Bread Machine Hearty Rolls

December 5, 2024 Sarah

I took the dough for my recent water bagels and decided to see how it would work as a simple roll, not a light dinner roll, but rather a hearty one for lunches to make a sandwich with.

The boys were quite happy with them, though I found them heavier than I like – but since I am not eating sandwiches, I was happy with the results if they liked them.

Bread Machine Hearty Rolls

Ingredients:

1½ cups water
2 tsp fine sea salt
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
510 grams of all-purpose flour*
1 Tbsp dry active yeast

Directions:

Add to a Zojirushi bread machine in the order listed, starting with water and ending with flour. Sprinkle the yeast on top, ensuring it doesn’t touch the liquid. Set the machine for the “Dough” setting. It will take 1 hour and 50 minutes in this machine.

If using other brands, follow the directions as called for and the temperature of water needed.

See the notes section below and watch if the dough needs more flour during the first kneading cycle.

Set the dough on a lightly floured work area and divide it into eight sections.

Roll each section gently into a ball.

Set the rolls on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap lightly misted with oil.

Let rise for 30 to 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°.

Bake for about 14 minutes and check. The rolls will be nicely browned on top.

Transfer to a cooling rack.

Notes:

*The flour you need depends on the type of flour used and the humidity. The brand can even play into it. This is why I weigh out, rather than scoop flour.

Start with 510 grams and add a bit more if needed. You want the dough not to be wet or sticky but tacky when pressing a finger against it. Bagel dough is denser than regular bread dough.

Makes 8 rolls.

Store in a plastic bag to keep it fresh once cooled.

~Sarah

Recipes

Handcrafted Lemon Bars

December 1, 2024 Sarah

Our middle son made these lemon bars the other day while I was out. At 14, he is a talented baker. I was highly impressed with these bars, some of the best lemon bars I have ever tasted. I was so good that I only ate one square, no matter how much I wanted to wolf them down. They are not diet-friendly, to say the least, and quite high in sugar. A treat here and there is OK, and this I really enjoyed. But it’s a very rare treat!

Handcrafted Lemon Bars

Shortbread Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
½ tsp fine sea salt
2 cups + 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour

Lemon Filling Ingredients:

2 cups granulated sugar
6 Tbsp all-purpose flour
6 large eggs
1 cup lemon juice

Optional:

Powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325° and line a 9×13 pan with parchment paper (leave a little for overhang).

Mix the shortbread ingredients together; it will be thick. Press firmly into the prepared pan, so it is even.

Bake for 20-22 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.

Remove from the oven and poke holes on the top (but don’t go through to the bottom).

Set aside.

Meanwhile, to make the filling:

Sift the sugar and flour into a large mixing bowl. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice until combined.

Pour the filling over the warm crust. Bake the bars for 22-28 minutes or until the center is relatively set and no longer jiggles like gelatin.

Let cool completely at room temperature, then chill for 1-2 hours before cutting.

Once chilled, lift out by the parchment paper onto a cutting board and cut into squares.

Dust with powdered sugar (use a small sieve to shake it through) over the bars.

Store chilled, and eat within a day or two for best results.

~Sarah

Handcrafted Condensed Cream Of Mushroom Soup

November 30, 2024 Sarah

Thanksgiving and Christmas are troubling holidays—not for what most might think of. For me, it is the food. Every corner of the grocery store is a minefield of highly preserved “food” that most of America serves without blinking. Canned cream of mushroom soup is easy to grab. Just scrape out the can, add a can worth of milk, and in a few minutes, you have green bean casserole ready for the holiday oven.

But what is in that can? There are many ingredients we could avoid. Cheap GMO/BE seed oils, soy protein concentrate, MSG, and yeast. For me, yeast (think nutritional yeast) often causes me to get a niacin flush across my face. It is why I cannot use many ready-to-use chicken broths. I don’t enjoy flushing, for sure.

Ingredients (Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup, 10.5-ounce can)
Water, Mushrooms, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Canola, And/Or Soybean), Modified Cornstarch, Wheat Flour, Salt, Cream, Whey, Soy Protein Concentrate, Monosodium Glutamate, Yeast Extract, Dried Garlic, Natural Flavoring.

The thing is, we can replicate that added MSG with fresh mushrooms, giving the savory flavor – but naturally. Instead of a few tiny dice of mystery black fungi, this soup is full of tasty bits! Enjoy it. And no protein concentrates needed, nor wanted.

