Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

Who doesn't love this time of year? I know I do. My favorite thing about fall is all the pumpkin goodies that get shared around my block. Of course we all battle to outdo each other and there are some pretty amazing dishes shared. This one I made for the first time about three years ago. I made it almost directly as written but after making them and eating them I realized that they needed a cream cheese frosting to take them over the top. All the comments from neighbors was they were good but really needed a cream cheese frosting. Well this year I decided to make these again and make the requested cream cheese frosting. I haven't heard back from the neighbors yet but based on the reactions my kids had the cream cheese frosting did make these truly delicious.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
adapted slightly from King Arthur Flour

1 cup canned pumpkin or squash
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup lukewarm water (adjust to your climate, wet needs less dry needs more)
1/4 cup soft butter
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons brown sugar, light or dark
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons instant yeast

Combine all ingredients in bowl. Mix to combine. Knead till smooth, sticky is okay, your looking for it to hold its shape.

Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl or other container. Cover, and let rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it’s puffy, though not necessarily doubled in bulk.

Gently deflate the dough, and transfer it to a lightly greased work surface. Roll the dough into a 14” x 22” rectangle. It’ll be very thin. Don’t stress if you can’t make it exactly 14” x 22”.

3 tablespoons melted butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Spread the melted butter over the rolled dough. Combine sugar and cinnamon and the sprinkle mixture over the buttered dough. Leave one edge clean. Starting with the end with filling, roll the dough into a log. Seal it closed. Next, you’re going to cut it into 9 rolls. It helps to use a ruler and measure the entire log, divide by 9, then actually make slight cuts, as a guide. A serrated knife is the easiest way to cut this dough. If things start getting too sticky, rinse the knife in hot water (don’t dry it), and continue. There you have it: 9 fat rolls.

Lay the rolls in a lightly greased 9” square pan; the pan needs to be at least 2” deep. Flatten them with your fingers, so they’re fairly tightly packed. Then cover, and let them rise for 1 hour, or until they look puffy – like this. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F. Bake the rolls for 25 to 30 minutes, until they’re lightly browned and feel set.

Remove them from the oven, and set them on a rack. Turn them out of the pan, and allow them to cool for about 15 minutes. Towards the end of the cooling time, make the frosting.


Cream cheese frosting:
4 oz room temp cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1/2 stick unsalted butter room temp
1/2 tsp vanilla
combine with mixer until smooth. spread over the top of warm rolls.

Sizzler Cheese Toast

So I originally posted this recipe a few years back but way back then I really didn't or couldn't figure out how to get a decent picture. Now that I have a new computer (loving the Mac and so glad I went with it) and a new camera (still learning it but getting better) I thought I'd start replacing some old recipes with horrible pictures with new and better looking pictures. First up is the Sizzler Cheese Toast. I don't know about you but my favorite thing about Sizzler is the cheese toast. I could make a whole meal with just the cheese toast if they would let me. Now mine isn't exactly like Sizzler's cause I prefer more garlic flavor (warning cut back on the garlic powder if you don't like to have a real taste of garlic). This is a simple recipe that even a beginner cook could make and it really doesn't call for any stranger or obscure ingredients. If your like me and love Sizzler cheese toast give this knock off a try.

Sizzler Cheese Toast

6 slices Texas Toast bread
1/2 stick butter, softened at room temperature
1 tablespoon garlic powder (use less if you don't like the garlic flavor, probably about 1/2 to 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Mix butter,salt, and garlic powder together. Preheat a griddle. Spread butter mixture on bread and sprinkle with cheese. Place buttered/cheese side down on the griddle and cook until brown. Remove and serve.

Neo-Neopolitan Pizza Dough

I love the idea of homemade pizza but honestly it's been hard finding a really good dough recipe. I have posted several different recipes on here in the past and yes they will make a decent dough. However I think I have finally stumbled onto what I'd consider one of the best doughs ever. An added bonus you can freeze the dough for future use. Mixing the dough was simple and easy and it requires only a few ingredients. You do need to plan ahead since it needs an overnight rest in the fridge. The dough was crisp yet chewy. I made three different types, pan pizza (which requires a longer cooking time then listed in the recipe), pizza done on a baking stone, and finally I used a cooking sheet. My favorite was on the baking stone followed by the cooking sheet. The pan pizza took forever to cook all the way through and the bottom was burned. I think my problem was I should have used less dough for the pan pizza. I also made bread sticks with the dough and they were great too.

Neo-Neopolitan Pizza DoughPeter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

5 1/3 cups (24 oz./680 g) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons (0.5 oz./14 g) salt or 1 tablespoon coarse kosher salt
1 teaspoon (0.11 oz./3 g) instant yeast
2 tablespoons (1 oz./ 28.5 g) sugar, or 1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons (17 oz./ 482 g) water, at room temperature
2 tablespoons (1 oz./28.5 g) olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using a mixer, use the paddle attachment and mix on the lowest speed for one minute. The dough should be coarse and slightly sticky. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes to fully hydrate.
Switch to the dough hook and mix on medium low speed for 2 to 3 minutes, until the dough is smoother but still soft, supple, and somewhere between tacky and sticky.
Spread 1 teaspoon of olive oil on a work surface, then use a bowl scraper to transfer dough to the oiled surface. Rub your hands with the oil on the work surface, knead the dough about 3-4 times then shape into a ball. (Note: Peter Reinhart has a different technique but I went with this simple one when I did my dough.) Divide the ball into 5 equal pieces, each weighing 8 ounces (227 g). Form each piece into a ball, then place each into a separate sandwich size freezer bag misted with spray oil. Seal the bag and refrigerate overnight or up to 4 days, or in the freezer for several months (take out at least one day before you want to make your pizza and store in the fridge).

