Garlic & Herb Knots

It's not very often that I feature something savory on here..

But what better to break that streak with some garlicky herb knots perfect for a summer pasta?

I have to be honest, Mountain Man does a majority of the cooking in our household mostly because he is a phenomenal cook.

Watching him in the kitchen is like watching an athlete in the zone.. he just gets in there and goes at it. You never know what he's going to come up with and sometimes he doesn't either. That's why he does the cooking and I do the baking.

He doesn't do recipes..no measuring cups...it's all by feel he says- everything is a new creation, a new set of flavors, going where the ingredients take him.

Baking is a whole different story: you need consistency, exact measurements, the perfect weights, precise cooking times.. it's all a science and I love that. I can make a cake over and over again and know its going to be wonderful every time; not to mention I can share my recipes with people and know they'll work.

When it is my turn to cook dinner I tend to stick with the same kind of dishes- pastas are my forte.

So after deciding to whip up some spaghetti with a fresh garden tomato sauce I thought what better to go with it than some garlic bread..

But not just any garlic bread, garlic & herb knots.


Garlic & Herb Knots
Bake time: 15-20 minute Oven: 400
Makes 16 rolls

1 cup milk
3 TBS butter
2 3/4- 3 1/2 cup AP flour (or whole wheat - I did half and half)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 package active dry yeast
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 TBS extra virgin olive oil
1 TBS fresh basil, chopped (or dried)
1/2 TBS fresh oregano, chopped (or dried)

In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter until very warm (about 120 degrees).
Pour warm milk into a large bowl and add 2 TBS of sugar and yeast. Allow yeast to activate (about 5 min) or until milk starts to get foamy.
Add 1 cup flour, 2 TBS sugar, salt, garlic salt and egg and mix at low speed until moistened.
Beat 2 minutes at medium speed.
Stir in remaining flour, using just enough to form a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and continue to knead dough until smooth and elastic.
Place dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with saran wrap and let rise in a warm place (I turn my oven on, once it gets to 100 degrees I turn it off and then place my dough in the warm oven).
Let dough rise for about 45-60 minutes or until it has doubled in size.
Punch dough down and on a well floured surface, toss dough until it is no longer sticky.

Now its time to make the knots.
Preheat oven to 400 and line baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a small bowl, mix oil, garlic, basil and oregano and set aside.
Divid dough into 16 equal parts.
Shape each piece into a long strip by rolling in between hands.

Tie in loose knots, being careful not to stretch the dough too much and place on cookie sheet.

Using a pastry brush, lightly coat each knot with garlic and herb mixture.

Cover lightly with saran wrap and return to warm place, allowing to rise again for about 30 minutes.
Place in oven and bake for about 15-20 minutes or until knots are golden brown.
Serve with your favorite pasta dish.

Happy Baking!!

Hot & Buttery Popcorn Bread

For a weekend that began so well, the ending turned out very different.

When Friday arrived we eagerly got our things ready before making the trip to Atlanta for one of MM's rugby buddies wedding and the rest of the weekend was spent catching up, laughing and dancing the night away with good friends in celebration of a wonderful occasion and a beautiful wedding.

As the night rounded to a close, MM and I ducked out knowing that we had a flight much earlier than everyone else the next morning. We groggily packed our bags and slouched our way through the airport early that Sunday morning, all the while discussing everything that needed to get done later that day.

We boarded the plane, got comfortable and plugged in our ipods for what we thought would be the duration of the flight only to be interrupted about an hour in.. "We're sorry folks, but it looks like we're going to have to turn around..pressure issue."

I won't bore you with the details, but let's just say this was just the beginning.

3 planes, 3 mechanical issues, 2 terminals, 4 gates and 8 hours later, we were told there was no hope and new arrangements were being made.. oh, and the next flight out wasn't until 8pm the Monday.

Now I know what you're thinking... this should be the point in the story where I tell you how frustrated we got, yelled at the ladies behind the desk and got put on an earlier flight... but sadly that's not how it happened.

