Whole Wheat Jam Sweet Rolls

      Sometimes, all you need in life is a warm piece of bread, some butter spread generously on top, and a good slathering of jam. I mean, who argues with the smell of coffee and toast in the morning? If you start your day off with these in your kitchen, I positive it is going to be better.

          And sometimes, you want freshly baked bread to start your day. I for one, am never going to fault you for that. I have a particular weakness in my heart for brioche, which is a French style bread, that is lightly sweetened, heavily enriched with butter, and absolutely heavenly. If pastries were to meet bread, start dating, get married, and birth a brilliant baby, I am pretty sure it would be brioche. 

        This dough is very similar to a traditional brioche that is made in into a braid around Easter. It requires minimal kneading, are is pretty much just thrown in the bowl, stirred, rested, and given a little love; before long you will have a much more decadent tasting toast, butter and jam on your table. Because sometimes, that is the only type of bread that will suffice in the morning. Unlike normal toast, each individual roll has a gooey, soft center; and there is a center roll to the roll pan, and the center of the center roll, is pretty much the most coveted thing in the world. (At least in my world, and if that is the same in your world, there is a good chance we could be friends.)  

        Finally, the thing that makes this so wonderfully easy, is that all that you have to do is brush them with melted butter and dollops of your favorite jam or fruit butter-mine was a delectable apple butter from a local creole restaurant I adore. This simple mixture is not only fuss-free, but also not overly sweet. I love, I mean, love pecan sticky buns and cinnamon rolls, but sometime they are too much in the morning. These gentle treats are simple, soft bread with the your favorite pantry staples, pulled warm out of the oven-perfectly simple.

Lightly inspired by "Briochettes au ducle de leche" in The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo

Make 6-7 medium sized rolls
Ingredients:
5 TBSP unsalted butter
3 1/2 TBSP water
1 TSP dry active yeast
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
3/4 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C sugar
1 pinch of salt
1 egg, beaten
1 heaping TBSP sour cream
1 TSP vanilla extract

3 TBSP unsalted butter, melted
1/2 C apple butter (or sub whatever jam or preserve you prefer on your toast!)

Instructions:
1. Melt 5 TBSP butter, add it to lukewarm water, and stir in the yeast until it dissolves. 
2. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Push the dry ingredients to the sides to create a well in the center. Add the yeast mixture, the egg, vanilla, and sour cream, and combine until you have a soft, sticky dough with no flour streak remaining.
3. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow it to sit for 2 hours in a warm place or overnight in your fridge until it has doubled in size.
4. When ready, preheat oven to 350F. Butter and line a 8 or 9" cake round pan with parchment paper. 
5.Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and knead the dough for 4 minutes. Next, roll it into a large rectangle and brush 3 TBSP melted butter over the entire surface. Dollop the apple butter around the surface of the dough and brush it around to cover the entire surface.
6. With the long side facing you, roll the dough up into a log. Slice the rolls into even rounds (about 6 or 7). Place the rolls in the prepared pan with space in between them. Gently cover the pan with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size (about 45 minutes sitting on the preheating oven).
7.  Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops have become golden. Remove from the oven and allow the rolls to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before serving! Happy Breakfast.

Love,

 Boulder Butter

Yeasted Chocolate Bread

       Some of you know that I was misdiagnosed with Celiacs the week before I left for college. I moved out to Colorado (thankfully the land of people wanting to convert every recipe to gluten free) and started to re-learn food. There were weeks at the beginning I ate a lot of corn tortillas-some of those weeks were because I didn't exactly know everything I could eat, and some of those weeks were because I was to poor to afford ridiculously expensive gluten free bread.

       I was not much of a cook before this time, but due to a series of events in my life, I started to enter the kitchen more. Being gluten free was a big factor. I did not want to go the rest of my life without eating a delicious x, y, or z. (Let's be honest, most gluten free things at the store are less than stellar.) So my task began, and I simultaneously began my journey to trying to learn gluten free and high-altitude baking. In all honesty, it was fun and I'll probably share some of what I learned with you guys another time. However, this is my post in praise of gluten. After about 3 1/2 strict, no slip up, gluten free years, it was discovered that I did not have Celiacs. I went out for a sandwich with crusty, multigrain bread and an almond croissant, and nearly cried with happiness.

