[Your favorite beer] Hamburger Buns

Since I finally tackled baking bread and was successful at it, I've branched out.  A little.  Let's not get carried away here!  My next project was to try Shawnda's hamburger buns.  I read the recipe and we had everything I needed at home...except the Shiner.  Normally Jason and I are fans of Shiner, but Sunday we were in the mood for something lighter.  It's starting to get warm again (I'm afraid winter has left us for good...) so we grabbed some Corona Light.  I figured, what the heck?  I think the darker beer would give this a richer taste, but they were still very much raved about.

[Your favorite beer] Hamburger Buns adapted from the Foodie Bride

• 2 t yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water
• 2 T honey
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 bottle Corona Light (or your favorite beer), room temp and flat
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• Sesame seeds

Preheat the oven to 350.  Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Let that sit for about 10 minutes and add in the honey, oil and beer.  Add in the dry ingredients and turn the mixer to low.  Once the dough is mixed, increase the speed to medium and knead the dough for about 5-7 minutes.  You may need to add more flour, 2 T at a time.  Once the sides of the bowl are cleaned and the dough looks smooth, place it into a lightly oiled mixing bowl and over with plastic wrap.

Once the dough doubles in size, turn it out on to a floured surface and divide in half.  Create 6 buns from each half and place on a lined baking sheet, cover with oiled plastic wrap.  Let these rise for another 45 minutes or so.

Whisk the egg and brush over the buns before baking.  Sprinkle them with sesame seeds and bake for 15-20 minutes, until browned.  Let them cool on a baking rack before slicing.

WW PointsPlus: 6 points each, yields 12 buns

More dough...and pizza!

My current "wish list" includes a pasta roller, a single-cup coffee maker, an e-reader...and now a pizza peel.  I'm just not sure where I'm going to store it.

Last week, during the great Arctic Blast of 2011, I threw together a batch of Light Whole Wheat bread dough.  The recipe isn't very clear on how much one batch will yield, but I got about 5 grapefruit sized balls of dough.  I baked one and threw 4 in the freezer.  I pulled one out in the morning and by the time we got home from work it was completely thawed out.

Light Whole Wheat Bread from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 T yeast
• 1 1/2 T kosher salt
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

The directions are the same as this bread recipe.  I divided the recipe in 5 chunks and plugged it into WW, estimating 16pts for one chunk.  So if you're on WW, divide that down for the amount of servings you consume.

The pizza came from this blog.  I didn't follow the recipe exactly, but it turned out pretty good.  The catch is that the dough stuck to the pizza stone.  I'm pretty sure it is because the stone wasn't screaming hot (and the pizza dough wasn't slid onto the stone from a pizza peel or something of the like with flour underneath).  I preheated the oven to 550, as directed by the Artisan Bread cookbook.  I then spread the dough out onto the pizza stone using some flour to keep it from getting too sticky.

Southwestern Chicken Pizza adapted from Proceed with Caution

• 1 recipe pizza dough
• 5-6 grilled chicken tenders, chopped (I grill a package of these on Sunday to pack for lunch)
• tomatillo salsa, about 1/4 cup (I used the jarred stuff, but check out the blog for what looks like a great recipe)
• chopped cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• chopped cilantro
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Spread the pizza dough onto the stone.  Top with salsa, chicken, tomatoes, beans and cilantro.  Bake 10-12 minutes, or until the dough begins to brown on the edges.

The pizza was great, with the exception of it sticking to the stone.  I'm adding it to our rotation - especially since we can throw it together at the last minute.

I'm like a regular old Betty Crocker.

First pasta and now bread!  I jumped on this bread baking bandwagon recently and I'm officially converted.  Please pray for the success of my diet in the midst of all of this rising dough.  Seriously.  The dough...it just keeps rising.  And rising.  And rising.  Picture some sort of Willy Wonka scene where the rooms gets overtaken by bread dough.

The crazy comes from this book.  Which I'll be buying on Amazon later this morning.  The recipe itself was really easy and I'm looking forward to having a little variety in choices of bread.  Hopefully something with whole wheat that will also be a little more waistline friendly.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes

• 1 1/2 T yeast
• 1 1/2 T kosher salt
• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 cups all purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix the yeast and salt with the water.  Add in the flour and stir until the flour is no longer dry.  Let is sit, loosely covered, for 2-5 hours at room temperature.  Cover with an airtight lid and move to the fridge.  The dough can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

When you're ready to bake the bread, use a LOT of flour on your hands before pulling off the dough.  Pull off about a grapefruit sized amount, cutting it with a serrated knife.  Roll the dough around until you have a smooth top, pulling it creating a rougher bottom.  Place the dough on a pizza slide (or a flat cookie sheet - you just need to be able to slide it onto the pizza stone) dusted with cornmeal.  Let it rise for 40 minutes before baking.

Set the oven at 450.  Place a roasting pan on the bottom rack and your pizza stone on the middle rack while the oven preheats.  When you're ready to bake the bread, use a serrated knife to cut slash marks on top.  This will keep the bread from breaking (I think that's the right term) while it bakes.  Slide the dough onto the pizza stone and add 1 cup of water to the roasting pan.  Close the oven to trap the steam and let it bake for about 30 minutes.

I thought I would get about 4-5 loaves of bread out of the recipe, but since it keeps rising I may get 8!  I left some dough at my mom's house (about 2 loaves worth) and brought home what I thought would make 2 more loaves.  However, by Saturday I could have 10.