Fig Walnut Swirl Bread

FIG WALNUT SWIRL BREAD!!

Recipe adapted from: Serious Eats

Yum! Somehow, we have accumulated many different types of fruit "butters" - we have fig, mango, honey apple, and it goes on and on. Honestly, too much fruit butter for two people to eat. SO, what better way to use up the fruit butter than to bake it into the bread itself! I decided to go with fig butter and chopped walnuts, but it was a tough choice. I'm sure any fruit butter would work in this recipe, along with any add--ins, such as nuts, dried fruit, etc. So, without further ado, here's the recipe!

Ingredients

1 cup warm water

2 tablespoons honey

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast (this is the best yeast I've found, honestly)

3 1/2 cups bread flour (I used regular flour and it turned out just fine)

2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons margarine or butter

1/2 - 3/4 cup fig butter (or any fruit butter)

Chopped walnuts (I didn't measure this part, just put as many as you want)

Directions

Making this bread was super easy. I mixed the first 4 ingredients (through flour) in a stand mixer with a dough hook. Once those ingredients were all incorporated, I added the butter and the salt, and mixed until those were incorporated. The butter took a bit longer to mix in than I thought it would, but don't worry! It will. Next, I took the dough out, formed a ball, and put it back in the mixer bowl. I think put just a bit of olive oil on the bread (enough to cover, but not enough so there was a pool of olive oil in the bottom), and covered the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise for one hour.

Once the hour is up, it's time to put in the filling! At this point, it's probably smart to start pre-heating your oven to 325 degrees. To fill the dough, I spread mine on wax paper out so it covered a cookie sheet. I then spread fig butter all over it (except one inch at the far end from me, which was a short end) and put the walnuts on. I then rolled up my bread (rolling the short side, not the long side), and put it in a bread pan (which I had pre-sprayed with non-stick spray). I then let the bread rise for another 30 minutes, and covered it with the same plastic wrap I used before.

Finally, put the bread in the oven! Cook it for about 35 minutes, then take it out, let it cool, slice, and enjoy!

Scali Bread

I've been on a total bread baking kick recently. I just made ciabatta, which was delicious (!), but we ate it too fast to take any pictures. SO, when I found this recipe, I had to try it. It's from King Arthur Flour, which I love. Here's the recipe:

SCALI BREAD

Recipe From: King Arthur Flour 

Starter:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 water

1/8 teaspoon instant yeast

Make the starter the night before (just mix it all up, it will be like a normal dough). It's stiffer than most starters I've used, but don't worry - that's normal.

Dough

Starter

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk

2 teaspoons instant yeast

2/3 cup warm-ish water

2 tablespoons olive oil

Mix the dough with a bread hook (or by hand) until the dough forms into a uniform dough. I think it took about 5-10 minutes with a bread hook. When done, place dough in large bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 90 minutes. When 90 minutes are up, form three "logs" and let them rest for 10 minutes. 

Topping

1 egg white + 1 tablespoon cold water

Sesame seeds and Poppy seeds

When 10 minutes have elapsed, pull the dough out as long as it will go to form 3 "ropes." Coat each rope in the egg wash topping and sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or anything else. Pinch one end and braid the ropes. Pinch the other end to seal. Transfer to prepared baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap (loosely), and let sit for 90 minutes. Finally, bake bread in 425 degree oven for 25-35 minutes. 

More detailed instructions, and instructions on how to make this bread into rolls, can be found HERE