Pink Raised Doughnuts with Toasted Coconut

makes 12-14 doughnuts

recipe adapted slightly from Top Pot Hand-Forged Doughnuts

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For the Doughnuts:

3 tablespoons (four ¼ ounce packages) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (about 105 degrees F)

½ cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons iodized salt

4 to 4 ½ cups bread flour, plus more for dusting, rolling, and cutting

¼ cup vegetable shortening

3 large egg yolks

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

canola oil for frying

toasted coconut for topping

For the Glaze:

4 cups sifted powdered sugar

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

¼ teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 to 3 drops red or pink food coloring

scant 1/3 cup hot water, plus more if necessary

To Make the Doughnuts:

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, whisk together the yeast, water, and 1 tablespoon of sugar.  Let stand for 5 minutes until mixture is foamy and frothy.  That’s how you know the yeast is alive and ready to doughnut!

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and 4 cups of bread flour.  Set aside.

Break up shortening and add to the yeast mixture.  Add the egg yolks, and vanilla extract and beat on low speed using the paddle attachment.  This will deflate the yeast bubbles and help break up the shortening.

With the mixture on low speed, add one third of the dry ingredients.  Blend until flour disappears.  Add another third of the dry ingredients.  Beat until flour disappears.  Switch to the dough hook and add the last amount of flour.  Mix on low speed until no flour bits remain.  Add a bit more flour if necessary.  The dough should clean the sides of the bowl, and not stick to the bottom in a pool.

Knead for 2 minutes.  The dough will be glossy, and just a bit sticky… but it shouldn’t stick to your hands.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet that has been sprinkled with 1 tablespoon of flour.  Shake into a 6-inch circle and dust the top with flour.  Cover with a dishtowel and set in a warm place to double in size.

The Top Pot Cookbook has an awesome way to create your own proofing box!  Bring a large kettle of water to a boil.  Pour about 8 cups of water into a large baking dish.  Set it on the floor of your oven.  Place the sheet tray with covered dough on the middle rack above the steaming water, close the oven door and let rise for about 1 hour.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll out into a roughly 12-inch circle, about ½ inch thick.  Cut into 12 doughnuts and 12 holes using a 2 ¾-inch and 1 ¼-inch round cutter.  Gently transfer the doughnuts and holes to two baking sheets that have been sprinkled with flour.  Set the doughnuts for their second rise about 2 inches apart.

Let rise in the oven for another 30-45 minutes, using another hot water proofing bath.

In a medium or large, heavy-bottom saucepan, heat canola oil that is 2-inches deep.  Use a candy thermometer to bring the oil to 350 degrees F.

When the doughnuts have doubled in size place a few doughnuts into the oil to fry.  Don’t overcrowd the pan.  Fry for 30 seconds on one side, flip and cook for another 30 seconds.  Doughnuts will darken slightly as they cool, so don’t cook them too dark.  Transfer to a few layers of paper towel to cool.  Bring the fry oil back to 350 degrees F before frying new batches of doughnuts.

Allow to cool completely before glazing.

To Make the Glaze:

Place the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.  Add the food coloring and hot water and use a whisk to incorporate.  Blend until entirely smooth.  If the mixture seems to thick to easily dip doughnuts, add more hot water 1 teaspoon at a time.

To ice the doughnuts, dip one side of the cooled doughnuts into the freshly made icing.  Sprinkle with toasted coconut.  Let dry and set for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake

makes two loaves

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For the Dough:

2 1/4 teaspoon (1 package) active dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water, about 105 to 155 degrees F.

big pinch of sugar

6 tablespoons granulated sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 large eggs

4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup warm whole milk, 105 to 115 degrees F.

For the Filling:

3 large apples, peeled and cut into small cubes (I used Fuji apples)

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

For the Streusel:

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of salt

pinch of cardamom

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 egg and sugar for brushing and topping the dough before baking

To Make the Dough:  In a small bowl, mix together yeast, warm water and pinch of sugar.  Stir together until yeast is dissolved and set aside for 10 minutes.  Yeast will foam up.  That’s how you know it’s alive!

In the bowl of an electric stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, add the sugar, butter, cardamom, and salt.  Blend on medium speed until pale in color and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Stop the mixer, scrape down the bowl, and add eggs and 1 cup of flour.  Blend on medium speed until thoroughly incorporated and creamy, about 1 minute.  Stop the mixer and add 2 cups more cups of flour, foamy yeast mixture, and warm milk.  Blend in medium speed until the flour disappears.  Mixture will be very wet.

