Nutella walnut knots

Recipe: (6knots)

200g flour 

2g salt

35g sugar

4g instant yeast

100g warm water

30g milk

10g oil

Cinnamon bun

Banana oat mini loaves

Banana Oat Bread Recipe (adapted from allrecipes.com, yield 8mini loaves or 12 standard size muffins)
~> In a large bowl, mix together:
1 1/2cup flour
1cup quick cooking oats
1/4cup white sugar
1/4cup packed brown sugar
2tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1/2tsp salt

~> In a separate bowl, mix together:
1 egg
3/4cup milk
1/3cup oil
1/2tsp vanilla
1cup mashed ripe banana

~> pour wet mixture into the flour mixture, gently mix until combined, (DON'T OVER-MIX!) grease a muffin tin or a mini loaf tin, or line with paper cups... Bake in a 400F preheated oven for 17-20mins

Mantou 饅頭

Recipe (8servings):
300g flour
6tbsps sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tsp yeast
1/2tsp salt
150g warm water or milk
1tbsp oil

1) in a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, bp,yeast and salt. Stir a well in the middle, pour in water/milk and oil.
2) flour the working surface and your hands, knead until a smooth and non-sticky dough is formed, you may need to add extra amount of flour.
3) let it rest for 15mins, then divide the dough into 8equal pieces. Let them rise in a warm place for one hour or they are doubled in size.
4) prepare a pot of cold water, steam the Mantou on medium high heat, start timing when the water begin doubling, about 13 to 15mins.

Little Bun

It has been quite awhile since the last time of making homemade bread, luckily I haven't forgotten the skill of breaking making yet. However, kneading dough is quite tedious work and my arms are so weak and sore.

Oil-free banana bread

Have you ever had a moment that you just want something to satisfy your sweet tooth but too afraid to blow up your new year revolution ? If answering yes, then this oil-free banana bread would be perfectly suitable for you. I found this recipe on saladmaster.com .. the recipe yields 4 jumbo muffins, but I was too lazy to divide up the batter and so just dumped it all in a 9inch loaf pan ( an 8inch loaf pan would be a better size, sad that I don't have one at home) However, it would take much more time to bake than muffins , so if you are not patient enough to wait, then you better get a muffin pan ;)

Oil-free banana bread Recipe:
3/4cup banana , mashed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2cup sugar (used 3/4cup)
1/4cup sour cream (i used like 1/2cup)
1cup flour
1tsp Bp
1tsp bs
1/4cup blueberries and nuts (optional)

1) in two separate bowls, stir together all the wet ingredients and all the dry ingredients. Combine them together and stir in berries and nuts if using.

2) bake in 350F preheated oven for 25mins if using muffin pan, or 30mins if using loaf pan. ( baking time may vary depends on the oven and the size of the pan, so you may have to do an adjustment by yourself)

Note: The sour cream I used was low fat and it was EXPIRED for a week already. But I really don't want to waste a single thing that could still be eaten, so rather than donating it to the garbage bin (which is not going to happen) , I decided to use it all up for the bread :D that is also why I increased the amount of sugar too.. And I also added a few extra tablespoon of flour... Lol.. Regard all the adjustment I have made, this bread came out moist and banana-y ..

Sour cream cake bread

Why call it cake bread? Well, take a close look at the texture of the bread, doesn't it look so soft and fluffy, almost like a cake?
The original recipe is found on allrecipes website, it listed to use 1pack(2-1/4tsp) of yeast, but guess what? Careless people like me won't read recipe properly, and I ended up using only 1tsp, which is like less than half. However, mistake didn't stop me halfway, i decided to let the dough rise for a few more hours and WaLaa it went up highly and came out super soft. Also, thanks to a special ingredient to achieve this lovely soft texture, which you can already figure it out by the title, yes it is Sour Cream!

