Jalapeno Cheese Bread

We bought all these sweet and shishito peppers thinking that they would not be hot since previously purchasing them were pretty sweet.  Boy, that was quite a kicker for they were HOT STUFF!  Now we have all these hot peppers.  We roasted some a couple of days ago and I used the rest of them and more to make this Jalapeno Cheese Bread.

Add less jalapeno pepper if you want a milder flavor. I used a combination of all sorts of peppers. You can really add any kind of cheese you like as well.  I used a combination of cheddar, londoner, babybel, whatever I had on hand. They can be in chunks as well.  For the dinner rolls, I put chunks of swiss cheese in the center so you get a cheesy surprise.  It also helps to balance out the hot peppers. All-purpose flour is okay to use instead of bread flour.  I just like to use bread flour because it results in better texture and chew consistency. I was really happy with how this turned out.  Texture wise it is soft, but not too fluffy, and has a light dense consistency.  Give it a try. In the future, I may try different variations for variety.

This recipe yields about 2 loaves or 1 loaf and 6 dinner rolls or 12-15 dinner rolls.  You can also get one large loaf or a loaf like the size of french bread.  I like to use an egg wash before baking and once it comes out of the oven, I like to brush it with some melted butter.

Jalepeno Cheese Bread Print

Yields: 2 (9X5”) loaves (or 1 loaf and 6 dinner rolls)

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

4 cups bread flour

¾ tsp salt

¾ cup minced jalapeño peppers

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Optional

1 egg + 1 tsp water (for egg wash)

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, butter, and honey in a pyrex measuring bowl and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, salt, jalapeño peppers, and 1 cup of cheese.  Quickly mix together and add activated yeast mixture.

3. Using the dough hook attachment; knead the dough for 8 minutes on setting 6-8 (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).  Then add the rest of the cheese and knead for 2 minutes or until the dough forms a ball.

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. Punch down dough to release some air.  

7. Grease pans with some oil and set aside.

8. Divide the dough into two portions. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Repeat with the other portion of dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.  (For dinner rolls, use the other portion of the dough and divide it into 6 equal portions.  Roll each piece into the shape of a ball and pinch the seams together and place it in the greased pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.)

9. Lightly brush the top with an egg wash.

10. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake loaves for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Bake dinner rolls for 30 minutes.  Brush with melted butter for a soft top or leave as is if you prefer a harder crust.  Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

Multigrain Bread

Last week, I was experimenting with adding chia seeds and flax seeds into my bread recipes.  I was really happy with how it turned out.  In fact, that's how this multigrain bread was born.  I pretty much used the basic foundation of my Honey Oat Bread Recipe and added the chia and flax seeds.  With this recipe, you will get a nice soft texture and the bread will be delicious because of the butter.  

Now, let's say you want a more dense multigrain bread that has a lot of chew.  Then you would not use the butter or only use like a tablespoon and add 6 tbsp of flaxmeal.  This will give you a denser bread and you will not get as much rise out of it.  It will still be very delicious and you may just have one slice instead of two because you will feel more satisfied.  

Multigrain Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp chia seeds

3 tbsp Flax seeds

2 tsp honey (warmed)

2 tbsp oats

2 tsp flax seeds

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a small bowl and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, chia seeds, flax seeds, and yeast mixture.

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 10-12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

7. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.

9. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats and flax seeds.

10. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

I was playing with Flipagram and made this video of my bread rising.  I love a good proof!

Honey Oat Dinner Rolls

Dinner rolls are quite delicious!  Everybody loves those King's Hawaiian Rolls.  You really just can't have one.  The only down side is that each of those King's Hawaiian roll has about 100 calories.  Now, I haven't actually calculated the calories count on my Honey Oat Dinner Roll, but I can tell you that they have nutritious value.  Plus it is homemade!

I really enjoying making bread these days (especially when I get an awesome rise). There is a difference when you have homemade bread versus the store bought bread.  Homemade bread taste fresh and your kitchen will smell amazing! I know exactly what went into what I will be consuming.

I decided to make dinner rolls because it is the perfect size for my turkey burgers.  The sandwich bread was always a little big for the patty.  So this was the perfect solution and we really like the bread to burger ratio. These are like sliders size more or less.

Dinner rolls make great burgers.

Dinner rolls also make great snacks. What I also like about these dinner rolls is I won't gorge on a ton of them; they contain oats which are are more filling and leaves me satisfied with just having one.  I brushed the top with melted butter to soften the crust, you can leave that out if you want a harder crust. 

Also, make sure that you use warm water around 110-115 degrees to activate the yeast.  If your water is hot you will kill the yeast.  If it is not warm enough, then you will not activate the yeast.  Here's what it looks like when your yeast has activated.  

This recipe is just like my Honey Oat Bread; I just made them into dinner rolls.  Enjoy!

