Looking for more starter uses I thought I would make some more pretzels, this time using a starter as a leavening agent.

This recipe comes from Baking Sense. It worked perfectly on the first attempt and I highly recommend.

Ingredients:

For the Dough:

225 g active starter (fed 1:1:1 starter, flour, water by weight)
1 1/4 cups warm water
490 g bread flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt

For Boiling:

2 litres water
1/3 cup baking soda

For Toppings:

1/4 cup sugar + 1 tsp cinnamon
Cheese
Melted butter and 1 clove garlic
Everything but the bagel seasoning
1 egg white
flaked sea salt

Directions:

Combine starter and water.

With mixer on low add half the flour (approx 1 cup at a time). Let sit for 30-60 mins.

Switch to dough hook, add sugar salt and rest of the flour. Allow to combine then knead for 5 minutes.

Transfer dough to lightly oiled bowl, turning to coat.

Perform 3 stretch and folds, every 30-60 minutes. Allowing dough to rise a total of 3 hours. Refrigerate overnight.

Divide dough into 12 equal parts. Shape into pretzels (roll out and fold left side over centre of a “U” then right side over centre), twists or cut into bite size pieces.

You can also flatten some dough, sprinkle shredded cheese inside and then roll back up to make some cheese stuffed pretzels.

Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

Bring Baking soda and water to a boil. Boil on each side for 30 seconds. Transfer to paper towel or drying rack.

Brush with melted butter or egg white (I used butter for the cinnamon ones and cheese ones). Top with whichever toppings you please.

For cinnamon sugar I rolled them in topping as soon as they came out of the oven.

Bake at 475˚F for 12-15 minutes .

I’ve now continued to make sourdough and have slowly been altering my recipe with a little more water and different flours. Feel free to look at the last recipe to see my notes on starter and more detailed photos of the process.

Instructions:

150 g bubbly, active starter
375 g warm water
25 g olive oil
350 g All-Purpose Flour
150 g best for bread multi-grain flour
10 g sea salt or kosher salt
Flour for dusting

Directions:

Here is the active starter, which doubled after being fed.

Whisk the starter, water, olive oil in large bowl.

Add flour and salt and squish together. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.

Once rested work dough into a ball, leave in bowl and cover.

Perform stretch and folds at 1 hour intervals 2-3 times. Pinch a side of the dough, pull up and fold over itself. Turn bowl and perform on another side until you have moved the bowl 360˚.

Allow to rise for 6-12 hours.

To shape the dough use a bench scraper to fold the dough over to the centre moving around the dough in a full circle. Flip the dough and cup the sides of the dough rotating in a circular motion.

Either place in a bannton basket or in the dutch oven for the second rise (1-2 hours). I placed half this one in the banneton and the other half in a loaf pan. I baked the loaf pan inside the dutch oven as well.

Cut a slice in the top with a very sharp knife

Preheat oven to 450˚. Drop temperature to 400˚ and bake covered for 40 minutes. Remove dutch oven lid and bake for an additional 20 minutes.

This recipe is a little different from the usual. I’ve been making cornbread for a couple years now as a delicious pairing to chilli. It’s crispy on the outside and crumbly on the inside, made perfect by using a cast iron skillet. Give it a try as an addition to chilli or another side dish. I made this non-dairy so it could be more versatile.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup almond milk
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup unsalted margarine, melted
1 tsp vegetable oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425˚F. Place 9 inch was iron skillet in oven to warm it.

Mix almond milk and cornmeal – let soak for 10 minutes.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt in large bowl.

Add cornmeal and almond milk mixture, eggs, and melted margarine. Mix until smooth.

Remove skillet and pour vegetable oil into the skillet. Brush around with a silicon brush or paper towel.

Pour batter into skillet and bake for 18-20 minutes.

Making babka is a daunting process.  This was truly “going into the lab” several times to try to perfect these recipes. They are adapted from Ottolenghi, Smitten Kitchen and Carine Goren.  There are 2 methods, one easy bread machine recipe and one traditional “from scratch” using a stand mixer and dough hook.  The final formation and shaping do not need to be exact so it’s okay to come up with a more rustic looking product.  The taste will not disappoint.  It is best to read through the full instruction choices in order to budget your time accordingly.

