Bagels Round Two : Gettin Fancy

I can't believe it's almost February. I feel as though the waning days of winter are creeping up on me way too fast, and the weeks are starting to fill up with road trips, friends visiting, bridal showers, concerts, and dinner dates. It's hard to find time to spend a weekend in the kitchen with a schedule like mine approaching. I will long for the lazy days of January when I had time to devote an entire day just to baking.

It may be a while before I have the time to whip up a batch of bagels again, so the ones in the freezer will just have to last me until April. My first attempt at bagels back in July went swimmingly, and I decided now that I got the basics down, it was time for some flavor! Taking a nod from Ina Garten's flavor combo in my favorite scone recipe, I made a third of the batch with dried cranberries and orange zest, one third topped with everything (onions, garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, and salt) and the last third plain and boring (but equally delicious).

I think this round of bagel-making secured my confidence in baking, and I am ready to keep on making my own baked goods, and veering a bit from the recipe books.

At the fault of this new found confidence, I now have three egg whites 'aging' on my counter top, waiting until tomorrow when they will be whipped into a batch of french macarons. I have been saying for the last few months, as soon as I get myself a Kitchenaid stand mixer, the first thing I am going to make is macarons. Well, I was a good girl this year and Santa brought me one for Christmas. Actually he brought me two (I must have been REALLY good), one from my family and one from my boyfriend (guess I gave enough hints huh? Subtlety is not my strong suit).

So with this being one of the last few weekends with an open schedule and no work, I will embark on what is supposedly a very tricky and fussy cookie, but is said to be well worth the effort and patience. Stay tuned!

Cranberry Orange Bagels and Everything Bagels

adapted from Peter Reinhardt's the Bread Baker's Apprentice

Sponge

1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour (I could not find bread flour, let alone high gluten bread flour, but I did find Vital Wheat Gluten Flour which I swapped one tablespoon of all purpose flour for the vital wheat gluten PER CUP of flour. So I ended up with 4 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten and 4 cups minus 4 Tablespoons of All Purpose flour)
2 1/2 cups water, room temperature

Dough

1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 3/4 cups unbleached high-gluten or bread flour
2 3/4 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey, or brown sugar (see note below)
2/3 cup orange flavored Craisins (or plain dried cranberries) chopped finely ***
1 tablespoon packed orange zest***

***I only made a third of the dough into cranberry-orange bagels. These are the measurements for a third, if you are making the entire batch cranberry orange, I would triple the amounts of cranberries and orange zest. ***

To Finish

1 tablespoon baking soda
Cornmeal for dusting baking sheets
1/4 cup each of poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried garlic, and dried onions, plus a dash of salt***

***Again, I only made a third of the batch into everything bagels, but I had a good amount of extra toppings leftover. If you are making the entire batch into everything bagels, you can probably get away with 1/3 cup of each***

Day 1: To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a 4-quart mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter top - mine did not fall, and it wasn't super foamy or bubbly... but they still worked out just fine.

To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining 3/4 cup flour to stiffen the dough - again, mine did not go quite so smoothly, I had to skip to the next step way before I was able to incorporate the 3/4 cup of flour in the bowl. Its okay, you can just work it in as you are kneading.

Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). The dough should be firm but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour and all ingredients should be hydrated. The dough should pass the windowpane test and register 77 to 71 degrees F. If the dough seems to dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems tacky or sticky, add more flour to achieve the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

If you are making cranberry orange bagels, during the last two minutes or so of kneading, work in the chopped cranberries and orange zest, kneading until it is evenly incorporated. I made a third of this dough plain, a third everything, and a third cranberry orange. So before incorporating the fillings, I divided my dough into three even pieces and just kneaded the orange and cranberry into one of the thirds. If you are making one big batch of the cranberry orange, there is no need to divide the dough at this point.

Immediately divide the dough into 4 1/2 ounce pieces for standard bagels, or smaller if desired. Form the pieces into rolls.

