The majority of my presents for people are bakes, so pre-Christmas December baking was a flurry of sourdoughs, challah, babka, and cranberry ginger breads for gifting as well as some cookie boxes of gingerbread, sugar cookies, pistachio biscotti, ma'amoul, savory nut shortbread, chocolate peppermint cookies, toffee sandwiches, and ginger rye cookie. Ironically, the post-Christmas period where I actually had/have time off has me baking less than when I was working constantly, so I've been enjoying the leftover fruits of the holiday! Though, I have managed to fit in a little baking since my Mom got the revised King Arthur Baker's Companion and a brotform for Christmas, so we tried their no-knead sourdough recipe in there as well as the sourdough waffle recipe. Both successes!
King Arthur has a new cookie book too. I never make a loaf without my brotform and liner. I used to use a colander and towel. Big difference between them, worth every penny. Happy baking!
Happy 2022!! I spent the holiday experimenting a bit with a few new recipes... pumpkin, dark chocolate, pecan sourdough discard cookies (wow, so soft and chewy!)... and a coconut lime cake (similar to an olive oil cake but with coconut oil and coconut milk- winner!). I also got inspiration from "The Sweet Side of Sourdough" by Caroline Schiff and baked a few of my go-to sourdough focaccia and glazed them with honey and Maldon salt. As beautiful as it was delicious!
Wow! Could you share if you adapted the discard cookies from a particular recipe or what your percentages were? They sound amazing (as well as all of your bakes)!
Happy new year! I made a few new-to-me recipes this winter holiday. I tried the “Midwest Blend” sourdough recipe from Heritage Baking by Ellen King (playing with high extraction flour!), the Chocolate Yogurt cake from Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi (to use up some really expired yogurt), took Andrew’s baguette class and have made two batches now, and lastly, I tried the Olive sourdough bread from The Tivoli Road Baker by Michael James. I also made a standby favorite: Pepperoni rolls (a western PA/West Virginia/Ohio regional specialty, passed down family recipe of a friend from Ohio who shared with me) for my daughter’s school lunches. Hope everyone had a restful break and lots of yummy bakes!
Through some non-baking related reading I was doing, I learned about a unique kind of barley called bere, grown almost exclusively in the Shetland Islands for possibly thousands of years. I was able to obtain some flour made from bere from a company called Scottish Specialty Foods. I baked bere oatcakes which turned out to be a substantial and nutty cracker. The Book of Bere, by Liz Ashworth provides lots of information about this grain and many recipes.
I made miniature versions of the cranberry pecan sourdough recipe to share with my neighbors, baked a stollen (one of my best so far!) for the in-laws and will probably make a roscón de reyes (brioche-y Spanish bread associated with Three Kings Day) this week. I also made my selections for my 2022 grain share, and tried Stella's hot and spicy cheese bread, from the source.
so many cookies: springerlie, lebkuchen, world peace cookies 2.0, PB-miso cookies (NYTimes), biscotti, graham crackers, chocolate sugar cookies, orange rosemary shortbread. breads: buttermilk molasses quick bread, english muffin bread, and multigrain sourdough bread. and yesterday - first time baguettes (needs work - ugh).
I just learned about the World Peace Cookies a few months ago, after listening to an interview with Dorie Greenspan. After making them once, I just bought her cookie book. So good!
I am inspired by all these posts! I baked quite a bit, but almost all things I have made previously (lefse, sourdough breads, six types of cookies to make cookie plates to give away). It was fun and I loved gifting these bakes. But the posts here have inspired me to check out some of the cookbooks and recipes others have mentioned that are new to me. Thank you!
HNY, all! First time commenting :) Inspired by all these bakes! I managed a few cookies pre-holidays (leckerli from Dorie's Cookies, spelt shortbread from Southern Ground) but didn't bake much during the holiday break. It was a nice pause, but I refreshed my local flour stash with some spelt from Migrash Farm in Maryland and now have my go-to sourdough resting in the fridge (Sarah Owen's table loaf on Food52, but with a higher ratio of whole-grain flour). Excited to get back into baking! I'm also eyeing a rosca de reyes this week — probably using Pati Jinich's recipe.
Mostly working, but took time out for candy making (honeycomb, peanut brittle, almond toffee and caramel popcorn) followed with shortbread, chocolate chip cookies from Serious Eats by Kenji, Japanese sourdough milk rolls, The Loaf and baklava. I call this one the low production year. I usually make so much more, but time was a factor. Would love to take the baguette class if it is available as a post class opportunity as I gifted myself with a baking peel and linen from KAF. Time to hit the stationary bike and walk lots of miles! Everybody's efforts sound so interesting. Hope everyone is safe and enjoyed all they could from the holiday season, which is not over yet, as there is choreg to make for Armenian Christmas.
