Yeast Breads: Blueberry Swirl Bagels

Bagels are delicious, especially when combined with the tart flavor of blueberries. The swirl pattern is created by gently kneading the blueberries into the dough after the first rising. If you add the blueberries at the beginning, you could end up with a bit of a mess on your hands. Make sure your blueberries are frozen or they'll be crushed during the kneading process.


Ingredients


1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water
½ cup frozen blueberries
 2 tbsp honey
1 egg, lightly beaten


Preparation


Place yeast and flour in a large bowl. Toss to mix. Add salt and brown sugar. Toss again. Add water and mix until you have a loose dough. Turn this dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you have a soft and elastic dough, about 5 minutes. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Set aside in a warm location to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.


Punch down the dough to remove air bubbles. Press dough into a rough circle on a lightly floured surface. Place blueberries in the center of the circle. Gently knead the dough, folding the dough over the blueberries. Don't press too hard. Even frozen blueberries will crush if you aren't gentle. Allow the juice to swirl through the dough as you distribute the blueberries as evenly as possible.


When you're finished, shape your bagels. You can do this either by using a bagel cutter or dividing the dough into 12 equal pieces and shaping them by hand. To do this, roll the pieces of dough into balls. Pick up one ball and press your fingers through the center of it. Stretch the hole you just made until you have something resembling a standard bagel. Place these on a prepared baking sheet and allow to sit for at least 10 minutes.


Heat oven to 375°F. Fill a small pot with water and add honey to it. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil. One at a time, boil your unbaked bagels for 30 seconds to 2 minutes. The longer you boil them, the chewier they will be. Once they're boiled, place them back on the prepared baking sheet. Brush bagels with the beaten egg, then bake for 22 minutes,


Remove baked bagels from baking sheet immediately and cool on wire racks. These bagels will keep for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container. Do not store in the fridge.

Yeast breads: Everything Bagels

Everything bagels are a common bagel that many people seem to enjoy. The secret to these is in the topping. You have to have a little of everything, which is why they're called everything bagels. If you're making them for yourself, and there's an ingredient you don't like, you can leave it out. For example, I don't like dried onion. When I make these for myself, I leave it out of the topping.


Ingredients


For the Bagels
1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water
2 tbsp honey


For the Topping
1 egg
2 tbsp poppy seeds
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp dried onion flakes
1 tbsp dried garlic flakes
1 tbsp coarse sea salt


Preparation


First, you must make the bagels. The actual bagel is the same as a plain bagel. Since we're using bread machine or quick rise yeast, there's no need to dissolve it. You can start making your dough right away. All of the bagel ingredients except for the honey should be placed in a large bowl. Mix them together with your hands until you have a loose dough. Turn this loose dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until you have a soft and elastic dough, about 5 to 10 minutes.


Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Set aside in a warm location to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Punch down dough to remove air bubbles. Shape your bagels, either by rolling out the dough and using a bagel cutter or dividing the dough into 12 pieces and shaping those pieces into bagels. Either shaping method is acceptable.


Place the shaped bagels on a prepared baking sheet. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes. Fill a small pot with water and add honey. Bring to a boil on the stovetop. Boil bagels, one at a time, for at least 30 seconds, but not more than 2 minutes. The longer you boil them, the chewier they will be. Place boiled bagels back on the prepared baking sheet.


Preheat oven to 375°F. Now it's time to top the bagels. Crack the egg into a small bowl and beat it lightly. In a shallow dish, combine the rest of the topping ingredients so you have a poppy seed mixture. Make sure they are well mixed, and that the dish is large enough to dip the tops of the bagels into.


Using a pastry brush, brush egg over the top of one bagel. Immediately place the bagel, top down, into the poppy seed mixture. Move the bagel around a bit to make sure the top of it will be fully covered. Place covered bagel back on the baking sheet. Repeat with remaining bagels.


Bake bagels for 20 minutes, until they are nicely browned. Remove from baking sheet immediately and cool on wire racks.


This recipe makes approximately 12 bagels. They will keep for up to 5 days if stored in an airtight container.

Drop Cookies: Butterballs

As the name suggests, butter is the defining ingredient in this shortbread-type cookie. Don't substitute margarine. Margarine doesn't give the same flavor, which makes a butterball made with margarine no butterball at all.


Ingredients


½ cup butter, softened
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
½ cup almonds, finely chopped
pinch of salt
powdered sugar


Preparation


Heat oven to 325°F. In a large bowl, cream together butter and powdered sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and blend well. Add flour, almonds, and salt. Combine until you have a soft cookie dough.


Shape the dough into 1-inch balls. Place these on a prepared cookie sheet. Do not flatten. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until cookies are set and the bottoms are golden brown. Allow cookies to cool on the cookie sheet for 1 minute. Place extra powdered sugar in a shallow dish and roll warm cookies in the sugar before placing the cookies on a wire rack to cool completely.


This recipe makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Yeast Breads: Variety Bagels

There's a lot you can do with an excellent bagel dough. You can leave them plain or top them with sesame or poppy seeds. They're not difficult, but they do take a little work. But if you have a free afternoon, you'll be enjoying fresh bagels in no time.


