Mix together water, yeast, sugar and olive oil in a jug to activate the yeast
2
Add flour and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer.
3
Once yeast is foamy, add to the flour and salt.
4
Knead the dough with dough hook for about 5-10 min until smooth
5
Take the dough out of the bowl, it should be a pretty clean bowl and oil the bowl, put the dough back and cover with plastic wrap.
6
Place the dough in a warm space, for example the oven turned off. Let it double in size. This takes between 1-2 hours usually.
7
Once the dough is doubled in size, deflate the dough and divide in to 2 balls
8
Re-cover the balls and let it rest for another 15-20 minutes
9
Preheat the oven to 230 degrees Celsius with a pizza stone or large, upturned baking tray in the oven to heat up
10
Dust a piece of baking paper with the semolina and place 1 of the balls on top of it
11
Gently press with your fingertips the ball into a circle that has about a 1 cm thickness.
12
Combine egg yolk and milk to make the egg wash
13
Brush the egg wash on the dough and sprinkle some sesame seeds on top
14
Take the stone or tray out of the oven and transfer the dough to the stone or tray. Can be tricky but because of semolina should slide easily. Be careful because it's very hot!
15
Bake the bread until risen and golden all over, about 10 minutes.
16
Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack to cool
I recently bought a little jar of ‘speculaas‘ spices (they are a mixture of spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, white pepper and a few others) and I was trying to come up with something I could bake that was different than the obvious ‘pepernoten’ or ‘speculaas’ cookies. I decided to go with a recipe mix of a Nutella Twist Bread and Cinnamon bread rolls. Instead of adding cinnamon to the butter/sugar mixture, I added some ‘speculaas’ spices. That was a great idea because the bread is delicious!
Mix yeast, milk, sugar and egg together in a bowl or measuring jug. Leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
2
Add flour and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer.
3
Once yeast is foamy, add to the flour and salt. Also add the soft butter.
4
Knead the dough with dough hook for about 5-10 min until smooth (if the dough is a bit too sticky add a bit of flour).
5
Take the dough out of the bowl, it should be a pretty clean bowl. Oil the bowl, put the dough back and cover with plastic wrap.
6
Place the bowl in a warm space, for example the oven turned off. Let it double in size. This takes between 1-2 hours usually.
7
For the filling combine the butter, sugar and speculaas spices until a spreadable consistency.
8
Once the dough is doubled in size, deflate the dough and roll it out into a large rectangle, about 1 cm thick.
9
Spread the dough with the speculaas filling and roll up from the long side.
10
Cut through the centre of the roll of dough and twist each side over the other.
11
Bring the two ends together to form a circle and press the dough together to make a nice looking twist.
12
Cover the bread with an oiled plastic wrap and let it rise again until double in size.
13
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
14
Place the bread in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. You can cover the bread with aluminum foil near the end if the top browns too fast.
15
Let the twist bread cool on a wire rack before dusting with icing sugar.
Notes
If the dough is too sticky add a little bit more flour. It should feel sticky to touch but not so sticky that the dough keeps sticking to your fingers.
If you don't have Speculaas Spices, there are plenty of recipes to find that tell you how to make these spices.
Brioche is a pastry of French origin and the dough is enriched with lots of butter and egg yolks. This gives the bread a very fine, very soft crumb and an almost flaky texture, in addition to turning the crust a dark golden color after baking. This brioche has almonds on top with a honey and lemon glaze.
Add in flour, sugar, yeast and salt in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer and mix together
2
Add in eggs, vanilla extract and on a slow speed and with dough hook attachment, mix the ingredients for about 3-4 minutes.
3
Increase the speed to medium and knead for another 5-7 minutes or until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the bowl.
4
The dough should not be warmer than 27 degrees. This will melt the butter faster when being added to the dough.
5
Add the room temperature butter to the dough and mix it in to the dough on a low speed. You might need to help incorporate the butter in to the dough with a spatula or spoon.
6
Continue kneading for about 3-5 minutes until the dough has a smooth and shiny surface
7
Wrap the dough in a piece a baking paper and let it rest at room temperature (18-24 degrees C) for about 30 minutes.