If you need dairy-free, use your favorite unsweetened and unflavored non-dairy milk. I wouldn’t suggest coconut though, as it tends to be naturally sweet.

Handcrafted Condensed Cream Of Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces button mushrooms, chopped finely
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
1 tsp low sodium vegetable bouillon powder*
¼ tsp fine sea salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large, heavy saucepan, heat the oil over medium. Add the mushrooms and saute, stirring often, until they are fully cooked and have let out all their moisture.

Add in the milk, cornstarch, broth powder, salt, and pepper, mixing well with a whisk.

Continue whisking as it thickens – it will become very thick.

Take off the stove, transfer to a storage container, and chill.

Use in place of one can condensed soup as called for in recipes. To use in a green bean casserole, stir in 10 ounces of milk, then proceed as normal.

Notes:

*Making your own low-sodium vegetable broth powder is easy. Here is one recipe for it.

~Sarah

Recipes

Bread Machine Soft Dinner Rolls

November 29, 2024 Sarah

Our 14-year-old and I made these rolls for Thanksgiving dinner. Using our bread machine, it was so easy to make the dough. Let it do the heating, the kneading, and the first rising. Hands-on time was less than 15 minutes, meaning I wasn’t bogged down with even more labor-intensive work in the kitchen, especially on a day when I was cooking all day long.

Soft Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
¼ cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg, whisked
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp fine sea salt
360 grams of all-purpose flour + up to 60 grams additional
2¼ tsp instant yeast

Directions:

Add ingredients in the order listed, nestling the yeast in the flour in a bread machine. If using a non-Zojirushi bread machine, follow your machine’s directions. The Zoji heats the liquids before it kneads; one that doesn’t you will want to heat the milk and butter to about 110°

Set the dough setting. (On our machine it takes 1 hour 50 minutes.)

Once it starts kneading, add flour as needed until it produces a tacky dough (not wet) and forms into a single ball.

Near the end of the cycle, plug in a heating pad to medium and take out a 9×13″ glass baking dish—oil lightly with olive or avocado oil.

Take the dough out and cut into 16 even portions.

Gently form each section into a round ball. Place into the dish.

Cover the dish with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel. Place on the heating pad for 60 minutes to rise.

In the last 15 minutes, preheat the oven to 350°.

Bake for 25 minutes or golden on top.

Let it cool on a rack before using a thin spatula to break it apart.

Store any uneaten rolls in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to another day.

Makes 16 rolls.

Note:

Instant yeast, also sold as “bread machine” yeast, is different from standard dry active yeast.

~Sarah

Recipes

Ranch Seasoning Mix/Ranch Chicken Salad

November 26, 2024 Sarah

We eat salad greens topped with chicken salad quite often for lunches. It is an easy lunch, so I can add whatever I want to it. Usually, I mix canned chicken with Greek yogurt and use that as the “salad dressing” for the greens. I decided the yogurt needed more flavor, and this easy, dry mix quickly pulled together. Just enough to remind you of ranch dressing without the negatives. While one can buy ranch dressing mix at most stores, the ingredients are not your friend.

Hidden Valley dry mix:

Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, less than 1% of: calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xanthan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, natural flavor (milk, soy)

You can skip the maltodextrin, MSG, lactic acid, citric acid, calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xantham gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, and natural flavor (milk, soy). You don’t need the dried buttermilk (which is fine) because you don’t need it if using Greek yogurt. The fewer ingredients you use that are heavily processed, so much the better. For you, your GO tract, and your health.

Pulling the herbs together.

Ranch Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

1 tsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried chives
1 tsp dried dill weed
1 tsp granulated garlic
1 tsp granulated onion
1 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients, add to a blender, and process until finely powdered.

Store in a sealed jar, such as a 4-ounce mason jar.

Makes 3 portions of about 1½ tsp each.

Powdered seasoning mix.

Ranch Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

1½ tsp dry ranch seasoning mix
12-ounce can of chicken breast, drained
½ cup Greek yogurt*

Directions:

Break the chicken up with a fork, then mix the seasoning and Greek yogurt in. Cover and chill for an hour for the best taste.

Use up within 2 days.

Serves 2.

*When buying Greek yogurt, read the ingredient list. It should only contain dairy and live cultures. Avoid those with pectin, gelatin, or gums added.

~Sarah