flour for rolling out

Method

1. Pre-heat your oven to 160C fan (180C with no fan) (350F)
2. Put all the ingredients except the water in a bowl that fits your mixer. Mix well, then use the dough hook and ‘knead’ in the mixer for 3 minutes or so. You’re not trying to develop gluten here so longer isn’t better.
3. If the dough has formed into a ball, you’re ready to roll out. If not, add cold water a tablespoon at a time and knead for 30 seconds until the dough comes together in a ball. Should take one or two tablespoons at the most.
4. Cut parchment to fit your baking sheets. I used four baking sheets to bake these crackers, you can rotate yours. You also need at least one additional parchment sheet to use as a cover.
5. Place a sheet of parchment on your rolling surface. Flour the parchment, place about 1/4 of the dough on the sheet. Flatten with your hands, and flour the surface. Roll the dough flat and as thin as your nerve will tolerate. This is where the heavy rolling pin comes into its own – focus on getting the middle part flat and then the edges.
6. Flip the parchment with dough over and peel off what was the bottom piece (easier than peeling off the top piece). Using a fork or your spiky roller punch a lot of holes in the dough. Puncturing the dough keeps your crackers from getting puffy. Take your pizza cutter or a knife and cut the crackers into pieces. You do not need to separate the crackers on the parchment.
7. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and place in the oven for about 20 minutes on the upper shelf. I put the first sheet in and then roll out the second. At 10 minutes, I move the first sheet to the lower shelf and put the new sheet in on the upper shelf. Or prep two, rotate them half way through.
8. 20 minutes is a guide – keep an eye on the crackers because the edges will usually be thinner (especially in the beginning) and will brown more quickly.
9. Remove from the oven and let them cool on the baking sheets if you can so the crackers get just a little crisper. If the crackers feel soft or chewier – put them back in the oven for 3 minutes at a time.
10. Let cool before eating, In theory, these will keep for 10 days to 2 weeks. In this house, there have never been any left after 48 hours.

Flexing this recipe

There are so many ways to customise this recipe. Here are some suggestions:

1. No sourdough starter? Use 175 grams of flour (whole wheat, bread, all purpose) and 175 mls of water instead. You won’t get the sourdough tang but still really lovely crackers.
2. Vary the mix of flour in the recipe. Use rye, more white, less white, more whole wheat. I haven’t used any alternative flours like blue farina or spelt but it’s worth a try. Keep an eye on how much water you need.
3. Use different types of fat. I’ve used butter, bacon fat, sesame oil (very strong taste). We’ve settled on olive oil. Your fat should be liquid when mixing the dough so melt in advance.
4. Go wild with the seasonings. You can use up to 6 or 7 teaspoons of small seeds – sesame, black sesame, flax, hemp. Rosemary. Black pepper. Cumin. Oregano. Garlic or onion salt. Use combinations that you like and what you have in the cupboard. I found three open containers of chilli flakes – hence the chilli in this recipe.

Thanks for reading the blog. Please like, follow and share. Send comments and pictures if you’re cooking the recipes.

I’ve been working on my sourdough bread recently and try to strengthen my starter (named Liz by the way after a baker and teacher who has inspired me. I also like to take a treat for the team and clients at Smartworks where I volunteer on Wednesday. These two things came together and resulted in some of the best cookies I’ve ever made.

When you’re trying to strengthen your sourdough starter, you feed your starter everyday. This means you have discard. On the one hand, it’s only flour and water, on the other hand, I don’t like to throw stuff away. I was searching for things to make with the discard and found the basis for this recipe. I did misread the quantity in the original – it said ‘makes 20 cookies’. Accurate but those would be 20 giant American cookies, not cookies sized for normal humans. Even too big for the Davinator.

In my test bake, I rashly doubled the recipe and so I had enough dough for 40 giant cookies. I recalibrated the size (made them smaller) but of course that meant we had a lot of cookies. It rained cookies on friends and family.

The recipe below is adjusted to make 40 cookies for ordinary humans. You might not be a sourdough baker today. But these cookies are so good it’s worth making sourdough starter just for these bad boys.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 113 grams plain white flour
• 1 tsp baking soda (4 grams)
• 1 tsp salt (6 grams)
• 55 grams unsalted butter, melted
• 86 grams vegetable oil (corn or sunflower)
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 175 grams brown sugar (any type)
• 110 grams caster sugar
• 70 grams sourdough starter discard (can be straight from the fridge)
• 1 egg
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 280 grams rolled oats (not instant oatmeal)
• 60 grams dried cranberries or raisins
• 100 grams chopped walnuts
• 100 grams good quality chocolate chips (any variety – milk, dark, white as you like)

Method

Preheat your oven to 190C (170C fan). Cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.

1. Whisk flour, salt and baking soda (SODA) together in a bowl set to one side.
2. Chop your walnuts. You make want to rough chop your dried fruit as well depending on the size. Combine with the chocolate chips and set aside.
3. Melt the butter (microwave works well) and allow to cool for a few minutes. (Make a cup of tea or play a round of Angry Birds).
4. Stir the cinnamon into the butter. Follow with the brown sugar, caster sugar and oil – whisk until well combined. The mixture should be close to room temperature by now.
5. Add the sourdough starter, the egg, the yolk and the vanilla – whisk again until well combined.
6. Using a wooden spoon, spatula or a dough whisk (see photo below) stir in the flour mixture.
7. Follow by folding in the oats, fruit, nuts and chocolate. The mixture should be thick and stiff. Resist the temptation to eat it raw immediately. It looks yummy but it’s even better after baking.
8. Measure out your dough balls. I use a small trigger scoop (see photo below). You want about 1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons by volume for each dough ball.
9. Drop the dough on to the baking sheets, leaving about 5 cms between each cookie. Flatten slightly with your fingers or a spoon. The cookies will spread when baking.
10. Bake one sheet at a time for 8 to 10 minutes. The centre should be soft but not wet and the edges crisp and starting to brown.
11. Cool on cookie sheet for five minutes then transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Let them cool please, don’t burn your mouth like someone I know did. These cookies keep well for five days or more in the fridge. I stored mine in a cardboard box with parchment paper. Avoid a sealed ziplock or a plastic container as the cookies are very moist and will get soggy, I think.

