Shortbread! The DoughDr - Saturday March 10, 2023

March 13, 2023

Hello Bakers,
Here is the recipe to match Saturday’s DoughDr Demo. A delicious shortbread that’s easy to put together and most likely you have all the ingredients on hand. Here is the link to Saturday's Show.
This week’s demo coincides with the season three premiere of Ted Lasso on March 15 - so now you can make delicious shortbread for your loved ones, your friends and you coworkers.

A word about pans - square pans for shortbread are traditional and there are also beautiful molds out there for the collecting. This recipe can be made in an 8” or 9” pan - they will be thinner in the 9” pan. If baked in the 8” pan they will take longer to bake - about 10 minutes longer.
Shortbread is a great keeper. Store the cookies in an airtight container and they will stay perfectly delicious for a few weeks. If you like to send cookies through the mail, these are a perfect choice. One last thing - the pure (no sugar added) vanilla powder is optional it does add great flavor. Amazon and King Arthur both sell pure vanilla powder. Happy Baking!
Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram@bakingwcolette. I love to see your beautiful bakes.

Equipment:

Stand or handheld mixer, spatula, bowl scraper, sifter or strainer, shortbread pan or 8”x 8” square pan

Ingredients:
227g all purpose flour
2g salt (1/2 teaspoon)
8g vanilla powder (optional) (2 teaspoons)
227g unsalted butter
179g sugar
8g vanilla extract (2 teaspoons)

Make space in the refrigerator to chill the shortbread before baking.
Sift together the flour, salt and optional vanilla powder.
Using the paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar and vanilla extract together for 2 minutes on medium speed. The ingredients will combined but the butter will still be slightly yellow in color - not quite to light and fluffy but mixed well.
Add the flour mixture to the butter and sugar mixture.

Mix on medium low speed until the the flour disappears and the dough is a cohesive mass - do not overmix.
Flatten the dough in the pan using plastic wrap try to get the dough as flat as possible.
Chill for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you like your shortbread paler, bake at 325 degrees - adding 12-15 minutes to the bake time.

Bake the shortbread for 22-25 minutes (depends on your oven) until the edges are lightly browned and the dough is completely opaque in the center.
Let cool on a rack for 20-25 minutes.
Unmold and cut. Shortbread will keep for 3 weeks in an airtight container. It is unlikely that they will last that long.

Let’s talk Toast with this delicious Whole Grain Power Loaf!

Whole Grain Power Bread - The DoughDr Saturday March 3, 2023

March 06, 2023

Hello Bakers,

Here is the Whole Grain Power Loaf recipe to match Saturday’s demo. This bread is one of my food groups - I bake a loaf about once a week, preslice it before freeze, double wrap and pull out slices as you need them - it takes about 90 minutes for the slices to thaw. It makes scrumptious toast and delicious sandwiches
Once you start making this you won’t stop. Please tag me when you bake it - I love to see your beautiful bakes.

Here is the link to Saturday’s show: DoughDr Episode 3/4/23

Saturday's ShowEquipment: Stand mixer, dough hook attachment, medium size bowl, 9x5” loaf pan. Scale
Ingredients:
228g water - 90 degrees
54g whole oats
7g instant or dry active yeast
36g milk - can be plant based - no need to warm
24g agave or honey
24g safflower or vegetable oil
43g sunflower seeds
30g flax seeds, ground
81g whole wheat flour - can be sprouted
244g bread flour
7g salt

Optional garnish: whole oats or sunflower seeds.

Combine the water and oats in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.
Let sit for 20 minutes for the oats to soften and hydrate.
Add the yeast and let sit for 5 more minutes.
Add the milk, agave or honey, vegetable oil, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, whole wheat flour, bread flour and salt.
Mix on speed 2 for 3 timed minutes, reduce speed to 1 or low and mix for an additional 3 minutes. Because of the whole grain the dough will not form a clear windowpane - but it should be well developed at this point.
Oil a medium size bowl very lightly and place dough in it. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise until doubled in size - this takes 60-75 minutes.