Baking day:
About 90 minutes before you plan to bake the pizzas, place the desired number of dough balls on a lightly oiled surface. With oiled hands, stretch and round each piece into a tight ball, then place them on a pan that's been lightly oiled (preferably with olive oil). Loosely cover with plastic wrap to rest at room temperature until ready to bake.
About 1 hour before baking the pizzas, preheat the oven and baking stone as high as the oven will go. If your not using a pizza stone, assemble the pizzas on baking sheets, covered with parchment or oiled with olive oil, which is what I did. (Note: I did not preheat my other pans that I used.)

Assemble and bake:
Put about 1 cup flour in a bowl. Use some of it to dust the work surface, and your hands. Put one of the dough balls in the flour to coat the bottom. Transfer to the work surface and gently tap it down with your fingers to form a disk. Slide the backs of your hands under the dough, then lift it and begin to rotate it, using your thumbs to coax the edges of the dough into a larger circle. Don't stretch the dough with the backs of your hands or your knuckles, let your thumbs do all the work. If the dough starts to resist or shrink back, set it on the floured surface and let it rest for a minute or two. Move onto another ball. Continue working the dough and resting, as needed until it is about 10 to 12 inches in diameter. It should be thicker at the edges than in the center and the center should be thin but not paper thin. If the dough rips, you can try to patch it or you can form it back into a ball, move on to another dough ball, and try again in 15 to 20 minutes. (Note: I had kids helping me and mine were not done perfectly, in fact the kids rolled the dough with rolling pins. Don't stress if it doesn't work with the directions just find a method, like the rolling pin, that works for you. No one could tell which one I had done with my hands and which I had rolled.)
When the crust is ready to be topped transfer it to the cooking pan. Place flour on the stone or oil your pans. Top the pizza as desired and slide it into the oven.
Bake for about 4 minutes, then turn the pan around. It can take another 5 to 7 minutes for the pizza to fully cook. The edges should puff up and be a golden brown, perhaps even slightly charred (which adds loads of flavor surprisingly).
Remove pizza, garnish as desired, then let it cool for 1 minute before slicing or serving.

Pizza Twists

The latest King Arthur Flour catalog came and these were featured in the catalog.  Honestly if you don't get this catalog you need to sign up for it not only do they have neat stuff to buy that there are usually several recipes included.  I've never made anything from King Arthur that hasn't turned out good.  I decided however that I wanted to serve these as a meal so I added some ingredients.  I chopped up pepperoni into small chunks and microwaved them for a minute to cut out some of the fat.  I also chopped up mushrooms, green peppers, and onions.  Overall the flavor was amazing.  So without making you wait any longer here is the recipe with my changes, click on the link to see the original recipe.

Pizza Twists
King Arthur Flour

3/4 cup lukewarm water (about 110°F)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon Pizza Dough Flavor, optional
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 3/4 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/3 cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

Filling

1/4 cup shredded blend of cheese, I used asiago and parmesan
1 teaspoon pizza seasoning or the dried herbs of your choice
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup finely shredded mozzarella or pizza-blend cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil or garlic oil
about 4 ounces of pepperoni chopped into chunks
2 medium size white mushrooms chopped
1/4 of a green pepper, chopped
about 1/4 of a yellow onion, chopped

1) Mix, then knead the dough ingredients to make a smooth, elastic dough, about 5 to 10 minutes.

2) Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover it with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let it rise until it's doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

3) Make the filling by stirring together the cheese powder, Pizza Seasoning, melted butter, and water.

4) Grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment.

5) Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased work surface. Pat, then roll it into a 20" x 10" rectangle.

6) Spread the dough with the filling, leaving 1/2" free of filling along the long edges. Sprinkle with the shredded cheese.

7) Fold the dough in half so the long sides (free of filling) meet. Press together by rolling over the dough with a rolling pin. Cut into twenty 1" slices.

8) Place the slices about 1" apart on the prepared pan, twisting them as you lay them down. Brush with olive oil or garlic oil.

9) Cover and let rise for about 1 hour, or until puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 375°F.

10) Bake the twists for 20 to 25 minutes, or until they're light golden brown. Remove them from the oven, and serve warm with pizza sauce or marinara, if desired.

Yield: 20 twists.

Banana Bread

What do you do when you realize you have 21 bananas that are past their prime? I made all kinds of different dishes with them. One being this bread recipe. It's a simple recipe that calls for ingredients you should have on hand. I say it took me about 5 minutes to mix this up and it took about 1 1/2 hours to cook. Not sure why my time was longer than the recipe but I did have to cook it quite a bit longer. My favorite bananas to use when making banana bread are ones that are almost completely black. They are sweeter tasting and really easy to mash. I hope you like this recipe as much as I did.