I do not have a kitchen scale (yet) so I pretty much just kept cutting the dough in half until the pieces looked like a good size. I ended up with about 36 small-ish bagels.

Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for approximately 20 minutes.

Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment (I used sil-pats, but parchment works as well) and mist lightly with spray oil. Poke a hole in each ball of bagel dough and gently rotate your thumb around the inside of the hole to widen it to approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter (half of this for a mini-bagel). The dough should be as evenly stretched as possible (try to avoid thick and thin spots.)

Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pans. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.

Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room-temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded (meaning they will go into the fridge and slow proof overnight) when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days).

If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the temperature of your kitchen, humidity, time of year, color of shirt you are wearing, mood your cat is in...okay those last few may not affect it, but sometimes it can seem that way.

Day 2: Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the pot the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

Mix the poppy seeds, sesame seeds, garlic, onion, and salt together and spread in a thin layer on a large plate. Set aside for later.

Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 90 seconds flip them over rand boil for another 90 seconds. If you like very chewy bagels, you can extend the boiling to 2-2.5 minutes per side . While the bagels are boiling, sprinkle the same parchment-lined sheet pans with cornmeal or semolina flour.

For the non-topped bagels, remove them from the boiling water with a spider or a slotted spoon and place them on the prepared sheet pans. For the topped bagels, remove them from boiling water and place them directly onto the plate with prepared toppings. Press them down gently to get toppings to adhere (be careful, they are hot) and then move them to the prepared baking sheet, topping side up.

When all the bagels have been boiled and topped, place the pans on the 2 middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 5-7 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. After the rotation, lower the oven setting to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 10-15 minutes, or until the bagels turn light golden brown.

Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving. Before you do this:

Or this:

Simple Comfort

After the holidays are over, it is refreshing sometimes to have a meal that is a bit on the lighter side (especially after eating all those fake girl scout cookies). It's also great to have a meal that you can clean out your fridge with. Its a great basic formula, but definitely not your run of the mill pasta dish or stir fry that usually seem to constitute a pantry meal.

This dish has all the good stuff. Creamy, crispy polenta and sauteed mushrooms and carrots, topped with a big 'ol fried egg. I am a firm believer in the "everything is better with a fried egg on top" school of thought. This separate but equally as valid as the "everything is better with bacon" school of thought. When the oozing yolk mixes with the earthy veggies and the cheesy polenta, it is heaven. Now that I think about it, I am totally adding bacon next time I make this.

I first saw a version of this recipe on thekitchn.com and really loved the combination, but I ended up changing it quite a bit. The night that I made this for dinner I made a soft polenta, but I truly believe the leftovers were better the next day when I cut squares of the cold polenta and sauteed it in a bit of olive oil. The cheese in the polenta became brown and crispy on the outside and was soft, hot, and creamy on the inside. Either way though, it is a filling, hearty meal that is full of protein that won't ruin your new years resolutions.

Fried Polenta with Balsamic Mushrooms and Carrots

adapted from thekitchn.com

Serves 3-4

1 lb mushrooms, cut into a 1/2 inch dice

3 medium carrots, cut into a 1/2 inch dice

1 clove garlic, finely minced

2-3 tablespoons oilve oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup instant polenta

1 1/2 cup milk

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

3-4 eggs (depending on how many people are eating, 1 egg per serving)

salt and pepper to taste

Bring water, milk, and 1/4 teaspoons salt to a boil in a small saucepan. When it reaches a boil, whisk in the polenta and reduce the heat to low and cover. Let simmer for 15 minutes with the lid cracked, stirring occasionally. Add the parmesean cheese and stir to combine. **You can make this a day ahead of time. Spread the polenta in a thin layer in the bottom of a baking dish and refrigerate overnight. Heat some oil in a non-stick skillet and fry the polenta until heated through and brown and crispy on the edges.**

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and saute for 2 minutes until garlic becomes fragrant. Add mushrooms, carrots, thyme and balsamic vinegar, stir to coat evenly. Saute for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until mushrooms and carrots are cooked through.