Happy baking. Please comment, share and send requests and photos of your baking.

This post is by special request. Karen, one of the (many) lovely volunteers at Smartworks West said my no-knead brioche was the best bread she had ever eaten and asked for the recipe. No baker or author can resist that kind of flattery, so here it is.

The lovely volunteers and staff at Smartworks are enthusiastic test subjects for my baking. The Davinator is very grateful as it is clear that I can bake more than he should eat (note should not could). He could eat it all but it’s not good for his waistline.

This recipe is based on one from Cooks Illustrated – one of the very few cooking websites worth paying for. Some genius at Cooks Illustrated has freed us all from tedious kneading of butter into dough – spoonful by painful spoonful – by deciding to MELT THE BUTTER, cool it and then incorporate it in the batter. Inspiration, sheer inspiration. I’ve adopted this technique into many different recipes and honestly, it almost always works. It simplifies and speeds up recipes.

I’m hoping I’m not done by the advertising standards folks – it’s not genuine ‘no’ knead but it’s very little kneading. I do the kneading it in my Kitchen Aid. If not in a Kitchen Aid then it’s ‘stretch and fold’. Here’s a video to illustrate stretch and fold. It does require more elapsed time although in terms of time invested, but not much more input time than machine kneading.

Some really helpful specialist equipment; a Kitchen Aid, your trusty shower cap and a baking stone. It took me some time to adjust to using a stone and it does take the oven longer to get up to temperature but it makes a difference. I think it evens out the oven temperature. Allow an extra 15 minutes to pre-heat the oven. I know that my Kitchen Aid will knead this heavy dough, exercise caution if using another stand mixer. Dough has burnt out many a mixer motor.

Time warning – this recipe really likes at least an overnight rise in the refrigerator. And it can go for 24 hours if that works with your timing. Start on Saturday morning to have brioche for Sunday brunch.

Time to get baking.

Ingredients

Strong white bread flour – 500 grams

Yeast – 2 1/4 teaspoons

Salt – 1 1/2 teaspoons

3 eggs for dough, 1 egg for glazing

Water, room temperature – 60 mls

Caster sugar – 60 grams

Unsalted butter, melted and cooled – 115 grams

Instructions

1. Melt the butter in the microwave. Put to one side.
2. Combine flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Use your Kitchen Aid bowl if you’re going to machine knead.
3. Whisk the eggs, water and sugar together in another bowl. Whisk in the butter.
4. Add the egg and butter mixture to the dry mixture. Combine well with a wooden spoon until all the dry flour is incorporated and a dough forms. Cover with a shower cap or plastic wrap and leave for ten minutes. Letting it rest helps the gluten develop.
5. Time to ‘knead’. Fit the dough hook to your Kitchen Aid and knead on the lowest setting for 8 minutes. Or undertake the ‘stretch and fold’ process four separate times, leaving 30 minutes between each set of stretching and folding. When complete, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours. Yes, hours. Alternatively, you can leave the dough in a cool place for several hours, then refrigerate over night.
6. Flour your work surface and turn out the dough. Divide it in two pieces. Working with the first piece, make it into a disk about 10 cms across. Fold the edges toward the centre of the dough and it will form a ball. Flip the dough ball over. Flour the top lightly, make sure your hands are clean and dry. Dough sticks to dough. Hold your hand flat to the top of the dough ball. Apply as little pressure as possible and make small circular motions on the top of the dough. It should form into a smooth taut ball. Repeat with the second. Cover the completed rounds loosely with plastic and let them rest for five minutes.
7. Get your 900 gram loaf pan ready. (Roughly 21 cms by 11 cms if measuring). I line my pan with parchment paper or a loaf pan liner. You can grease the pan with butter but this can vary your outcome.
8. Flip your dough balls over and the process in step 6. Flatten to a 10 cm round disk, form a ball, flip it over and firm it up with the circular motion. Place the balls, seam side down, in the prepared loaf pan. Cover with a shower cap or loose plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 90 minutes to 2 hours, it should double in size.
9. Preheat your oven to 175C, 30 to 45 minutes before you’re going to bake. I don’t use a fan oven for bread, but if yours only does fan then lower the temperature to 160C and keep a close eye on the top of the bread.
10. Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt. Remove the plastic wrap and brush the top of the loaf with the egg wash.
11. Place the loaf in the oven (on the baking stone if using). Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Internal temperature should be 90C and brioche should be golden brown. It’s worth taking a look at the bread fairly frequently – if the top browns quickly, cover loosely with foil.
12. Remove from the oven, tip out of the pan onto a wire rack to cool. Try and let it cool completely before serving. I know it’s hard, the kitchen smells of fresh brioche and you’re staring at the lovely golden loaf…… And enjoy.