Banana Bread
King Arthur All Purpose Cookbook

2 large eggs
1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
1/3 cup (2 3/8 ounces) vegetable oil
1 cup mashed banana (2 to 3 very ripe, large bananas about 7 to 9 ounces)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 2/3 cups (11 3/8 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
1 cup (8 ounces) yogurt, buttermilk, or sour cream (I used 1/2 cup buttermilk and 1/2 cup sour cream)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, and oil. Blend in the mashed banana and vanilla. Whisk together and then sift the baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour. Add all at once to the banana mixture. Mix quickly but thoroughly, then stir in the yogurt, buttermilk or sour cream, mixing until just combined.

Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Bake the bread for about 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean. If the bread begins to brown quickly tent it with aluminum foil after 40 minutes in the oven.

When the bread is done, remove it from the oven and place on a rack for 15 minutes; after 15 minutes, remove the bread from its pan and place on the rack to finish cooling completely.

Emmy's Pumpkin Bread

I made this bread a few weeks ago much to the delight of the family. No lie the two loaves of bread didn't last the night. Very simple recipe for a bread that tastes so great. Reminds me of a local bakery called Great Harvest who makes bread very similar to this. I wish I had made the glaze to go on top but I was out of powdered sugar and the bread didn't last long enough for me to go to the store to buy some.

Emmy's Pumpkin Bread
King Arthur Flour

2/3 cup shortening or 1 cup vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups sugar
4 large eggs
2 cups (or one can) pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

In a large bowl, cream together the shortening or oil and the sugar. Beat in the eggs, pumpkin and water. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla, stirring to blend, then mix in the chips and nuts.

Spoon the batter into two lightly greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pans. Bake the bread in a preheated 350°F oven for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a wire rack. When it's completely cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and store it overnight before serving.

If desired, just before serving, drizzle with an icing made of 1 cup confectioners' or glazing sugar, 2 tablespoons melted butter, and 1 tablespoon milk.

French Bread Rolls

These rolls have been the hit of the neighborhood this week. I've baked them three times this week alone. These rolls are also perfect for those wanting to try their hand at baking. They are so easy to make and require little time commitment with very few ingredients. However don't let the few ingredients or the simple directions keep you from making these rolls cause they are unbelievably tasty. Also they are a very light and fluffy roll. Thanks Melanie for sharing these cause they really are a great tasting roll.

French Bread Rolls
Mel at Mel's Kitchen Cafe

*Makes about one dozen rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Deflate the dough, and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 12-14 equal pieces, and form into round balls. Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart. Cover the rolls with a damp cloth (or greased saran wrap), and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Bake for 12-13 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden brown.

*Can freeze the rolls after baking – microwave on high

Best Biscuits 1st Place at the Davis County Fair

I just had to make these biscuits for the fair. They are the best ones I've ever tasted or made. Trust me you won't like other biscuits after having these. Comments from the judges were very flaky, tender, and down right yummy. I copied and pasted the recipe from a previous blog post but here is the direct link to that post.


I'm not making this up these are the best biscuits I have ever made. Plus, this is my favorite part of this recipe, I didn't have to struggle to cut in the butter. These biscuits had the best flavor of any biscuit I've ever made and they were so flaky. The recipe isn't hard and I promise you its worth the little effort required to make these. If all you've ever made are canned biscuits your in for a big treat. The recipe calls for vinegar and cream, both of which I did not have on hand. I used buttermilk when I made these biscuits as such I'm listing the buttermilk. If you'd like to try it with the vinegar and cream let me know and I'll post the amounts.

Best Biscuits
Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day

1 cup (8 oz) buttermilk
1/2 cup (4 oz) frozen unsalted butter (needs to be in the freezer for at least 30 minutes)
1 cup (4.5 oz) all purpose flour
3/4 cup (3.5 oz) pastry flour (you can use all purpose flour)
1 tablespoon (.5 oz) sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons ((.5 oz) baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (.13 oz) salt or 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Whisk the flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl.

Place a cheese grater over the bowl of dry ingredients. Remove butter from freezer, unwrap it, and grate it through the large holes into the dry ingredients.

Use your fingertips to separate and distribute the butter pieces evenly, breaking up any clumps but not working the butter so much it disappears or melts into the flour. Add the buttermilk and stir with a large spoon until all of the flour is hydrated and the dough forms a coarse ball. Add a tiny bit more buttermilk if necessary to bring the dough together.

Transfer the dough to a generously floured surface, then dust the top of the dough with flour. Working with floured hands, use your palms to press the dough into a rectangle or square about 3/4 inch thick. Use a metal pastry scraper to lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top of the dough with flour as well, then roll it out into a rectangle or square about 1/2 inch thick. Then, using the pastry scraper to help lift the dough, fold it over on itself into three sections as if folding a letter.

Rotate the dough 90 degrees, then once again lift the dough and dust more flour underneath. Dust the top with flour as well, the once again roll it out into a square or rectangle about 1/2 inch thick and fold into thirds. Give the dough another quarter turn and repeat procedure again. Then, repeat one final time (four roll outs in all).

After the fourth rolling, dust under and on top of the dough one more time, then roll the dough out to just under 1/2 inch thick, in either a rectangle or an oval. Use just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface.

