Bread

Babysitting hasn’t always been my strong suit.
I don’t know what to do with kids.
They blink at me…
They blink back…
I say, “Hey, do you like vampires?”.
They say, “Yeah”.
I put on the movie ‘Blade’.
They have nightmares.
Best. Babysitter. Ever.So when my sister left my nephew with me for the week, I decided to go another route.
“Hey, do you like pretzels?”.
“Yeah”.
“Cool. Let’s make some, ok?”.
“Whatever”.
Pfffftt, pre-teens…
But once we were in the kitchen & baking, all that Justin-Beiber-too-cool-hipster-kid attitude flew right out the window & my sweet little nephew was covered in flour & dough, smiling ear-to-ear.
Like I said:
Best. Babysitter. Ever.So grab a kid (preferably one from your own family otherwise that’s just weird…or a felony…)
& bake some memories & delicious pretzels!

Enjoy!

Before we get to the recipe, let me share a couple of things we learned about pretzels…
(Because you totally care, right? I thought so.)

You must BOIL pretzels in water & baking soda! This step should NOT be skipped. It is this step that makes the inside of the pretzel “puff” giving it its signature chewiness. The baking soda makes the boiling water an alkali (aka basic) solution which also helps to develop a soft pretzel’s signature brown crust & distinctive aroma. Skip this step & you are going to end up with a pale, hard breadstick. Ew.
Put an egg yolk wash on your pretzel before you put it in the oven to bake. It helps make it look extra golden brown & almost too pretty to eat…almost….
Left over pretzels make the BEST breakfast sandwiches. I am now a firm believer that all things should be served on soft pretzels. EVERYTHING.

Enough of that…Let’s bake! (more…)

I don’t trust people who don’t eat carbs.

There. I said it.

Don’t ask why, it’s just something innate in me that screams, “they are hiding something!”.

My guess? It’s probably like, 50 Twinkies in their nightstand, but who am I to judge?

Where does this distrust of the carb-less stem from, you may ask?

Well, in case you didn’t know it, I’m the child of foreigners and therefore, I grew up eating a WHOLE LOT OF CARBS.

Maybe this fact hardwired my brain to equate family=love=trust=carbs.

Every morning started off with bread, butter, and some kind of deli meat.

No oatmeal for me, thanks. Just butter sandwiches.

Every night ended…well, pretty much how it started…with more bread.

My friends thought I was weird.
I mean what 10 year old drinks café con leche and eats sweet bread rolls at 10pm before bedtime??

But that was my childhood, and as of late, I’ve been yearning to get back to that place.

So when the opportunity to bake pan dulce (or sweet bread) with my Argentine friends’ mom came up, I was all over that.

Never mind that it was 90 degrees in L.A. that day…

I was going to bake with Mi Vieja, and no one was going to stop me.

Bwahahaha!!!

Um, sorry. Got carried away…here’s how it went down :)I started my pan dulce using what is called a “Masa Madre” or “starter dough”. It is used as a pre-fermenter for bread recipes.
Whether this translation is completely correct or not, I’m not sure, but it’s the closest thing I could find when I Googled it.

I Google everything. I’m a Googler.
Oh my gosh, I just annoyed myself.
Yikes.

So this is my Masa Madre.

She’s a sexy mama.

Masa Madre is a dough that is used to start a number of bread recipes & creates a greater complexity of flavor for your bread. I love the idea of sourdough starters. I recently did my research on masa madre, and found out that it can be kept throughout generations (as long as it is kept “fed” w/ daily additions of flour and water). I love the idea of passing my dough on to my family members, children, and loved ones. I love it so much, in fact, I think I will write a whole other blog entry on it. Until then, you can read about it on wikipedia HERE!

Once the Masa Madre has risen and kneaded, a small portion of the Masa is then added to the mixture to create the final dough.

I think watching dough rise and double is MAGIC.

It makes me “oooh” and “ahhh” everytime 🙂

Out of the oven, and ready for the good stuff!

Stuff them with dulce de leche, dress them up with a little powdered sugar, and bada-boom-bada-bing, there you have Miguelitos!

Pan Dulce & Carbs = Love

Prep Time: 12 hours, 30 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 50 Miguelito Rolls

Pan Dulce & Carbs = Love

Ingredients

Masa Madre:

2 cups warm water
1 kilo of all bread flour
50 grams of rapid rise yeast

Miguelitos:

2 lbs bread flour
50 grams rapid rise yeast
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 cup butter, unsalted
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
2 cups warm water
1 cup (200 grams) of Masa Madre from above recipe
1 beaten egg for egg wash
1 jar of dulce de leche
powdered sugar for dusting

Instructions

To Make Masa Madre:

1. Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl until well incorporated.
2. Knead dough until it forms a silky-textured dough.
3. When it increases to 25% of original size, place dough in a Ziploc bag and refrigerate.
4.The dough will be ready to use in about 12-15 hours.

To Make Miguelitos:

Preheat oven to 425 F
1. Mix all ingredients together adding water gradually until just moist enough that it forms a silky-textured dough (it will resemble pizza dough).
2. Cover dough with saran wrap and let it rest 15 minutes.
3. Using about 50 grams of dough (about the size of a medium egg), make round balls and place on a greased cookie sheet approximately 2 inches apart.
4. Brush tops of dough with egg wash, cover with saran wrap, and allow to rise to double or triple their original size (approximately 15 minutes).
5. Bake bread for about 10 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Remove from oven, and once cooled make a diagonal slice in the tops of the sweet rolls and using a small teaspoon, stuff the rolls with dulce de leche.
7. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy!!

https://patriciaspatticakes.com/2011/07/pan-dulce-carbs-love-html/

Category: Bread

Buttery Homemade Soft Pretzels

Pan Dulce & Carbs = Love