Honey Oat Dinner Rolls Print

Yields: 12 rolls

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a pyrex measuring cup and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast. (Make sure that the water is around 110-115 degrees Fahrenheit; if the water is too hot, you will kill the yeast and your bread will not proof.  Wuah Wuah)

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture.

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth even.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size.

7. Grease a 13X9” pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each piece into the shape of a ball and pinch the seams together (if necessary) and place it in the greased pan seam side down. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size.

9. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and bake for about 20-25 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil.

10. When you tap on the bread and it sounds hollow, you know it is done. Brush the top with melted butter.  This will soften the crust. Allow it to cool completely.  (You can also dig in, but I would wait 5-10 minutes at least)

Honey Oat Bread

This morning I woke up with absolutely no expectations.  Those are the best days because your day is unwritten.  I was thinking about dusting the house; I ended up not doing that. I'll be dusting tomorrow I suppose.  

The weather was favorable so I decided to make some bread. Around the 60s is perfect because it doesn't get too hot in the kitchen.  And I was really impressed with the first rise.  I think I finally perfected this proofing stuff.  My second rise resulted in a favorable proof.  I was very happy with the results today.  Most of the time, I tend to go rogue with recipes, but today, I followed it to a tee.  

I adapted this bread recipe from Laura in the Kitchen.  She has some really great recipes. So I would recommend checking her out.  She has a youtube channel where she shows you step by step how to make things.  It is very helpful.  

If you are craving homemade bread, this is a great one and it is super easy to make.  Your home will smell divine and it will make you smile.  

Honey OaT Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

¼ cup honey

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

3 cups bread flour

1 cup Old Fashioned Oats

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2 tsp honey

2-3 tbsp oats

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, yeast, honey, and butter in a small bowl and stir.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture. 

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 12 minutes on setting 6-8 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is nice and smooth.

5. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough. 

6. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. 

7. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

8. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size. 

9. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats.

10. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 40 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack.

Homemade Bread

Today the weather allowed for baking bread.  It wasn't hot at all, in fact it was quite breezy and a bit nippy.  I decided to make some whole wheat bread because I bought some whole wheat bread flour at Whole Foods.  I also wanted to see the difference using whole wheat.  It is suppose to be more nutritious than white bread.  

I adapted my recipe from Laura In the Kitchen's YouTube channel.  She has some pretty solid recipes. I substituted 1 tbsp of vegetable shortening for 3 tbsp of flax meal.  In the future, I might not use any vegetable shortening and just use all flax meal.  I think the vegetable shortening really made it easy for the dough to come together though.  I was also thinking about using 1 cup of oat flour and 3 cups whole wheat flour instead of using all whole wheat flour.  This way it adds even more grains and fiber. Chia seeds also sounds like a great idea.  

Whole wheat breads are not light and airy, they are more dense than white bread.  They will most likely make you feel fuller longer compared to white bread. I been craving a peanut butter sandwich, so I am exciting to try it out on this creation.

Whole Wheat Bread Print

Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:

1-1/3 cup warm water

2 ¼ tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

¼ cup honey

2 tbsp vegetable shortening, melted

3 tbsp flax meal

4 cups whole wheat bread flour

1/3 cup milk powder

2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp oats (optional)

1 tsp honey (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine warm water, sugar, and yeast in a bowl.  Let sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.  Add shortening and honey to the yeast mixture and stir to combine. 

2. Using a stand mixer bowl, add whole wheat bread flour, milk powder, salt, and yeast mixture. 

3. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the dough for 6 minutes on setting 6 or until it comes together. (Start off slowly so you don’t get a flour cloud).

4. Lightly grease a large bowl and place the dough in the greased bowl, forming the dough into the shape of a ball.  Coat the top with some oil to prevent getting a film on top of the dough. 

5. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm draft free spot and let rise for an hour or until it has doubled in size. 

6. Grease a 9X5” loaf pan with some oil and set aside.

7. Form the dough into a loaf by rolling out the dough into an 8X8 and rolling it like a jellyroll.  Pinch the seams together and place it in the greased loaf pan seam side down.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise for another hour or until it doubles in size. 

The top 2 pictures are from the first rising, see how it has doubled in size.
The bottom 2 pictures are form the second rising, it has doubled in size.

8. Lightly brush the top with honey and coat with oats (optional).
9. Preheat oven to 350 degree and bake for about 45 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread starts to brown before it is done, loosely cover it with foil. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack. 

Once cooled, slice away and enjoy!

Red Bean Bread

Earlier today, I made some Red Bean Bread.  The past few days, we been eating clean with salads and such.  This was a nice treat.  This bread really isn't unhealthy.  After all it has red bean.  This is a great alternative to cupcakes and cookies.  You still get a little bit of sweetness; its a great compromise.  Plus it makes a great snack or you can have it for breakfast.

Typically, my recipe makes a loaf of bread. Sometimes though, I make 4 little buns and 1 loaf.  That just means, my loaf will be a little smaller since I took one of the sections to make 4 little buns.  If you just wanted buns, then this recipe will yield about 16 little buns. 