Cut the biscuits with a floured pizza cutter. Transfer the biscuits to an ungreased sheet pan (lined with parchment paper) placing them about 1/2 inch apart.

Let the biscuits rest for 15-30 minutes before baking. Even better, place the pan in the refrigerator to chill.

About 20 minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Transfer the biscuits to the oven and lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees, or 425 for a convection oven. Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan and bake for another 6-10 minutes. until both the tops and bottoms of the biscuit are a rich golden brown. The bake time will be shorter in a convection oven. The biscuits should rise about 1 1/2 times in height.

Place the pan on a wire rack, leaving the biscuits to cool on the hot pan for at least 3 minutes before serving. The biscuits will stay warm for about 20 minutes.

9 Grain Bread 1st Place at the Davis County Fair

I love this bread. I'm not sure how to describe this bread but it is really really tasty. It's really simple to make, if you use a mixer, and it beats the socks off of any store bought 7,8, or 9 grain bread. If you buy the nine grain bread from Bountiful Baskets this is even better than that bread. My kids love it. I never add the sunflower kernels since my kids don't like crunchy things in their bread but add them if you prefer them. Comments from the judges were the bread was very fluffy for having so much grain in it and the taste was out of this world. One comment even asked to have the recipe emailed to her. This bread freezes well but I never get around to freezing it. Also I've taken to doing the work through step 2 and then refrigerating the dough overnight and then continuing the next day. It adds a little more depth to the flavor that you may really like.




Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Magazine:
makes 2 9 by 5 inch loaves

1 1/4 cups 9 grain (you can use 7 or 8 grain too) hot cereal mix NOTE: don't confuse this with breakfast cereal. Bob's Red Mill and Arrowhead Mills are two easy to find brands of this cereal mix. I've seen/bought them at Harmon's, Smiths and Winegar's.

2 1/2 cup boiling water

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting surface

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

4 tablespoons honey

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 tablespoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted pumpkin or sunflower seeds (you don't have to add these, I've made the bread with and without and its fine either way)

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats or quick oats

Step 1:
Place cereal mix in a bowl of standing mixer and pour boiling water over it; let stand, stirring occasionally, until mixture cools to 100 degrees and resembles thick porridge, about 1 hour. Whisk flours in medium bowl.

Step 2:
Once grain mixture has cooled, add honey, melted butter, and yeast and stir to combine. Attach bowl to standing mixer fitted with dough hook. With mixer running on low speed, add flours 1/2 cup at a time, and knead until dough ball forms, 1 to 2 minutes; cover bowl with plastic and let dough rest 20 minutes. Add salt and knead on medium low speed until dough clears side of bowl, 3 to 4 minutes (if it does not clear sides, add 2 to 3 tablespoons additional flour and continue mixing); continue to knead for 5 more minutes. Add seeds and knead another 15 seconds. Transfer dough to floured work surface and knead by hand until seeds are evenly dispersed and dough forms smooth taunt ball. Place dough into greased container with a 4 quart capacity; cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until doubled, 45 to 60 minutes.

Step 3:
Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray 2 9 by 5 inch loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and pat into 12 by 9 rectangle; cut dough in half crosswise with knife or bench scraper. Shape loaves and roll loaves in oats to coat and place in pans. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until double in size 30-40 minutes. Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle. Bake until internal temperature registers 200 degrees on instant read thermometer, 35-40 minutes. Remove loaves from pans and cool on wire rack before slicing, about 3 hours.

Banana Bread

We love banana bread in our house which is good because I always forget to serve bananas until they have turned all black and brown. I've discovered that waiting to use these bananas until they are really black and brown and really really squishy is it magnifies the banana taste in bread. So this has been the perfect solution to forgetting all about the bananas. I've tried hundreds of different recipes and I always seem to really like the ones with some unusual ingredients. I love using sour cream or yogurt in banana bread. They add a flavor and a tenderness to the bread that can't be beat. However this time around I discovered I had neither on hand so I started looking on the internet for a recipe with an ingredient that's different. King Arthur Flour (I love their recipes and their flour!) helped me out with a recipe. It called for apricot jam or orange marmalade. I'm not a fan of orange marmalade and as it turns out my husband ate all the homemade jars of marmalade and the few store bought jars I had on hand so I used my homemade apricot jam. Now I seriously was worried it would taste weird but was willing to give it a try. You really couldn't tell it had jam in it but there was a hint of something different in the bread. In the end I was only able to get one piece cause the kids ate the whole loaf. Big hit in this house.

Banana Bread
King Arthur Flour

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at cool room temperature
2/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark, firmly packed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium or 2 large bananas)
3 tablespoons apricot jam or orange marmalade, optional but tasty
1/4 cup honey
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional


Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 5" loaf pan.

2) In a large bowl, combine the butter, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt, beating till smooth.

3) Add the mashed bananas, jam, honey, and eggs, again beating until smooth.

4) Add the flour, then the walnuts, stirring just until smooth.

5) Spoon the batter into the prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.

6) Bake the bread for 45 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.

