Better Homes and Gardens BH&G Best Bread Recipes 2021

LIKE MANY PEOPLE IN 2020, I PUT SOURDOUGH ON A LIST OF PROJECTS I WANTED TO TRY. (I love baking bread but was a newbie to the scientific mysteries of sourdough.) It was April that year when I put together my first sourdough starter, whisking together flour and water with the hope that (with daily feedings) it would start bubbling within the 5- to 7-day time frame the recipe noted. It didn’t. It looked like a paste, smelled like flour, and the bubbles were nonexistent. No problem, I thought, and just kept feeding it—and waiting. Eventually, I noticed some bubbles at the surface of the mixture and assumed I was getting close. The starter still didn’t look like any photos I’d seen. But it had been more than a week, and…

GOOD TO KNOW ABOUT Dough LESS IS MORE Carefully read recipe directions and descriptions of how the dough will look. For the right texture, your dough may need to be on the sticky side and your recipe will note that. Use the least amount of flour possible to allow you to knead the dough, and use your bench scraper to help lift and fold the dough. GLUTEN DEVELOPMENT Two proteins in flour, gliadin and glutenin, combine to create gluten when mixed with water. During kneading, gluten strands begin lining up and strengthening, essentially forming a matrix within the dough to trap carbon dioxide that is released during rising. WHY REST? Resting allows the gluten strands to recover and relax from kneading, which makes rolling and shaping easier and prevents the dough from tightening and shrinking back…

FLAKY BISCUITS HANDS ON 15 minutes BAKE 10 minutes at 450°F 360 grams all-purpose flour (3 cups)1 Tbsp. sugar2 tsp. cream of tartar*1 tsp. baking soda*1 tsp. salt½ cup cold butter, cut up¼ cup shortening1 cup milk 1. Preheat oven to 450°F. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk all at once. Using a fork, stir just until mixture is moistened. 2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead dough by folding and gently pressing it just until dough holds together. Pat or lightly roll dough to ¾ inch thick. Use a biscuit cutter to cut into rounds, rerolling dough…

CRANBERRY PULL-APART COFFEE CAKE Pictured on p. 17. HANDS ON 10 minutes BAKE 25 minutes at 350°F 2 12-oz. tubes refrigerated flaky-layer biscuits (20 biscuits total)½ cup packed brown sugar1 tsp. ground cinnamon½ tsp. ground ginger1 cup dried cranberries1 cup chopped pecans½ cup butter, melted2 cups powdered sugar1 tsp. vanilla3 to 4 Tbsp. milk 1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 13×9-inch baking pan. Cut biscuits into quarters; arrange evenly in pan. In a small bowl stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger. Sprinkle over biscuits in pan. Top with cranberries and pecans. Drizzle with butter. 2. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. Cool slightly in pan on a wire rack. 3. In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, vanilla, and enough milk to make an icing of drizzling consistency. Drizzle over coffee cake.…

CHANGE THE FLAVOR TOPPINGS AND STIR-INS TRANSFORM THE PERSONALITY OF YOUR BAGELS (RECIPE, P. 24). ONION BAGELS Prepare as directed, exceptstir 2 Tbsp. dried minced onion into the flour along with the yeast in Step 1. Sprinkle with additional dried minced onion after brushing lightly with Egg Wash (below). EGG WASH To make an egg wash, whisk together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. water. RAISIN BAGELS Prepare as directed, except stir in ½ cup raisins with the flour at the end of Step 1. Sprinkle each bagel with cinnamon-sugar (use 2 tsp. total). EVERYTHING BAGELS Prepare as directed, except sprinkle each bagel with ½ tsp. DIY Everything Seasoning (recipe, below) after brushing lightly with Egg Wash (above). DIY EVERYTHING SEASONING In a small bowl stir together 2 Tbsp. poppy seeds, 1 Tbsp. black sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds, 1 Tbsp.…

GRANDMA’S WHITE SANDWICH BREAD HANDS ON 30 minutes RISE 1 hour 15 minutes REST 10 minutes BAKE 35 minutes at 375°F 660 to 720 grams all-purpose flour (about 5½ to 6 cups)1 pkg. active dry yeast (2¼ tsp.)2¼ cups milk or buttermilk2 Tbsp. sugar1 Tbsp. butter1½ tsp. salt 1. In a large bowl stir together 300 grams (2½ cups) of the flour and the yeast. In a medium saucepan heat and stir milk, sugar, butter, and salt just until warm (120°F to 130°F) and butter almost melts; add to flour mixture. Beat with a mixer on low 30 seconds, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high 3 minutes. Stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can. 2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough of the remaining flour to…