I wish I'd had more time to bake! Beyond some kid-friendly cookies, I made a Yule log and King Arthur's Cinnamon Star bread for Christmas day. Baked a new french bread recipe for some garlic bread one night, and then baked a 4-flour bread recipe that my mother has made for decades. I love the mix of trying something new and making something our family already loves.
Happy New Year! I traveled to visit family and knew I would not be taking my starter with me, so I baked two loaves of my regular rustic sourdough, as well as Andrew's chocolate sour cherry & cardamom sourdough and flew those babies up to NJ with me. (At this point, TSA probably recognizes me as the bread lady when they see me coming :-P ) During my visit, I also made the Ciabatta recipe from King Arthur Flour, which we used for bruschetta.
Hey all, happy new year! I made zaatar babka for Christmas Eve (it was great and looked so pretty!), The Loaf (95% King Arthur unbleached AP/5% rye) for Christmas Day, and Dominique Ansel’s chocolate/pecan cookies for both (subbing walnuts and almonds for the pecans). For NYE, I made the cookie dough again (you have to make the dough one day in advance) and Andrew’s bagels (with the unbleached AP again as that’s all I have). Unfortunately, I came down with a mildish case of Covid and could not go to the party, so we had the bagels for dinner and I froze the cookie dough (not sure yet what the outcome of that will be). The bagels were worth the effort! Stay safe and healthy, all!
I baked focaccia for friends and coworkers, but our holiday tradition is Cheese Danish. The recipe came from a friend who got it from a friend and makes 3-4 Danish. You make the enriched dough and keep it in the fridge, then assemble and bake as needed. Always a hit at family celebrations.
Buttermilk Pie 🥧😋
The majority of my presents for people are bakes, so pre-Christmas December baking was a flurry of sourdoughs, challah, babka, and cranberry ginger breads for gifting as well as some cookie boxes of gingerbread, sugar cookies, pistachio biscotti, ma'amoul, savory nut shortbread, chocolate peppermint cookies, toffee sandwiches, and ginger rye cookie. Ironically, the post-Christmas period where I actually had/have time off has me baking less than when I was working constantly, so I've been enjoying the leftover fruits of the holiday! Though, I have managed to fit in a little baking since my Mom got the revised King Arthur Baker's Companion and a brotform for Christmas, so we tried their no-knead sourdough recipe in there as well as the sourdough waffle recipe. Both successes!
King Arthur has a new cookie book too. I never make a loaf without my brotform and liner. I used to use a colander and towel. Big difference between them, worth every penny. Happy baking!
Happy 2022!! I spent the holiday experimenting a bit with a few new recipes... pumpkin, dark chocolate, pecan sourdough discard cookies (wow, so soft and chewy!)... and a coconut lime cake (similar to an olive oil cake but with coconut oil and coconut milk- winner!). I also got inspiration from "The Sweet Side of Sourdough" by Caroline Schiff and baked a few of my go-to sourdough focaccia and glazed them with honey and Maldon salt. As beautiful as it was delicious!
Wow! Could you share if you adapted the discard cookies from a particular recipe or what your percentages were? They sound amazing (as well as all of your bakes)!
Here's the cookie recipe I used... Followed pretty close and added chopped pecans..
Happy baking!
https://frontyardveggies.com/pumpkin-spice-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-sourdough-discard/
Thanks so much!
Happy new year! I made a few new-to-me recipes this winter holiday. I tried the “Midwest Blend” sourdough recipe from Heritage Baking by Ellen King (playing with high extraction flour!), the Chocolate Yogurt cake from Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi (to use up some really expired yogurt), took Andrew’s baguette class and have made two batches now, and lastly, I tried the Olive sourdough bread from The Tivoli Road Baker by Michael James. I also made a standby favorite: Pepperoni rolls (a western PA/West Virginia/Ohio regional specialty, passed down family recipe of a friend from Ohio who shared with me) for my daughter’s school lunches. Hope everyone had a restful break and lots of yummy bakes!
Ooh also I forgot to mention: Christmas Day pizza. I think this needs to be a new tradition we continue in the future!