7) Bake for an additional 25 minutes. Remove the bread from the oven; a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean, with at most a few wet crumbs clinging to it. The tester shouldn't show any sign of uncooked batter. If it does, bake the bread an additional 5 minutes, or until it tests done.

8) Allow the bread to cool for 10 minutes in the pan. Remove it from the pan, and cool it completely on a rack.

Chocolate Babka

Who doesn't remember the Seinfield episode with the chocolate babka? Elaine and Jerry forget to get a number at the bakery and as a result lose out on the chocolate babka. One of my favorite episodes of the series. This bread is worth the time involved to make it. The smell is wonderful and the flavors are just as wonderful. It's a very rich bread but one that's worth the calories. I've given these as neighbor gifts in previous years and every single neighbor asked for the recipe. I love the cinnamon and chocolate blend plus the streusel puts it over the top. This is a must make recipe every holiday season for me.

Chocolate Babka
Smitten Kitchen

When shaping the babka, twist dough evenly throughout the length of the roll a full 5 to 6 turns. The babka can be prepared up to step 8 and frozen for up to a month before baking. When ready to bake, remove from freezer; let stand at room temperature for about 5 hours, and bake.

Makes 3 loaves

1 1/2 cups warm milk, 110 degrees
2 (1/4 ounce each) packages active dry yeast
1 3/4 cups plus a pinch of sugar
3 whole large eggs, room temperature
2 large egg yolks, room temperature
6 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces, room temperature, plus more for bowl and loaf pans
2 1/4 pounds semisweet chocolate, very finely chopped*
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon heavy cream
Streusel topping (below)

1. Pour warm milk into a small bowl. Sprinkle yeast and pinch of sugar over milk; let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2. In a bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, 2 eggs, and egg yolks. Add egg mixture to yeast mixture, and whisk to combine.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour and salt. Add egg mixture, and beat on low speed until almost all the flour is incorporated, about 30 seconds. Change to the dough hook. Add 2 sticks butter, and beat until flour mixture and butter are completely incorporated, and a smooth, soft dough that’s slightly sticky when squeezed is formed, about 10 minutes.

4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead a few turns until smooth. Butter a large bowl. Place dough in bowl, and turn to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Set aside in a warm place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

5. Place chocolate, remaining cup sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in remaining 1 1/2 sticks butter until well combined; set filling aside.

6. Generously butter three 9-by-5-by-2 3/4-inch loaf pans; line them with parchment paper. Beat remaining egg with 1 tablespoon cream; set egg wash aside. Punch back the dough, and transfer to a clean surface. Let rest 5 minutes. Cut into 3 equal pieces. Keep 2 pieces covered with plastic wrap while working with the remaining piece. On a generously floured surface, roll dough out into a 16-inch square; it should be 1/8 inch thick.

7. Brush edges with reserved egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of the reserved chocolate filling evenly over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Refresh egg wash if needed. Roll dough up tightly like a jelly roll. Pinch ends together to seal. Twist 5 or 6 turns. Brush top of roll with egg wash. Carefully crumble 2 tablespoons filling over the left half of the roll, being careful not to let mixture slide off. Fold right half of the roll over onto the coated left half. Fold ends under, and pinch to seal. Twist roll 2 turns, and fit into prepared pan. Repeat with the remaining 2 pieces of dough and remaining filling.

8. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush the top of each loaf with egg wash. Crumble 1/3 of streusel topping over each loaf. Loosely cover each pan with plastic wrap, and let stand in a warm place 20 to 30 minutes.

9. Bake loaves, rotating halfway through, until golden, about 55 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until babkas are deep golden, 15 to 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, and transfer to wire racks until cool. Remove from pans; serve. Babkas freeze well for up to 1 month.

* After chopping the chocolate into moderately sized chunks, I used the food processor to pulse the rest of the chocolate in two batches to small bits. It saved a lot of time!

Streusel Topping

Makes 3 3/4 cups.

1 2/3 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, and butter. Using a fork, stir until fully combined with clumps ranging in size from crumbs to 1 inch.

Stuffing Bread

I make my own bread for stuffing. I just find it makes for a much tastier stuffing than using the dried bread at the store or Stove Top. It's not that hard to make and it's also good for making turkey sandwiches. I make my loaves and slice them. After letting them dry for about 4 hours I package them and freeze until I'm ready to make stuffing. You can use this bread just as you would the dry bread cubes at the store only you may want to leave out some of the liquid. I add liquid slowly to the stuffing since the amount needed varies each time when using this bread.

Stuffing Bread
King Arthur's Baking Companion Magazine Winter 2006

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup onions, cut in a small dice

1/4 cup celery, cut in a small dice

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1 large egg

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

2 teaspoons chicken bouillon powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves

1 teaspoon ground sage

1 teaspoon dried parsley

1/2 teaspoon celery seeds

Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium heat; add the onions and celery and cook slowly until soft, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and cool the vegetables.

Place the remaining ingredients (not the cooked vegetables) in the order listed into your mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Once the dough begins to form, add the cooked vegetables and butter to the dough.

Knead for 6 to 8 minutes; the dough will seem dry at first, but will soften as the vegetables give up their liquid, and create a smooth, supple dough. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turn over to coat, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about one hour).

