If you’ve ever met me in person, even once, you’re almost guaranteed to know at least one thing about me: I love cheese.

With autumn coming, I’m starting to swing into baking mode. It’s something that I look forward to every year.

This cheese bread is moist and dense, and packed with cheese-y flavor.

The wreath shape is really festive, and is an easy way to dress up any fall meal or celebration.

Sam’s Club & The Hungry Mouse

Before I get to the bread, I’m really excited to announce that The Hungry Mouse is working on a few special projects with Sam’s Club!

I’ll be doing some special recipe development, as well as hosting a bunch of awesome giveaways over the coming months. They’re even paying me for my time. (Thanks, guys!! Here’s to keeping The Hungry Mouse in cheese all year round…)

Stay tuned for more info. I’m so excited!

On to the cheese!

Sam’s Club recently sent me about 600 different kinds of of cheese and asked me to use some of them to develop a recipe. (Alright, I’m exaggerating. They sent me 14 big pieces of cheese, which is still an epic amount of cheese, especially for a mouse…)

If you don’t think that Sam’s Club is a place to buy cheese, think again.

I’m fussy (as in, really fussy) about my cheese, and I was beyond blown away by the quality of the stuff they sent me to test. I’ll definitely be heading there to pick up cheese when I need bigger blocks.

Have your cheese and eat it, too…in France!

Sam’s Club is running a contest right now, and the grand prize is a trip to France!

Check out their New Cheeses Facebook application for more info on how to enter, and to learn more about the cheeses they offer. You can also visit their Fall Harvest site.

Meet the three cheeses

So, out of all the cheeses Sam’s sent me, I picked the Parmesan, the asiago fresco, and the herbed gouda for this recipe. I wanted to use stronger cheeses to be sure my bread had really good flavor.

This asiago is actually asiago fresco, which means it’s not aged, so it’s softer and creamier.

The Parmesan is salty and nutty.

And the gouda is flecked with herbs, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and garlic.

To the ovens!

Harvest Cheese Bread Wreath

1 Tbls. yeast
1 Tbls. white sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 cups grated cheese for dough (I used equal parts asiago, gouda, & parm)
1 cup grated cheeese for topping (I used the gouda)

Serves about 10

Proof the yeast

Take the time to do this. By proofing the yeast (i.e. mixing it with warm water and a little sugar), you’re confirming that your yeast is happy, healthy, and (most importantly) alive.

Put the yeast in the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl if making by hand).

Toss in the sugar.

Add the warm water. (You want warm water, not hot. Hot water will kill the yeast. Basically, use water warm enough to wash your hands comfortably in.)

Mix them up and let the bowl sit on the counter for about 10 minutes. After about 10 minutes, you should see that a “raft” of yeast has formed on the top. It will be opaque and creamy looking. That means your yeast is alive and happy.

(If for some reason you don’t see this, toss the mixture and try again. Either your water was too hot, or your yeast was already dead to begin with, in which case you’ll need to purchase fresh yeast.)

While the yeast is proofing, grate up the cheese.

Make the dough

When the yeast is proofed, toss the flour and salt into the bowl. (The cheese has some salt, too, so if you’re sensitive about salt intake, leave this bit out.)

I use my KitchenAid to mix the dough, so I always give it a preliminary mix by hand (well, by hook) to avoid flour flying everywhere when I turn on my mixer.

Slap the bowl on your stand mixer and mix with your dough hook until you have a rough dough.

With the mixer running on low, sprinkle the cheese into the dough.

When you’ve added all the cheese, crank up the speed for a minute or two, and knead the dough until it’s fairly elastic.

Round the dough up into a ball with your hands. (If there are crumbs of sorts in the bottom of the bowl, just smoosh them into the dough by hand.)

The first rise

Cover the bowl with a few damp towels. Set it in a warm place to rise for about an hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

My dough looked like this after about an hour:

Roll out the dough

Sprinkle a little flour on a board or your counter.

Punch down the dough to smoosh all the air out of it. Round it up into a neat ball on the board.