Add 1 1/2 to 2 more cups of flour.  Blend until the flour is almost incorporated.

Dump the dough onto a lightly floured work surface.  Knead for 5 to 8 minutes by hand.  Dough will be glossy and just slightly sticky.  Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a towel and let rest in a warm place for 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, make the apple filling and the streusel.

To make the Apple Filling, toss together diced apples, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, nutmeg and salt.  Leave at room temperature and set aside until ready to use.

To make the Streusel Filling:

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and cardamom.  Add butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture.  Break up the butter into the mixture, until thoroughly incorporated and crumbly.  Set aside.

Continue on with the Dough:

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

When the dough has doubled in size, dump it out onto a lightly floured work surface.   Use a large knife or a bench knife to divide the dough in two.  Roll each dough piece into about a 10×14-inch rectangle.  Sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture.  Add half of the apple mixture over the apples.  Add a bit of the apple juices too.  That’s fine.

Starting from the longest side, begin to roll the dough.  This isn’t like a cinnamon roll, you don’t have to roll it into a super tight swirl.  Fold in about 1 1/2 to 1-inch folds.  Keep the seam on the bottom.

Repeat the same steps for the second piece of dough.

Carefully lift roll onto the prepared baking sheet. **Now is a great time to freeze or refrigerate the coffee cake  dough for later baking.**  Take a pair of clean scissors and slice into the dough leaving about 3/4-inch of dough still attached.  Slice at 1-inch intervals.  Carefully begin to curve the sliced dough into a semi-circle/horseshoe shape.  If some of the apple juices escape, that’s ok    Cover with a towel and let rest in a warm place for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Brush dough with egg wash and sprinkle with raw or granulated sugar.  Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden brown and cooked through.

Remove from the oven, allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.  Best served warm with hot coffee.  Coffee cake will last, well wrapped at room temperature, for up to 3 days… or 3 hours.

**  If you decide to freeze the dough, place it in the fridge to thaw the evening before you’d like to bake it.  Once it’s thawed, slice it according to the above directions.  Allow to come to room temperature, and allow to rise for another 30 minutes beyond that.  Wash with egg and sugar, then bake.

**  If you decide to refrigerate the dough, simple take it out of the fridge, slice according to the above directions.  Let come to room temperature, then allow to rise for 30 minutes beyond that.  Brush with egg and sugar, then bake.

Eggy Breakfast Pizza

makes 1 pizza

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For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil

For the Toppings

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 garlic, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary

1 cup grated mozzarella

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

throw on some:

caramelized onions

sauteed peppers

2 eggs

fresh arugula

This is totally easy!

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast. Create a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the warm water and olive oil.  Using a fork, bring together the dough so that all of the dry mixture is moistened by the water and olive oil.

Dump shaggy dough onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead for about two minutes until the dough comes together into a ball.  The dough may be slightly sticky, that’s fine!

Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the large bowl that the dough was mixed in.  Use your fingers to spread the oil around the bowl.  Place the dough into the bowl, sprinkle with a bit of flour and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.  Place in a warm place and let the dough rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, remove from bowl and place on a lightly floured work surface.  Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out to a 1/4-inch thickness.  The dough can be rolled perfectly round, but a rectangle, or totally odd shape is fine as well.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Flip a cookie sheet upside down and sprinkle with flour.  Place pizza dough on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with olive oil, garlic slices, chopped rosemary, and cheese. Top with whatever toppings strike your fancy.  Crack two eggs onto the unbaked pizza.

Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until crust is golden brown and crisp and eggs are cooked to over easy/over medium.

Remove from oven.  Allow to cool for a few minutes then slice and serve.  Breakfast pizza is best served the day it’s made.  Heck yes.

Strawberry Balsamic Flatbread with goat cheese and fresh mint

makes 12 squares

recipe adapted from LA Times

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2 packages (about 5 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1 cup warm water (between 110 and 115 degrees F)

3 cups of flour, divided into 1 cup increments

3 tablespoons, plus 1 teaspoon olive oil

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 cup thinly sliced strawberries

coarse sea salt for topping

1/2 cup goat cheese crumbles

good quality balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

1 tablespoon fresh mint, coarsely chopped

In a large bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water.  Stir to dissolve.  I use a fork so I can mash and stir any yeast clumps.  Add the flour and blend together until smooth.  Cover and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.

