How to make pizza dough
Homemade pizza tastes so much better than the storebought variety. It’s also pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Just follow this simple video from the people behind Pizza Therapy.
No Knead Bread
Nothing beats freshly baked bread — but most of us shy away from the task of having to knead it. However, there is a new method that involves absolutely no kneading.
You get a loaf with a crispy crust and lots of holes in the inside. Definitely much better than the store bought variety but admittedly a little short of the traditional bread. Anyway — at least you didn’t have to sweat!
Secrets to perfect bread
Thinking of baking bread? It’s not as complicated as you may fear. Here are some tried and tested tips to getting that perfect golden loaf.
1. Place a small dish of water in the oven when you bake bread. This prevents the crust from becoming a dark, ugly brown or getting too hard.
2. Grease pans with shortening. Unlike butter or margarine, the batter won’t absorb it.
3. After you’ve baked the bread, rub the crust with shortening so they won’t become hard.
4. Control your water temperature. If it’s too hot it’ll kill the yeast. Check the temperature on your forearm.
5. Sift the flour.
6. If you use a gas pan, lower the prescribed temperature by 25 degrees.
Get great bread recipes from readers from around the world at All Recipes
Black Bean Cornbread Recipe
Sometimes nothing’s better that warm cornbread on a September day.
This unique Black Bean Cornbread Recipe calls for all the good stuff like cheddar cheese & whole corn. One bite out of these puppies & you’ll be hooked, I promise!
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup unbleached white flour
2 to 4 tablespoons evaporated cane juice sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/2 cup (cooked) black beans
What’s Next:
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Spray a 9X9 inch baking dish with canola or olive oil spray and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and sea salt. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs with the buttermilk, melted butter, cheese, green onions, corn and black beans. Stir in any optional ingredients desired. Add to the dry ingredients, blending until just combined.
Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 30 minutes or until done when tested with a toothpick.
Cool on a rack for 15 minutes.
Pumpkin Bread Recipe
What with the weather taking it a notch down & the leaves doing a bit of changing, I decided to decorate my house a little bit early, pumpkin style.
There are more pumpkins decorating this house than I know what to do with. I fear that when it’s time for them to go bad, I will miss a couple & find them stinking up a corner of the bedroom I forgot to look in several weeks later!
But anyhoo, it’s pumpkin time & that always puts me in the mood for none other than a great Pumpkin Bread Recipe. And that’s exactly what waits for you below, enjoy!
Ingredients:
3/4 c. brown sugar, packed firm
1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp. Splenda
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. melted butter
2 tsps. vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour**
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsps. pumpkin pie spice
1. c. walnut, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. water
What’s Next:
Combine sugars in a large mixing bowl; add butter and cream together. Add eggs, vanilla and pumpkin; beat until smooth.
In a separate bowl, stir flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together until well blended. Add gradually to pumpkin mixture, folding in gently with a spatula just until well blended.
Add walnuts and 1/4 c. water, folding in gently just until blended.
Bake in a very well greased loaf pan at 350 degrees for 65 to 75 minutes, or until a testing stick pushed down through the middle comes out without any gooey stuff on it.
Cool on a wire rack for at least five minutes before you dig in.
Last Snack of the Day: Caper Buschetta Recipe
Well, the Snack of the Day posts end today & tomorrow will bring a new daily treat. So, let’s go off with a big bang with this fabulous Caper Bruschetta recipe. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 2 tablespoons capers, rinsed & drained
- 5 Roma tomatoes, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
- salt & pepper
- 1 baguette
- 1 bunch fresh basil, chopped
What’s Next:
In a medium-sized bowl, stir together tomatoes, capers, garlic, basil and 1 tablespoon oil, along with salt and pepper to taste.
Cover and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Preheat broiler or grill. Slice bread into 1/2″ slices, brush with oil.
Toast bread on both sides. Sprinkle basil over toasted bread.
Snack of the Day: Cheddar Apple Scones Recipe
Good Monday morning to you! I trust your weekend was spent relaxing & getting all those projects done that have been waiting for you.
Well folks, the month of April is about to pass us by & bring May with it. So, Snacks of the Day will soon be replaced with something else delicious, with that said, let’s make sure to enjoy today’s Cheddar Apple Scones Recipe!
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cup flour
- 1 tbsp. plus 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. white sugar
- 3/4 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg
- 4-tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cold butter cut into small pieces
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated on the large side of a grater
- 1/3 cup cheddar cheese, grated on the fine side of a grater - reserve for top of each scone
- 2 apples, peeled, seeded and cut into small chunks
- 1 beaten egg, reserve for brushing the tops of the scones
What’s Next:
Preheat oven to 450 F 0r 230 C.