After the first rise, deflat the dough, form it into a loaf, and place in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 inch loaf pan. Cover the dough with lightly greased plastic wrap, and let rise again until the dough domes an inch above the edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Slash the top of the dough down the center, and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown and the internal temperature of the bread when measured in the center reads 190 degrees.

Remove the bread from the oven, turn it out of the pan, and cool completely on a rack before serving.

If you are using the bread for stuffing make sure its completely cool, then slice the entire loaf. Place the slices in a zip top plastic bag, and freeze until you are ready to make the stuffing.

60 Minute Snowflake Rolls

My kids could not eat get enough of these rolls. Lucky for me these are a quick roll to make because the kids ate the first batch before we could use them for dinner. These rolls go together quickly and taste like rolls that take hours. These rolls are my new favorite quick roll recipe. Next time I make these I am going to try using half whole wheat and half white flour. For those on Weight Watchers one roll is 2 points.

60 Minute Snowflake Rolls
The Baking Sheet Holiday 2008

3 1/2 to 3 3/4 (14 3/4 to 15 3/4 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (1 3/8 ounces) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons (2 packets) instant yeast
1 cup (8 ounces) milk or rice milk
1/2 cup (4 ounces) water
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Combine the milk, water, and butter in a saucepan and heat until very warm. The butter doesn't need to melt.

Gradually add the liquid to the dry ingredients and mix at medium speed for 2 minutes; the mixture will be quite wet. Add another 1/2 cup flour and beat at high speed for 2 minutes. The mixture will begin to get thicker.

Stir in enough of the remaining flour so that you have a soft dough. Knead on a lightly floured board for 5 minutes.

Put back into the mixing bowl after you've scraped it out, cover and let rise for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Turn the dough out onto your board and cut it into 24 equal pieces; each piece should weigh about 1 1/2 ounces. Shape into rolls by rolling them on the board with your cupped fingers.

Place the rolls into two greased 9 inch round cake pans. Let rise for 20 minutes, until they look puffy. For snowflake rolls, sprinkle the tops with flour just before baking.

Bake 15 to 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly. Remove from pan.

Bagels

These were delicious and well worth the little time I put into these bagels. They were better than the ones you buy at the grocery store and rank up there with Einsteins bagels. Given the price of Einsteins bagels these days I think I'll make own. You can play with the recipe and add whatever flavorings you want but I did plain and onion/garlic topped. The kids and my husband ate these quickly so I'm not sure how long they would last.

Bagels
King Arthur's Bakers Companion

Dough
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 cups (17 ounces) unbleached bread flour
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon non-diastatic malt powder, brown sugar, or barley malt syrup
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) lukewarm water

Water Bath
2 quarts (64 ounces) water
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) non-diastatic malt powder, brown sugar, or barley malt syrup
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Combine all the dough ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead vigorously by machine on medium low speed for 10 minutes. The dough will be quite stiff; it will "thwap" the sides of the bowl and hold its shape (without spreading at all) when you stop the mixer. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and set it aside to rise until noticeably puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide it into eight pieces, I made by bagels smaller and did 16 pieces. Working with one piece at a time, roll it into a smooth, round ball. Cover the balls with plastic wrap and let them rest for 30 minutes. They'll puff up very slightly.

While the dough is resting, prepare the water bath by heating the water, malt powder, and sugar to a very gentle boil in a large, wide diameter pan. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Use your index finger to poke a hole through the center of each ball, then twirl the dough on your finger to stretch the hole until it's about 2 inches in diameter (the entire bagel will be 4 inches across if using 8 pieces). Place each bagel on a lightly greased baking sheet and repeat with remaining pieces of dough.

Transfer the bagels, four at a time if possible, to the simmering water. Increase the heat under the pan to bring the water back up to a gently simmering boil, if necessary. Cook the bagels for two minutes, gently flip them over, and cook 1 minute more. Use skimmer or strainer, remove the bagels from the water and back on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.

Bake the bagels for 20 to 25 minutes, until they're as deep a brown as you like, turning them over after about 15 minutes, which will help them remain tall and round. Remove the bagels from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

If adding toppings to the bagels, bake bagels 20 to 22 minutes (or until they are almost as brown as you like) and remove the pan from the oven, keeping the oven turned on. Working with one bagel at a time, glaze (1 egg white beaten until frothy with 1 tablespoon water) and sprinkle with your desired toppings. Return the bagels to the oven for no more than 2 minutes.

Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf

This bread ranks third after the Egg Harbor bread and the First Loaf as my favorite bread so far. I'd say this has been the favorite of the kids so far as they took a loaf to split between them. This is a fairly easy bread to bake and requires only a few ingredients. I have to admit I'm really having fun trying all the different types of bread. I am surprised at how different breads can taste just be altering directions or ingredients.

Sister Virginia's Daily Loaf
Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

1 package dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105-115 degrees) , plus 1 cup water
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
7 cups bread or all purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon butter, melted
2 medium loaf pans, greased

In a small bowl or cup dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Stir to dissolve and set aside. Warm the milk in a large saucepan and add the sugar, salt, and butter. Add one cup water. Pour in the yeast mixture and stir together with a large wooden spoon.

Pour in 3 cups flour and beat for 3 minutes with the flat beater on your mixer. The batter will be smooth. Continue adding flour, 1/2 cup at a time, working the dough until it cleans the sides and bottom of the bowl.