Whack the dough into three relatively even pieces with a bencher or a large, sharp knife.

Take one piece. Roll it into a tube between your palms, just like you used to when you played with Play-D’oh when you were a kid.

Now, normally, I’m not one for weights and measures, but the thickness (and hence, length) of the dough affects how long the bread will have to bake. Roll the tube out until it’s about 2 feet long.

Yep, I said 2 feet.

Repeat with the other two pieces of dough.

Make sure they’re about even in width.

Braid the dough

Line a sheet pan or a pizza pan with parchment paper and set it aside.

If you know how to braid hair, you know how to braid bread dough. If you don’t, here’s a quick walk through.

Grab the three ends of the dough.

Put them together like this and smoosh them so they stick together.

You braid from the outside in. Take the piece on the left and cross it over the center piece.

Take the piece on the right and cross it over the piece that’s now in the center.

Keep going like this until you get to the end of the dough.

Gather the ends together. Press them together and tuck them under, so they stick together.

And…voila! You should have one massively long dough braid.

And now (wait for it), curl both ends up together until they meet in a circle.

Transfer the dough to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Take a look now at the place where the two dough ends meet. Smoosh them together so they stick. Don’t make yourself nuts with this. Just get them to stick together. As the dough rises, the circle will become more secure, as long as the ends were loosely connected to begin with.

Let the wreath rise like this, uncovered, in a warm place for about an hour, or until it’s doubled in size.

About 15 minutes before you think it’ll be done, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After about an hour, you should be looking at a nice, plump wreath.

Brush the dough with egg wash

Beat up one egg in a medium-sized bowl.

With your hand or a pastry brush, gently brush the dough with beaten egg. Be careful not to press too hard, because you’ll squeeze the air out of the dough.

Don’t be fussy…just cover the whole braid with beaten egg. The great thing about bread is that, no matter how messy it looks before you bake it, it almost always looks beautiful when it comes out of the oven.

Sprinkle the top of the bread with 1 cup of grated cheese (I used the gouda).

Bake the bread

Pop the pan into your preheated, 350-degree oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned on top.

When it’s done, yank it out of the oven.

Let it cool on the pan for about 5 minutes, then slide it off onto a rack to finish cooling.

.

Slice. Serve. Inhale.

Enjoy! Happy fall, everyone!

*Please note that Sam’s Club compensated me for my participation in this campaign.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This past weekend, our esteemed friend the Baron von Hammer came to dinner.

Now, the Baron is one of my favorite people on the planet to feed, so I always try to put together an extra special, stick-to-your-ribs menu when he comes calling.

I also seem to be making a tradition of stuffing him with brontosaurus-sized slabs of meat.

Last time, it was Steakhouse-Style Pan Roasted Sirloins. This time, I did much the same thing, but with thick, bone-in rib-eyes. There was a cheesy noodle dish. There was a chocolate cheesecake (more on that in a few days).

And there was Fougasse. (Because you can’t invite a baron for a feast and serve him store-bought bread, right?)

Fougasse is a traditional Provencal bread that’s studded with olives and fresh herbs. It’s chewy and flavorful and (you guessed it) totally my new favorite bread.

Since I decided to make this on the fly, I made due with what I had on hand: Marinated green olives and dried rosemary and thyme.

You can definitely do the same. This bread would be fabulous studded with anything from smoked salt to fresh dill or even toasted walnuts.

The bread is rustic and so pretty to bring to the table—and really easy to make. Serve one or two with dinner, and send the rest home with your friends.

To the ovens!

Fougasse

(Provençal Bread with Olives & Herbs)

Adapted from Saveur

1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/3 cups water
4 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbsp. olive oil, plus more for brushing dough
1 tsp. kosher salt
Cornmeal, for dusting
1/2 cup kalamata olives, minced
1/4 cup green olives, minced
2 tbsp. parsley, minced
2 tbsp. thyme, minced
1 tbsp. rosemary, minced
Sea salt
Freshly cracked black pepper

Yields 5 loaves (they’re on the thin side, so it’s not a totally unmanageable amount of bread)

Proof your yeast

Grab your yeast.