Through some non-baking related reading I was doing, I learned about a unique kind of barley called bere, grown almost exclusively in the Shetland Islands for possibly thousands of years. I was able to obtain some flour made from bere from a company called Scottish Specialty Foods. I baked bere oatcakes which turned out to be a substantial and nutty cracker. The Book of Bere, by Liz Ashworth provides lots of information about this grain and many recipes.
I made miniature versions of the cranberry pecan sourdough recipe to share with my neighbors, baked a stollen (one of my best so far!) for the in-laws and will probably make a roscón de reyes (brioche-y Spanish bread associated with Three Kings Day) this week. I also made my selections for my 2022 grain share, and tried Stella's hot and spicy cheese bread, from the source.
Vortlimpa...32 loaves of it!
Wow! Sounds amazing!
so many cookies: springerlie, lebkuchen, world peace cookies 2.0, PB-miso cookies (NYTimes), biscotti, graham crackers, chocolate sugar cookies, orange rosemary shortbread. breads: buttermilk molasses quick bread, english muffin bread, and multigrain sourdough bread. and yesterday - first time baguettes (needs work - ugh).
I just learned about the World Peace Cookies a few months ago, after listening to an interview with Dorie Greenspan. After making them once, I just bought her cookie book. So good!
Those look great, what chocolate did you use? I usually use Ghiradelli, thinking about the 100%
I am inspired by all these posts! I baked quite a bit, but almost all things I have made previously (lefse, sourdough breads, six types of cookies to make cookie plates to give away). It was fun and I loved gifting these bakes. But the posts here have inspired me to check out some of the cookbooks and recipes others have mentioned that are new to me. Thank you!
HNY, all! First time commenting :) Inspired by all these bakes! I managed a few cookies pre-holidays (leckerli from Dorie's Cookies, spelt shortbread from Southern Ground) but didn't bake much during the holiday break. It was a nice pause, but I refreshed my local flour stash with some spelt from Migrash Farm in Maryland and now have my go-to sourdough resting in the fridge (Sarah Owen's table loaf on Food52, but with a higher ratio of whole-grain flour). Excited to get back into baking! I'm also eyeing a rosca de reyes this week — probably using Pati Jinich's recipe.
Happy baking!!
Three attempts at pannetone, each better than the previous.
Mostly working, but took time out for candy making (honeycomb, peanut brittle, almond toffee and caramel popcorn) followed with shortbread, chocolate chip cookies from Serious Eats by Kenji, Japanese sourdough milk rolls, The Loaf and baklava. I call this one the low production year. I usually make so much more, but time was a factor. Would love to take the baguette class if it is available as a post class opportunity as I gifted myself with a baking peel and linen from KAF. Time to hit the stationary bike and walk lots of miles! Everybody's efforts sound so interesting. Hope everyone is safe and enjoyed all they could from the holiday season, which is not over yet, as there is choreg to make for Armenian Christmas.
I wish I'd had more time to bake! Beyond some kid-friendly cookies, I made a Yule log and King Arthur's Cinnamon Star bread for Christmas day. Baked a new french bread recipe for some garlic bread one night, and then baked a 4-flour bread recipe that my mother has made for decades. I love the mix of trying something new and making something our family already loves.
Happy New Year! I traveled to visit family and knew I would not be taking my starter with me, so I baked two loaves of my regular rustic sourdough, as well as Andrew's chocolate sour cherry & cardamom sourdough and flew those babies up to NJ with me. (At this point, TSA probably recognizes me as the bread lady when they see me coming :-P ) During my visit, I also made the Ciabatta recipe from King Arthur Flour, which we used for bruschetta.
Hey all, happy new year! I made zaatar babka for Christmas Eve (it was great and looked so pretty!), The Loaf (95% King Arthur unbleached AP/5% rye) for Christmas Day, and Dominique Ansel’s chocolate/pecan cookies for both (subbing walnuts and almonds for the pecans). For NYE, I made the cookie dough again (you have to make the dough one day in advance) and Andrew’s bagels (with the unbleached AP again as that’s all I have). Unfortunately, I came down with a mildish case of Covid and could not go to the party, so we had the bagels for dinner and I froze the cookie dough (not sure yet what the outcome of that will be). The bagels were worth the effort! Stay safe and healthy, all!
I baked focaccia for friends and coworkers, but our holiday tradition is Cheese Danish. The recipe came from a friend who got it from a friend and makes 3-4 Danish. You make the enriched dough and keep it in the fridge, then assemble and bake as needed. Always a hit at family celebrations.