Don't get me wrong, we were extremely frustrated, but instead of raising a fuss like some of the other passengers did, we quietly gathered our things and very calmly discussed our situation with the lady behind the desk- She even offered to write me an excuse for having to miss work.

So instead of getting upset about everything we decided to make the most out of it. We collected our vouchers, checked into our hotel, snuggled up in bed and slept in the next morning.

And with 8 hours left in the city what better to do than check out the amazing Georgia Aquarium?

Although our trip didn't turn out exactly how we planned we ended up getting to spend a little extra quality time together and there's nothing wrong with that. Not to mention, we got to see the largest whale sharks in captivity.

So what does all this have to do with Popcorn Bread you ask? To be honest, nothing. Except now you know why this amazing recipe didn't get to you sooner :) I've been having to play catch up every since I got back and haven't had the time until now to catch my breath and write up this glorious bread recipe.

A little disclaimer: My work with yeast is an on-going adventure and this little guy didn't rise as much as I hoped.. hopefully when you give it a whirl it will rise as much as the picture in the cookbook showed!

Hot & Buttery Popcorn Bread
recipe from A Passion for Baking
Oven: 375 Prep time: 3 hours Bake time: 35-45 minutes
Makes 1 large loaf

5 cups of popcorn (about 1/3 cup unpopped kernels or about 1 bag of microwavable)
1 1/4 cup cup warm water (about 110degrees)
3 3/4 tsp rapid-rise yeast
2 TBS sugar
1/4 cup veggie oil
1 TBS butter extract (optional)
2 1/4 tsp salt
5-6 cups bread flour
Topping
1 large egg
2-4 TBS butter
pinch of sugar and salt

Pop you corn, whatever your fancy. Pulverize it in batches in a food processor or mini chopper until you have about 2 1/2 cups of very finely ground popcorn.
In a large bowl, whisk warm water and yeast together and let stand for about 2 or 3 minutes or until you start to see bubbles.
Briskly add sugar, oil, butter extract and salt, blending well.
Add popcorn flour and 3 cups of bread flour, mixing well.
Knead the dough with a dough hook attachment for about 6 to 8 minutes, adding flour as necessary to form a soft, elastic dough. (You could also do this by hand if you want)
Form dough into a large ball, spray with cooking spray, place in a large clean bowl and cover with saran wrap.
Place dough in a warm spot and allow to rise about 60 to 90 minutes or until almost doubled.
Spray loaf pan with cooking spray and set aside.
Once the dough has risen, turn out on a lightly floured surface and gently deflate.
Form into loaf and place into prepared loaf pan.
Whisk egg and pinch of salt and sugar in a small bowl.
Brush loaf with egg wash and loosely cover pan with saran wrap.
Return loaf to warm place and allow to rise again for about 45-60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 375 and brush you risen dough once more with the egg wash.
Place bread in oven and immediately reduce the temperature of the oven to 350 (this will allow the yeast to get that extra kick and give you a nice fluffy loaf I was later told by MM)
As soon as the bread comes out brush with melted butter.
Allow bread to cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool completely.

Happy Baking!

Chocolate & Meringue Coffee Cake

After spending the week in Philly for business, I took the train early Friday morning back home to spend some much needed quality time with my girlfriends.

Few people can say they still have close relationships with their friends from high school, but I’m lucky enough to not only have a fabulous group of girlfriends from my glory days, but a wonderful group of girls from college as well.

Because of this, time spent at home can be stressful at times, as I try to make sure to see as many as possible when the trips are few and far between.

This weekend however, as short as it was, was perfect.

Friday I spent the evening preparing dinner and chatting the night away with my girlfriends from high school, while Saturday would be dedicated to my ladies from college.

I woke up early Saturday morning anticipating that with the arrival of the girls, something sweet would be necessary.

I knew exactly what would be made…

The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake.

Chocolate & Meringue Coffee Cake

Ria’s original recipe yielded 2 cakes, but this is the recipe for 1.

Yeast cake:

 2 cups flour, plus a little more for kneading

3 TBS sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ package active dried yeast

6 TBS milk

3 TBS water

¼ cup butter

1 egg, room temperature

Meringue:

2 large egg whites

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp vanilla

¼ cup sugar

Filling:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

2 TBS sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Preparing the dough

In a large bowl, mix 1/2 cup flour, sugar, salt and yeast.