8
Then place the dough in the fridge for the first proof for about 12-14 hours.
9
Divide the dough in to 3 even pieces, wrap individually in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
10
Flour your (cold and dry) hands and shape the first piece of dough in a log. Roll out the dough in a 35-40cm long stick.
11
Try to do this as quickly as possible to prevent the butter from melting; if it gets to warm/sticky, wrap in plastic and put it in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
12
Do this with all 3 paces of dough and then roll out further, to about 60 cm long, alternating between each dough.
13
Place the 3 long rolls of dough next to each other and pinch the tops together and start braiding.
14
Put the braid on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and connect the 2 ends to have a close circle.
15
Place a big container over the dough for the second rise (you can do plastic wrap but oil it first so that it won't stick to the dough).
16
Let it rise at room temperature (not higher then 24 degrees Celsius) for about 2-2.5 hours until double in size.
17
When that's finished, preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius.
18
Gently brush the egg wash on the dough and place the sliced almonds all around, as much or as little as you like.
19
Bake the brioche at 170 degrees Celsius for 20-25 minutes and then at 160 degrees Celsius for 10-15 until the bread has a nice golden brown colour. You can cover the bread with aluminum foil if the top browns to quickly.
20
Let it cool on a wire rack.
21
Meanwhile mix the icing sugar, honey and lemon juice in a small bowl and mix until you have a nice glaze
22
When the brioche is cooled down, drizzle the honey-lemon glaze over the brioche.
This pull-apart cheese bread with Italian herbs is so good! Goes perfect as a side dish when you’re having spaghetti or lasagna. Or just eat as a snack. Or lunch… Or whenever. It’s that good!
Mix yeast, milk, sugar and egg together in a bowl. Leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.
2
Add flour and salt in a stand mixer.
3
Once yeast is foamy, add to the flour and salt. Also add the soft butter.
4
Knead the dough with dough hook for about 5-10 min until smooth (if the dough is a bit too sticky add a bit of flour).
5
Take the dough out of the bowl, it should be a pretty clean bowl. Oil the bowl, put the dough back and cover with plastic wrap.
6
Place the bowl in a warm space, for example the oven turned off. Let it double in size. This takes between 1-2 hours usually.
7
Once doubled in sized, deflate the dough and roll it out into a large rectangle, about 1 cm thick.
8
Spread the dough with Nutella (this goes easier if you soften the Nutella in the microwave for a few seconds) and roll up from the long side.
9
Cut through the centre of the roll of dough and twist each side over the other.
10
Bring the two ends together to form a circle and press the dough together to make a nice looking twist.
11
Cover the bread with an oiled plastic wrap and let it rise again until double in size.
12
Place the bread in a pre-heated 200 degrees Celsius oven for about 15-20 minutes until cooked through and golden brown. You can cover the bread with aluminum foil near the end if the top browns too fast.
13
Let the twist bread cool on a wire rack before dusting with icing sugar.
This no-knead Dutch Oven Bread is super easy to make. You only have to mix the ingredients, let it rise overnight and the next morning you bake a loaf of bread.
In a large bowl, mix the flour, salt and yeast until combined
2
Pour in the warm water and with a wooden spoon mix until a sticky dough forms
3
Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and set it aside in a warm place 8 to 18 hours until dough rises, bubbles and flattens on top.
4
Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius.
5
Once preheated put the Dutch oven (with cover) in the oven for 30 minutes before baking
6
Generously flour a sheet of baking paper
7
Punch dough down and, with floured hands, transfer the dough on to the baking paper and quickly shape into a ball.
8
Sprinkle some more flour on top, cover it with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
9
Optional: Slash the top of the bread about 1/2 cm deep slits.
10
After 30 minutes, remove Dutch oven from the oven (careful, it's super hot) and VERY carefully lift the dough and drop it, with baking paper and all into the preheated pot.
11
Place the cover on top and bake the bread for about 45 minutes with cover, and then another 10-15 minutes, uncovered until the bread is nice golden brown.