When the polenta and vegetables are fully cooked, heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a small non-stick skillet over medium-high heat and cook the eggs over-easy, making sure to leave the yolk runny (this is the best part).

Place a dollop of the creamy polenta (or a fried square of polenta) in the middle of a plate, top with a spoonful of the veggie mixture, and one fried egg. Sprinkle with a little extra parmesean cheese and devour.

This is a wonderfully quick (and inexpensive) weekenight meal, and a great way to use up leftovers. Enjoy!

Don't tell the Girl Scouts

Now that I have finally emerged out of my cookie coma, I can finally finish posting about all the Christmas goodies I made this year. This holiday season was a whirlwind of foodie extravaganzas. There were so many amazing meals, and delicious desserts, but most importantly I was able to get home to Minnesota and spend time (mostly cooking and eating) with my friends and family. I think they were just happy because I brought lots of cookies home with me.

Ask any of my roommates from college how much I love Samoas Girl Scout Cookies (or caramel de-lites) and they will probably roll their eyes. I have been known to hide the purple boxes in my room so that no one will steal them. It's just that there aren't that many in the box, they trick you and use one of those vacuum formed plastic thingies (yes that is the technical term, and yes as an industrial designer I should know the actual term) to space them out, and plus, they only come around once a year.

Not anymore. A great blog, Once Upon a Plate, posted a homemade version of these coveted cookies. I have had it bookmarked for a while now, and didn't think I was going to get to it this year, but after I screwed up a batch of caramels, (completely stuck to the pan after I neglected to line it with parchment paper) I figured it was a good excuse to make the 'samoas'. With a pan of homemade caramel and my hand mixer, I embarked on probably the most tedious kitchen endeavor I have ever taken on, and this is coming from the girl who has made homemade bagels and teeny tiny stuffed pastas in recent history.

But oh man...are they good. They don't taste exactly like the real thing, and I will definitely be purchasing copious amounts of the originals when spring comes around and 'Girl Scout Cookie Season' kicks off. I think these are actually a different animal altogether with the dark chocolate and the homemade salted caramel. They are rich, VERY rich. This is a good thing for a person like me (a person with portion control issues) as it limits me to one cookie per sitting. Although, I have recently discovered that they are best straight out of the freezer, and that whole 'one per sitting' rule no longer applies.

Homemade Samoas

(or Carmel De-Lites, depending on where in the country you live)

adapted from Once Upon a Plate

Makes about 4 dozen cookies

There are three main steps to this cookie, and you will see very quickly why this is a tedious process. First you make the buttery cookies that are buried beneath the caramel coconut goodness. I made mine with holes in the center this time, but if I make these again, I will skip that step. I ended up filling the holes with the coconut mixture, and was too lazy to re-poke the centers out. As I see it, if there is no hole, that just means there is more cookie. :-) Second step is to spread the coconuts caramel mixture on each one of these teeny cookies. Then comes the chocolate dipping/drizzling. The last part is probably the most difficult: waiting until they set before you pop them into your mouth.

Cookie Base

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

up to 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl using a hand mixer (or a stand mixer), cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in a few additions, beating on a low speed. Add the vanilla, and just enough milk to get the dough to come together, without being sticky (I only needed 1 tablespoon). Gather the dough together in a ball and divide into three equal parts.

In between two sheets of parchment paper, roll one of the pieces of dough out with a rolling pin until it is 1/4 inch thick. Using a 1.5" round cookie cutter, cut out circles and place them on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet.

If you want you can punch a hole out of the center of each round using the end of a large straw, or you can just skip this all together. Like I said above, if I make these again, I will not go through the trouble since it just got filled in with topping anyway.

Repeat this process until you have used all the dough, and feel free to re-roll scraps once or twice. Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes until the cookies are just lightly brown around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to allow to cool completely.