        Getting to eat gluten again has been one of the most wonderful discoveries of my life. I still eat things I had not had in years and it is so exciting. I will never, ever, take advantage of the ability to bake and taste test my gluten-filled things because its freaking awesome, and to be honest it gives you a lot more range. There are some things that just cannot be duplicated (phyllo dough, croissants, ect.) gluten free. Getting to eat it and bake with it is a blessing and not something I will ever take for granted.

        I have to tell you guys, two of my favorite things in the world are Bread and Beer. (Yes, capitalized because they are truly almighty food for me!) Yes, I know they make gluten free beer and bread, but it is just not the same. 

        This bread is an ode of my appreciation to being free to be able to eat whatever I would like. It is yeasted, fluffy, and delicious. It is packed with an extremely rich chocolate flavor from Dutch processed cocoa powder, semisweet chocolate chips, and chopped bittersweet chocolate. It is sweet, and decadently creamy to the point where it is like you are almost eating warm ice cream because it seems to simply melt in your mouth. You can put a spot of butter on your piece, but seriously, even on its own-simple, sliced thick, warm out of the oven, this bread is heaven. The soft dough center is like a gentle chocolate pillow and the varieties of chocolate strewed within add a complexity and a serious depth of flavor. This is unlike any bread I have ever had, and it definitely deserves the title of an ode of my appreciation.

Adapted from "Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook" by Cheryl and Griffith Day

Makes one 10x4 inch loaf (you can use a 9x5)

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/4 C Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/3 C granulated sugar
1 1/4 TSP active-dry yeast
1-11/4 C warm water
6 TBSP unsalted butter, cubed, room temperature
1 TSP fine salt
1/2 C semisweet chips
1/2 C chopped bittersweet chocolate
Granulated sugar for sprinkling
1 TBSP whole milk 
A dash of vanilla extract

Ingredient notes: This loaf is absolutely lovely as is. However, if you wanted to mix it up some, I think the zest of an orange, a TBSP of a hazelnut or raspberry liqueur, a TSP of a fun extract or 1/2 C of nuts would all be wonderful!

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine the flour, cocoa powder, 1/3 sugar, and yeast. Turn the mixer on low and slowly add in the water to the mixture. (Yours may only take the 1 C so start with that, at altitude it will likely take more. Add the last 1/4 C only if necessary and only as much as is needed to wet the flour mixture). Mix for 3 minutes. Turn off the mixer and allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.
2. After 20 minutes, add the cubed butter and salt and mix on medium speed until the dough comes together and the sides of the bowl are clean (about 5 minutes) and the dough has developed a sheen appearance. It is sticky and you may need to scrape off the sides once or twice to help it incorporate everything.
3. Turn the speed back down to low and add the chocolate chips, kneading for 1-2 minutes until the chips are distributed. 
4. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, form it into a round loaf and place it into an mixing bowl coated in a vegetable or canola oil, seem side down. Cover with plastic wrap and allow it to rise in a warm spot for 1 1/2-2 hours, until it has doubled in size.
5. Get out your loaf pan and sprinkle the bottom a small amount of granulated sugar. Next, turn the dough back out onto a floured surface and form in into an 8x6 loaf. With the long side towards you, roll it into a cylinder and place it into the loaf pan, seem side down. Loosely cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow it to double in size again (about 1 1/2 hours). 
    * I placed mine covered in the fridge over night for a slow rise. The next morning I took it out while the oven preheated and allowed it to rise for about 30-40 minutes at room temperature. This is a great option if you do not have time to do it all in one day or what the bread warm in the morning). 
6. After about 1 hour into the second rise, position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat it to 350F. After the dough has finished rising, remove the plastic wrap. Combine the milk and vanilla extract in a small bowl and stir together. Brush the vanilla milk over the bread and then sprinkle the top with a touch of granulated sugar. 
7. Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes and then allow the bread to cool on a rack for 30 minutes before inverting. Slice and enjoy some warm! It will last about 3 days, wrapped up. It makes great toast as well :)

Yay, Gluten! Yay, Bread!

Love,
   Boulder Butter