Category: holiday breads

Back Home for the Holidays: Parker House–Style Rolls for Thanksgiving

jeff 14 Comments

For Thanksgiving last year, my wife, Laura, and I went out to eat with friends — a first for us. It was lovely, liberating, and delicious. But this year we wanted to bring it back home. After all, what is Thanksgiving without the leftovers? And, more seriously, we’ve been empty nesters for a couple of years now, so with family scattered, and still feeling the aftereffects of the pandemic and a stressful election season, we crave the comforts of home cooking. I’ll be making the turkey, gravy — and doing my stuffing recipe, of course. Laura will make the cranberry sauce and one of her killer pies. Our friends will bring the other fixings. All that’s left is the bread! To continue the theme of comfort, this year I’m making soft, Parker House–style rolls, an American classic. You can use any of my doughs, but I’ll be using lightly enriched challah dough (see below) from the New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day to get the soft, pillowy texture everyone loves, yet a roll that’s firm enough for soaking up gravy and making leftover turkey sandwiches. (See how I came back around to leftovers?) If you’re feeling adventurous, try mixing fresh herbs (like thyme or tarragon) into the dough and/or adding seeds to the top (like sesame or pumpkin) before baking.

Wishing you all a happy and delicious Thanksgiving, and lots of leftovers. (For other Thanksgiving bread and stuffing ideas, click here.)

Ingredients: makes 4 1/4 pounds of dough, about 24 three-ounce buns

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water (you can weigh water–14 ounces/400 grams)

1 tablespoon Instant, Active Dry, or Quick-Rise yeast (1 packet)

1 tablespoon kosher salt, or other coarse salt (if you have a salty palate, you can increase up to 1.5 tablespoons)

4 large eggs at room temperature, lightly beaten

1/2 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) honey

8 tablespoons (1 stick–4 ounces/115 grams) unsalted butter, melted (or substitute 1/2-cup of any vegetable oil, including olive oil)

7 cups all-purpose flour (35 ounces/990 grams)

Egg wash for painting top of buns (one egg mixed with a tablespoon water, milk, or cream)

Butter for greasing the baking pans and spreading over the top

Instructions: the dough

Mix the yeast, salt, eggs, honey, and melted butter (or oil) with the water in a 5-quart bowl, or lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour, using a heavy-duty stand mixer (with the dough hook), a Danish, dough whisk, or a wooden spoon, until all of the flour is incorporated.

Cover (not airtight), and allow to sit at room temperature for about two hours, or until about doubled. Dough can be used immediately after the initial rise, though it is easier to handle when cold, especially for this particular recipe. Refrigerate and use over the next 5 days.

Shaping and baking the rolls

Prepare two 9-inch baking pans with butter.

Lightly flour the surface of the dough and break off (or snip with kitchen scissors) 3-ounce balls of dough (about the size of a small peach). Shape them gently with minimal flour, taking care not to incorporate much flour into the balls. Place them in the prepared pans and cover loosely with plastic wrap.

Allow the buns to rest about 60-90 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F degrees

Paint the tops of the buns lightly with egg wash using a pastry brush. Bake for 25-30 minutes, depending on the size. They should be golden brown.

While still hot, brush the tops with butter to keep the crust soft…

Allow to cool slightly and enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Potato Brioche Buns for Father’s Day

jeff 11 Comments

It’s almost Father’s Day and that might mean pulling out the grill this weekend and serving Dad up some serious burgers. Here’s a soft and delicious Potato Brioche Bun to serve alongside your favorite burger recipe, and it’s easy to put together. As with all my no-knead, refrigerated dough recipes, you can bake as little or as much as you want.

If cooking and mashing potatoes just seems like too much work (even for a holiday), you can always check out straight up Brioche Burger Buns, complete with Lamb Burger and Cilantro-Yogurt Sauce.

