English Muffins and Snow!!

Well, I did not make sourdough pancakes yesterday, but I did get to make something with my sourdough today. I made Sourdough English Muffins for the Red Star Yeast website. Some things that I would like to mention are you will end up using about 3 1/2 cups of flour, use plenty of cornmeal and when the recipe says grease something, grease it. If you follow those simple notes, you will probably end up with muffins a lot rounder than I did. Another note is that I used fast rising yeast and it took about 1 1/2 hours to rise the first time and then 30-45 minutes for the second rise. Now for the snow: today we already had school of for President’s Day, but the way the weather is around here, we probably wouldn’t have had it anyway. I am hoping for a we have a 2-hour delay tomorrow(!) because 6:00 a.m. comes too early. Tomorrow, I will post another batch of food-related products, until then-go make something!

~thechildcooks

Quick Bread or Not?

Mixes like a quick bread, but has a sourdough starter in it. What is it you ask? Well, my friends, it is sourdough banana bread. This is the second bread that I have made using my 2011 starter. It has the tell-tale sourdough crust on it with a soft, moist interior.

P.S. If you know how to classify this bread, leave a note in the comments. Thanks!

~thechildcooks                                                                                                                                     

Sourdough Banana Bread

1/3 cup oil

1 large egg

1 1/2 cups mashed banana

1 cup sourdough starter(remember:feed you starter afterwords!)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 cups all-purpose flour(I used 1 1/2 cups ap and 1/2 cup whole wheat)

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9x5x3 loaf pan. In a bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk the oil and sugar. Add and mix in the egg then stir in the banana, starter and vanilla. Ad the dry mix gradually, being careful not to  . Bake in oven for 55-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the loaf comes out clean. Remove from pan onto a rack to cool immediately after coming out of the oven.

Sourdough Bread and Starlight Cupcakes

Here my fellow bloggers are the recipes for a basic sourdough bread and Starlight Cupcakes.

Sourdough Bread using the starter from this post

1 cup sourdough starter

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cup warm water(105-115F)

3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

3 tablespoon vegetable oil

Cold water for baking

Start the night before you wish to make the bread or start in the morning and bake at night.

Mix sourdough starter, 2 1/2 cups flour and 2 cups warm water in 3-quart glass bowl with wooden spoon until smooth. Cover; let stand in warm, draft free place for 8 hours.

Add 3 3/4 cups of flour, the sugar, salt, baking soda and oil to the mixture in the bowl; stir with wooden spoon until smooth and flour is completely absorbed. If necessary add some of the remaining 1/2 cup flour.

Turn dough onto heavily floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turn greased side up and cover. Let rise in warm, draft free place for 1 1/2 hours.

Punch down dough; divide into halves. Shape each half into a round, slightly flat loaf. Place loaves on parchment lined baking sheets and score each loaf 3 times on the top. Let rise until double, about 45 minutes.

Heat oven to 375F. Brush loaves with water and place into preheated oven. Bake, brushing occasionally with water for 50 minutes or until loaves sound hollow. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

Note: Because you used your sourdough starter, you should feed it 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup water by stirring it in and letting it set on the counter for 12 hours. Return to refrigerator and use once a week to 10 days.  

Starlight Cupcakes

2 1/4 cups all purpose-flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter

1 1/2 cups milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 eggs

Heat oven to 350F and line approximately 27 standard cupcake tin holes with liners or spray. Beat all ingredients on low for 30 seconds then on high for 3 minutes, scraping frequently. Pour batter into tins.

Bake until wooden toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Remove immediately from pans to cooling racks.

Starter-ing the New Year Off Right

First of all, Happy New Year! Secondly, I have begun a new baking task that will require me to pay attention to something. Something I have wanted to do for a reason completely unknown to me is make sourdough bread. I cannot recall ever even having a piece of the stuff. This will change in about a week, for yesterday I mixed up a simple sourdough starter. I used the basic Betty Crocker recipe found in my father’s handy-dandy 1970s era cookbook. I have not taken any pictures to post because it is not the most interesting thing to look at, but when I start making breads I will post those pictures.

Basic Sourdough Starter from Betty Crocker

 1 teaspoon active dry yeast

1/4 cup water, warmed to yeast package specifications

3/4 cup milk

1 cup all-purpose flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water in a 3-quart glass bowl. Stir in the milk. Stir in flour gradually and beat until smooth. Cover with a towel or cheesecloth; let stand in warm, draft-free place until starter begins to ferment, about 24 hours(surface will be bubbly). If the starter does not ferment after 24 hours, discard and begin again. If fermentation has begun, stir well; cover tightly with plastic wrap and return to warm, draft-free place. Let stand until foamy, 2-3 days.(This is as far as I have gotten, I will post the rest as I come to that point.)

Alright, now, after 2-3 day pour your starter into a 1-quart crock or glass jar.  Cover and store in the refridgerator. The starter is read to use when a clear liquid comes to the top.