Knead 8 minutes with the dough hook on your mixer. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature until it has doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Turn the dough out and knead briefly to press out any gas bubbles, and divide into 2 equal pieces. With your hands, press the ball of dough into an oblong piece the length of the pan. Fold lengthwise and pinch the seam together. Turn the dough over, seam down, and tuck in the ends. Drop into the prepared pan and push down with the fingers to fill the corners. Repeat with the second piece.

Cover the pans and leave until dough has doubled in bulk, the center slightly above the edge of the pan, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees 20 minutes before baking.

Brush the dough with melted butter, and place on the lower oven shelf. Bake until the crust is a golden brown and the loaves are loose in their pans, about 40 minutes. Thump the bottom crust with the forefinger. A hard hollow sound means the bread is baked. The bottom crust will also be nicely browned.

Remove the bread from the oven and turn the loaves onto a metal cooling rack. This bread freezes well.

Buttermilk Bread

I'm having fun working my way through this bread book. I'm almost done working my way through the white breads and the whole wheat breads are coming up soon. I'm not doing every recipe in the book, just the ones that I know we will like. One thing I've learned is homemade bread does not last long in my house. It seems I'm baking bread about every 2-3 days. Store bought bread goes moldy long before we eat it all. Having said that my favorite white bread I've baked so far has been the Egg Harbor bread. This buttermilk bread comes in really close to the Egg Harbor bread. The flavor is quite good in this buttermilk bread with none of the funky after taste in the store bought buttermilk bread. This has been the favorite bread of my kids. Both loaves were gone in less than 24 hours with most eaten by the three of them.

Buttermilk Bread
adapted from Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Bread

5 to 5 1/2 cups bread or all purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 package dry yeast
1 cup water
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 butter (The cookbook called for shortening but I prefer butter to shortening)
1 egg, beaten
2 medium greased loaf pans

In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and yeast. In a saucepan combine the water, buttermilk, and butter and place over warm heat to warm. Warm until the butter melts. Because of the buttermilk the mixture may look curdled. Gradually add the liquid to the the dry ingredients and beat for 2 minutes with the flat beater on your mixer. Add one cup flour to make a thick batter and beat for 2 more minutes. Switch to a dough hook and work in the remaining 2 to 2 1/2 cups flour. Add the flour gradually, until the mass of dough is soft and not sticky.

Knead until the ball of dough is smooth and elastic-about 8 minutes. If the dough is slack and soft and has a tendency to stick add sprinkles of flour. It will pull away cleanly from the sides of the bowl when it has enough flour.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until the dough has doubled in bulk about one hour.

Punch the dough down and cut into 2 pieces. Turn the cut side under and gently press and pat the dough into an oblong shape that will fit tightly into the pan.

Cover with waxed paper and return to a warm place for about 45 minutes or until the dough has risen about 1 inch above the edge of the pan.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees about 20 minutes before baking.

Bake for about 40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and a loaf sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom. If the bottom is soft and the bread does not seem brown enough, return the loaf to the oven without the pan for another 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the loaves on wire racks to cool.

English Muffins

First off if you haven't entered the giveaway for the tomato paste tubes click here for the details. Contest runs through Friday.

We don't eat English muffins a lot in our house and even when we plan to eat muffins I seem to forget to buy them. Adding to the fact that there are lots of chemicals in the store bought kind I decided to give my hand at making some. The recipe says to cook them then wait a day to eat them. I highly recommend you do that. Mine were gummy the first day but the second day they were just right. These do freeze well and I did freeze some for future use. I did not have English muffin rings so I shaped the muffins by hand. Not a perfect job but fairly close.

English Muffins
King Arthur's Bakers Companion

Starter
1 1/2 cups (6 1/4 ounces) unbleached all purpose flour
3/4 cup (6 ounces) water
1/8 teaspoon yeast

Mix all the starter ingredients in a medium sized bowl to form a smooth batter. Cover and leave at room temperature for at least 4 hours, or up to 16 hours. The starter should be puffy and full of holes when it's ready to use.

Dough
1 3/4 cups (7 1/4 ounce) unbleached all purpose flour
2 tablespoons (1/2 ounce) cornstarch
1 teaspoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons (7/8 ounce) sugar or non-diastatic malt powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons (1 ounce) butter, melted
3/4 cup (6 ounces) milk, warm
1 to 2 tablespoons cornmeal for sprinkling on the pan

In a large mixing bowl, beat together the starter and all the dough ingredients, except the cornmeal, to form a smooth batter. The batter needs to be beaten for 5 to 8 minutes. Cover the bowl and place in a warm spot until the batter has doubled in size, about 1 hour.

Lightly grease 10 to 12 English muffin rings and place the rings on a lightly greased or parchment lined baking sheet that's already been sprinkled with a small amount of cornmeal. If you don't have English muffin rings, simply drop the batter onto the pan and shape it with your fingers. The muffin won't be perfect but will taste just fine.

Stir the dough, then drop a scant 1/4 cup dough into each ring. Sprinkle lightly with cornmeal. Smooth the dough, if desired, with your fingers, dipped in water first. Cover the pan and place in a warm place to rise for 1 hour, or until muffins have grown by at least a third.