After the mixture has risen, remove the covering and stir in 3 tablespoons of olive oil, sugar, and orange zest.  Add one cup of flour and stir to blend.  Add the remaining cup of flour and salt and work together into a dough.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes.  If the dough is too sticky, add up to 1/3 cup more flour and knead.  Dough will be slightly sticky, and that’s alright.

Clean out the large bowl and coat with 1 teaspoon olive oil.  Place dough in the bowl, and flip it over so that it’s entirely coated in oil.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down and knead for just a minute, before pulling and stretching the dough into a 16×9-inch rectangle.  I used a rolling pin to help me to this.  Place on a greased baking sheet and let rise for 30 minutes.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees F.

When dough has risen, use your fingers to make random indentations in the puffed dough.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Top with sliced strawberries, and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.  Bake bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until golden, crisp and baked through.  I rotated the pan once, halfway through baking.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes.  Remove from the baking pan, slice into squares with a pizza cutter and drizzle with balsamic vinegar, goat cheese, and fresh mint.

Serve.

This bread is best served within 2 days of baking.

Whole Wheat Garlic Knots

inspired by this delicious looking pizza.

makes about 10 garlic knots

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1 package active dry yeast, about 2 1/2 teaspoons

1 cup warm water (just warmer than body temperature)

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons sugar

For the garlic mixture:

4 to 6 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 cup chopped parsley

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with warm water.  Let sit for 5 minutes until yeast is frothy.  That means it’s alive and ready to go.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours and salt.  Create a small well in the center of the flour mixture.  Pour in the yeasty water and add oil.  With a fork, mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  If the dough is too sticky, add more all-purpose flour.  Dough should be slightly sticky, but not stick to your hands too much.

Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes.  Place dough in a large greased bowl.  Flip the dough over to coat the dough.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel, and leave to rest in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, or until the dough is doubled in size.  At this point, you can make the garlic knots, or let the dough rise in the refrigerator overnight.  Just bring the dough to room temperature before rolling it out.

When ready to prepare the garlic knots, roll out dough on a lightly floured surface.  Roll into a 10-inch by 10-inch square.  Roughly…. it doesn’t have to be perfect.  Use a pizza cutter to slice 10 1-inch stripes.  Tie a knot in the center of the dough, and wrap the ends under and around the knot.  This doesn’t have to be perfect either… just make sure that the dough is all tucked into itself.  Cover with clean kitchen towel and let rest for 30 minutes.

Place racks in the center and upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 400 degrees F.   Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Place dough knots on prepared baking sheets and bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until golden brown.

While bread bakes, in a large bowl whisk together minced garlic, butter, olive oil, parsley and salt.  When rolls come out of the oven, immediately toss them in the garlic butter mixture.  Toss until coated and remove from the butter bowl.  Serve rolls warm.

Rolls are best served the day they’re made, but will last for 3 days if well wrapped.  Just reheat in a piece of foil in a 350 degree F oven for 10 minutes.

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Makes: one 9x5x3-inch loaf

Recipe adapted from HungryGirlPorVida

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For the Dough:

2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 ounces unsalted butter

1/3 cup whole milk

1/4 cup water

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned

In a large mixing bowl (I used just the bowl of my stand mixer) whisk together 2 cups flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Set aside.

Whisk together eggs and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt together milk and butter until butter has just melted.  Remove from the heat and add water and vanilla extract.  Let mixture stand for a minute or two, or until the mixture registers 115 to 125 degrees F.

Pour the milk mixture into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula.  Add the eggs and stir the mixture until the eggs are incorporated into the batter.  The eggs will feel soupy and it’ll seem like the dough and the eggs are never going to come together.  Keep stirring.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup of flour and stir with the spatula for about 2 minutes.  The mixture will be sticky.  That’s just right.

Place the dough is a large,  greased bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel.  Place in a warm space and allow to rest until doubled in size, about 1 hour.  *The dough can be risen until doubled in size, then refrigerated overnight for use in the morning.  If you’re using this method, just let the dough rest on the counter for 30 minutes before following the roll-out directions below.

While the dough rises, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg for the filling.  Set aside.  Melt 2 ounces of butter until browned.  Set aside.  Grease and flour a 9x5x3-inch  loaf pan.  Set that aside too.

Deflate the risen dough and knead about 2 tablespoons of flour into the dough.  Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 5 minutes.  On a lightly floured work surface, use a rolling pin to roll the dough out.  The dough should be 12-inches tall and about 20-inches long.  If you can’t get the dough to 20-inches long… that’s okay.  Just roll it as large as the dough will go.  Use a pastry brush to spread melted butter across all of the dough.  Sprinkle with all of the sugar and cinnamon mixture.  It might seem like a lot of sugar.  Seriously?  Just go for it.