Topping

3 cups shredded coconut (I would recommend unsweetened, but like me, if all you can find is sweetened that works just fine!)

12 ounces good quality caramels (I used a homemade batch of salted caramels)

1/4 teaspoon salt (if you are using salted caramels, you can reduce this to 1/8 teaspoon, or skip it altogether)

3 tablespoons milk

8 ounces dark chocolate, roughly chopped or broken into small pieces (if you do not like dark chocolate, feel free to use milk or bittersweet, I think the dark helped balance out the intense sweetness of this cookie, if even just a little)

Preheat oven to 300 F.

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast for about 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes or so. Keep an eye on this in the last few minutes of toasting as the sugar in the coconut can scorch very quickly once it starts turning brown. Let cool on baking sheet.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a microwave safe bowl. Add the milk and the salt, and microwave for 3-4 minutes, stopping a few times to stir the caramel.

When it is completely melted and smooth stir in the coconut in a few additions. Use your judgement here, I did not end up adding 100% of the coconut because it started to feel like it was getting a little stiff. The right ratio of coconut to caramel is key to actually being able to spread the mixture onto the cookies, if there is too much coconut, it will be nearly impossible, if there is too little coconut, the mixture won't hold up as well and will ooze off the cookie before it sets. Test the mixture out as you go, add about 3/4 of the coconut at first, test a cookie, if it is spreadable and stays on the cookie for the most part continue on with the rest of the cookies, if it starts to ooze, add a little more coconut and test again. (This is clearly a very scientific process here)

Once you get the caramel mixture to your desired consistency, spread about 2-3 teaspoons of the mixture on each cookie with a small spatula or offset spatula (I actually found my butter knife to work quite well) and place on a clean piece of parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. While you are doing this, if the mixture starts to firm up, pop the bowl in the microwave for a few seconds to re-melt the caramel. If you are getting fancy (or not being lazy) take a wide straw and re-poke the holes in the center of the cookies, again I skipped this step. More caramel = GOOD. Let cool and set up for about 10-15 minutes.

Once the caramel topping has set a bit, place the chocolate in a small bowl and heat in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring thoroughly in between each interval until smooth. Be careful not to scorch the chocolate. You can also use the double-boiler method (which I did) by placing a small metal or glass bowl containing the chocolate over a small sauce pan with about an inch of simmering water, and stirring continuously until melted.

This is where it becomes important that you let the caramel topping set and cool, it will help you keep a grip on the cookie while dipping. Take each cookie and dip the bottom 1/4 inch into the chocolate, and place back on the parchment paper or silicone sheet.

After all the cookies have been dipped, pour the remaining chocolate into a small Ziploc bag (or pastry bag with a small tip) and cut off a very tiny portion of the corner of the bag. Pipe the chocolate over the top of each cookie, melting more chocolate if you run out.

Now here is the tricky part: don't touch them until the chocolate has set...which takes forever when you are staring at about 48 Samoa cookies laying on your kitchen counter. Mine didn't turn out quite as pretty as the originals, but they were tasty.

Hope your holidays were spectacular!

Chai-Spiced Cookies

Let the baking extravaganza continue!

The second batch of cookies that I attempted this Christmas season worked a little better than the first, (I chilled them for a little while before popping them in the oven, which prevented spreading like the thumbprints) but when it came time to dredge them in powdered sugar, my lack of patience got the better of me. I threw them in when they were a little too hot and ended up with sort of damp, almost glazed cookies instead of the light and fluffy confectioner sugar coating that I was hoping for.

Hell, they still tasted good. Judging by the fact that I had to put them in the freezer so that I would quit eating them, I'd say they turned out just fine.

These cookies are a great alternative to your standard spice cookie, they are complex and buttery, with a dash (well more than a dash) of sweetness from the sugar coating. I highly recommend adding these to your cookie repertoire.

