Today is National Doughnut Day, but these clearly are not donuts. 🙂 I didn’t know that it was national doughnut day until this morning, and I already had these lovely dinner rolls on deck so I decided to make these after all. I added in a bit a spelt flour, for flavor — really delicious. Best eaten the same day, but these freeze well too.
A bit of a “controversial” Breakfast item this week as I know that many people aren’t fans of raisins. I love raisins and along with dill pickles, they were some of the very first things that my grandfather would give me as a treat when I was little (I don’t know what is stranger, pickles or raisins, to be honest). Combine that with “swirls” (or Schnecken, which translated is “snails” from the German) and we have one of my favorite breakfast treats. My Oma used to call me ‘schneckle’ or little snail. 🙂
Just getting back from travels and of course the very first thing that I had to make was a loaf of bread — mainly because I had nothing to eat in the house. So I made this very standard German-style artisan loaf, a mix of wheat and rye flours. It’s hearty, it’s good. Makes a great sandwich or toast too.
It’s May first and in many places, this is a celebratory day. Not much going on here in Camberville, except the sun is shining and I am in a good mood and so I tried the channel that into my treats that I baked this morning. Back to some of my “more unusual” flavor combinations: Rhubarb Rosehip Shortbread Bars!A little tart, a little sweet, overall delicious and definitely not something that you would have every day. Not everyone has had rosehips, but they are floral and fruity tasting; combine that with the spring-rhubarb flavor and you have a winner!
Today is National Pretzel Day (this should really fall on the same day as Beer day!) and these are a massive labor of love. Despite being German — and Southern German at that! — I am not a very good pretzel maker. My Opa, the Bäckermeister. wouldn’t be too terribly impressed with my shaping abilities. The dough is great — high protein flour from Kin Arthur is great — and these are sourdough, though if you search my site, you will also find the yeast version. The first batch, the “arms” kept on coming off the sides, so I started tucking them under and that worked better. The pretzel salt (also from KA) kept on falling off the bottom bit when I made the slits, so I put it on the side. Not traditional, but they’ll do.