Butter Naan - #BreadBakers

Indian breads. My kitchen nemeses. I don't know what it is about them that I just can't seem to master. My favourite, paratha, is always a hit or miss, with more misses than hits. It could be the rolling. I'm still not very good at rolling out dough, especially when the dough needs to be on the thinner side. I can never get it even, which risks some areas being overcooked and others being undercooked. It could also be the heat of my tawa. Too high or too low - hardly just right. 

It took me a while to one to work on for this month's Bread Bakers. Naan won, because naan didn't look "perfect". I could focus on making it even without worrying if it were a circle. In fact, the blog that I was reading highly recommended hand-stretching over rolling. I could aim for an oval-ish and stress a tad less. A tad. 

It worked. My naan worked. Did I struggle a bit with the best cooking times? Yes. But did I have very delicious, fluffy naan at the end? Yes, yes, yes. I might even try this again.

Thanks for pushing me out of comfort zone, Renu! Scroll down to see how others mastered Indian breads this month!

Butter Naan

Yield:  8 naans

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar 

3/4 teaspoon active yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ml yogurt

6 tablespoons milk 

2 tablespoons melted butter

Melted butter for brushing

Directions

Whisk flour, sugar, yeast, and salt together. Add yogurt, milk, and melted butter. Knead until you have a soft, smooth dough. Add more milk if needed. Dough should be tacky.

Cover and rest until the dough doubles in size. You can also refrigerate overnight. 

Divide the dough into 8 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. 

On a floured surface, roll (hand-stretch) each ball into an oval that's about 8 inches by 5 inches. Don't stress too much about getting the perfect size. 

Heat a tawa (or griddle) over medium heat. Place the naan on the heated tawa. After about a minute, it should start bubbling. Flip the naan, and cook for another minute to minute and a half.  Remove from the tawa, brush with butter, and repeat.

Serve immediately. 

• Butter Naan from Passion Kneaded
• Cheese and Garlic Naan from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Gulachi Sanjyachya Polya with Whole Wheat Flour from Sneha's Recipe
• "Instant" Appam from A Messy Kitchen
• Khamiri Roti from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Litti Chokha from Cook with Renu
• Magical Avocado Paratha from A Day in the Life on the Farm

• Butter Naan from Passion Kneaded
• Cheese and Garlic Naan from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Gujarati-style Savory Pancakes from Food Lust People Love
• Gulachi Sanjyachya Polya with Whole Wheat Flour from Sneha's Recipe
• "Instant" Appam from A Messy Kitchen
• Khamiri Roti from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Litti Chokha from Cook with Renu
• Magical Avocado Paratha from A Day in the Life on the Farm

Banana Crunch Muffins - #MuffinMonday

It's mango season in the tropics, but only one of my mango trees got the memo. And sadly, it's the one that we call "common mango." It's a relatively ubiquitous variety and so, at the bottom of most people's favourite mango list. I was looking at my neighbour's yard and wondering if she was having better mango luck. 

Only one way to find out for sure: bake up some muffins, pay a visit, and casually ask about her mangoes. Unfortunately, her trees are struggling, too, but I managed to get a Julie mango. Love that variety. She did say that one tree had some small mangoes on it, so I may need to time my next batch of muffins accordingly. 

These Banana Crunch Muffins are the ones that I took over to my neighbour. They're filled with granola, and since granolas are not created equally, I could repeat this recipe with different varieties of granola and get different experiences. I used a local brand (National) that has sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberry, and coconut among other things.

Banana Crunch Muffins 

Yield: 12 to 15 muffins

Ingredients

340 grams bananas (approximately 3-4 large bananas)

200 grams brown sugar (you can get away with a little less)

2 eggs 

120 millimeters oil 

250 grams flour 

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup granola + extra for topping

Method

Preheat oven to 350 F and thoroughly grease the wells of a muffin pan.

Mash the banana with the sugar. Whisk together the egg and the oil, then add to the banana mixture.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt.

Slowly combine the wet and dry mixtures, mixing until just combined. Don't overmix!

Gently fold the one cup of granola. 