Chai Spiced Cookies

From Whole Foods via thekitchn.com

makes about 40 cookies

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup powered sugar (confectioner's sugar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream butter and sugar together in large bowl with hand mixer (or in your stand mixer, whatever floats your boat). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, and salt. Beat the flour mixture and the vanilla into the butter mixture just until combined.

Pinch off teaspoon-sized balls of dough and roll them into spheres, placing them 1 inch apart on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet. If your dough is really soft and warm like mine was, pop the pans in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm them up. This will prevent the cookies from spreading at least a little bit. Bake until light golden brown, about 15-18 minutes.

Let the cookies cool for about 5-10 minutes on the cookie sheet (this is about the point at which I ended up with sticky gooey balls so BE PATIENT). When they have cooled, but are still slightly warm, toss each cookie in the powdered sugar to coat and place on wire rack to cool completely.

Cookies will keep in an airtight container for 1-2 weeks, or in my case as long as it takes to gobble them all up.

Try to save at least a few to share for the holidays.

Cookie (Semi) Fail...

It's that time of year again. Christmas cookie time. The baking has commenced and I wish I could say that it is going swimmingly. It's not. I have had to call the mommy christmas cookie helpline twice already...and it's only the 18th. Sigh.

The past two years I have made a jam thumbprint cookie form a Emeril recipe. The cookie itself is flavored with lemon zest and juice, and the filling is homemade raspberry jam. They are amazing, and probably in my top three favorite christmas cookies ever. They were super easy to make, and turned out quite pretty looking. You would think by now I could make these with my eyes closed, but this year they just didn't go well. Instead of cute little perfectly round cookies, with a dot of jam in the center, they spread into large flat discs with jam oozing out over the sides.

Luckily they still tasted fantastic.

There is a reason I usually stick to savory foods, I kind of suck at baking. Although I suppose there could be worse things to have to practice eh?

Besides the slight mishap (maybe I need to turn down the heat in my kitchen, who knows) these cookies are absolutely delicious. They aren't super sweet, which is probably why I enjoy them so much. Now the trick is just not eating them all before Christmas gets here...

Lemon Raspberry Thumbprint Cookies

Recipe from Emeril Lagasse on foodnetwork.com

1/2 cup raspberry jam (preferably homemade, but if you aren't lucky enough to have a mom that sends you multiple jars each summer, store bought is fine)

1 tablespoon chambord or kirsch (I didn't use any this time, but I have used triple sec and creme de cassis before, any berry or citrus liqueur that you have on hand will work, I recommend NOT skipping this ingredient, it adds some nice oomph to the cookie)

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the jam and whatever liqueur you are using. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together with hand mixer (or if you have a stand mixer do it in there. Also, if you have a stand mixer, I am jealous of you) until light and creamy. Add the egg yolks, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat to combine.

In two additions, add the dry ingredient mixture and beat just until wet clumps form.

Then using your hands, gather the dough together in a ball.

Divide the dough into 4 equal parts and form 12 1-inch balls out of each of those parts. Place balls on parchment paper or silicone mat lined baking sheets, leaving 1 inch space in between each cookie.

Using a 1 teaspoon measuring spoon (a melon baller works if you have weird square shaped measuring spoons like me) make a small indent into the top of each cookie.

Fill each indent with about 1/2 teaspoon of the jam mixture.

Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets for just a few minutes, then transfer to cooling rack.

More cookie shenanigans to come, don't worry.

Soup Arsenal

It is good to have a soup arsenal. A list of soups that you can make without consulting the recipe, soups that you are itching to make at the first hint of cold weather, and soups that consistently make you feel warm and full and satisfied. Soups that you like so much that you don't mind eating them for the next three weeks because you made such a huge pot.

This soup is going into my arsenal. I have survived almost three weeks of eating this soup, and as of this afternoon, I am still not sick of it. I fact, I kind of want it for dinner too...