Put the yeast and sugar in the bowl of your mixer (or a large mixing bowl if you’re mixing by hand).

Toss in the water. (It should be warm enough to wash your hands, but not hot. Water that’s too hot will kill yeast, and your bread won’t rise.)

Whisk it together. Let it sit for about 10 minutes.

Take the time to do this. It’s the test to check and make sure that your yeast is alive and happy. I always do, even though it seems unnecessary, because I’d hate to add all the other ingredients, then find out that my bread won’t rise.)

After about 10 minutes, your yeast should “bloom.”

In other words, you’ll see a little opaque raft floating on the surface of the water. That means your yeast is alive and happy.

Make the dough

Toss in the flour and salt.

Add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil.

Give it a quick  mix to start the dough. I do this so that the mixer doesn’t throw flour all over my counter when I turn it on.

Knead for about 5 minutes on medium high, until you have a firm, dry-ish dough.

The first rise (about 1 1/2 hours)

Round up the dough in a rough ball in your bowl. Cover with a few damp paper towels and let it rise for about an hour and a half, or until it’s doubled in size.

(I did this in a new bowl, since I was using my mixer for something else and needed the bowl clean. If you’re not, you can just leave it in the bowl you mixed it in.)

(Sidebar: Penelope is really turning into a Kitchen Dog. She loves to hang out with me while I’m cooking! Isn’t she getting big?)

Shaping the loaves

When your dough has about doubled in size, you’re ready to shape your loaves. Line 3 sheet pans with parchment paper and set aside.  Toss a little flour on a board.

Grab your dough. Smoosh it around in your hands to get the air out of it. It should be on the dry side (as in, it won’t stick very much to your hands).

Round it up in a ball and set it on your board.

Whack it in 5 even wedges with a bencher or sharp knife.

Grab one wedge.

Roll it out so it’s about 8 inches long and 5 inches wide at the base.

Cut 3 long slits and 1 short slit in it like this:

Take the dough and transfer it to one of your prepared parchment lined pans. (Toss a little cornmeal on the paper if you like. I completely forgot to do this.)

When the dough is on the pan, pull the slits apart. This is going to be pretty representative of your finished bread, so be sure you’re happy with how the dough looks.

Repeat with the rest of the dough. I could fit 2 breads on 1 sheet pan.

Cover with lightly greased plastic wrap. Let them stand for about 30 minutes. They will poof up a little, but not dramatically. That’s just fine.

Bake the fougasse

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees about 15 minutes before you’re ready to bake. Chop up the olives and herbs. Like I said, I used dry herbs in a pinch here.

Lightly brush the surface of the dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with chopped olives.

Toss on a little salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Bake the bread

Pop them into the oven and bake at 500 degrees for about 15 minutes, until golden brown.

I split my dough between 3 pans, so I baked 2 pans at once, then did the last pan afterwards.

Let cool on a wire rack, if you can bear to wait to tear into them. Enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Sooner or later, all my conversations inevitably turn to food.

Don’t believe me? Call me up sometime and try to, say, sell me some insurance. I guarantee that before we get off the phone, I’ll be giving you my recipe for blackberry jam. I can’t help it. It’s just how I work.

Perfect example: I was in a meeting a few weeks ago at the office. We finished up our conference call, started chatting as we wrapped up—and somehow wound up talking about stuffed breads. (Really. I have a recipe loosely jotted on the cover of a folder.)

What was the best way to make them? What kind of dough should you use? How can you keep them from bursting, etc.

Ah, the Frankenroll

This recipe borrows heavily from two fairly unrelated things. The stromboli, that rolled and stuffed bread extraordinaire—and the cinnamon bun.

To make these rolls, spread pizza dough liberally with melted butter, sprinkle it with cheese and spices, roll it up like a stromboli—then slice and bake like a pan of cinnamon buns.