Preheat the oven to 350 degree. Bake the muffins for 25 minutes, until they're lightly browned on both sides. The muffins may be forked split and eaten immediately (they'll be soft) or, for crunchier muffins, cool them completely, split them and toast.

English Muffin Bread

My dad loves English muffin bread and since he's recovering from surgery I thought make him a batch. This bread really was not hard to make but it was a pain in the butt getting it into the baking pans. The dough is so sticky it does not want to release from anything. Not sure if there is anything you can do about that though. In the picture there are brown streaks which are due to using baking soda in the recipe. The streaks don't change the taste just make it less attractive. You can use baking powder in place of the baking soda if you'd prefer a loaf without the streaks.

English Muffin Bread
Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons salt
4 cups bread flour
2 cups hot water (120-130 degrees)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water

Grease two small loaf pans.

In a bowl combine the yeast, dry milk, salt and 2 cups flour. Pour in the hot water and stir to blend thoroughly. Stir in additional flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the batter is thick. Stir the batter for 3 minutes with a flat beater in the mixer. The dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl in thick ribbons.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put in a warm place (80-100 degrees) for about 1 hour, or until the batter has doubled in volume-it will be quite bubbly.

Stir down the batterlike dough and add the dissolved baking soda. Be certain it is well blended. Spoon or pour into the pans, pushing the dough into the corners with a rubber spatula. The pans will be about 2/3rds full.

Lay plastic wrap over the pans and return to a warm place. The dough will rise to the edge of the pans, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees 20 minutes before baking.

Bake the loaves for about 1 hour. The loaves will be well browned and pull away from the sides of the pan when done.

Turn the bread out from the pans. Allow to cool on a wire rack before cutting. The loaves can be kept for several months in a 0 degree freezer.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

I love homemade biscuits. I really can not stomach the taste of the canned biscuits you can buy in the grocery store. However I realize that I don't have the time to make homemade biscuits all the time. This recipe though is really quick to make and pairs well with a lot of dishes. From start to finish it takes about 30 minutes. I did sub evaporated milk for the cream, mainly because I did not have cream on hand and second to cut a few calories.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits
adapted from Cooks Country Dec./Jan. 2006

2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cheddar cheese
2 minced garlic cloves
1 1/2 cups cream or evaporated milk

Adjust oven to upper middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and garlic in medium bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds. Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving dry, floury bits in bowl. In 1 tablespoon increments, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened. Add moistened bits to rest of dough and knead by hand until smooth, about 30 seconds.

Pat dough into 8 inch circle, cut into eight wedges, and place on prepared baking sheet. Bake until just beginning to brown, 7 to 9 minutes. Remove baking sheet from oven, sprinkle 1 1/2 teaspoons remaining cheese on each biscuit, and return to oven, rotating baking sheet from front to back. Bake until golden brown and cheese topping has melted, 7 to 9 minutes. Serve warm.

Egg Harbor Bread

This loaf has surpassed the The First Loaf as my favorite bread I've made so far. The crust was perfect, not too crunchy yet not too soft. The inside was soft and delicious. The bread worked well for sandwiches, toast, and just plain eating. The bread was soft and fluffy. Trust me you'll love this loaf of bread. It really was not complicated to make it just takes some time.

Egg Harbor Bread
Bernard Clayton's New Complete Book of Breads

3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 1/2 cups hot water (120-130 degrees)
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
5 to 6 cups bread flour, approximately
2 packages dry yeast
1 egg, beaten, mixed with 1 tablespoon milk

2 medium loaf pans, greased

In a bowl dissolve sugar and salt in the hot water. Stir in the butter and set aside.
Measure 3 cups flour into the mixer bowl and add the yeast. Blend. Slowly pour in the liquid, using the mixer flat beater. Beat for 2 minutes.

Add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Attach the dough hook and add the flour to form a soft mass.

Add flour if necessary to make a soft, elastic ball that will form around the revolving dough hook and, at the same time, clean the sides of the bowl. Knead for 10 minutes.

The dough has 5 risings before it is made into loaves-the first time for 30 minutes, and 15 minutes each for the remaining 4.
Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside until dough doubles in volume, about 30 minutes.
Turn back the plastic cover and punch down the dough with extended fingers. Turn the dough over. Replace the plastic wrap and set aside for 15 minutes.
At 15 minute intervals, punch down the dough 3 more times.

Turn the dough from the bowl and allow it to rest for 4 or 5 minutes before dividing into 2 pieces.
Shape each piece into a ball. Flatten with the palm into an oblong roughly the length of the loaf pan. Fold lengthwise, pinch the seam together, tuck in the ends, and drop into the prepared pans. Press down with the hand to force the dough into the corners.

Cover the pans with greased wax or parchment paper and put aside until almost triple in volume. The dough should rise 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches above the rim of the tin in about 50 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees about 15 minutes before baking.

Brush the loaves with the egg-milk wash, and place the pans on the middle or lower shelf of the oven. Bake until the loaves are a golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes, and test done when rapped on the bottom crust with a forefinger. For a deeper overall brown, remove from the pans and return to the oven for an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and allow to cool on a metal rack before slicing.