Power Loaf Dough ready for bulk fermentation

Make sure to flatten the dough for a pan loaf into the sides and corners of the pan

In the meantime spray or lightly grease the loaf pan.
Remove from the bowl and scale to desired weight based on the size of the loaf pan. It can be shaped into rounds (cut dough in half) rolls, dinner rolls 57g, sandwich buns 113g
Preshape the pan loaves into a rectangle and the boule and rolls into a tight round.
Bench rest for about 10 minutes.
Shape into a pan loaf or round. (you can roll the pan loaf on a wet towel and then in oats or sunflower seeds for garnish) or lightly spray with water
For the pan loaf: place the loaf seam side down in a greased loaf pan. Flatten the loaf into the corners.
Proof lightly covered at room temperature until the loaf has risen ½” over the top of the pan.
For the rolls - place on a parchment lined baking tray - a few inches apart.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 32 minutes for the loaf . If they are taking on too much color, reduce the oven temperature for the remainder of the bake. Loaf should register 210 degrees fahrenheit on an instant read thermometer - let loaf sit in a turned off oven for 5 timed minutes once it has finished baking to remove any excess moisture.
Rolls will take 20-22 minutes approximately depending on your oven.
Remove bread from the pan, and cool on a wire rack. Leftovers can be frozen. For the loaves, I recommend pre slicing before freezing. That way you can pull as many slices as you like for toast or sandwiches.

Marshmallow Fondant - Easy to make, roll out and delicious

February 27, 2023

Hello Bakers,

About 10 days ago, I was mixing fondant in an Instagram story. It got thousands of views and generated many requests for the recipes. So here it is.
There are smart things going on in this recipe. First it starts with marshmallows - so there is no need for glycerin or gelatin because they are already in the marshmallows.
The small amount of white chocolate makes the fondant sturdier. One complaint about marshmallow fondant is that it stretches too much. The white chocolate helps the fondant taste great. Also you can customize the flavorings - for the fondant I made for the video and photos I chose lemon extract but you can use any extract or flavoring.

Here is the recipe:

Yield: 1# 10 ounces (756g) enough to cover an 8” cake

454g (1 pound powdered sugar)
30g water
15g corn syrup
230g (4 cups) marshmallows - mini’s preferably because they melt faster
85g melted white chocolate, bar chopped or chips or candy melts
4g extract - clear vanilla, lemon or almond or any flavoring you want.

Gel Food color as needed
Shortening as needed

Melt the marshmallows, water and corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals until the marshmallows are melted
Add the white chocolate and the extracts and stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is well combined.
Add color
Sift about 400g powdered sugar into a large bowl. Have the remaining 54 grams on standby.
Make a well and pour the marshmallow/chocolate mixture into it.
Using a plastic bowl scraper work the powdered sugar and the marshmallow/chocolate mixture together.
Mix until a smooth paste is formed, adding more sugar if needed.
Knead until it is smooth and fun to knead. Use a little powdered sugar if the dough is sticky. Knead until the fondant is smooth - this can take about 10 minutes.
Rub a little shortening all over the ball of fondant.
Wrap the fondant, tightly, in plastic wrap and then place it in a Ziploc bag. Label and date.
Store at room temperature for 2 months. Can be used right away.

Sticky Buns! Light and Sweet - The DoughDr Episode 2/18/23

February 20, 2023

Hello Bakers,
On Saturday, I demoed how to shape and bake Sticky Buns. They start with a versatile sweet dough that’s filled with a spicy brown sugar and cinnamon filling and then baked on a layer of sticky bun spread that creates a delicious sweet and nutty glaze.
Here is the link to Saturday’s class: Saturday's DoughDr Episode
The recipe and method are below. For a real treat, I encourage you to try a batch of these - the dough is soft from the extra butter and egg - it’s a little on the sticky side but once chilled - which is the game changing technique for shaping - it is easy to manage.
I think you are going to love these - any questions let me know - and please tag me in your beautiful bakes. We’ll be back in two weeks with a healthy whole grain loaf.
Happy Baking! Colette