I especially love roasted soups. Put a bunch of stuff onto a sheet pan, throw it in the oven for an hour, buzz it through the food processor and viola: creamy, healthy, thick, complex, soup. Its like magic.

Roasted Butternut Squash, Pear, and Shallot Soup

Adapted from Eatingwell.com

2 pounds peeled, seeded, and cubed butternut squash

2 ripe pears, peeled, cored, and cubed

5-6 shallots, peels and quartered

3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

4 carrots peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

4 cups chicken stock

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

crumbled goat cheese for garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine pears, squash, garlic, shallots, carrots, olive oil, salt and pepper, together on a large rimmed baking sheet and toss to coat evenly with the oil. Roast, stirring occasionally, until soft and starting to caramelize, about 50 minutes to 1 hour.

Working in batches, adding vegetables to food processor with enough chicken stock to aid blending. Blend until smooth and pour into large soup pot. Add any remaining stock, stir to combine, and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve in bowls with crumbled goat cheese on top.

Get cozy, its going to be a long, cold winter :-)

Don't forget the bread!

The only other part of my Thanksgiving feast that I managed to get picture of (only because I made them 4 days in advance when I wasn't going crazy yet) were the dinner rolls. I am slowly starting to get my sea legs in the world of bread baking, and now that I have a bread machine to do the dirty work for me, it is becoming much more approachable.

I use my bread machine just for the dough preparation, and then let it rise, proof, and bake outside of the machine. I just don't like the shape and consistency of the bread that comes out of there, and I feel like I have much more control outside of the machine. That said, it consistently puts out a perfectly kneaded ball of dough, and that I am thankful for.

I found these rolls on the blog 'A Bread A Day'. I am a big fan of this site, is it a great resource for basic and unique breads alike. This roll is a really standard butter and milk dinner roll, made fancy by plopping three little balls of dough into muffin tins. Easy as that! They are light and fluffy, and pull apart to make lots of surface area for whatever you are slathering on there (more butter).

Cloverleaf Rolls

adapted from A Bread A Day

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1 1/8 cups lukewarm water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for brushing on top of baked rolls

1/4 cup non-fat dry milk (if you can't find dry milk like me, just substitute one cup of water in the recipe for one cup of milk)

1/2 cup instant potato flakes (yeah I thought that was weird too, but turns out, its very common and helps make a light and fluffy bread)

Dissolve the yeast in 2 tablespoons lukewarm water and a pinch of sugar. Let sit for about 15 minutes until it is bubbly and has expanded.

Combine the yeast with the remainder of the ingredients (only use 1 cup of water - or milk if you are not using dry milk- since you used 1/8 cup water to dissolve the yeast in) in the bowl of your bread machine or stand mixer. Put it on the dough setting and as soon as it forms a smooth ball stop the machine.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl. Turn the dough around so that the oil coats all sides of the dough and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm spot and let it rise for about an hour, until it has doubled in size. My grandma swears by letting the dough rise twice in the bowl, and she makes AMAZING buns, so that is what I did. Punch the dough down gently to deflate, turn it upside down, cover, and let it double in size again about another 1 - 1.5 hours.

Lightly grease 1 12-cup muffin tin or 2 6-cup tins. Gently deflate your dough and turn it out onto a lightly greased surface. Divide the dough in 12 equal pieces. Take one piece and divide it into thirds. Shape each third into a ball and place the three balls into a muffin cup. Repeat for the remaining 11 pieces.

Cover the pans with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap and let proof for about an hour, until they are quite puffy. When they are ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the rolls until they are light golden brown, about 25 minutes. When they are just about done, melt 1-2 tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Remove the rolls from the oven and brush with the melted butter. Let the rolls cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.

I made these a few days ahead of time, wrapped in tinfoil and put in a freezer bag, and froze until the day I was serving them. When dinner rolled around, I popped them back into their muffin tins and reheated them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes. It was almost like I had baked them that day (shush don't tell anyone that I didn't).