The result? The rolls are soft, savory, and totally buttery and delicious. They’re topped with a layer of crispy, brown cheese, and shot through with molten cheese.

Fill them however you like

The best part about these rolls? You can stuff them with anything you like. Different cheeses (use any that melt well). Chopped pepperonil, olives, and spinach. Fresh herbs. Bits of leftover bacon or ham.

This is what I always refer to as a Sliding-Scale Recipe. Basically, that means it’s a recipe that works whether you put in a lot of effort—or hardly any at all.

You can toss it together with a ball of pre-made dough and a bag of shredded cheese from the grocery store—or you can go all out and make the dough from scratch and grate your favorite cheeses by hand. It’ll be delicious either way.

I like to throw these rolls together on a weeknight. All you need is a ball of pizza dough (grab one at the grocery store or from a local pizza joint) and a bag of shredded cheese.

It’s a great way to get fresher-than-storebought bread on the table when you have kids running around—or, say, a brand new puppy—or have just had a long day and are in the mood for some carb-laden goodness with dinner.

So, this one’s for you, Scott. It’s not *exactly* a stromboli, but it’s definitely a delicious first cousin.

Cheese Pinwheel Rolls

1 ball pizza dough
2 Tbls. butter
1 – 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese
Parmesan cheese, grated
kosher salt
freshly cracked black pepper
garlic powder

Makes about a dozen rolls

Lightly grease an 8-inch x 8-inch glass baking pan. Set it aside.

Roll out the pizza dough

Grab your dough (homemade or store bought).

Plop it on a lightly floured board.

Smoosh it flat and roughly in the shape of a rectangle.

Roll it out in a rough rectangle.

(Be sure to make your junior kitchen staff feel included.)

Spread the dough with butter & cheese

Melt the butter. (I do this in the microwave. About 20 seconds on high usually does the trick.)

Pour it in the center of your rolled dough.

With your hand or a spatula, spread the butter to cover the dough.

Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle the dough with an even layer of finely shredded cheese. I used a mix of mozzarella and cheddar.

You want to lay it on thick (cover the Parmesan so you don’t really see it), but not too thick.

Sprinkle with a little kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, and garlic powder. If you want to add other ingredients (herbs, olives, etc.) add them in a thin layer now.

Roll up the dough

Roll the dough up like this, so you wind up with a long tube. Tuck the cheese in as you roll, like you would when rolling a burrito or a spring roll.

Next, whack it into about 12 pieces.

I make them about an inch or so wide.

The end pieces will be kind of scrawny. That’s just fine. You’re going to stick them together in a corner of the pan to form one roll.

Take one roll carefully, so that it doesn’t unroll. Set it in the corner of your prepared pan.

Repeat with the rest of the rolls, until you’ve nestled them all in.

Stick the ends into a corner together. They’ll sort of bake together into one roll.

Let rise for 3o minutes

Cover with a lightly greased piece of plastic wrap. Set in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

They won’t poof up much after 30 minutes.

Bake the rolls

Pop into your preheated oven and bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes.

They’re done when the dough is lightly browned, and the cheese has bubbled up and formed a nice, golden brown crust.

(Here are those ends you stuck together.)

The bottoms should have a similar, golden brown cheese thing going on, as well.

Cool them in the pan for about 10 minutes.

Then airlift them out with a spatula or two. Serve warm, or let cool to room temperature.

Pull apart. Serve and enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

All this cold, wet weather we’ve been having in Boston has put me in a serious mood for comfort food. (I mean, really. Folks in the northeast: Are you ready for spring, or what?)

Freshly baked bread is always near the top of my list of yummy, carb-laden indulgences.

Much like homemade butter, once you make your own sandwich bread, it’s kind of hard to go back to regular ole grocery store white bread.

Making your own bread is also really easy to do. It takes a few hours to make bread from start to finish, but most of that is for the actual rising and baking. There’s very little real hands-on time.

This recipe makes two one-pound (i.e. standard size) loaves of bread. Bake them on Sunday night—along with, say, a Deli-Style Roast Beef—and you’ll have delicious sandwiches all week long.

