Vegan Coffee Rolls

I've been on an eggless/vegan kick recently. Honestly the idea of eggs is freaking me out slightly. I never really enjoyed making or eating eggs, but now I'm more inclined to bake without them than with them if I can.

We have a family recipe for Coffee Rolls, that is similar to this recipe. However I wanted to work with a separate recipe than my families, because I wanted these rolls to not be a vegan version of something great, I wanted this recipe to be great on its own.

Vegan Coffee Rolls
prep time:  3 1/2 hours
cook time: 15 minutes
oven temp: 400 degrees
yeilds: 35 coffee rolls

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup soy milk (I used light soy because that is what I had.)
3 cups flour plus 1/4 cup flour for kneading
1/4 cup earth promise vegan butter
3 Tbsp sugar**
1 Tbsp ground flax seeds
3 Tbsp water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 Tbsp earth promise vegan butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

 It does say that this recipe will take 3 1/2 hours from start to finish, and yes that is true but a lot of it is resting and rising time. This recipe is not as intense as it seems from first look. So I'd definitely recommend trying it.

Dissolve the entire package of dry yeast in warm water, then add the soy milk and stir. Add 1 cup of flour to the yeast and soy milk mixture-you are making a yeast sponge. Let sit for 30 minutes.

Cream the vegan butter, and sugar. Microwave the flax seeds with the 3 Tbsp water for 30 seconds until it forms a gummy texture. Add the flax seeds to the creamed butter and sugar, stir in the salt. 

Once the yeast sponge has sat for 30 minutes mix in the vegan butter, sugar and flax seed mixture. Add 2 additional cups of flour to make the dough soft. Turn out onto your kneading surface. I needed an extra 1/4 cup of flour to get my dough to the correct consistency, but just work your dough slowly until it is soft and no longer sticky.

Place the dough into a greased bowl, and put in a warmed oven, let the dough rise for about an hour. The oven should not be on. You can warm the oven prior to placing the bowl in by having the oven on 100 degrees for about 5 minutes. The dough should about double in size.

While the dough is rising you want to make the filling. Fork the 1/2 Tbsp vegan butter, sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. It will end up being the consistency of sand.

Punch the dough down, and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, should be about 12 inches by 18 inches. Spread the cinnamon mixture over the entire surface. Roll the dough tightly. Cut into about inch width pieces and place into a greased muffin pan. Let the rolls rise in the muffin tin for another hour.  

Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until golden brown. Let sit in the muffin tins for a few minutes then turn out onto cooling racks, and let cool.

**Please note that if you are making this recipe for someone who is vegan you should either check with them on if they eat refined sugar, or buy vegan sugar.

Recipe variations: The coffee rolls that my mom makes have raisins in the filling, so if you like raisins you could always add this to the filling. I prepared half the recipe without raisins and half with. I added 1/8 cup of raisins to the filling ingredients. You can also top these rolls with icing, but I don't think they need that extra sweetness.

Be careful, as you can see above. One of mine stayed in the oven for a minute or two too long, and these ended up going down the drain. The caramelizing of the sugar and cinnamon creates this sticky goodness, but it will burn if you leave the rolls in too long.

I really liked these coffee rolls, just enough sweetness paired with the yeast dough, makes them perfect for a snack or breakfast.

Challah

My parents got me a wonderful present for Hanukkah this year. My mom and I got to attend a class at the Cambridge Culinary Institute. We choose the class "All you Knead (Bread Basics.)" It was such a wonderful time not only to spend the day together but to learn about bread making. We got to choose from a list of breads which one we wanted to attempt. As soon as we both saw challah on the list we knew that would be our bread of choice.


For my mom Challah is a daily occurrence, she eats it every morning for breakfast. For me Challah is a tradition passed from my grandmother to me. Every year my grandmother would make Challah for the high holidays, as she got older she could no longer make the bread, so I decided I would take over the task. The last few years I have been making the Challah, the same recipe that my grandmother made. I was never happy with how the bread came out. So I was really excited to learn about the bread, learn how to knead correctly and be able to make really good Challah for my family.