Sweet Dough
Yield 12 Cinnamon Rolls
Equipment: stand mixer, dough hook, spatula, bowl scraper, offset spatula, 13x9” pan, glass or metal, well buttered, aluminum foil, half sheet tray, or
Ingredients:
500g all purpose flour
12g instant yeast (active dry yeast can be used)
200g (80 degrees) milk (200g water and 12g of milk powder can be substituted)
100g (2 large eggs)
75g sugar
75g butter - softened
4g vanilla (1 teaspoon)
10g salt
In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with the dough hook, combine the milk and yeast, stir for 10 seconds and let sit for 5 minutes.
Add the eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, flour and salt.
Mix on low speed for 2 minutes or until the dough comes together.
Add the butter in 3 increments. Make sure the first increment is well mixed before adding the next one.
Once the butter is incorporated and mix on medium speed for 6 timed minutes.
If necessary, stop the mixer and remove the dough from the dough hook if necessary.
Remove the dough from the mixer bowl, pat into a rectangle shape. Cover and bulk ferment for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, shape the dough into an approximate 8x12” rectangle, cover with plastic wrap and move the dough to the refrigerator and chill the dough until it is chilled 1-2 hours. It can overnight ferment but no longer than 15 hours from the original mixing time. Any longer and the dough can over ferment and develop an off flavor.
Lightly dust the work surface with flour and roll the dough out to 10x14” it should be about a healthy1/4” thick.
Using a ruler, mark ½” below the top long edge of dough.
Spread the softened butter in a thin layer, covering all three sides below the ½” line.
Sprinkle the filling over the butter covering it thoroughly.
Fold over the bottom edge and begin to roll evenly.
Cut into 1 ½” thick slices with kitchen twine, string or a serrated knife with a gentle sawing motion.
Place in the buttered pan with ½” in between each roll.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Let proof until there is no space between the filling and the dough and the dough has expanded out and has a slight marshmallowy texture.
Full pan - check in 22-25 minutes. A large pan may take as long as 30 minutes.
Look for the rolls to be a beautiful light golden brown and fully baked - not gooey in the center.

Classic Sticky Buns

Baking Equipment: 13x9” pan or large muffin tins for individual buns (2 needed for full recipe), saucepan
Components:
I recipe sweet dough
1 recipe filling
I recipe sticky bun smear
Pecans or nuts of choice

Filling

Equipment: bowl, spatula, whisk, offset spatula
Ingredient
113g butter, softened
99g brown sugar
6g cinnamon (2 teaspoons)

Equipment: 2 bowls, spatula, whisk

Soften the butter in a small bowl with a spatula so that it is easy to spread.
Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.

Sticky Bun Pan Spread
Equipment Saucepan, whisk, spoon, offset spatula

1 ½ times for 13X9” pan
128g butter
300g brown sugar
85g honey
113g pecans - chopped - other nuts can be used

X1 (individual sticky buns) baked in muffin pan - **a half recipe of sweet dough will yield 6 individual Sticky Buns - baked in a large muffin tin.
85g butter
213g brown sugar
57g honey
85g - 100g pecans - chopped

Whisk until smooth. Remove from heat.
Spoon or pour sticky bun smear into greased muffin tins for individual sticky buns or spread in bottom of greased 13x9” for pull apart sticky buns. ¼” layer of smear is sufficient.
Scatter or arrange pecans or desired nuts in the bottom of muffin tins or pan. Place cinnamon rolls on top, proof until they look like they have expanded by about 1/3rd - I always say they look like they took a breath and held it - see the before and after below.

Rolls will be a light golden brown and fully baked.

Unmolding the Sticky Buns do this right away before the caramel hardens - be careful the caramel is hot! Line a baking tray with aluminum foil. Wearing oven mitts, place the foil lined pan on top of the buns and carefully invert the pan.

Individual Sticky Buns (baked in a buttered muffin tin) - check in 15-18 minutes.

When making the sticky buns in a muffin pan make sure it is on a lined baking sheet as the filling can bubble over.

Full pan - check in 22-25 minutes. May take as long as 30 minute

Classic Sticky Buns

Baking Equipment: 13x9” pan or large muffin tins for individual buns (2 needed for full recipe)

Components:

1 recipe sweet dough

1 recipe filling

I recipe sticky bun smear

Pecans or nuts of choice