The crumb is even and light in texture.

The crust is soft and just a little bit chewy.

And nothing makes your house smell as wonderful as freshly baked bread.

Not to mention, it makes amazing toast.

You don’t need any special equipment to make bread. Just a couple of regular loaf pans (you can get fancy ones, or pick a few up at a well-stocked hardware store).

I usually use my stand mixer (it’s faster) to knead the dough, but you can just as easily (well, almost) do it the old-fashioned way: With your hands and a little elbow grease. There’s actually something really satisfying about kneading bread dough by hand.

Three important things to know about yeast

1. Keep your yeast cold—It’s a living organism, and too much heat will kill it. (Dead yeast = dough that doesn’t rise.) The fridge or freezer is best.
2. Measure your yeast by hand—Especially if it comes in those little paper packets. (You know the ones I mean.) The amount in each envelope can vary a fair amount.
3. Always proof your yeast at the beginning of a recipe—Most recipes will start with something like, “Add your yeast to lukewarm water and let it sit for 10 minutes.” When it bubbles, you know it’s happy and alive. That way, you know if you have a problem with your yeast BEFORE you add all the other ingredients to the dough.

I’ve used SAF Instant Yeast for years. (The folks at King Arthur Flour swear by it for reliability.) I keep mine in the freezer in a mason jar.

Here you go.

Homemade Sandwich Bread

2 cups lukewarm water
2 Tbls. sugar
1 Tbls. dry active yeast
2 Tbls. butter, softened
5 1/2 cups all purpose flour + more for kneading the dough
1 Tbls. kosher salt

Yields 2 standard loaves

Proof the yeast

Put the water and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk vigorously to dissolve the sugar. (Yeast eats sugar, so consider this its appetizer before you add the flour.)

Toss in the yeast.

Whisk again to dissolve. Walk away from the bowl for 5-10 minutes to give the yeast time to work.

After 5-10 minutes, there should be a thick, creamy layer on the surface of the water.

That means the yeast is alive and kicking, so you can keep right on going.

Make the dough

Toss the flour and salt into the bowl with the yeast.

Cut your soft butter up into a few pieces (to make it easier to work into the dough evenly).

Toss the butter in with the flour.

Mix well to combine the ingredients. If you’re using a stand mixer, use the dough hook. (I use a stand mixer to knead my dough, but I always get it started by hand to keep the flour from flying all over the place.)

Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes.

It’s ready when it’s formed a smooth ball that feels elastic-y when you touch it.

Other signs the dough has been kneaded enough: Very little of the dough will stick to the dough hook when you pull it out of the bowl…

…and there will be very little dough actually sticking to the sides of the bowl.

The first rise

Round the dough up into a ball. Put it in a large, lightly greased bowl.

Coat a piece of plastic wrap with a little oil. Loosely cover the bowl with it, oil side down.

Let it sit in a warm place for about an hour, or until it’s doubled in size. If you check it after about 15 minutes, you should notice that it’s started to grow:

After about an hour, your dough should be doubled in size.

Form the bread loaves

Punch the dough down. (Basically, just poke it a bunch and smoosh the air out of it.)

Knead it a couple of times (I do this in the bowl) and form it into a neat ball. It should be smooth and tacky, but not sticky.

Sprinkle a little flour on a board. Set the dough ball on the flour.

Whack the ball in half with a bencher or a large knife. Each half will become one loaf.

Grab one half of the dough.

Knead it a few times by folding it in thirds over and over.

The second rise

Lightly grease two one-pound loaf pans. Set the formed loaf in one of the pans. Repeat with the other ball of dough.

Set the pans in a warm place, uncovered.

Let the loaves rise like this for about an hour, or until they’ve doubled in size.

About 15 minutes before your hour is up, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Bake the bread

When your loaves have doubled in size, pop them into your preheated 350-degree oven for 35-40 minutes.

When they’re done, the tops should be a nice light brown.

Yank the pans out of the oven.