Method 1: Bread Machine Babka Dough

Ingredients:

¾ cup water
5 tbsp. canola/olive/grapeseed/coconut oil
2 tbsp. honey
1 egg plus 2 egg whites
3 ¾ cups best for bread or unbleached all-purpose flour
½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tsp. traditional active dry yeast

Directions:

Place ingredients in the order above into container of bread machine.  Follow machine instructions and remove when ready after 2 hours.  Divide dough in half and knead gently and roll each out into a rectangle.  I don’t usually measure the size of the rectangle but aim for about ¼-inch thickness which usually means approximately 12 x 16 inches.

Method 2: Babka Dough from Scratch

Ingredients:

4 ¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 6 tbsp. extra flour
½ cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. traditional active dry yeast
Grated zest of 1 small lemon or half an orange
3 large eggs, at room temperature
½ cup water plus 3 tbsp. extra water
¾ tsp. kosher salt
2/3 cup (10 2/3 tbsp.) unsalted pareve margarine, room temperature

Directions:

To make 2 loaves, combine the flour, sugar, yeast and zest in the bottom of the bowl of a stand mixer.

Add eggs and water, mixing with the dough hook until it comes together.

Add extra water, 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough doesn’t come together.

With the mixer on low, add the salt, then the margarine, a spoonful at a time, mixing until it’s incorporated into the dough.

Then, mix on medium speed for 8-10 minutes until dough is completely smooth, scraping down the bowl as necessary.

Flour can be added 1 tablespoon at a time if the dough does not pull away from the sides of the bowl.  Coat a large bowl with oil, place dough inside and cover the bowl with plastic wrap.

Allow to rise for 3 hours at room temperature then refrigerate for 30 minutes to make the rolling easier.

Feel free to choose from either of the 2 fillings below but use the streusel topping to finish it off.

Chocolate Filling:

Ingredients:

6 oz. bittersweet chocolate or 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup (1 ½ sticks) unsalted pareve margarine
3/4 cup confectioners sugar
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp. cinnamon

Cocoa Filling:

Ingredients:

1 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
¼ cup cocoa powder
6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted pareve margarine, melted

Streusel Topping:

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. cold unsalted pareve margarine, diced
1/3 cup granulated sugar
½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 egg white for glaze

Directions:

To make the Chocolate Filling, melt margarine and chocolate together in a double boiler over simmering water until smooth.

Remove from heat and stir in confectioners sugar, cocoa and cinnamon.

This will form a spreadable paste.

Spread half of the filling over one of the rolled out rectangles, leaving a ½-inch border all around.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brush the end father away from you with water.  Roll the dough up with the filling into a long, tight cigar.  Seal the dampened end onto the log.  Stretch the log a bit to approximately 16-20 inches long.

Cut off the ends of the log and transfer to a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and freeze for 15-30 minutes.

To make the Cocoa Filling, combine the sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa in a bowl.  Brush the rolled out rectangle with half of the melted margarine.  Sprinkle half of the cocoa filling over the dough and roll it up as in the previous paragraph and transfer to the freezer.

For both methods, remove the log from the freezer, and gently cut the log in half lengthwise and lay them next to each other on the counter, cut sides up.

Pinch the top ends gently together.  Lift one side over the next, forming a twist.

Then fold again to fit into a 9-by-4-inch loaf pan lined with parchment paper that has been sprayed with cooking spray.

Cover the loaves with a tea towel and allow to rest for 1 ½-2 hours.  They will rise slightly.  Preheat the oven to 375F.  Brush each loaf with egg white and sprinkle half of the streusel over the loaf.  Bake for 40-45 minutes.  Check doneness with a toothpick and if they are not done but are browning, cover loosely with aluminum foil for another 5-10 minutes.

Allow to cool before removing from pans. Feel free to wrap well for the freezer.

One alternative is to slice each braided log into 9 mini babka muffins and place the 18 babka muffins in 2 muffin pans (occupying 18 of the 24 slots).  Bake for 23 minutes at 375F.

A final alternative creates a festive round babka that is perfect for holidays and special occasions. After removing each of the logs from the freezer, slice the log into approximately 1 inch (2.5 cm) slices and place in a 9- to 10-inch round springform pan sprayed with cooking spray. Place the slices in concentric circles until the pan is filled by the time the second log has been sliced. Cover with a towel in a warm environment for 2 hours.  Then brush all of the slices with a lightly beaten egg white and cover with all of the streusel.  Bake for 45 minutes at 375F, then loosely cover with foil for 15 additional minutes. Allow to cool completely before removing from the springform pan.