Personally, I think the loaf taste better because it has more texture.  I usually divide my dough into 4 parts, thus I will have 4 small sections loafs.  Great for portion control and easy to snack on.  However, you can also just make one section and fill it with red bean paste then roll it up like a jellyroll and you will have bigger swirls of red bean.

If you don't have a stand mixer, you can also use a food processor to get the dough to combine and then knead, and if you have neither, then there is always the old-fashion knead the dough by hand.  

Here's my recipe for Red Bean Bread, it's pretty much like my Hokkaido Milk Bread recipe but with a red bean filling.  

Red Bean Bread Recipe Print
(Makes 1 loaf)

Ingredients:

2½ cups bread flour

4 tbsp sugar  

½ tsp salt

2 tsp active yeast (1/4 oz packet)

1 egg

½ cup milk, warm

½ cup tangzhong, room temp

3 tbsp unsalted butter (cut into small pieces, room temperature)

¾ cup red bean paste

1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp of milk

1 tbsp melted butter (optional)

Tangzhong (water roux): make ½ cup of tangzhong

1/6 cup of bread flour

¼ cup milk

¼ cup water

Let’s make some bread!

1. First, make the tangzhong.  In a saucepan, whisk bread flour, milk and water well.   Heat over medium-low heat.  The mixture will thicken.  Stir consistently to prevent it from burning. Swirly lines will appear and when you have a pudding like consistency (ideally the temperature here is 149°F), take it off the heat.  You can transfer it into a small bowl.  Set aside and cool to room temperature.

2.  In your stand mixer bowl, combine bread flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.  Quickly mix using a dough hook, just to combine.  

3. Add warm milk, egg and tangzhong to the dry ingredients.

4. Knead on medium (6 on the stand mixer) for 5 minutes to let the gluten develop.

5. Decrease to speed to 4 and add in the butter while mixer is still kneading.  Continue to knead for an additional 10 minutes.

6. Once the dough is done kneading, form into a ball and place into a greased bowl.  Cover and let sit in a warm place for 40-60 minutes or until doubled in size.

7. Divide dough into four equal portions and form into the shape of a ball.  This will deflate the dough. Cover and let rest for another 15 minutes.

8. Prepare loaf pan by lightly greasing.  This will make it easier for your loaf to come out.  

9. Now it’s time to form the rolls!  Flour a nice clean working area. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into an oval.  Then fold 1/3 from the top to the middle and 1/3 from the bottom to the middle.  Rotate 90 degrees; roll out with the rolling pin.  Spread 3 tbsp of the red bean paste.  And roll dough like a jellyroll.  Place the roll with seam side down into loaf pan. Repeat with the remaining dough.

The lower left picture is where the filling would be added.

10. Let sit for another 30-60 minutes in a warm place, or until the dough doubles in size. 
11. Preheat oven to 350°F.

12. Brush loaf with egg wash and bake for 30 minutes on center rack.  Rotate halfway through and if the bread browns before it is done, loosely cover it with foil.

13. When done, place on a wire rack and brush the top with melted butter.  This will soften the crust and add some deliciousness.  After 5 minutes, remove from loaf pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

Here are the little red bean buns. I put roughly 1 tbsp of the red bean paste and baked them for about 18-20 mins at 350 degrees. If you are planning to make buns, then use about 1 cup of red bean paste and fill with about 1-1/2 tbsp of the filing.

Baking Bread

Lately, I been craving French Toast.  There is one key ingredient when making french toast; you need bread.  The most delicious bread to use for French Toast is some form of brioche.  My Hokkaido Milk Bread is very similar to a brioche bread; just less eggs and butter.

Today, I made Hokkaido Milk Bread so that tomorrow or the next day, I can make some French Toast. I was never really a big fan of French Toast until I had it at Marston's restaurant in Pasadena.  They top their french toast with corn meal flakes and the crust really stands out and keeps it from being soggy. It is absolutely delicious!

Another place worth mentioning is Starling Diner in Long Beach.  They stuff their french toast baguette with mascarpone cheese and it is out of this world.  I made my own version once and it was delicious.  I might attempt something similar when I make french toast.

I made a loaf of bread and 4 little buns in the form of a brioche bun.  I cooked them for about 20 minutes.  The loaf takes about 30 minutes.  It is also important to watch them because when they start to brown, you want to loosely cover them with foil.  I love how these get so big in the oven.  When you first put them in, they aren't as big as how they turn out.  I also like to use an egg wash because it gives them that golden brown color and bread like top.  When they come out of the oven, I brush them some melted butter.

Here is how the buns turned out.  I shaped them like a brioche because I wanted to use my brioche molds.  And I enjoy little buns.

Here's what the texture looks like.  It is quite elastic and you can see the layers of softness and fluffiness.  

 

Fresh Bread in all its glory.  It smells so good in the house right now. Makes me hungry blogging about this.  Off to munch on some bread.  YUM!