Naan Bread

Naan Bread

I love Indian food, particularly Naan bread.  I'm not very impressed with store-bought Naan so when I decided to make homemade Chicken Saag, I had to try homemade naan to go with it.  It's delicious!  Tender and buttery. 

Ingredients:
3-4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon sugar
3-4 tablespoons, melted butter

Directions:
Pour the milk into a liquid measuring cup and heat in the microwave until warm to the touch, about 110*F on an instant-read thermometer.  Mix the sugar and yeast into the milk and let it sit for 4-5 minutes until the mixture is foamy and the yeast has activated.  Once the yeast/milk mixture is foamy, pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add the salt and 2 1/2 cups of the flour.  Mix well to combine.  Continue adding flour gradually until a soft dough is formed that cleans the sides of the bowl.  Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 3-5 minutes in the mixer or 10 minutes by hand. 
Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and let it rest at room temperature, covered lightly with greased plastic wrap, for about 2 hours.  After the dough has rested, turn in onto a lightly floured surface and divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, rounding each into a ball shape.  Cover the pieces with a towel and let them rest for 30 minutes.  While the dough rests, preheat your oven to 500*F and place a pizza stone on the bottom rack of the oven (If you don't have a pizza stone, try grilling the dough on a lightly oiled outdoor grill or use a hot griddle to bake the naan, or use a baking pan turned upside down in the oven; you will need to experiment with cooking times if you use another method).
Once the dough has rested 30 minutes, one by one, roll each piece into a circle about 6-8 inches wide, depending on how thick you want it.  Lay the circle of dough on the hot pizza stone and spritz lightly with water.  Close the oven and bake the naan for 2-4 minutes, until it is lightly puffed and brown spots begin to appear on the top.  Remove the naan from the baking stone and place on a cooling rack.  Brush lightly with melted butter.  Stack the hot naan on top of each other as it comes out of the oven.  Serve warm. 


By:  MelsKitchenCafe

Dinner Rolls

Dinner Rolls

These rolls are awesome!  Warm and buttery!  They are pretty easy to make and they are delicious!  They are my new go-to recipe for holiday dinners! 

Ingredients:
1/4 cup warm water
2 packets active dry yeast (1/4 ounce each)
1 1/2 cups warm whole milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs
6-6 1/2 cups flour (spooned and leveled)

Directions:
Place water in a small bowl, sprinkle with yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.  In a large bowl, whisk together milk, butter, sugar, salt, and 2 eggs.  Whisk in yeast mixture. 
Using a wooden spoon, stir in 6 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until you have a soft, shaggy dough.  Add 1/2 cup more flour if necessary.  Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-10 minutes. (I use the dough hook on my mixer to mix in the flour and knead it, using speed 2 for 5-7 minutes).  Butter or spray with cooking spray the inside of a large bowl, place dough in bowl, turning to coat.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let stand in a warm spot until dough has doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
Butter two 9x13 baking pans.  Divide dough in half.  Roll each half into a 15 inch rope, cut each rope into 15 1-inch pieces.  Press each piece into a disk, then shape into a ball.  Arrange dough balls in prepared pans.  Cover pans loosely with plastic; let stand in a warm spot until rolls have doubled in size, about 1 1/4 hours.
Preheat oven to 375*F, with racks in upper and lower thirds.  In a small bowl, beat remaining egg until blended, brush onto rolls.  Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, rotating pans back to front and top to bottom halfway through.  Let rolls cool 15 minutes before serving. 

*To make ahead: Wrap pans well once they are in dough balls in the pans, freeze up to 2 months.  When you are making them, let them rise in pans 3 hours from frozen and then bake. 


By: Martha Stewart

Pita Bread

Pita Bread

Just another thing that is better homemade!  Great for sandwiches or dipped in hummus.

Ingredients:
3 cups flour, plus more as needed if dough is sticky
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon sugar or honey
1 packet instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:
Mix the yeast in with the flour, salt, and sugar.  Add the olive oil and water and stir together.  I use my kitchen aid with the dough hook.  Once it is  mixed into a ball, knead with dough hook on low speed for about 10 minutes.  Add flour as necessary to reach a tacky but not sticky ball of dough. 
When you are done kneading the dough, place it in a bowl lightly coated with cooking spray, rolling ball of dough around until it is all coated.  Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise about 90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
When it has doubled in size, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a ball, cover the balls with a damp kitchen towel and let them rest for 20 minutes. 
While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 450*F.  If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well.  If you do not have a baking stone, turn a cookie sheet upside down and place it on the middle rack of the oven while it is preheating.  This will be the surface on which you bake your pitas.
After the dough has relaxed for 20 minutes, spread a light coating of flour on a work surface and place one of the balls of dough there.  Sprinkle a little bit of flour on top of the dough and use a rolling pin or your hands to stretch and flatten the dough.  you should be able to roll it out to between 1/8"-1/4" thick, 6 inches in diameter. 
Place disks on a lightly greased baking sheet or parchment paper and let rise, uncovered until barely doubled in thickness, about 30-45 minutes. 
Open the oven and place as many pitas as you can fit on the hot baking surface.  They should be baked through and puffy after 3 minutes. 


By: Annie's Eats

Homemade Croutons

Homemade Croutons

This recipe is great and super simple!  Just save the ends of your bread loaves.  And you can make fresh, delicious croutons to add to salads and soups! 

Ingredients:
day old French bread (approx. 1/2 loaf, I love using my homemade French bread!)
olive oil (approx. 1/4 cup oil per 1/2 loaf)
salt & pepper to taste
Optional: seasonings of your choice  - I like Italian so I do some parmesan cheese, garlic, Italian seasoning (basil, oregano, thyme)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*F.  Using a bread knife, cut the bread into 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch cubes.  Make your cuts as similar as possible to help them bake evenly.  In a large bowl, toss bread cubes with enough olive oil to lightly coat.  Add the salt, pepper and your seasonings.  Once cubes are evenly and lightly coated, pour bread onto a baking pan lined with aluminum foil.  Bake bread in oven for 20-30 minutes until bread is golden and very crunchy.  Toss cubes several times during baking.  Store in a plastic container or bag for up to two weeks unrefrigerated.


By: A Sweet Pea Chef

Snickerdoodle Bread

Snickerdoodle Bread

Jim's favorite cookie is Snickerdoodles.  It's inevitable that I try every variation related to snickerdoodles for him, including bread!  This was fantastic!  A great breakfast treat or afternoon snack! 

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1 pkg Hershey's cinnamon chips (optional)
3 Tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*.  Cream butter, sugar, salt, and cinnamon until fluffy.  Add eggs and mix well.  Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.  Mix flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.  Add to wet ingredients and mix until all combined.  Add cinnamon chips if using.  Spoon batter into 4 mini loaf pans until about 2/3 full.  Mix 3 Tbl. sugar and 3 tsp. cinnamon and sprinkle over batter in each loaf.  Bake at 350* for 35-38 minutes.  Let cool before removing from pan. 


**Can be made in 2 large loaf pans, bake at 350* for 60-70 minutes, until toothpick inserted comes out clean. 
**You can make these as muffins (about 2 dozen total), bake at 350* for about 20 minutes. 
**Cinnamon chips are a seasonal item, you can find them at Hersheys.com. 
**For a healthier version, you can substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream. 

By:  LilLuna

Zucchini Bread

This makes a great breakfast or snack! I love to keep it around (I always try to freeze a loaf!).

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients:
3 eggs, well beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup oil
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups grated zucchini

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350*. Mix together eggs, vanilla, and oil. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Then add the grated zucchini. Pour batter into greased loaf pans. Bake for 1 hour.