Sunday, December 23, 2012

Dinner Rolls and Beautiful Pantries

I dream of lovely pantries.  Not only am I extremely short on space in my kitchen, but I also have two little stinkers who get into things make a mess of things destroy things in my kitchen! My youngest, in particular, is strongly drawn to the pantry where she pulls out anything she can reach.  I often find her covered in flour and dragging a Costco sized jug of olive oil through the house.  As much as I try to keep things in my house organized, it is usually the case that someone (someone short and cute) comes along and gets into things.  This is my life.  Someday I will be able to reclaim some territory in my house (as well as own a much larger pantry!), but in the meantime I dream of things such as these:

This is my favorite, only I would go with orange
This is nice, minus the cat!




For now I'm stuck with this and the many cupboards I keep canned and other dry goods in, although I think I'll start working on collecting canisters and other such receptacles:



Now, on to the dinner rolls.  This is an adapted recipe from Colette Martin's book Learning to Bake Allergen-free.  She uses a white and multigrain mix, but I prefer just using the multigrain mix.  Also, I have found that active dry yeast works much better than quick rising yeast, which is what this recipe originally called for.  Also, many recipes I have found using active dry yeast involve dissolving in water and sugar and setting to foam.  My master baker brother told me to forget that and just mix it in with the flours like you would the instant yeast.  So far, so good! This lengthens the proofing time, but my baked goods always turn out so much better when I don't use the quick version.  So plan ahead!  



Basic Dinner Rolls (or Sandwich Bread)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 teaspoons active dry yeast 
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup grapeseed oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm water
6 teaspoons egg replacer mixed with 8 tablespoons warm water (equal to 4 eggs)

1.  Spray a muffin tin or loaf pan with cooking oil (the cookbooks I have recommend gluten-free loaf pans.  I have yet to buy one of these, so I'm just using my 9 by 4 loaf pan.  My bread always turns out just fine)

2.  Whisk together flours, xanthan gum, yeast, salt, baking powder, and sugar in a medium bowl.  Set aside.  

3.  Blend oil, water, sugar, egg replacer on medium speed for about a minute.

4.  Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix on low speed until combined.  Then beat for 2 minutes on medium-high until the dough is smooth.

5.  Pour the batter into the loaf pan or muffin tin.  Proof for 90 minutes.

6.  With 5 minutes left to rise, preheat the oven to 375.  

7.  Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes for the loaf, and 12-15 minutes for the muffins.  

A couple of tips - 

The yeast used in this recipe is more than what you will get in a single packet, so be sure to adjust if using that form of yeast.

Slice the bread and stick it in the freezer for future use.

The muffins freeze well, too!  No need to slice.  





1 comment:

  1. I dream of beautiful pantries too! For now I only have cabinets and one set of open shelves my hubby built me (for pretty canisters) but I can dream and appreciate beautiful spaces with you. One day...

    ReplyDelete