Fill each muffin well about 2/3rds, sprinkle with about two teaspoons each of granola, then bake approximately 18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool and devour.

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board. Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

• Banana Crunch Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Chocolate Espresso Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Rhubarb-Ginger Muffins with Vanilla Bean Streusel from Jolene’s Recipe Journal
• Sour Cream Banana Rhubarb Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Teff Brownie Muffins from A Messy Kitchen
• Western Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories

Filled Wool Rolls #BreadBakers

*Dusting away the cobwebs*

I had a goal for 2025. I was going to participate in every Muffin Monday and Bread Bakers. I barely participated in 2024, and I needed this for my sanity. My oven had other plans. A few days before Christmas, as I was whipping up the Christmas cakes, my oven said, "NOPE!" Luckily, the Christmas cake recipe is flexible,  so I had to quickly set things up to steam them instead. So close to Christmas, I didn't want to bother calling the repairman. 

And then work happened. 

There was just never a convenient day for me to deal with a repairman. It got to February, and I decided enough was enough. Because I don't even like cooking on the stovetop. Called the repairman, and he took forever to come. He showed up one Monday and said he'd be back in a week, "after the holiday." Listen, Jamaicans are the worst. That holiday was Ash Wednesday. ONE SINGLE DAY and he was taking a week off.  He didn't show up that Monday or the next. Excuses upon excuses. I was too busy to research a better option, so the oven just sat there. It wasn't until April 1 that the oven was finally fixed. April 1. 

Work and life were so hectic in March that I needed April to recuperate. So now it's May, and I've finally made something other than dinner. But this something was definitely worth the wait. Little wool rolls filled with a coconut cream cheese filling.  DELICIOUS. 

Filled Wool Rolls 

Ingredients 

Tangzhong 

3 tablespoons water

3 tablespoons milk, 

2 tablespoons bread flour 

Dough 

2 1/2 cups (300g) bread flour

1/2 cup (113g) milk

1 egg

4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup (50g) sugar

1 1/2  teaspoons instant yeast

1 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Filling 

8 tablespoons (113 grams) cream cheese

8 tablespoons shredded coconut

1 tablespoon sugar 

splash of vanilla

Topping 

Milk 

Sugar

Directions

In a small saucepan, combine all the tangzhong ingredients and whisk until no lumps remain. Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring regularly until it thickens to a paste. This can happen within 2 to 4 minutes, so do not walk away.

Transfer the tangzhong mixture your mixing bowl, and add all the dough ingredients. Knead with a dough hook for 8 to 10 minutes. If the dough is very sticky, you can sprinkle in a little more flour. However, this dough should be very tacky. It will stick to the bottom of a bowl.  Form the dough into a ball, and place in a covered, greased bowl. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. The chilled dough is much easier to handle.

Grease and/or line an 8 inch square pan.

Mix all the filling ingredients together. Taste and add more sugar, if you desire. 

Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces and allow to rest for 10 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one piece into an 8 inch square. Add a quarter of your filling to the bottom half of the dough. Use a dough cutter to cut the uncovered dough into thin 1/8 inch strips. Roll up the log starting from the filling covered end to the strips. Cut the log into 4 pieces and place in alternating rotations in the prepared pan. 

Repeat with the other three pieces of dough. 

Cover and let rise until puffy. This could take up to an hour depending on your room's temperature.  Before the dough is ready, preheat the oven to 350 F. 

When they're puffy, gently brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Cool. Enjoy. And consider sharing. 

Notes

• I originally wanted two different fillings but my jam and cream cheese filling failed spectacularly. It was much too loose to spread. I will try again with a different brand of jam. 
• I would have preferred fresh coconut since I do live in the Caribbean and actually have coconut trees in my backyard. But those trees are tall, and I need a brave person to climb them. Any volunteers?

• Alabama Orange Rolls from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cheesy and Spicy Wild Garlic Stuffed Spelt Rolls from Cook with Renu
• Filled Wool Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Hoagie Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Käsebrötchen from Food Lust People Love
• Orange Date Sticky Toffee Buns from A Messy Kitchen
• Soft and Fluffy Sourdough Hamburger Buns from Sneha's Recipe

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.