When I first moved to Iowa five years ago, I wasn’t really prepared for the long winter season that seemed to start early in the fall, and last all the way until March, or even April. The wind was cruel and the icy roads were enough to make me want to curl up under the covers and hibernate until spring. One of the ways that I have found to embrace our long winter months in Iowa was bread baking. I started with this easy Brioche Loaves from Ina Garten, that had very forgiving dough. It was successful and definitely a must if you are new to bread baking. I was hooked. The wonderful aroma of breads baking in the oven filled up my kitchen every time I got the chance to bake throughout the winter season.
This year, I wanted to use Dorie’s recipe for the same bread, and wanted to see if they are different. Dorie’s recipe was definitely more buttery, and had more delicate crust. Ina’s recipe was also a lot more “cakey” (if there is such word!). I can’t say which one is better than the other, they are just slightly different, and it is really up to your personal preference. This recipe required a lot more time to make, with the kneading, but it was worth the wait! I enjoyed them fresh out of the oven, sliced with homemade jam, toasted and lathered with peanut butter, and even turned them into French Toast. If you have tried both recipes, let me know which one you prefer! Or, if you have a different recipe all together. Brioche is such a special treat, I’d have a hard time believing there is a recipe that is superior than others 
Ingredients
For the brioche
2 packets active dry yeast
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch water
1/3 cup just-warm-to-the-touch whole milk
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
3 sticks (12 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature but still slightly firm
For the glaze
1 large egg
1 Tbl water
Directions
To make the brioche
Put the yeast, water and milk in the bowl of a stand mixer and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the yeast is dissolved. Add the flour and salt, and fit the mixer with the dough hook, if you have one. Toss a kitchen towel over the mixer, covering the bowl as completely as you can—this will help keep you, the counter and your kitchen floor from being showered in flour. Turn the mixer on and off in a few short pulses, just to dampen the flour (yes, you can peek to see how you’re doing), then remove the towel, increase the mixer speed to medium-low and mix for a minute or two, just until the flour is moistened. At this point you’ll have a fairly dry, shaggy mass.
Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula, set the mixer to low and add the eggs, followed by the sugar. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for about 3 minutes, until the dough forms a ball. Reduce the speed to low and add the butter in 2-tablespoon-size chunks, beating until each piece is almost incorporated before adding the next. You’ll have a dough that is very soft, almost like a batter. Increase the speed to medium-high and continue to beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a clean bowl (or wash out the mixer bowl and use it), cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 40 to 60 minutes, depending upon the warmth of your room.
Deflate the dough by lifting it up around the edges and letting it fall with a slap into the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator. Slap the dough down in the bowl every 30 minutes until it stops rising, about 2 hours, then leave the covered dough in the refrigerator to chill overnight.
The next day, butter and flour two 81/2-x-41/2-inch loaf pans.
Pull the dough from the fridge and divide it into 2 equal pieces. Cut each piece of dough into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece into a log about 3l/z inches long. Arrange 4 logs crosswise in the bottom of each pan. Put the pans on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat, cover the pans lightly with wax paper and leave the loaves at room temperature until the dough almost fills the pans, 1 to 2 hours. (Again, rising time will depend on how warm the room is.)
Getting ready to bake: center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
To make the glaze: beat the egg with the water. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the tops of the loaves with the glaze.
Bake the loaves until they are well risen and deeply golden, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer the pans to racks to cool for 15 minutes, then run a knife around the sides of the pans and turn the loaves out onto the racks. Invert again and cool for at least 1 hour.
Yield: 2 loaves
Serving Suggestion
As soon as the loaves cool, they are ready to be sliced thickly and served, toasted or not, with butter and jam.
Storage Recommendation
Well-wrapped (cooled) loaves will keep overnight at room temperature. If you’d like, you can rewarm the loaves by wrapping them in aluminum foil and heating them for about 15 minutes in a 350-degree-F oven. The loaves can also be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to 2 months; defrost in the wrapping.