Sour cream cake bread Recipe (make one 9inch cake pan, or 10 rolls)
3 1/4cups flour
2 1/4tsp instant yeast (used only 1tsp)
3 tbsp brown sugar (used white sugar)
1/2tsp salt
1/2cup skim milk (i used warm water)
3/4cup low fat sour cream (used 1/2cup)
2 egg whites (used 1 whole egg)
1tbsp vanilla (used 1tsp)

Pork Bao 菜肉包

Today was the last day of easter:"( noway, why the holiday always ends so quickly. Talking about easter, i noticed that everybody is baking or purchasing hot cross buns. I wonder why, is that one of the traditional easter food? I have never heard of that, all i know is to decorate easter eggs and have bunny shaped chocolate. Anyways, since I'm a typical Asian and I guess I should make something that is more "Chinese" to celebrate Easter , right? Sure and there we go~ chinese pork bun (aka. Bao zi) !!! My bao bao came out amazingly good... Aww, should have made more and kept for tomorrow's lunch ><

French baguette 2

Second try of French baguette.
Also had an additional of old dough in it. But with an increased amount, around 60g. I would say this is just so perfect and I think my soul is just sold, seriously. Very different than the bread sold in asia, Baguette has a harder crust and chewier texture which get your mouth do a bit workout. I can't tell which one is better, but baguette definitely get me and has much lower fat than soft bread.. :)

老麵法包

Right out from the oven, it was crusty outside and chewy-soft inside, ain't this the most gorgeous French baguette I'm looking for? OhMyGosh, can really believe I got it right for the first time >< everyone got a slice, dip in some avocado salsa and started digging in .. Yumyum :)
法包食譜
200g flour
3g salt
2g instant yeast
132g warm water
45g old dough (tear in pieces)
1) mix together flour, salt and yeast. Pour in water and add in pieces of old dough. Knead until a smooth dough is formed, about 7mins.
2) let it rise in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
3) punch out the air and form the dough into the shape of a baguette. Let it rise for the second time about an hour.
4) preheat oven to 220c (420F) , bake it for 25mins.

甜吐司

Old dough 老麵種

Old Dough Recipe
(from「carol 自在生活」)
125g flour
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp instant yeast
75g water
1) mix together flour , salt and yeast. Add in water and knead until smooth, about 6min. Place the dough into an oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 12 hours. It could be added to other bread recipe.

pita bread

I fell in love with pita bread recently. I love how it has a small little pocket which I can stuff whatever I like in it. Great idea with great taste, thats how it stole my soul completely from other bread. Believe it or not, I had pita bread for every single meal in this past whole week. lol, I get obsessed with things every easily and I am sure that I will be sick of it very soon. So, while I still have my love with pita bread, let me introduce you some of the stuffing I used to fill up the empty pocket. 

needless to cook fillings:

salad veggies

cheese

ham

avocado

tomato

need to be cooked fillings:

veg. (eg. mushroom, zucchinis..etc.)

egg

meat

In the mornng, I ususally go for a lighter choice, which I would mix together tomato, a triangle of laughing cow cheese and some lettuces. For lunch, a more hunger-satisfying choice would be ham and cheddar cheese and some veggies. And lastly, I would put all the leftovers in the pita bread for supper.

   

Char Sui Bao 叉燒包

Raisin bread loaf 提子包

菠蘿包2號

嘩，經過上兩次失敗的經驗，今次終於都做到完美的菠蘿包了！其實今次都是即興之作，沒有抱太大的期望，想不到出來的成果會意想不到的美味，真的令人鼓舞。順帶一提，今次是第一次嘗試用湯種法去整包包。之前因為怕麻煩，所以都避免用湯種法。但其實製作湯種一點也不費時，用微波爐叮便成了，超方便快捷的。而且用湯種法可以保持包包的軟熟度，超正的啊！

菠蘿包

雖然今次的菠蘿包比上次有了大躍進，但我仍在追尋完美的菠蘿包。明顯地焗得太夠，包面黑了點。好在沒怎樣影響味道，只是口感肖為硬了點。下次要記得看好時間，不能過15分鐘。