In a saucepan, combine milk, butter, and water and heat over medium heat until warm and butter has completely melted.

With an electric mixer, gradually add warm liquid to flour/yeast mixture, beating until blended. Increase mixer speed and add egg and 1/2 cup flour, beating for about 2 minutes.

Using a wooden spoon, stir remaining flour to make a dough that holds together- you may end up using more than 2 cups. 

Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead dough for about 8-10 minutes until dough is soft, smooth and elastic, adding as much flour as needed.

Place dough in lightly greases bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover bowl with saran wrap and place in empty oven with light on to double in size (about 45-60 minutes).

After an hour, make meringue

In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and salt until frothy. Increase speed to high and continue to beat until foamy and opaque. Add vanilla and sugar, one tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.

Assembling the coffee cake

Turn dough out on lightly floured surface. Beat down and roll out dough into a 20x10 inch rectangle. Spread meringue evenly over top the rolled out dough and sprinkle cinnamon, sugar and chocolate evenly over meringue. 

Roll up dough, jellyroll or cinnamon roll style, starting on long side forming a log. 

Very carefully transfer filled log onto baking sheet or pizza stone and bring ends of log around, sealing ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.

Using kitchen scissors, make cuts on the outside edge at about 1 or 2 inch intervals.

Cover coffee cake with plastic wrap and return to empty oven to allow to rise again for 45-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350. Brush tops of coffee cake with egg wash and bake for 25-30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.

When I originally read this recipe I was intrigued as to how the meringue would fit with a coffee cake, but I must say, this is one of the most delicious breakfast treats I’ve made to date. Light, fluffy, and perfectly sweet this yeasty cake was a great companion to a morning cup of coffee.

Happy Baking!

Cardamom Coffee Rolls

Dear Yeast,

I'd like to talk to you about your social skills.

I don't know what it is, but you're a little unapproachable...pretty intimidating to be honest.

Patience is a virtue, I get it, but you're kind of a diva with the finicky temperature demands, interesting eating habits and "proofing" time.

The fact of the matter is, after getting to know you I think you're actually quite awesome. That wasn't always the case though...the first few times we worked together I was so afraid of upsetting you and doing the right thing that I second guessed myself constantly; but not anymore.

Now that I've learned a little more about you I'm never disappointed with our time together, but this isn't about me.. it's about you.

You may have a hard exterior, but I know deep down inside you have some wonderful things to offer the baking world like these Cardamom Coffee Rolls. You might scare others, but your antics won't work on me anymore. I know your ways and we're going to have many happy times together whether you like it or not.

Sincerely,
 Evan

Cardamom Coffee Rolls
Recipe from A Baker's Odyssey
Makes 15 rolls (I halved the recipe)
Prep time: 30 minutes Total rise time: 3 hours

Sponge
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups AP flour
1 pkg active dry or instant yeast

Dough
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
4 TBS unsalted butter
1 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 AP flour, plus more if needed

Topping
1/4 cup sliced almonds
2 TBS sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 egg yolk plus 1 tsp water, for brushing

To make sponge, scald milk in small saucepan over medium heat (look for small bubbles and steam). Remove pan from heat and cool milk till it reaches about 120-130 degrees.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and yeast. Add hot milk and whisk until smooth, thick batter.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise for about 1 hour or until sponge has doubled in volume.

To make dough, scrape sponge into large bowl. Whisk in sugar, egg, egg yolk, butter, cardamom, and salt. Beat vigorously with wooden spoon for about 5 minutes until dough is smooth and very elastic. Stir in flour and beat again for 5 minutes. The dough should be soft, elastic, and just slightly sticky.
Sprinkle work area with flour and place dough on it. Knead with hands for 2-3 minutes, until dough is just slightly tacky and bounces back to the touch. Lightly oil bowl and replace dough in bowl, making sure to coat all sides. Sprinkle dough with flour and cover bowl with plastic wrap letting dough rise another hour or until dough has doubled in size.