Challah

2 scant tbsp dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
3 large eggs
3 egg yolks
2 tsp salt
6 tbsp honey
1 cup hot potato water
1 cup mashed potatoes
6-7 cups all-purpose flour

Egg Wash

1 egg
1 egg white
2 tbsp milk

Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water, stir in the sugar to allow to activate. While the yeast is growing you should boil your peeled potatoes until soft. Drain the potatoes remembering to keep 1 cup of the potato water. Mash the potatoes until fairly smooth.


In a small bowl beat butter, eggs, yolks, salt, honey, hot potato water and mashed potatoes. (For the class we did everything by hand but you could easily mix this in a bowl with an electric mixer.) Cool the mixture to lukewarm. Add the yeast to this mixture. Beat in two cups of the flour and stir to combine. Add the rest of the flour until the dough is soft and formed.


Knead on a floured surface until dough is soft and springs back when you touch it. (Add more flour as necessary.)

Place into a well greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap place in a warm, wet environment and allow to double in size. This will take about 30 minute to an hour. Turn onto a floured surface and knead the dough for another five minutes. Slice into 12 even pieces. (You will end up with 2 good size challahs. For the class we made 4 smaller ones.) Roll each of the pieces into strands about 14 inches long, and braid 3 together. You will end up with 4 braids. Place two braids on top of each other (ending up with 2 total challahs.) Make sure to pinch the ends of the braids together.


Allow braids to sit until doubled in size again. Mix your egg wash together and brush over braids. Wait 5 minutes and repeat the wash. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown.


The texture of this bread was very nice, however my mom and I agreed that it was a little lacking in the flavor department, so I think we are going to try this recipe again with a little tweaking.


Going to the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts was a great way to learn about food and baking and spend time with my mom. I would recommend anyone in the Boston area sign up for a course (or two!)

Green Chile Cornbread

So I made this also for Ben and all the boys that would be piling into the smallest tv room ever to watch the Red Sox tonight...the bread sticks seemed perfect, but a little too easy. Today I needed a challenge. This recipe from Simply Recipes was perfect.


I did change a few things to the recipe, so my edited version is below.

Green Chile Cornbread

1 1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups chopped roasted green chiles*
1 1/4 cup Cheddar Jack cheese

*You can used can roasted green chiles (if you can find them) which I could not so I bought Anaheim Chiles and did it myself. All you need to do is put the chiles in an oven under the broiler until the skins are burned. Or how I did it was just hold it over my gas flame and rotate until all sides are chard. Place right into a paper bag. This will steam the chiles and the skin will peel back easier. Peel, and chop.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees


In a medium sized bowl combine the baking power, baking soda, salt, corn meal, and flour. In an electric mixing bowl cream the butter and the sugar add the sour cream and eggs. Add the dry ingredients and the milk alternating until fully mixed. Stir in the cheese and the chiles. Pour into a greased 9 by 13 baking dish.

Bake for about 30 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean, the top should be light brown. Makes 24.


This was so good, it was a little on the moist side for corn bread so maybe next time I would add a little more flour and a little less cheese. But overall it was yummy and spicy and another perfect snack for the game. I hope the boys like it, actually I know they'll love it. This is something a little unexpected, but adds flare to good old corn bread. Try it. :)

Cheesy Breadsticks

Now let me start this post by saying you must try this. Now they are not earth shattering, but they are great, a solid snack, accompaniment to a meal, or an addition to game day snacks. The reason you must try these for the ease in preparation, baking and making they are super easy and super good.



Cheese and Rosemary Bread Sticks

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup small shredded Gruyere cheese
2 Tbsp chopped fresh Rosemary
2 11 oz containers refrigerated bread stick dough*

*You can also use refrigerated pizza dough too.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a medium sized bowl combine the cheeses and the Rosemary. Separate the dough (or cut if you are using pizza dough) into strips. Take each strip and coat with the cheese rosemary mixture, twist and place on baking sheet, make sure you spread them enough because they will grow. Bake until golden brown 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm right away. This made about 50 bread sticks, if you don't need enough for an army of men, than just go ahead and halve the recipe.


I packed these up and brought them over to Ben's (yes Ben has moved since the last time I posted) where there are 10-15 hungry boys waiting to watch the Red Sox tonight. Easy, yummy and what more could you want.

