Quick Easy Sourdough Sandwich Bread Recipe

It dawned on me the other day that I've never shared the sourdough sandwich bread recipe that I use.  I use this bread for everything from BLTs to PB&Js.  It's light, fluffy, buttery, and slightly sweet.  The boys like this bread better than the rustic bread I bake because it's not so crusty and toothsome.  The little guy especially appreciates this since he is still growing all of his teeth!

I could bake this bread in my sleep, and so can you.  If you're intimidated by sourdough bread baking, you could start with this recipe to build your confidence.

First off, you do need an active bubbly starter.  I fed mine twice and felt like it was strong enough to bake with. 

Then, into the bowl of a stand mixer add:

• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted
• 3/4 cup lukewarm milk
• 3/4 cup lukewarm water
• 100 grams starter
• 20 grams honey
• 8 grams sea salt
• 550 grams flour

I microwave the butter, milk, water in a measuring cup.  Make sure you drink some good coffee while making this bread.

Mix the dough using a dough hook on medium speed for about 5 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Cover and place in a warm area to bulk ferment until doubled in volume.  For me, this takes about 4 hours.  

Then I scoop out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and stretch into a large rectangle.  I fold in each long side into the middle, then roll up horizontally.  Place in a buttered loaf pan and allow to rise 2 hours in a warm area.

Bake 45 minutes at 375 degrees F.

Voila, you have beautiful freshly baked bread!  See how easy and not complicated that was?

Brooding Over Bagels

One of my co-workers enjoys baking and keeps me up to date on what desserts are popular on TikTok.  Examples: Vietnamese Coffee Swirl Brownies and Ina Garten's Brownie Pudding.  How fabulous is that?  When I'm in a baking rut she inspires me to branch out and make something I wouldn't normally attempt.  Most recently, she's inspired me to make bagels and I think I'm going to go for it this weekend - naturally leavened, of course.  It's too difficult to bake during the week with having little ones and working full-time.  Although, I did manage to bake two loaves of sourdough on Monday night after they proofed all day.  They didn't turn out as well as the last batch and I think it's because I didn't let the dough bulk ferment enough.  

Which brings me to my question: What's the best bagel you've EVER had?  Have you even had a really, really good bagel?  I feel like truly good bagels are few and far between.  The best bagels I've ever had were from St-Viateur Bagel shop in Montreal, Canada.  Montreal-style bagels are smaller, thinner, hand-rolled, wood-fired, and a little crunchier than New-York Style bagels.  When I was a flight attendant I would always stop by St-Viateur in the airport for a delicious sesame bagel with salted butter.  Those bagels made layovers in cold, snowy Montreal a little more tolerable.  Paired with a hot Tim Horton's coffee?  Get out of here. 

I had to dig through my Instagram to find a picture of a Montreal bagel I had and this was the best I could find from 2016.  I mean, we are sharing photos from 2016, right?  Apparently I had a smoked meat bagel this particular time.  Not the most enticing picture, I admit.  I swear, they're good!  Side note - why did I post a picture of every Bloody Mary I drank and why did I drink so many?  Oh my gosh, my sodium levels must have been through the roof.

Another good bagel spot - Black Seed Bagels in Manhattan.  This one had sprouts and beautiful watermelon radish.  

What's your go-to bagel recipe?  I'm thinking maybe I'll try one of these:

Sourdough Montreal Style Bagels

Montreal Style Bagel Recipe
Sourdough Sesame Montreal Bagels

Cold Oven Baking

Am I the last person to discover cold-oven baking? I only heard about it a few months ago, even though the method has apparently been around forever. The idea of putting my carefully crafted artisan loaf into a cold Dutch oven felt completely backwards and totally against everything I’ve learned about baking bread at home.

Cold-oven baking basically means placing your food into an unheated oven, turning it on, and letting the bake happen as the oven warms. It cuts out preheating time, can save a bit of energy, and actually works well for certain breads, cookies, and cakes that benefit from a longer, gentler bake. It can also protect your bakeware from being heated empty. King Arthur even has a great comparison of sourdough baked in a cold oven versus a preheated one.

In theory, I love the idea. It sounds so much simpler: no half-hour preheat, no wrestling a blazing-hot Dutch oven out of the oven just to drop dough inside.

So on Sunday I baked two sourdough loaves—one cold-oven, one hot-oven. For the cold-oven test, I loaded the dough into my Aldi bread dome, covered it, slid it into the oven, and set the temperature to 450°F. I baked it about 30–40 minutes covered, then uncovered it for roughly another 20 because I wanted a deep brown crust.

Well…I definitely got a deep brown crust on the bottom. Burnt is probably the more accurate word. We literally had to cut the bottom off. The loaf did rise well and looked pretty good otherwise. For whatever reason, though, I think our oven just bakes oddly—uneven and painfully slow to heat.