Transfer dough to a slightly floured surface. Turn to coat all sides lightly with flour. Divide dough into 15 equal portions with a pastry scraper or sharp knife. Cover loosely with kitchen towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish or spray with cooking spray. Shape each piece of dough into a ball and place in dish, leaving a little bit of space between each. Coat the tops with cooking spray and drape plastic wrap loosely over them, letting them rise 1 hour or until they have doubled in size (the rolls will be touching by the end of the rise).

Preheat oven to 375.
Make the topping by mixing together almonds, sugar and cardamom in a small bowl.
Once rolls have risen, brush with egg wash and sprinkle generously with topping.
Bake 20-25 minutes or until rolls are lightly browned and nuts are toasted.
Cool rolls for 10 minutes before removing and serving.

Notes
- Remember: yeast is a diva. During the rising times, place bowl in a warmer place like an oven with the light on, a garage (if its warm) or in the sunlight of a window.
- Be patient...yeast rolls are time consuming- if you're making these for breakfast plan on eating later.
- Like the name suggests, these rolls are perfect with a nice cup of coffee or tea mid afternoon.
- Yeast products have a short shelf life- these rolls will last about 2 days in a ziplock bag or plastic wrap at room temperature or about 1 month frozen.

Happy Baking!

Anadama Bread and My First Give-Away!!

A few weeks ago I was contacted by the kind folks at Tate's Bake Shop.

Not only was I lucky enough to receive a gift box containing their famous Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, but I also got a copy of Kathleen King's new Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.

While Mountain Man and I feasted on these deliciously crisp and buttery cookies, I got to looking through the cookbook for something fabulous to try. You know it's going to be a good book when Ina Garten is writing the foreword!


Although there are many recipes to get through, I couldn't help but stop at a recipe for Anadama Bread-  I was completely intrigued by the name!

After a quick read up on wikipedia, I learned that the bread got its name from an angry fisherman who was mad at his wife, Anna. She was a lazy wife and served him only cornmeal and molasses for dinner, until one day while she was out, the fisherman decided to add flour and yeast to the porridge and bake it, all the while cursing, "Anna, damn her!" The resultant bread turned out to be delicious and all the neighbors began baking it as well, coining it Anadama.


I don't totally buy the story... mostly because wives are never lazy and maybe the fisherman should have been a better at his job and brought home some fish for dinner if he was going to complain!


Story or not, the bread is quite delicious.

Anadama Bread

from Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook

Rise time: 2 hours total

Bake time: 50 minutes

Oven: 350

Yields 2 loaves

2 cups boiling water

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup molasses

2 TBS salted butter

1 TBS salt

1/2 cup warm water, about 110-115 degrees

Two 1/4 oz. packets of active yeast (or 1/2 oz. yeast)

7-8 cups of flour (I ended up using just about 7)

In a medium saucepan, bring 2 cups of water to boil. Transfer to large mixing bowl and add corn meal.

Add molasses, butter and salt. Mix until blended. Allow to cool slightly.

While mixture is cooling, bring 1/2 cup water to 110-115 degrees. Sprinkle yeast over top and lightly whisk to break up yeast. Let sit for about 5 minutes or until mixture starts to bubble.

If the yeast mixture doesn't bubble, discard and try again- if your yeast doesn't bubble your bread won't rise.

Add yeast mixture to molasses mixture and stir until combined.

Slowly add flour, 1 cup at a time, and mix until stiff dough is reached.

Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and continue to knead with hands until dough becomes smooth and elastic.*

Transfer dough to lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with saran wrap and store in a warm place until dough has doubled in size.*

Once dough has doubled in size, lightly beat down and cut in half.

Shape each piece into a loaf, transfer to pans, cover with saran wrap and return to warm place to double in size again.

Once risen, preheat oven to 350 and bake loaves for 40-50 minutes.

*Some Mountain Man dough tips:

When kneading dough- fold and press firmly with hand over and over until smooth, elastic consistency is reached.

When dough is rising- Turn oven on briefly, when temp is about 100 degrees turn oven off and place dough inside closed oven to rise OR place in a warm room, like the garage in direct sunlight if possible OR place inside your car if it's in the sunlight!