Oh and I have the food network to thank for this recipe, the original can be found here.

Did Someone Order an Egg and Cheese on Toast?

Sunday morning, it comes around every week without fail. This Sunday morning was Mother's Day, so I needed to make something that was quick and easy to shuffle Ben off to spend the day with his Mother, and so I could get ready for our family festivities. I remember that my dad loved these egg sandwiches my mom always made and thought it would be easy enough to recreate. I knew Ben would love it, becasue he always does, no matter if it is actually good or not.


Egg & Cheese on Toast
Pam
2 Extra Large Eggs
2 0z 50% reduced fat cheese
2 Slices of toast*
Margarine or Butter to spread
Salt & Pepper to taste

*I used Pepperage Farm Whole Wheat White. I like white bread a lot better than Whole Wheat, this is a great compromise so that you are getting the benefits of Whole Wheat with the taste of White.


Pam a pan, and place on medium heat. Once the pan is hot, crack your two eggs directly into the pan. Let cook. I kept the yolks runny so I let the eggs cook until the whites were slightly browned. If you want not runny yolks, just flip the eggs for a minute until cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the eggs are cooking toast your bread and spread margarine or butter on the bread. Add cheese to one slice of warm, toasted bread, if the cheese needs a little help to start melting, you can pop it in the microwave for like 10 seconds. (Reduced fat cheese needs more help melting than regular cheese.) Once eggs are cooked, place on to of cheesed bread, and top with other piece of bread.


I would have served something on the side, but I was out of time, and did not want to be late to Mother's Day.


This took about 10 minutes, and was very successful, really quick, easy, and so much better for you than stopping at Dunkin Donuts for one of their greasy breakfast sandwiches. So do it yourself, becasue its just way yummier.

Banana Nut Muffins

Three ripe bananas on the last day of passover. It may not have been quite ok to go ahead and do some baking yet, but I decided that I needed to get my hands dirty in a little baking finally.


Three spotted brown bananas plus a boyfriend who loves banana bread but is trying to start eating better, equals Banana Nut Muffins. This way the potion size in controlled unlike the usually large slices that are taken from a loaf.


I used the same recipe that I do for making banana bread and just put them in a muffin tin, with liners of course. This cut the baking time from just about an hour to 25-28 minutes, and clean up was a snap. I under filled the muffins (getting 22 muffins, therefore Ben gets 2 for breakfast,) and would next time make them twice as big I think, fill them all the way to the top of the liner and do the recipe the original way.


This banana bread recipe spans my family, my mom, aunts, and I all use it, but we all do it a little differently. The original recipe stays to split the eggs add in the yolks first to the batter then at the last step, after the vanilla fold in beaten whites. This will add lift and a lightness to the bread. I have never done the recipe this way, my mom has done it both and my aunt swears by splitting the eggs up. For a muffin I think that puff and lightness may be needed to bring these Banana Nut Muffins to the top of the list.

There will always be another three ripe bananas, and therefore there will be another chance to take on these muffins.


*I only used a 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts, 1/4 cup into the batter and the rest sprinkled on top of the muffins.

French Toast with Pecan Banana Syrup

It was time for something different. A sweet Sunday morning breakfast for Ben, no more eggs and potatoes. He might not have been bored of it yet, but I was. I needed something...well great, and I needed to have some creativity in the kitchen. This came out great, but not fabulous. There are many reasons for that. All of which I will address. This became more of an experiment in making syrup than anything else.

French Toast! I thought, it's been forever since I've made that for Ben, I had the bread, eggs, everything I needed, so this seemed like a perfect idea. Now I went to the grocery store I think 2 or 3 times after I had come up with this idea. (I love going grocery shopping.) None of those times I ever thought to buy syrup. Well I did actually think about it and decided against spending 8 or so dollars on an entire bottle of syrup for one single breakfast and besides my roommates would end up using it. Now, I'm all for sharing, but between the beer and everything else they "borrow" I thought against it. It seemed a waste of money, and usually one of my roommates does have some syrup in the refrigerator so I thought borrowing a squeeze or two they might not notice. I did however notice the bottles of Jack Daniels and vodka that "disappeared."