Slice the dough vertically, into six equal-sized strips.  Stack the strips on top of one another and slice the stack into six equal slices once again.  You’ll have six stacks of six squares.  Layer the dough squares in the loaf pan like a flip-book.  Place a kitchen towel over the loaf pan and allow in a warm place for 30 to 45 minutes or until almost doubled in size.

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Place loaf in the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is very golden brown.  The top may be lightly browned, but the center may still be raw.  A nice, dark, golden brown will ensure that the center is cooked as well.

Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 20 to 30 minutes.   Run a butter knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the bread and invert onto  a clean board.  Place a cake stand or cake plate on top of the  upside down loaf, and carefully invert so it’s right side up.  Serve warm with coffee or tea.

I think this bread is best served the day it’s made, but it can also we wrapped and kept at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Cream Cheese Cinnamon Rolls

Saveur October 2008

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For the Dough:

1 – 1/4oz package active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon, plus 1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup milk at room temperature

2 Tablespoons light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for kneading

3/4 teaspoon salt

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan

For the Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1/4 cup raisins

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

8 Tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Icing:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/4 cup buttermilk

Making the Dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine yeast, 1/2 teaspoon sugar and 1/4 cup water heated to 115 degrees F.  Stir to combine and let sit until frothy and foamy, about 10 minutes.

Add remaining sugar, milk, light brown sugar, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk.  Beat with a wire whisk until well combined.  Fit the bowl onto the mixer, fitting with the dough hook attachment.  Add the flour and salt and mix on medium speed until the dough just begins to come together.  Turn the machine on medium-high and knead the dough for 4 minutes.

Add the butter and continue to knead for about 6 minutes.  The dough will the wet and sticky.  Place the dough on a well floured work surface, and knead about 1/3 cup all-purpose flour into the dough.  Don’t worry, the dough still might be a little sticky.  It’s ok.  Just set the dough to rest in a large greased bowl.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and allow to rise in a warm place for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until doubled in size.

While the dough rises, make the filling.  Combine the sugar, dark brown sugar, pecans, walnuts, raisins, cinnamon, salt and cloves in a large bowl.  Stir to combine.  Stir in the maple syrup.  Set aside.

When the dough has doubled in size, dump if from the bowl onto a heavily floured work surface.  Gently knead the dough until it is no longer sticky, adding more flour as needed.  I think I added about 3 Tablespoons of flour.  Work the dough for about 1 or 2 minutes.  Once it’s no longer sticky, place a kitchen towel over the dough and let rest for 5 minutes before you roll it out.

Using a floured rolling pin, roll the dough into a 10 x 10-inch square.

In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese with a knife until it’s smooth and spreadable.

Spread the cream cheese evenly over the dough square.  Fold the square into thirds like you would fold a letter to fit into an envelope.  Take the open ends of the rectangle and fold into thirds again, to make a smaller dough square.

Invert the dough so that the seam is face down and, using the rolling pin, gently roll it into a 10 x 20-inch rectangle.  You make find that some cream cheese sneaks through.  Be as gently as possible with the dough, but continue to work it until you reach the size you need.

Turn the dough so that the short sides are parallel to you.  You’re going to roll from the short sides of the dough.

Brush the top of the dough with half of the melted butter.  We’ll use the rest of the butter after the rolls are baked.

Pour all of the filling onto the dough.  Spread evenly, leaving a 1-inch boarder at one of the short edges of the dough so the roll can be properly sealed.  Lightly press the filling into the dough.

Using your hands, lift up the bottom edge of the dough and roll it forward into a tight cylinder.  Place dough cylinder seam side down on a cutting board.  Using a sharp, thin knife, trim off the uneven edges.

Cut cylinder into 8 equal slices.  Nestle the slices, cut side up and evenly spaced in a butter 9 x 13-inch (light colored) metal baking dish.  Cover pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm place to let rise for 2 hours.  You may also refrigerate rolls overnight.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Uncover the rolls.  If you refrigerated the rolls, let them sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before baking.  Bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Make the icing:  While the rolls are baking, whisk together the sugar and buttermilk in a small bowl until smooth.

Transfer the pan of cinnamon rolls to a cooling rack.  Brush with remaining butter.  Let cool for 5 minutes.  Dip the tines of a fork into the icing and drizzle over the rolls.  Serve immediately.