According to Kathleen, "All the recipes in the book should take less time to make than it would to go to a store to buy a commercially prepared baked good."  

Maybe this bread took a little longer to bake then it would have for me to run out to the store, but where's the accomplishment in that?! For those of you that have been following my adventures, you know that yeast is something I'm still a little new too.. but even for a yeast amateur, this bread was simple and worth the wait.


But here's the best part... One of YOU can win all these goodies too! Just think about it... three boxes of delicious cookies that you can add to your Christmas cookie selection and a cookbook full of even more cookies you can bake as you please...

All you have to do is leave a comment (or two or three)!

One winner (U.S. only please) will receive a gift box that includes Chocolate Chip, White Chocolate Macadamia Nut, and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, along with Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook.


To enter:

- Leave a comment telling me about your favorite holiday treat


For extra entries: (leave a separate comment for each entry)


- Become a fan of  Tate's Bake Shop on Facebook
- Become a follower of swEEts by e (if you're not already)
- Tweet about the giveaway


The give-away ends this Friday, December 10th so enter now :)


Oh and if you don't win? That's okay, because they're still offering a 15% discount for anything you by online at Tate's Bake Shop. Just use the code "cookies" and just make your purchases before December 31st.

One more plug and then I'm done I promise!

I recently stumbled upon this awesome website, Namely Marly, and participated in Marly's name project. Whereas my passion lies in baking, Marly's passion lies in names.. (but she has some delicious looking recipes to share as well!) Her website is full of all sorts of goodies and name interviews so I highly recommend you go check her out.. oh and there's a little story all about me and my name over there too :) 

Don't forget, the give-away ends Friday!!

 

Happy Baking!!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

April has been requesting I make soft pretzels for at least 2 months now.. she even sent me a message one day at work with this picture and a caption that read, "I didn't know you made these too!"

She's a pretty good photo-shopper, right? I definitely laughed out loud at my desk.

Originally I tasked Mountain Man to make these little yeasty twists- after all, he is the self proclaimed yeast expert  in our house or should I say was.

While Mountain Man was away on a week long conference I decided to take the opportunity to finally make April the pretzels she's been begging for.

After a few pointers from MM on the way to the airport, I felt confident enough in my baking abilities to take on the mighty beast that is yeast without his supervision.

I must admit, the more I work with yeast the more I realize it's not as scary as I had originally made it out to be. Yes, yeast makes baking an hours long process and it is most definitely a diva (you don't see sugar throwing a temper tantrum when the water isn't warm enough), but the end product is well worth it.

These pretzels were everything I had hoped for and more. I love finding recipes that I just know will be a perfect addition at our bakery one day.

I'm even going to go out on a limb and say that these are better than any mall pretzel I've ever had.

Homemade Soft Pretzels
Recipe courtesy of Alton Brown (the genius that he is)
Prep time: 1 1/2 hours
Bake time: 15 minutes
Oven: 450 degrees
Makes 8 pretzels

1 1/2 cups warm water (110-115F degrees)
1 TBS sugar
2 tsp salt
1 package active yeast (2 1/4 tsp if you have a jar)
22 oz AP flour (approximately 4 1/2 cups)
2 oz unsalted butter, melted
veggie oil for pan
10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda
1 large egg yolk with 1 TBS water
sea salt, for sprinkling

Combine 1 1/2 cup water, sugar and salt in a bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle yeast on top. Lightly whisk to break up yeast and allow to sit for 5 minutes or until mixture begins to foam (if the mixture doesn't foam, discard and try again)
Add flour and butter, and using the dough hook attachment of the mixer, mix on low until well combined.
Change to medium speed and knead until dough is smooth and pulls away from bowl (approx. 4-5 minutes)
Remove dough from bowl, clean bowl and oil well with veggie oil. Return dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for about an hour or until dough has doubled in size* see tips

Once dough has risen, preheat oven to 450. Line 2 pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with veggie oil. Set aside.

Bring 10 cups of water and baking soda to a rolling boil in a large saucepan.