Potato Brioche Buns (based on the Brioche Recipe from New Artisan)

1 1/4 cup warm water

1 cup mashed Russet potatoes (sent through a food ricer for fine consistency, or mashed by hand)

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

2 large eggs, room temperature

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 teaspoons yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 cups all-purpose flour

Egg wash (1 egg whisked with 1 tablespoon water)

Seeds, for sprinkling (optional) – plain sesame seeds work fine; I used a bagel seed mix

Mix the water, potato, butter, eggs, sugar, yeast, and salt in a 5-quart bowl, or lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour, using a spoon until all of the flour is incorporated.

Cover (not airtight), and allow to sit at room temperature for about two hours. Chill the dough for at least two hours, and up to 3 days.

The dough can be used as soon as it is chilled. This dough is way too sticky to use after the initial rise, but once it is chilled it is very easy to handle. That said, because potatoes can vary in their water-content, you may have to adjust the flour–you can add more after everything’s mixed, but give the dough a couple of hours on the counter to re-ferment or the buns will be dense.

Divide the dough into 3 ounce pieces (this dough will make about 14 buns, but you can make less if desired). Gently smooth the pieces into round balls of dough. Grease six English Muffin Rings. Flatten the dough into 1/4-inch disks place them in the molds. If you don’t have rings you can make them free form, but they won’t keep their shape as well.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap (spraying the plastic with a little cooking spray will help it not to stick to the top of the buns) and allow the buns to rest for 30 to 60 minutes (depending on temperature of your kitchen), until the dough is just peeping over the top of the rings, and feels like a marshmallow when gently pressed/jiggled.

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Use a Pastry Brush to paint on the egg wash, and then sprinkle with seeds if desired.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until they are golden brown (I baked with steam for an extra soft bun, but you don’t have to do that).

Perfect for loading with a burger and toppings, or just nibbling on with a slice of cheese.

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Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Coffeecake for Mother’s Day

jeff 3 Comments
Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Coffeecake

It’s Mother’s Day this weekend and if you are celebrating your Mom or any other women in your life, here’s a lovely (and easy!) coffeecake to put together. It is made with my 5 minute no-knead brioche and a delicious strawberry-rhubarb filling, but in a pinch you can swap in your favorite store-bought jam. There’s also coffeecake in Blueberry if that is more your jam (pun intended).

Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Coffeecake

Strawberry Rhubarb Streusel Coffeecake

Streusel Topping

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup almond flour or oats

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

1 cup rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
3 ounces strawberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar (if your rhubarb is really tart, you can add up to 1/2 cup sugar total, however the streusel and icing will add a lot of sweetness, so it’s better to keep the jam slightly on the tart side)
Pinch salt

1 pound (grapefruit-size portion) Brioche dough, from New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

Icing
2 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 tablespoons milk
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 to 1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar

Prepare the streusel topping: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the all-purpose flour, sugars, almond flour, salt, and cinnamon on low. With the mixer on low, add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, until the mixture comes together but still is quite crumbly.

Prepare the fruit filling: Place the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, and salt into a medium pan and simmer over medium-low heat for about 30 to 40 minutes, stirring often, until the rhubarb and strawberries have broken down and the jam has thickened. The jam will cling to a wooden spoon when it is done. Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate the jam until ready to use. (Taste your jam – if it is a little flat, you can add a squeeze or two of lemon juice – about 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until it brightens the flavor.)

Grease an 8-inch springform cake pan with butter and dust with flour. Set aside. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1-pound piece. Divide the piece in two, dust with more flour, and quickly shape each piece into a rough ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Roll the balls out into two 1/4-inch thick rounds, about 9 inches across. As you roll out the dough, add flour as needed to prevent sticking. Place one of the dough rounds in the bottom of the prepared pan.

Top with half of the fruit filling and and sprinkle half the streusel topping over it. Repeat with the remaining dough round, fruit filling, and streusel.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 90 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes.

