Ceckerboard Bread - #BreadBakers

So the theme for August's Bread Bakers is "Picnic". You think long and hard and finally come up with the perfect idea. You feel witty. Checkerboard bread to mimic picnic blankets. Get it? Checkerboard? Picnic blanket. Perfect, right? You submit your idea and then immediately remember that picnic blankets are plaid not checkered. 

Doh!

Plaid or not, I'm glad I can participate in this month's Bread Bakers. Work won't let me be great so I'm missing out on a lot of baking but this month's Bread Bakers is super special. It's our tenth anniversary. I still remember how excited I was when Stacy first posted about this group. I had just begged my way into the original bundt baking group and was very excited that there was another group to join. 

If you're wrapping up your summer with a picnic or too, scroll down for some options for your spread.

Checkerboard Rolls 

Ingredients 

4 1/2 cups (540 grams) flour 

2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 eggs

1 cup milk 

1 tablespoon oil 

2 to 4 tablespoons water 

2 tablespoons cocoa powder 

2 teaspoons water to make a paste with the cocoa

egg + tablespoon of water for an egg wash

Directions

Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.  Add eggs, milk, and oil. Knead together. You want your dough to be soft and tacky so add a little of the water at a time to achieve this. My climate is extremely humid and I only used about 2 tablespoons. 

Knead the dough for a few minutes until it is almost smooth and then divide into two equal pieces. Put one piece aside and continue kneading the other until it is smooth, soft, and tacky. Place in a covered, oiled bowl. 

Next, add the cocoa paste to the other half of the dough. Thoroughly knead until the cocoa paste has been fully distributed. This is the hardest part for me. I always question my choices whenever I decide to colour dough. Will it blend? But don't worry, it will come together.

Put the chocolate dough into an oiled bowl and cover.  At this point, I prefer to put the dough in the fridge for a slow, cold rise. But you can let the dough rise at room temperature. 

When the dough has doubled, grease a 9" x 13" baking pan. 

Working with one piece of dough at a time, divide the dough into six equal pieces. Roll each piece into a smooth tight ball. Place alternating colours into the baking pan. 

Cover and let rise at room temperature until doubled and puffy. This could take about an hour.

With about 20 minutes left, preheat the oven to 375F. 

When the rolls are doubled and puffy, brush with egg wash and bake for 20 minutes or until the lighter coloured rolls are golden.

Cool and enjoy. 

• Baked Whole Wheat Kachoriby Cook with Renu
• Checkerboard Rollsby Passion Kneaded
• Cheddar and Herb Loafby Palatable Pastime
• Easy Sourdough French Country Breadby Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Eggless Fruit & Nut Chocolate Banana Loaf by Sneha's Recipe
• Garlic Herb Fan Rollsby A Messy Kitchen
• Hushpuppiesby A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Niçoise Picnic Squaresby Food Lust People Love
• Schiacciata all'Uva by Culinary Cam

Spicy Cheesy Breadsticks - #BreadBakers

I teach until 9:30 on Monday nights and sometimes I'm barely keeping up after class. Tonight was a little hard because I'm battling a headache. I was mentally planning the last couple hours of my Monday night (exercise? Connections? Duolingo?) when I noticed a notification on my phone. I'd seen it before but never really paid attention. But now, something said LOOK. It was the Facebook notification for our Spicy Bread with Peppers event being hosted by Radha.

Oh crap! I had completely forgotten that this was due tomorrow. I made my entry over a month ago (never happens) but just never had time to write up the post. And now, here we are on a night when I have no gas in the tank and a ridiculously early morning ahead. Well, let's do this! Forgive my mistakes, please. 

Be sure to scroll down to see all the peppery offerings today.

Spicy Cheesy Breadsticks

Ingredients

Dough 

3 1/2 cups flour 

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon salt 

1 1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons oil 

Topping

2 tablespoons melted butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes

1 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

Directions

Whisk together flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Next, add water and oil and knead for about 7 minutes or until you have a soft tacky dough. Transfer the dough to a covered, oiled dough. I like to proof my dough overnight so I placed the dough in my fridge. However, you can proof at room temperature for about an hour or until doubled. 