Combine dry ingredients - flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar in a mixing bowl. Stir until well combined. Combine buttermilk and egg in a small bowl and whisk to break up egg and incorporate ingredients.
Add the cold butter into the flour mixture. Using a pastry blender, or your hands, work butter into flour until butter is broken into little pieces and the mixture is crumbly. Work quickly so butter does not soften up too much.
Toss in apples and cheddar cheese until just combined. Pour wet ingredients over dry and, using a wooden spoon, quickly mix together until mixture comes together and forms a ball. Do not over mix dough or it will become tough.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and flatten slightly. Roll dough with a rolling pin until it is about 1 inch thick. Using a 2-inch biscuit cutter, or a glass, cut dough into circles.
Place cuts close together to reduce the amount of scrap dough. Dough scraps can be gently kneaded together and reused. Arrange scones on a baking tray - it is okay if they touch. Brush the tops of the scones with the beaten egg then top each scone with the reserved finely grated.
Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until that golden brown stage.
Snack of the Day: Banana Pecan Bread Recipe
Weekends are perfect for baking projects, am I right? So, this yummy Banana Pecan Bread Recipe is just the thing we need for a Friday.
Nothing warms up the senses like good bread baking away in the oven. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 cup very ripe mashed banana
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2 large egg whites
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
What’s Next:
Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 C.
Spray a 9″x5″ loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
In a medium bowl, mix mashed banana, applesauce, egg whites and egg with a fork.
Stir banana mixture into flour mixture just to moisten. Spoon batter into pan, sprinkle with chopped pecans.
Bake 40 to 45 minutes. Cool loaf in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan, cool completely before snacking away!
Snack of the Day: The Best Zucchini Bread Recipe
Well, the cold streak continues this weekend so I thought we might need to cuddle up with some warm homemade bread. Am I right or am I right?
This delicious recipe for the Best Zucchini Bread out there is sure to take that cold right out of your bones & replace it with yummyness. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 1/2 cups zucchini (grated unpeeled)
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons orange zest, grated
- 1 cup toasted walnuts or pecans (coarsely chopped)
What’s Next:
Go ahead & preheat your oven to 350 F or 175 C.
Grease and flour two 8½-inch loaf pans.
Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves into a bowl and set aside; Combine the zucchini, sugar, eggs, oil, and orange zest in a large bowl and mix by hand until evenly blended.
Add the sifted dry ingredients to the zucchini mixture; Stir by hand just until the batter is evenly moistened and blended; Fold in the nuts; divide batter between the prepared loaf pans.
Bake until the edges are browned and starting to pull away from the pan and the bread springs back when lightly pressed with your fingertip, 50-55 minutes.
Remove the loaves from the pans and let cool on wire racks before serving & enjoy!
Panara Kalamata Olive Bread Recipe
We would all like to know our restaurant’s secrets & how they so agilely prepare our meals. Today, I will let you in on a little secret, Panera Bread’s Kalamata Olive Bread recipe!
This fabulous bread recipe combines the wonderful taste of Kalamata olives (my personal favorite) with the delicious taste of Panera Bread. A true keeper, enjoy!
Ingredients for the Starter:
- 1 cup (8.375 ounces) warm water (95-105° F)
- 2 teaspoons (0.25 ounces) fresh yeast
- 1 cup (4.875 ounces) all-purpose flour
Ingredients for the Dough:
- 2/3 cup (4.75 ounces) warm water (95-105° F)
- 3 tablespoons (2 ounces) honey
- 4 teaspoons (0.5 ounces) fresh yeast
- 1/4 cup + 1 teaspoon (2 ounces) vegetable shortening
- 4 3/4 cups (23 ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon (0.5 ounces) salt
- 1 3/4 cups (8.5 ounces) kalamata olives, pitted
What’s Next:
To create the starter, combine the water and yeast in a medium mixing bowl. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the flour to the bowl and stir until the ingredients are fully incorporated. Cover with a cloth and ferment the starter at room temperature for 30 minutes.
For the dough, combine the water, honey and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer. Stir to dissolve the yeast fully. Add the shortening, flour, salt, starter and olives. Mix on low speed until the dough is fully developed. Remove the dough from the mixing bowl. Divide the dough into 2 pieces weighing about 22 ounces each. Set aside any remaining dough and freeze for future use. Roll each piece of dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough on the counter or in a proofing basket and cover with a warm, damp cloth to rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 400° F.
Form the dough into loaves and place them on the counter or in a proofing basket. Cover the loaves with a warm, damp cloth and proof at room temperature for 30 minutes.
Score the loaves with a sharp knife, spray with water, and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the crusts are a deep golden brown and the middle of the loaves is 190-200 degrees.
Remove the bread from the oven and place it on the cooling rack for 30 minutes. If the bread was baked in loaf pans, remove the bread from the pans before cooling.
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