Adapted from Dorie Greenspan‘s Baking From My Home to Yours
Adapted from King Arthur Flour’s website
In the last weeks of my move, I found some frozen cranberries from last year that I wanted to use, but unfortunately a lot of the recipes I have seen use dried cranberries (which is also an option for this recipe if you choose). This recipe also uses whole wheat flour, which is an ingredient that I have been making an effort trying to use more of in my baking, but I know isn’t as easy to use without coming off with strong “wheat flavor”. These muffins had sturdier crumbs than what you’d normally find in butter-based muffins. The quick cooking oats and the milk powder were said to be responsible for making these still moist, but not soggy, which I would agree. When I first made them, I skipped the glaze, and used the fresh cranberries. They tasted good, but missed “something”. I must also add a disclaimer that I don’t normally need super-sweet muffins. I decided then to make the glaze, and I think that did it, and the sweetness was perfect.
Ingredients
Muffins
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) King Arthur Traditional Whole Wheat Flour or King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup (2 5/8 ounces) quick-cooking oats
1/4 cup (1 3/4 ounces) buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk
2/3 cup (4 5/8 ounces) sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries,* chopped
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
1 tablespoon orange zest (finely grated orange peel)
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk
1/3 cup (2 1/4 ounces) vegetable oil or melted butter
Glaze
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) orange juice
3 tablespoons (1 1/4 ounces) sugar or 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted
*For a sweeter muffin, substitute 1 cup sweetened dried cranberries.
Directions
Muffins
Preheat the oven to 375°F. Grease the wells of a muffin tin, or line with papers, and grease the inside of the papers.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, then stir in the cranberries and nuts. Whisk together the orange zest, eggs, milk, and oil or melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until blended; don’t beat, or your muffins will be tough! Fill the muffin cups or liners about 3/4 full.
Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until they’re golden brown. Remove them from the oven, leave them in the pan for 5 minutes, then take out of the pan and transfer them to a rack to finish cooling.
Glaze
In a small saucepan or the microwave, stir together the glaze ingredients. Bring just to a boil, to dissolve the sugar. Dip the tops of the warm muffins into the glaze.
Yield: 12 muffins.
I have been wanting to make my own breads for a while, and must admit that I am a little bit intimidated by the whole process. I always assumed that bread making usually takes so much time, and requires a lot of kneading, which I am not very excited about. I have made bread in the past before using a bread machine, but that was way back in college. I can’t even recall what recipe I used, and so I began my hunt for a simple bread recipe that I could try with a high possibility for success (I figured if I failed in my first attempt, I *might* get discouraged in the future).
I quickly landed on this recipe, another one from one of the Barefoot Contessa books. This recipe claims that it doesn’t require any kneading although it needs to sit overnight, therefore you need to plan for it. I thought okay, this sounds too good to be true. I must say though that this recipe truly delivered on its promise: it was easy to make & does not require kneading. It just takes time , so I had to plan for it a little bit–and I didn’t have any problem with waiting (well, not for this one–but I normally would). The reward of having this freshly baked good out of the oven was worth the time I waited for the dough to be ready. I even enjoyed the process of waiting for this bread to be prepared.. I love the smell of the dough as it was mixed in the mixer (Red told me that it reminded him of a brewery… well, I was thinking more of a bakery, but okay, I got his points… yeast + wheat= beers! Got it). Then finally when it was baking in the oven, the wonderful aroma of this bread completely filled the house.
I was finally rewarded with a slice of this warm bread with soft texture in the inside and a crunchy skin on the outside. This one was a keeper–and I will make it again in the future!
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (110 to 120 degrees F)
1 package dried yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
6 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
4 -1/4 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk for egg wash
Directions
Combine the water, yeast, and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. (If the bowl is cold, start with warmer water so it’s at least 110 degrees when you add the yeast.) Mix with your hands and allow to stand for 5 minutes until the yeast and sugar dissolve. Add the eggs and beat on medium speed for 1 minute, until well mixed. With the mixer on low speed, add 2 cups of the flour and the salt and mix for 5 minutes. With the mixer still on low, add 2 1/4 more cups of flour and mix for 5 more minutes. Scrape the dough into a large buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
The next day, allow the dough to sit at room temperature for 1 hour. Grease two 8-1/2 X 4-1/2 X 2-1/2 loaf pans. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and cut in half. Pat each portion into a 6×8-inch rectangle, then roll up each rectangle into a cylindrical loaf. Place each loaf, seam side down, into a greased pan. Cover the pans with a damp towel and we set aside to rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, 2 to 2-1/2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. When the rolls have risen, brush the top of each with the egg wash and bake for 45 minutes, or until the tops spring back and it sounds slightly hollow when tapped. Turn the loaves out onto a wire rack to cool.
Adapted from Barefoot in Paris
