King Arthur Flour's Thanksgiving Buns

The recipes on King Arthur Flour's website are amazing. Normally I would never try to recreate them on my little blog because the KAF bakers do an amazing job of step-by-step instruction. This particular recipe is one that one of the bakers, PJ Hamel, writes is a must for Thanksgiving. I was intrigued! I love to make bread and rolls and, although I have my favorites, I am always looking for new recipes. This one is a WINNER. Not only are these the best rolls that I have ever made, but they are the best I have ever had. Seriously. Better than those awesome rolls you get at a steakhouse, better than anything that has ever come out of a package, and better than any rolls I have had at a bakery. I can't say enough about how amazing they are!! I did have to change a few things, though, so I thought I would post my version. I changed things out of necessity, not because I thought of a better way, but the next time I make them (Thursday for Thanksgiving) I think I'll make them exactly as I'm about to show.

You will need:

3 1/2 cups KAF bread flour (I was out of all-purpose)
1 envelope yeast
1/4 cup potato flakes
2T sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt
4T softened butter
2/3 cup warm water
1/2 cup warm buttermilk
2 8-inch round baking pans
*********
2T melted butter

This recipe makes 16 dinner rolls. I thought about halving the recipe, but didn't. So glad I made all 16. They went quickly!



Here's why I changed what I changed: I went to the store to pick up potato flakes and dried milk. I don't use instant potatoes, but they sell them in single packs for 40 cents. A bargain and I didn't feel wasteful because I used most of the package, but the dry milk was another story. The cheapest I could find was more than $8 and that was for 10 single-serving packs. The original recipe only calls for 3T, so I didn't buy it. If you have it, use it! I ended up omitting it altogether, but figured I would use buttermilk instead of regular milk in an attempt to make up the difference. The result was AMAZING, so I think it worked.

Add all of the dry ingredients to a mixer bowl and combine lightly.



Then add the wet to the dry. (I poured my buttermilk into the water in a measuring cup and zapped both for 30 secs in the microwave to warm them. Worked great!)



Mix with a dough hook until you get a soft, smooth ball--around 5 minutes.



Lightly grease a bowl and place your dough in it. I dampened a towel with hot water and then squeezed out the excess water and placed it over my dough. Store in a warm location until it doubles in size. It will take about an hour.



Turn out the dough onto a greased surface. I sprayed my ugly (but squeaky clean) counter tops with cooking spray.



To get 16 (relatively) even pieces, cut the dough in half, then half again and so on.








Make the pieces into round balls and place 8 in each lightly greased round baking pan.



Allow to rise in a warm place. I did the warm towel thing again. It should take about an hour.



Bake in a 350 degree oven for 22-24 minutes. When they are done, brush them with the melted butter.



I didn't even give them a second to cool. You can flip them out onto a dish and then pull them apart. I just stuck a knife down in the pan and wedged one out. I couldn't wait. Your mouth will water just smelling them!



I asked the Goose if I should make them for Thanksgiving and she said, "you should make them every day." Tink even loved them and she is not a bread fan. This recipe will be our family's "must bake" for the holidays. Thank you King Arthur Flour!!



Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Pizza is so cheap and ubiquitous that most people never bother making pizza dough from scratch. Once you start making your own dough, you'll realize how much better it tastes! When I first starting making homemade dough (and after much trial and error) I used this recipe from Tyler Florence. It's my good-to, never-fail recipe when I want all white flour pizza dough. But, more often I use a whole wheat/white flour mix. This recipe is fantastic. Super tasty and you can add more or less whole wheat to your liking. I don't recommend using all whole wheat, though. The crust comes out too dense and you loose the chewiness. Adding the white flour will keep your crust light. That said (written), if you do decide to use all whole wheat you will need to add 4 tsp of gluten, which will add a bit of chewy and will help the dough rise.

You will need:



1 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees)
1 package active dry yeast
1 T olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups bread flour

(I only use King Arthur flours. If you use another brand you may need to adjust your flour quantities just a bit. But...King Arthur really is superior!)

In a large mixer bowl (I use my KitchenAid) add the water, sugar, and yeast. The sugar feeds the yeast (little burpee guys). Add a bit more sugar if you like a sweeter crust. After the mixture is foamy--about 10 minutes--add the oil and salt.



Mix gently and then add the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the bread flour.



Use the dough hook attachment and mix until dough starts to come together.



At this point you can either turn out the dough onto a surface floured with the remaining bread flour or you can, like I do, leave it in the mixer and slowly add the remaining flour with the mixer on medium speed. You'll need to stop it now and then to scrape the dough off of the hook.



If kneading by hand, keep it up until all of the flour is absorbed and the dough becomes smooth. About ten minutes or so. If you are using the mixer, mix for at least six minutes. Dough should be smooth and elastic.



Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn to coat, and loosely cover with a damp towel. Let it stand in a warm place until doubled, about an hour. I turn on the oven to 400 degrees and put the bowl at the back of the stove with one half of the towel over the back burner.



After it rises...



punch it down and turn it out onto a floured surface.



This dough is so great. You can divide it into 2 and have two great, thick, large crusts. Or you can divide it into 3 and have thinner crusts, but still nice size pizzas. I divide it into 4 and have individual pizzas for each family member. The dough is thin, but not the flat thin you get at a pizza parlor--the one that makes you think you are eating cardboard or paper. Form the pieces into little balls and leave them alone for about 45 minutes or until doubled.



Preheat the oven to 425. You can use a rolling pin to form your crusts, but I just stretch and pull at them until flat. I like the look of homemade pizza crust, not perfectly round.



Top with anything you like! Bake on a greased pizza pan or cookie sheet for about 12 minutes.. My pizza pan is blackened and malformed owing to years of being spread with pulled pork and cooked on the grill, so I just use a cookie sheet lined with parchment and greased with a bit of olive oil. Works great, but still every year I ask Santa for a pizza stone. For some reason, he always forgets to bring me one. :)


Tinker Bell likes tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni and green peppers on her pizza.



Bubba, Goose, and I like BBQ sauce (thinned with a bit of pineapple juice), BBQ chicken, bacon, and pineapple on our pizzas.



Even in smaller, individual size crusts the dough is chewy, not too dense, and thick enough to let you taste it. Give it a try and you won't be sorry!