While the cake is baking, prepare the icing: In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, milk, salt, and vanilla until smooth. Add 1 cup of the confectioners’ sugar and mix again until smooth. If the mixture is too thin, add more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is reached.

Move the cake pan to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes. Pour the icing over the cake, and then let it continue cooling for 20 minutes.

Remove the cake from the springform pan while it is still warm.

Serve the cake warm or at room temperature.

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Thanksgiving stuffing (my most asked-for recipe) and a round-up of Thanksgiving breads

jeff 13 Comments
boule-cover

(photo by Mark Luinenburg)

Like many people, my wife, Laura, and I live far from family, so this time of year, we’re always reminded that you have to find family wherever you land. Well, we have landed; this is our thirty-sixth year in Minnesota. Over the years we’ve been lucky to be invited for Thanksgiving dinner by friends with a large and warm family, some of whom travel in from all over the state (and nation!) for the annual get-together. And it’s a potluck, so no surprise, I always got the request for bread and a traditional Thanksgiving stuffing. That stuffing, although it doesn’t appear in any of my books, became my most requested recipe from friends. Back in 2009, I published it here on my website, and I thought I’d reprise it, because I recently made it for my mom, who is a lifelong dyed-in-the-wool roasted-in-the-bird stuffing believer. Well, she loved the oven-baked stuffing. One key to creating rich flavor without a bird is to use your poultry broth without skimming the fat. The second revelation was (and this is sacrilege for me): you don’t have to use homemade bread. At my mom’s place, I used a mix of ordinary white and whole wheat sandwich bread from the supermarket. Not artisan bread at all. The forward flavors are poultry broth, herbs, and egg (stuffing is really a kind of eggy bread pudding), so it turns out that the bread really plays second fiddle here.

That said, I usually do make stuffing from homemade loaves like in the picture above, with the crusts left on for flavor and texture. The Peasant Bread from my first book is a great choice. The white-flour Master Recipe works, but I usually swap in 1 cup of whole-grain rye and decrease the white flour by 1 cup. If you want something lighter, decrease the rye-swap to 1/2 cup (whole wheat flour works the same way). Or use challah (you don’t have to make it in a crockpot like on that link). My go-to poultry broth recipe is from The Joy of Cooking, but any traditional broth recipe will work.

OK, let’s make some stuffing…

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Four-Leaf Clover Broccoli & Cheddar Buns for St. Patrick’s Day

jeff 34 Comments

Broccoli Cheddar Clover Buns | Breadin5 (2 of 5)

They say that everyone’s Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, and I hope that’s true, because I loved my trip to Ireland—the music, the literature, the Guinness Stout, and yes, the food. It’s been many years since I was in Ireland, but I remember swooning over the fresh, wild salmon, buttered potatoes (of course), and the moist and flavorful brown bread. But brown bread’s not particularly festive (or green!), and I don’t have a recipe for classic Irish soda bread, which is made without yeast (for that, I rely on James Beard’s recipe in Beard on Bread—the first bread I ever made). But there is a broccoli & cheddar bun recipe in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Turns out four-leaf clovers aren’t especially Irish, but they’re very lucky! Sprinkled with cheese, these cheddar buns make a lovely and healthy accompaniment to corned beef and cabbage. One little disclosure—the broccoli doesn’t make it all that deeply green, as you can see. Some would have used green food coloring, I suppose. Bain taitneamh as do bhéil! Hearty appetite (I think). Read More

Panettone: a traditional Italian Christmas bread

BreadIn5 4 Comments

Here’s a Holiday favorite from years’ past. For three more Holiday breads, see Panettone Monkey Bread, Swedish Tea Ring with Eggnog Glaze, and Stollen.