Let them cool for 5 minutes in the pans. Then, with potholders, tip the loaves out of the pans and let them finish cooling on a rack.

(A good tip for checking if your bread is cooked through? Thump on the bottom of the loaf. If it makes a hollow sound, you’re bread is baked through.)

If you can bear it, let them cool to room temperature before slicing. When you slice bread that’s hot out of the oven like this, the remaining loaf can get a little gummy.

Bread will keep well, tightly wrapped on the counter or the fridge, for about 4 days. If, of course, it lasts that long.

Enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Here’s my take on a popular recipe for Buttermilk Cluster rolls. These rolls are crusty on the outside, soft and moist on the inside—and dotted with bits of bacon and toasted pecans.

When I toasted the pecans, I did it in the pan that I fried the bacon in, so they pick up a little bit of that smokey flavor.

These rolls would be a great addition to a fall or winter feast (I’m thinking alongside a rib roast). That said, The Angry Chef and I ate them for breakfast, toasted and slathered with cold butter, standing up at the kitchen counter.

These rolls are baked in a 9-inch springform pan and you pull them apart once they’re cool.

The original buttermilk cluster recipe

I started with this recipe from The Fresh Loaf that was posted here on Saveur magazine’s website.

The reader reviews on Saveur.com were all over the map. There were arguments about how much flour was correct to use, whether there was enough flavor, etc. The reviews on The Fresh Loaf were consistently much better.

I think Saveur reviewer paranoidtourist put it best: “Relying on the measurements in the recipe for any bread recipe is like getting directions from one place to another using animals as landmarks; you’ll get somewhere, but probably not where you had in mind.”

That’s a longer way of saying: Baking bread is a fickle task.

It depends just as much on the temperature in your house, if your yeast is fresh, how humid it is, the moisture content of your flour, as it does on the actual recipe. (If you’re in a really dry climate, you probably have to add more liquid to your dough, etc.)

All that said, the picture was absolutely mouthwatering, so I figured I’d give them a try. I modified the recipe a little and was quite pleased with the results.

Ingredients for buttermilk rolls

I used regular ole lowfat buttermilk. A handful of people on The Fresh Loaf used buttermilk powder. I haven’t tried that, but it looks like it’s an OK option if you don’t have any of the fresh stuff. (I assume you reconstitute it according to the directions on the package.)

For the bacon, I used Black Forest bacon from Whole Foods, which is a little sweeter than regular bacon. This is my favorite bacon of all time, but it can be hard to find. By all means, use what you like.

I included pecans in this recipe because I really like them with bacon. Walnuts would be great, too.

Bake buttermilk rolls in a springform pan

Making these rolls in a springform pan helps keep the dough balls together as they rise and bake, which makes for a really pretty finished bread. It also gives the sides of the rolls a nice crust.

A springform pan is one of these things. It’s the kind of pan you traditionally use to make a cheesecake.

The bottom is removable. When you flip open this latch, the sides of the pan expand to make it easier to get your cake (or in this case, your rolls) out. If you don’t have one, I highly recommend one of these.

Buttermilk Cluster Rolls with Toasted Pecans and Bacon

Adapted from Saveur and The Fresh Loaf

1 Tbls. active dry yeast
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 ⁄ 2 tsp. sugar
1 3 ⁄ 4 cups buttermilk
3 tbsp. maple syrup or honey
5 cups flour
1 1⁄2 tsp. kosher salt
4-5 strips of bacon, chopped
1 cup pecans, chopped and toasted

Oil or butter to grease the pan
1 egg, beaten w/1 Tbls. water

Makes 12 rolls in a 9-inch springform pan

Proof the yeast

Toss the yeast and sugar in the bowl of your mixer.

Add the lukewarm water. (Be sure it’s not hot. Hot water can kill the yeast.)

Whisk the water, sugar, and yeast together. Let this sit on the counter for about 10 minutes.

Make the dough

Add the maple syrup or honey to the bowl. (I used maple syrup.)

Add the buttermilk.