The second loaf went into the same bread dome, but this time preheated in a 450°F oven for 30 minutes. It baked 30 minutes covered plus 20 uncovered, rose even better than the cold-oven loaf, had great color, and didn’t scorch on the bottom.

Brown, but not torched

So for now, I think I’m sticking with the method I know works. Still, I’m happy with how much my sourdough has improved over the past year. Next year’s goals: improving my pizza dough and finally nailing a really good focaccia.

BraveTart Buttermilk Biscuits

I finally got around to baking something from BraveTart's cookbook the other day.  I've owned this cookbook since February, thumbed through it a few times with intentions of baking one of the many delicious desserts from it, but hadn't settled on anything.

I've been craving biscuits lately, and decided on a BraveTart's Buttermilk biscuit recipe, since I had some buttermilk I needed to use up.  Oh, and also I bought some hybrid cherry-plums that I turned into jam and thought it would be delicious on biscuits with salted butter.

 It's not my recipe to give, but it's pretty similar to this one found on Serious Eats.  The recipe on Serious Eats uses 1 cup of yogurt, but if you substitute buttermilk, use 3/4 cup.

They were delicious and so very easy to bake.  No rolling pin necessary!  Also, I really like that you bake the biscuits in a cast iron pan.  I think next time I would cut them a little thicker and brush the tops with melted butter and a touch of sea salt.

Bon Appetite! 

Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread

October came and went didn't it?  I think that's the fastest a month has ever gone by in my lifetime.  It might have to do with the fact that I packed up my entire life and moved back to Missouri (from North Carolina) in three weeks.  So it was just a tad busy, but I did manage to bake this loaf of Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread, along with a batch of Browned Butter Toasted Pecan Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies, which were pretty good, but I feel like nobody really needs that recipe.  Or this one, to be honest.  There's a million pumpkin bread recipes out there and it's not like you need another one.  I guess me posting this recipe is my way of popping in to say hellooooo and I'm still kickin'.  I hope everyone out there is doing well and having a great fall. 

I'm looking forward to spending this autumn and upcoming holiday season with my family... it'll be nice to be so close to home for a while.  Oh and I can't wait to start baking again! 

Oh gosh, I had another thought the other day; October 2017 marked my tenth year of blogging!  I mean, if you can still call it that.  I barely blog.  But technically... ten years of blogging whoooooo hoooooo.  That's a long time.  That means this blog is ancient in blog years.  Maybe I'll get a second wind and revamp it (I've been saying that for a while).  In the meantime you can catch me on Wanderlust Pig where I eat allll of the delicious things.  

This pumpkin bread was delicious, if you do happen to make it.  I hate the silicon loaf pan that I have; it always bakes such a squatty loaf.  I'm glad I left it behind in North Carolina.  Time for a new loaf pan!  I spread buffalo milk butter on top of this bread, which was pretty good.  Thanks, Trader Joe's.

Cranberry Pecan Pumpkin Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 cups brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 can of pumpkin puree
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.  In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter and brown sugar until creamy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined.  Beat in pumpkin until well combined.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in pecans and cranberries until just combined.

Spread batter into prepared pan.  Bake 50-55 minutes or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.

Makes 1 loaf

Peanut Butter Protein Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

 

Peanut Butter Protein Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

1 cup old fashioned oats
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large ripe bananas, pureed or mashed
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
2 large eggs
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks

Blend oats in a food processor until finely ground.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt; whisk in oats.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together banana, water, brown sugar, molasses, eggs peanut butter and protein powder until well combined and smooth.  Whisk in dry ingredients until just combined.  Stir in chocolate until combined.

Spread batter into prepared pan.  Top with additional chocolate chunks, banana chips and peanuts, if desired.  Bake 40-45 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Morning Glory Muffins

Morning Glory Muffins

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups grated carrot (I lightly steamed mine for 1 minute in the microwave to remove some of the "raw" flavor)

3/4 cup crushed pineapple
1/2 cup grated apple
1/2 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans, toasted
1/4 cup raisins
2/3 cup quick oats

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease or line muffins cups with paper liners.  You can make 24 smaller muffins or 12 big muffins.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, brown sugar, oil vanilla and cinnamon until well combined.  Stir in carrot, pineapple, apple, coconut, pecans, raisins and oats until combined.  Stir in dry ingredients until just combined.

Divide batter into muffin pans.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until light golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into muffin cups out with moist crumbs attached.

Cool 5 minutes before transferring muffins to wire racks to cool.

Makes 1 dozen big muffins or 24 regular sized muffins

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup oil (I used olive)
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup blueberries

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a 12 cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking soda and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, egg and vanilla until well combined.  Whisk in yogurt until combined.  Stir in dry ingredients until just combined. 