Panettone is a traditional Christmas bread sold all over Italy during the holidays and now, the world. It has a great origin story (which might be true!). A young nobleman by the name of Ughetto Atellani fell in love with the daughter of a poor baker named Toni.  In order to impress her, Ughetto disguised himself as a pastry chef’s apprentice in her father’s bakery. He creates a tall fruit studded bread to present to her father, calling it “Pan de Toni.”  The bread, rich with eggs and butter, sweet with honey, scented with vanilla and lemon zest, with the finishing touch of dried and candied fruits was a success in the bakery and wins the admiration of the lady and the father’s respect. The baker blesses the marriage and Ughetto marries the daughter.

Today this sweet loaf is no longer just for Christmas, appearing at other holidays throughout the year and served sliced and toasted for brunch and as a dessert with a selection of cheeses and sweet wines. The traditional method for making panettone was done over the course of several days, and included long sessions of kneading and allowed for up to 20 hours of rise time in order to create a flavor that is both sweet, but also has a complexity caused by the fermentation of the dough. In today’s recipe, you can get these great flavors without having to labor over it quite so much. Although you can bake the bread after only a few hours of refrigeration, if you let it sit for 24 hours it’ll develop its full flavor and will be easier to work with.

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Chocolate Chestnut Bread, with Instagram video

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Chocolate Chestnut Bread Recipe | Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

If you’ve never had roasted chestnuts, they are one of the sweetest and creamiest of nuts and the absolute perfect pairing with chocolate–and the stuff of Holiday memories. This elegant chocolate chestnut bread is from Holiday and Celebration Bread in Five Minutes a Day and is super easy to make. If you have a tall panettone mold, it makes a really festive loaf for the holidays or a great gift, along with the book. You can also bake this in a loaf pan or even muffin cups. And check out the Instagram video here!

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zeppole

Zeppole (Italian Christmas doughnuts): with Instagram-Live video

jeff 16 Comments

Zeppole are a traditional Italian doughnut–a Christmas treat, but the internet holds many different descriptions and definitions of what they are. Some versions are carefully piped, some are made as small doughnut holes, and some are roughly free-form. Years ago I ate the latter rendition in New York at the San Gennaro Street Festival in Little Italy, (which is held in September, so these aren’t just for Christmas) and he loved them so much he knew we needed a post about them.

The version here is based on the Beignet recipe from my book New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day; the dough is no-knead, of course, and is lightly flavored with orange and lemon. I must admit I was a little nervous not pulling out my doughnut cutter to make perfect circles, but we need to embrace the irregular shape: let go and toss the roughly-shaped dough in to the very hot oil.

The golden brown Zeppole that emerged a few minutes later were absolutely delicious; their haphazard shapes gave them a charming quality, and the gentle citrus flavors were lovely. I’m not Italian, but these really are too good not to anyone’s Holiday tradition. And if you’ve been to the blog before at this time of year, you’ll remember these zeppole are very, very similar to Hannukah soufganiot (see the soufganiot post for more on frying up doughnuts).

On Instagram.com/breadin5, you can watch an Instagram reel and see the zeppole-frying! 

Zeppole

This recipe is based on the beignet recipe from our book, New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, page 316.

2 3/4 cup lukewarm water

1/4 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon granulated yeast

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest (you will need a microplane zester)

1 tablespoon Morton Kosher Salt

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Vegetable Oil – 3 to 4 inches deep (use a pot that is large enough that your oil is not sitting too high in the pot)

Confectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Combine the warm water, orange juice yeast, sugar, lemon zest, and salt in a 5-quart bowl; preferably, in a lidded (not airtight) plastic container or food-grade bucket. Mix until all of the flour is incorporated using a stand mixer or dough whisk. Cover, and allow to rise at room temperature for 2 hours. You can use the dough right away, or refrigerate it for up to 14 days.

On Baking Day (if you need to see a visual, you can check out our other post on doughnuts here, with more pictures on shaping and frying).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and lightly grease the parchment.

Pull out 3 oz pieces of dough (peach-sized) piece of dough, and flatten them slightly (the whole bucket of dough will make 15 to 20 zeppole, but you can do fewer pieces if desired). Place them on the prepared pan and cover with a lightly greased piece of plastic. Allow the dough to sit for at least 20 minutes (and up to one hour) while the oil heats up.