Preheat the oven to 425F. 

Combine melted butter, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Set aside. 

Divide the dough into two. You will only need a half for this recipe. Or you could double the topping ingredients and make two sets of cheesy breadsticks. On a sheet of parchment, roll the dough out into a 9" x 13" rectangle. 

Brush the melted butter mixture across the dough and then sprinkle evenly with cheese. 

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Slice into sticks and serve. 

• Garlic Chili Pepper Flatbread from Food Lust People Love
• Hatch Chili and Gouda Sourdough from A Messy Kitchen
• Jalapeño Popper Pizza from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Radish Stuffed Calzone from Sneha's Recipe
• Roasted Pepper and Onion Spelt Flour Bread from Cook with Renu
• Roasted Red Bell Pepper and Red Chili Sourdough from Zesty South Indian Kitchen
• Sambal Oelek Milk Bread Buns from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Spicy Cheesy Bread from Passion Kneaded

#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.

Italian Easter Bread #BreadBakers

It's Bread Bakers Day! And today the bakers are making Easter breads. Be sure to scroll down to see the list of Easter delights we have for you today.     

Italian Easter bread has been on my to-bake list for the longest while. The sprinkles. The coloured egg. It's so very inviting. But somehow, I never made it until this year. Colouring eggs is not part of the Jamaican Easter tradition - our focus is on eating and partying - so this is the second time I've ever coloured eggs. The first time was for another Easter bread.  I was nervous about colouring the eggs because I only have brown eggs. In fact, it wasn't until I was thinking about colouring eggs for this recipe that it even occurred to me that brown eggs are the majority here. But it turned out perfectly fine. The eggs took on the colour quickly and got darker as time passed. 

I loved the flavour of this bread - the recipe calls for orange juice, zest, and anise. I don't have access to anise so I followed the instructions and substituted with cinnamon and nutmeg. It's a very subtle taste but still very good. 

Italian Easter Bread

Ingredients

1/4 cup sugar 

zest of an orange

480 to 600 grams flour 

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

2 eggs

juice of an orange (approximately 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup oil or melted butter

1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water for egg wash

sprinkles 

6 coloured eggs (no need to boil)

Directions

In a large mixing bowl, rub the zest into the sugar. Add the dry ingredients (starting with 480 grams of flour)  and thoroughly combine. Next, add the eggs, orange juice and oil. 

Knead until you get a soft, tacky dough. You don't want it to be sticky or twisting will be messy. Ask me how I know. If it's sticky, add in a little more flour. 

Allow the dough to bulk ferment at room temperature until doubled or you can do this in the fridge overnight. This is my preferred method. 

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

When the dough is doubled, divide into 6 equal pieces. Next, divide each piece into two pieces. Roll each piece out to a 14-inch log. You're then going to twist two pieces together and bring the ends together to form a wreath. If your logs are sticky, dust them with some flour. 

Place each wreath on the baking sheet to proof until puffy. 

When they are almost ready, preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Mix the egg and water together for the egg wash. Brush the proofed wreaths with egg wash and then sprinkle on as much sprinkles as your heart desires. 

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until your bread is golden brown. 

Cool and devour. 

What Smells So Good: Bunny Bread
Palatable Pastime: Carrot bread
A Messy Kitchen: Carrot Milk Bread
Magical Ingredients: Carrot stuffed buns
Sneha’s Recipe: Carrot Whole Wheat Bajra Flour flatbread
Ambrosia: Rosemary Dinner Rolls
Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Casatiello Napolitano Italian Easter Bread
Passion Kneaded: Italian Easter Bread
A Day in the Life on the Farm: Hot Cross Buns Muffins
Zesty South Indian Kitchen: Sourdough Osterbrot:German Easter Bread

#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.