Divide half of the batter into muffin cups.  Top with blueberries.  Cover the blueberries with the remaining batter.  Bake 15-18 minutes, or until light golden brown on top.  Cool for a few minutes before transferring muffins to a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins

Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Roasted Banana Bread

 Whole Wheat Peanut Butter Roasted Banana Bread

4 large bananas
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup oats + additional for sprinkling on top
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
2/3 cup chocolate chips or peanut butter chips (optional)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Peel the bananas and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake 15 minutes or until slightly golden brown and bubbly.  When cool, puree in a food processor.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk in oats until combined.  In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together peanut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and banana until creamy and well combined.  Beat in eggs until well combined.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in flour mixture, alternating with milk until just combined.  Stir in chips until combined.

Spread batter into a greased loaf pan.  Sprinkle with oats, if desired.  Bake 50-55 minutes or until well risen, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Cool on a wire rack.

Coconut Macaroon Cinnamon Rolls

Coconut Macaroon Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm (not hot) coconut milk

1 packet fast rising yeast
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened or non-dairy butter spread
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened or non-dairy butter spread
2 tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Glaze
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
3 tablespoons finely chopped dark chocolate

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, stir together coconut milk, yeast, granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons butter, vanilla, salt and flour until just combined.  Using a dough hook on a mixer, on medium speed, mix for 4-6 minutes, or until dough forms a ball and is smooth and elastic.  Cover dough with a towel or plastic wrap, and allow to rise in a warm area, until doubled in bulk - about 1 hour.

Roll out dough thinly on a floured work surface, into a 20x14 inch rectangle.  In a small bowl, stir together brown sugar, 1/4 cup butter, cocoa powder and cinnamon until well combined; spread mixture all over rolled out dough.  Roll up dough, jelly roll style, until you have a big log.  Slice into equal portions and place on a greased cookie sheet.  Cover with a towel and allow to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bake cinnamon rolls for 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes.

To make the glaze, sift confectioners' sugar into a medium sized bowl; whisk in coconut milk and vanilla until well combined.

Drizzle glaze on top of cinnamon rolls.  Sprinkle with coconut, almonds and chocolate.

Cookie-Cocoa Swirled Pumpkin Bread

Cookie-Cocoa Swirled Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
3/4 cup warm milk
1/3 cup chocolate chips
1/3 cup Trader Joe's Cookie & Cocoa Swirl

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar, vanilla and pumpkin until creamy.  Beat in egg, one addition at a time, until well incorporated.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in milk, alternating with flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips until well combined.

Spread 1/3 of the batter into prepared pan.  Warm the Cookie & Cocoa Swirl in the microwave for about 10 seconds until softened.  Swirl the spread into the batter.  Spread the remaining batter on top.  Bake bread for 40 minutes or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into bread comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Blueberry Pumpkin Bread

 


Blueberry Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 large eggs
1/4 cup oil (I used melted coconut oil)
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries (I used frozen)

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger.  In a large mixing bowl, beat together pumpkin, eggs, oil, milk, sugar and vanilla until well combined.  Beat in dry ingredients until just combined.  Spread 1/3 of the batter into pan.  Stir blueberries into remaining batter, then place batter in pan.  Bake about 45-50 minutes, or until well risen, golden brown, and a toothpick inserted into cake comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 loaf

Secretly Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Secretly Healthy Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
 
Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon melted unsalted butter
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups shredded zucchini (peeled)
• 1/3 cup chocolate chips plus additional for topping

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, using a mixer on medium speed, beat together butter, brown sugar, applesauce, honey, vanilla and egg until well combined.  Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in zucchini until combined.  Beat in flour mixture until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips until combined.

Divide batter into muffin cups.  Sprinkle additional chocolate chips on top.  Bake 15-20 minutes or until well risen and a toothpick inserted into muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached.  Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 1 dozen muffins

Light Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Light Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt 
• 6 tablespoons coconut oil (in melted form)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 lemon zested, juiced 
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 2 large eggs 
• 1/4 cup water 
• 1/2 cup light sour cream 
• 1 tablespoon poppy seeds 
• 1 cup fresh blueberries 

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a muffin pan with liners or spray with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together oil, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and vanilla until well combined.  Whisk in eggs, water, sour cream and poppy seeds until well combined.  Whisk in flour mixture until just combined.  Fold in blueberries until just combined.

Divide batter into muffin cups.  Sprinkle with extra sugar, if desired.  For regular sized muffins, bake about 16-18 minutes, or until well risen and light golden brown.  For Texas-sized muffins, bake about 25-30 minutes or until well risen and light golden brown.  Cool 5-10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups cake flour 
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• 1 large mashed banana 
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil 
• 1 large egg 
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Streusel

• 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter 
• 1/2 cup cake flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar

Instructions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mashed banana, milk, oil, egg, sugar and vanilla until well combined.  Gradually fold in flour mixture until barely combined.  Fold in berries until just combined.  Divide batter into muffin cups.

To make the streusel, in a medium bowl, using fingertips or a pastry blender, blend together butter, flour and brown sugar until combined and mealy.  Sprinkle streusel on top of muffin batter.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until well risen and golden brown.  Cool 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool.

Makes 1 dozen muffins