Once your oil reads 360-370°F on a Candy Thermometer you are ready to fry. Use a slotted spoon or Basket Strainer to flip the doughnuts over after about 2 minutes and then to take them out of the oil once they are golden brown on both sides. This works best with two people – have one person shape the dough, and the other to manage the submerging and turning. Try to keep the oil temperature as consistent as possible. Lay them out on paper towel to allow some of the oil to drain off. Let the zeppole sit for a few minutes, then lightly dust with confectioners’ sugar. Serve warm.

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Tea Ring with Eggnog Glaze

Holiday Tea Ring with Eggnog Glaze

BreadIn5 10 Comments

This tea ring is an ultra fancy cinnamon roll, baked as wreath and topped with an Eggnog Glaze. The cuts and twists of the dough make for a super-festive bread that is actually really easy to make, so don’t leave this one just for the holidays.

If you head to our Breadin5 Instagram page, you can watch our stories and see us make the tea ring! You can also check out other holiday posts: Holiday Star Bread, Panettone Monkey Bread, Chocolate Chestnut Bread, and Stollen Buns.

We hope you have a happy holiday, however you celebrate. Here’s to a healthy and happy 2021.

Dough

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1 tablespoon Red Star Platinum Yeast

1 tablespoon Kosher salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup bourbon

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

6 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Cinnamon filling

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

Eggnog Glaze

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

2 to 4 tablespoons eggnog

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Bourbon, optional

For the dough

Mix the water, yeast, salt, sugar, eggs, oil, bourbon, and vanilla in a 6-quart bowl or lidded (not airtight) food container.

Mix in the flour without kneading, using a heavy-duty stand mixer (with paddle/flat beater), a Danish dough whisk, or a wooden spoon. If you’re not using a machine, you may need to use wet hands to incorporate the last bit of flour. The dough will be loose but will firm up when chilled (don’t try to use it without chilling).

Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature until the dough rises for 2 hours.

The dough can be used as soon as it’s chilled after the initial rise, or frozen for later use. Refrigerate the container and use over the next 5 days.

On baking day: Line a baking sheet with parchment or silicone mat.

In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon.

Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 1 1/2 pound (small cantaloupe-size) piece. Dust the piece with more flour and quickly shape it into a ball by stretching the surface of the dough around to the bottom, rotating the ball a quarter-turn as you go.

Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle, about 14 x 18 inches. As you roll out the dough, add flour as needed to prevent sticking.

Spread the butter mixture evenly over the dough.

Starting with the long side of the dough, roll it up into a log. Pinch the seam closed. Stretch the log until it is about 1 1/2 inches thick. Join the 2 ends together. Place on the prepared baking sheet. Stretch the dough to make sure you have a nice, wide opening in the middle of your wreath, but leave plenty of room around the edge.

Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350F, with a rack placed in the center of the oven.

Brush lightly with the egg wash. Make evenly spaced cuts all the way around the wreath about 1 inch apart. The cuts should go just about to the bottom of the ring, but not quite to the bottom.

Gently pull every other piece to the outside of the ring and then twist that piece to face up. Do the same with the remaining pieces, but have them face up on the inside of the ring. The ones on the inside of the ring may not lay flat on the baking sheet, which is fine.

Bake for 25 to 32 minutes, until golden brown and well set.

Make the glaze: In a small bowl, mix together the melted butter, 2 tablespoons egg nog, and vanilla until smooth. Add the confectioners’ sugar and mix until the mixture is smooth. Add more eggnog (or bourbon!), 1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached. Pour the glaze over the warm braid, then serve.

Eat and enjoy!

Red Star Yeast provided yeast samples for recipe testing, and sponsors BreadIn5’s website and other promotional activities. BreadIn5.com is reader supported–when you buy through links on the site, BreadIn5 LLC earns commissions.