Ingredients


1¼ tsp bread machine or quick rise yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 cup water
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
sesame seeds (optional)
poppy seeds (optional)


Preparation


Place flour and yeast in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add salt, brown sugar, and water. Combine until you have a loose dough, then turn this dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until you have a dough that is soft and elastic, about 5 minutes.


Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in size. This will take at least an hour. When the dough has sufficiently rise, punch down to remove all air bubbles. Roll out dough on a floured surface until dough is no thinner than ¼-inch. Closer to ½-inch is better. Use a bagel or doughnut cutter to cut out your bagels.


Alternatively, you can divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape each into a bagel by hand. Do this by forming a ball with one piece of dough, then press your fingers through the center of the ball and stretch until you have a bagel-shape. It doesn't matter which shaping method you use.


Place your shaped bagels on a prepared baking tray. Cover and allow to sit for 10 minutes. In the meantime, fill a small pot with water and add the honey. Bring to a boil. Heat oven to 375°F. Place bagels, one at a time, in the pot and allow to boil for at least 30 second, but no more than 2 minutes. The longer they boil, the chewier they will be.


Remove bagels from the water with a slotted spoon and place them back on the baking tray. When all bagels have been boiled, crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly beat it. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the egg over the bagels. If desired, sprinkle bagels with poppy seeds or sesame seeds. I typically do a few of each.


Bake bagels for 20 minutes, until they are golden brown. Remove from the pan immediately and cool on wire racks.


This recipe makes 10 to 12 bagels.

Specialty Cookies: Meringue Buttons

These tiny meringue buttons are delightful on their own or as a garnish for other desserts. Try placing them on top of cakes and cupcakes, or using them to top cookies. You can make them larger or smaller, if you wish, depending on what, exactly, you intend to do with them.


Ingredients


2 egg whites
¼ tsp cream of tartar
½ cup sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder


Preparation


Heat oven to 200°F. Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper. Do not use wax paper. It smokes in the oven. Do not use foil. It sticks to the meringue.


In a small bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric beater at medium speed until soft peaks form. Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time, beating at high speed, until all sugar is dissolved and you have stiff and glossy peaks. Do not attempt to use meringue that does not form soft peaks in this recipe.


Fit a decorating bag with a decorating tip of your choice. I've used a plain decorating tip for the buttons in the picture, but you can use something with more of a pattern to it, if you desire. Pipe the meringue onto the parchment paper. You can make them larger or smaller, as you desire. My meringue buttons are about 1 inch across. If you make them this size, you'll get 50 to 60 buttons. Larger buttons will result in fewer cookies.


Bake meringues for 45 to 60 minutes, until meringues are firm and lightly browned. It is important not to allow them to over bake, so watch for the browning once they have been in the oven for 45 minutes. when you see the bottoms start to brown, remove from the oven.


Allow meringues to sit on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then remove carefully with a spatula. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool completely.


Sprinkle meringues with cocoa powder before serving. When meringues are completely dry, you can store them loosely covered at room temperature, but do not place them in an airtight container.

Easy Side Dishes: Tortellini Salad

Fresh herbs are great in this dish, so use them if you can. If you absolutely cannot find fresh herbs, substitute 1 tbsp dried parsley and 1 tsp all other dried herbs for the fresh indicated in this recipe.


Ingredients


1 package cheese tortellini
½ cup cooked chicken, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
¼ cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
4 tbsp olive oil
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)


Preparation


Cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and place in a large bowl. Cook peas according to package directions. Drain and add to the tortellini. Add parsley, basil, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes, parmesan, and olive oil. Toss lightly until tortellini is covered in olive oil.


Cover and chill until ready to serve. Toss salad again immediately before serving. Add quartered cherry tomatoes on top, if desired.

Drop Cookies: Cookie Sandwiches

These cookies have a delicate caramel flavor. Use only butter, not margarine, in the filling. Margarine will not develop the same richness of flavor that butter will. In the cookie itself, however, you can use margarine if you like.


Ingredients


For the Cookies
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup butter or margarine, softened
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour


For the Filling
2 tbsp butter
1¼ cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
4 tsp milk


Preparation


Cream brown sugar and butter together in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg and blend until smooth. Mix in flour until you have a soft dough. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to make handling the dough easier.


Heat oven to 325°F. Shape dough into 1 inch balls and place on a prepared cookie sheet. Flatten these balls with a fork dipped in flour. Bake for 12 minutes, until cookies are golden brown. Remove immediately from the cookie sheet and cool completely on wire racks.


When cookies are cool, it's time to make the filling. Place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until butter is golden brown. Remove from heat and immediately mix in all other filling ingredients. Blend until smooth, then allow to cool slightly. Don't allow it to cool completely or it will become too hard to spread.


Spread about 1 teaspoon of filling on the bottom of one cookie. Top with a second cookie, making sure the bottom of the cookie is the side that touches the filling. Press cookies together slightly, then set aside on a wire rack. Repeat with other cookies.


Allow all cookies to sit until filling is set.


This recipe makes about 12 to 18 sandwich cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.