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Breakfast/Brunch

Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Makivnyk – Sourdough Poppy Seed Crescent (маківник)

Back to baking things that are “Ukrainian-inspired” although this could also be Polish, Hungarian, Slovak, Czech, or from the Baltics (did I cover everything?!?) …. this is Makivnyk (маківник): a sweet, poppy seed filled sweet bread, with a dough similar to a cinnamon roll, although not nearly as sweet and cinnamony. It’s often baked as a breakfast bread or something for afternoon tea, and often during celebratory seasons like Christmas or Easter. I’ve sprinkled it with raw sugar, but you can also add coarse pearl sugar or confectioners sugar. I love it because it isn’t overly sweet. The original recipe that I found was yeast-based but I converted to sourdough.

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12. April 2022
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sandwiches/Paninis, Sides

Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Sourdough Artisan Bread

It’s Wednesday, so that must mean a new sourdough experiment for the week! Sticking to my “learn about Ukrainian food” theme, this bread is a Whole Wheat Sunflower Seed Sourdough Artisan Bread. The Ukraine produces some of the largest crops of sunflower seeds globally (although with Russian and other Eastern European countries). And the sunflower is also a symbol of peace in the Ukraine. So, this bread is meaningful and economically appropriate. The Ukrainians, I have read, also eat a lot of rye, so that will be next Wednesday’s experiment. In the meantime, this bread is moist, rounded (literally and figuratively), hearty and has good flavor with the sunflower seeds, whole wheat and honey.

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9. March 2022
Breakfast/Brunch, Desserts, Sweet Snacks

Pâte à Choux Beignets

As they say in New Orleans at Mardi Gras, Laissez les bons temps router! Instead of making Fasnachtsküchle or Krapfen this year for Fat Tuesday this year, I went with traditional Pâte à Choux Beignets. Light and airy, these were great. Eat them quickly though because they don’t taste nearly as good once the fry oil has chilled. Would be great with a strong black chicory coffee!

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1. March 2022
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch, Sweet Snacks

Cardamom Swirl Muffins

Decided to make these lovely Cardamom Swirl Muffins (are they a cinnamon bun? are they a muffin?) to share with fellow tenants after the weekend snowfall, and the respective digging out of the cars and clearing of the snow. For once, almost everyone pitched in. These are a cross between a muffin and cinnamon roll — definitely bigger than a usual muffin though. I used my hamburger bun pan, with homemade parchment paper liners, because the big liners are too high and the normal sized liners too small. Because of the butter and sugar, it’s best to go with liners even in a nonstick pan, lest they stick. Recipe makes 12 swirls so I had to bake in two batches. At any rate, these are fantastic straight out of the oven.

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28. February 2022
Breads, Breakfast/Brunch

Sourdough Honey Oatmeal Almond Breakfast Bread

I had actually intended to make this bread sweeter than it turned out, and use it more like a breakfast bread, but turns out, it is a pretty perfect “all-purpose” sourdough loaf. Nice nuttiness from the almond meal gives it a great flavor, but also lends it to being a bit lower in gluten, so soft and moist as well. Very pleased with these results!

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24. February 2022