Whisk the whole business together until it’s uniform. (You want to dissolve the syrup/honey.)

Toss in the flour and the salt. I used 5 cups of flour. You might need a little more or less depending on where you are (see note in the intro).

Knead the dough by hand or with the dough hook on a stand mixer for about 5 minutes.

You want the dough to come together in a smooth, not-too-sticky ball like this (depending on where you live, you might need to add a little more flour or buttermilk). Like I said, this is the fickle part of bread baking. You have to play some things by ear.

Let the dough rise for about 2 hours

Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap or a damp tea towel. Set it aside to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours, or until it’s doubled in size.

When the dough has just about doubled in size, like this, you’re ready to deal with the bacon and pecans.

Prep the bacon and the pecans

Dice up the bacon.

Put it on the stove in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally. You want to cook it like this until it’s crisp.

While the bacon’s in the pan, chop up the pecans.

I chopped mine up roughly, because I wanted a rustic bread. If you want to go nuts (har, har), by all means, chop them more evenly.

When the bacon is crisp, remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon. Set it aside in a bowl. (Try not to gobble down too much.)

When it’s cool enough to handle, chop the bacon up into smaller pieces. (I do this now, as opposed to when the bacon is raw, because it’s kind of a pain to cut the slippery raw stuff into really small pieces.)

Pour out most of the bacon fat from the frying pan and discard (or save it for something else).

Toss the chopped pecans into the pan. Saute the pecans in the little bit of bacon fat that’s left in the pan over medium heat. Keep an eye on them and stir frequently, because they can scorch.

When the pecans are lightly brown and very fragrant, transfer them to the bowl with the chopped bacon. Set that aside for a minute while you deal with the dough.

Knead the bacon and pecans into the dough

Punch down the dough to smoosh the air out of it.

Toss the bacon and pecans into the bowl.

Fold the dough over a few times to start to work the bacon and pecans through the dough.

Then start to knead in earnest, until the ingredients are fairly uniformly incorporated through the dough.

Form the buttermilk rolls

Round the dough up into a ball and set it on your counter (it shouldn’t really stick, but if it does, toss a little flour under it).

With a bencher (that’s one of these things, one of my favorite kitchen tools) or a big knife, whack the dough into 12 pieces, just like cutting a pizza. Don’t worry if they’re not all 100% the same size. They’ll be close enough.

Grab one of the wedges of dough. Roll it into a ball between your palms.

Spray your springform pan down lightly with a little oil. Set the dough ball in the pan. Repeat with the rest of the dough.

I like to make a circle of dough balls on the outside rim, then fill in the center for an even design. Arrange them however you like.

Let the rolls rise for about an hour

Cover the pan with a lightly oiled piece of plastic wrap (so when the rolls rise, they won’t stick to the plastic). Set them in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

When they’re just about there, preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Mine rose to just above the edge of the pan.

Brush the tops of the rolls with beaten egg

To make the egg wash, beat an egg together with a tablespoon of water.

Gently brush the beaten egg over the tops of the rolls with a pastry brush (or your fingertips, in a pinch). This makes the top of the bread shiny after it bakes.

Don’t press too hard, or else you can deflate the little guys. Don’t make yourself nuts getting every nook and cranny on the top.

Bake the buttermilk rolls

Pop the pan into your pre-heated 400-degree oven. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until the rolls are shiny and warm brown on top.

Now, the Saveur and The Fresh Loaf recipes have you test the rolls for doneness by temperature.

I’ll admit that I don’t often do this. A nice brown crust and a good hollow sound when thumped (another sign that bread is baked through) are usually good enough for me.

If you’re so inclined, however, you’re aiming for about 190 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. (Stick the thermometer in the dead center of the loaf, not touching the edges or bottom of the pan.)

When they come out of the oven, let the rolls cool for about 15 minutes in the pan.

Then, slip off the outer ring of the springform pan and let them cool on a rack.

When you’re ready to serve, rip the rolls apart. Keeps well wrapped on the counter for about 3 days.

Enjoy!

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.