Ok back to the french toast. Sunday, morning, well afternoon, I went downstairs to make breakfast, got the bread out, made the egg soak, and started looking in the refrigerator to find the syrup. NO SYRUP, Ahh. Whats french toast without syrup, its just disappointing. So I vaguely remembered watching a Paula Dean episode where she makes the syrup that goes on some tragically buttery breakfast. Alright, lets experiment. First the recipes:

Best French Toast

2 1/2 pieces white bread*
2 Extra large Eggs
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon


*Challah is the best bread to use for french toast, but in a pinch you can use anything even french bread or plain white as I did.


I cut the bread so that they would fit better in my smallish size pan but either way works. I didn't want to be cleaning every pan in the house after breakfast. The key to making a good Sunday morning breakfast is to get greatness and little clean up. Combine Eggs, milk, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl, add the bread to the egg wash and let soak for a few seconds on each side. Do not leave in the egg was for too long, especially with thinner slices of break, the liquid will start to break down the break and it will just be mush. Place in pan that have either butter or Pam in the bottom, and let cook over medium heat. Flip only once, it will need maybe 4 or 5 minutes on each side, but this also highly depends on the thickness of your bread.

Plate and cover in syrup. Dust with powdered sugar for a professional look.


Ok my syrup was almost like caramel, and this is the only fault that Ben found with the dish. By the end the thickness of the syrup was too much, he loved the taste of it, so therefore managed to clear the plate, but did comment that it was on the thick side.

Pecan Banana Syrup

4 tbsp butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup honey
1/4 whole pecans
1/2 banana sliced


Melt the butter in a small sauce pan over medium heat, add in the brown sugar and the honey. Stir to combine, let the sauce start to bubble up, this will start to thicken the syrup, take off heat, because you do not want it to burn add in the pecans put back over low heat and let warm. Start slicing in the banana and let sit in syrup for just a few seconds to let warm through. Top on french toast and serve.

It was great, but not amazing, maybe I put too much syrup on the plate when serving? Oh well it was a crisis averted, and a successful experiment.

Land Ahoy! One Eyed Sailor

I admit it, if I could I would watch food network all day every day, I would. So well as you can see I watch a lot of food network, and yesterday Paula Dean was making some breakfast/brunch dishes. She made one she called a one eyed sailor and I thought that would be the perfect Sunday morning breakfast for Ben, something new, fun and it looked so good when Paula made it. I made a few changes, because she made a cheese sauce to go with the one eyed sailors, and I thought that was just too much work for a Sunday morning. You can find her original recipe here.


So a one eyed sailor is a piece of bread with the center cut out, and an egg in the middle. Simple, but it looks extravagant and is soooo good.

One Eyed Sailor
2 eggs
2 pieces thick toast
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
pinch of chyanne pepper
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1/8 cup sharp cheddar cheese

You will also need medium sized cookie cutter, just big enough for an egg to sit in the middle of the bread. I used a frog, but I would recommend using a shape that doesn't have too many sharp edges. This will allow for the egg to sit better in the toast.


First cut out the centers of your bread. Then place butter in sautee pan and let melt, over medium heat add the spices to the butter and just stir to combine just so that the spices are even in the pan. Place bread with middle cut out in pan and crack egg into the middle, let sit, DO NOT MOVE, TOUCH, ANYTHING. Just let the egg and bread hang out until the egg is starting to cook and bread will be perfectly toasted, maybe 3 or 4 minutes on the first side. Then flip! The second side will take less time maybe 1 to 2 minutes, and then you have a one eye sailor. I then grated some sharp cheddar cheese on top before taking them out of the pan so it could melt into the top of the one eyed sailor.


Ben said "Tied for favorite with everything else." But he also said that if he had to only order one thing in a restaurant it would be this.

I also just grated up a Yukon gold potato and put it in a pan with a small yellow onion and let everything cook out until brown (a simple hash) to go with these one eyed sailors.

Naner Bread

One of my favorite childhood memories of my mom's cooking was the comforting taste of my Mom's banana bread, the top was my favorite. I used to eat the sides, middle and save the top for last. She made it once in a while and I used to eat it a a breakfast treat.