Meanwhile, turn dough out onto slightly oiled surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.
Roll each piece of dough into about a 24 inch rope. Make a U-shape and holding ends of rope, cross over each other and press onto bottom of U making a pretzel shape and make sure you press well!
Place twists onto prepared pan.

Place pretzels, one at a time, into boiling water for about 30 seconds each.
Using a large spatula or pasta drainer remove them from the water and return to sheet pan.
Brush each pretzel with egg/water mixture and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake until gold brown for about 12-14 minutes.
Transfer to cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before eating.

Yeast Tips:
-When working with yeast, make sure your water is 110-115 degree with a candy thermometer.
-Yeast needs a warm place to do its magic, so when allowing your dough to rise make sure you put it in a warm place. A few suggestions:
        - Turn the oven light on and place your covered bowl in the oven.
        - If it's a sunny day, place your covered dough outside in direct sunlight.
        - If you have a garage that stays warm, place your covered dough in there (if your garage doors          
          have windows place it in the sunlight)

I highly suggest breaking into one of these while they're still warm. If you're eating them a little later, pop in the oven a couple minutes or throw em in the microwave.. they're fabulous warm.

Happy Baking!

Think I should submit to YeastSpotting??

Chewy Cinnamon Sticks

Pastry Lesson #1: Pastries and yeast baking require time... 

lots of time.

I don't know why, but lately I've been antsy to try my hands at pastries.

I mean, what's a bakery without pastries right? I have to try them some time.. and there's no better time than now.

I knew that pastries were labor intensive, but I had no idea how much prep time really goes into them.

I woke up this weekend with all intentions to make croissants, only to be highly disappointed when I realized that if I wanted to eat breakfast at breakfast then it would be impossible- the whole process takes about a day.

Then I remembered a cookbook I recently got that had some simple sounding pastry recipes and learned quickly that even if a pastry seems simple in nature, the process still starts hours prior.

Hanging my head in defeat, I started flipping through A Passion for Baking and came upon Marcy's Chewy Chocolate Sticks. The recipe was part of the Sweet Yeast Baking section, described as 'a wonderful venue for baking, as it combines some of the attributes and appeal of bread baking with much of the appeal of pasty baking.'

It's like training wheels for pastry AND bread baking (something I also need to get better at).

We weren't feeling chocolate (weird, I know), so instead I filled the chewy sticks with cinnamon, dried blueberries and almonds.

Chewy Cinnamon Sticks
Adapted from A Passion for Baking
Oven: 350 Bake Time: 25 minutes
Prep time: 1 to 2 hours
Makes 12 pastry sticks

1 1/4 cups warm water (110-115 degrees)
1 TBS rapid rise yeast
2 eggs, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup dry milk powder
2 cups AP flour
2 cups bread flour

Filling
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 TBS cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened and cut into cubes
1/2 cup raisins or dried blueberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds* optional

Finishing touch
egg white, beaten
TBS filling mixture

Line baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
In a mixer bowl, mix warm water, sugar and salt until combined.
Sprinkle yeast over mixture and lightly whisk to break up yeast.
Let stand for 3-5 minutes until mixture starts to foam.
Briskly whisk in eggs, butter, vanilla, milk powder and most of flours- blending well.
Attach dough hook and knead of lowest speed for about 10 minutes, adding remaining flour to form soft dough.
Remove dough hook and spray dough with non-stick cooking spray.
Cover bowl with saran wrap and let dough rise 30-60 minutes or until it almost doubles in size*
Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface and gently deflate.
Press dough out to a 20 by 10 inch rectangle.
Blend sugars and cinnamon and scatter over dough. Dot with butter and sprinkle blueberries and almonds over dough.

Roll dough into a long (starting with longer side toward you); then flatten gently.

Using a sharp knife or dough scraper, cut into 12 sticks and place on prepared baking sheets, stretching each a little bit and twisting.

Brush pastries with beaten egg white and dust with sugar.
Cover loosely with saran wrap and let sticks rise 30-40 minutes or until almost doubled.
Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool in baking sheets.

Happy Baking!

Next week, no training wheels..