A couple years ago when I really started to bake and experiment with cooking, I decided to ask my mom for this recipe so that I could make Ben a Banana Bread, he loves banana bread, it's one of his favorite sweet treats. It seems like many of the things that I have put up on this blog are Ben approved, or one of Ben's favorites, but this is all family approved. There is nothing to change about this recipe because it makes the perfect banana bread. The right amount of banana to bread ratio, not too dense cake and amazing top crust.

All you need is a few extra bananas, and this week I bought some for the sole purpose of making Ben and his mom some banana bread.

Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp sour cream
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 medium sized ripe bananas
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Cream the softened butter and sugar together until smooth, add eggs, make sure to scrape down the sides to make sure that the sugar, butter and eggs are fully incorporated. In a separate bowl mix the sour cream and baking soda together, put aside. Mix all of the other dry ingredients together. Mash bananas with a fork until a gooey consistency and bananas to to sugar and eggs. Add in sour cream alternating with the dry ingredients until just fully incorporated. Add in the vanilla, and you can add in 1 cup of walnuts if you are using them. I am not putting the nuts in this time, the bread is a lot healthier without them, and you can then eat bigger slices. :)


Bake in a 350 degree oven in a greased loaf pan for about 55 minutes. A tooth pick entered into the middle of the cake should come out almost clean. Make sure you are not putting the tooth pick into a gooey piece of banana, because it will come out looking like the cake is not baked, when it might be. Let the bread sit in the pan for around 20 minutes until it has cooled. Run a knife along the edges of the pan to release the bread and flip over. Bread should come out easily. Let sit until fully cool, then make sure to cover so that it says fresh. The loaf will last a good week on a counter, or you can place it in the freezer for up to 3 months.


Make sure you share this bread with friends and family. It's too good to just take one slice.


Tip: Also I have found that if you double this recipe it will make 3 good size loafs, as a single recipe it makes a large loaf, you can also use 2 large bananas to substitute for 3 medium ones in a pinch.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

I'm not sure why yesterday I wanted to make focaccia bread, but while at work I decided to try and find a recipe and make it. The simple, salty bread is one of my favorites, but I only have it when I go to a restaurant that serves it.

There was a snow storm yesterday, so both Ben and I got out of work early. I thought making focaccia would be a nice afternoon activity and snack.


Making the dough turned out to be a bit harder than I thought, well only because I bought bum yeast. After two attempts at making my yeast grow I decided to just use the bad yeast, and have a bit crunchier focaccia. It would still taste the same I hoped.

Rosemary Focaccia Bread

1 package (.25 oz) active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 1/2-2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh rosemary
1-2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (optional)

First dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm water, and let it sit for about 10 minutes, it should grow and be bubbly (but if you're like me you have bad yeast...just go with it.) In a medium sized bowl combine the flour, salt, yeast mixture and the remaining 1/4 cup of water. Mix together with a spoon then use your hands to work ingredients together. You may need a little more flour or water to make the dough smooth and come together, but just go slowly adding, you can easily add too much and get sticky or dry dough. Knead the dough by hand for a few minutes. Place the dough ball in an oiled bowl and let it raise in a warm spot. (You can turn your oven on for 1 minute to 400 degrees, once the heat is off this will be a perfectly warm place for the dough to sit.) It will double in size in about an hour and a half.


Punch down the dough so that it sinks back down, and then place the dough on an oiled pan. (I used Pam to do this, but you can use either one.) Spread the dough out on the baking sheet and dimple the surface with your fingertips. Spread the oil out over the top and sprinkle with the rosemary and salt. I spread parmesan on half of my focaccia bread, but you can use it or not to your liking. I actually enjoyed the non-cheese side better than the other, but both flavors were eaten and loved by everyone, I think it just depends on your mood, and what you want to eat.

Place in a 425 degree oven for 20 minutes until bread is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature. Make a lot, because it will go fast. This bread was incredibly easy and yummy. One of my favorites that I will be making again. You can be really creative with your toppings, use other spices or every vegetables (like olives or sun-dried tomatoes.) Be creative with this one and use flavors that you like. This is a really good basic recipe that can be used over and over again with different toppings and will always be easy and taste good. We all loved it. Hope you try it and do too.