Feta Olive Knots #BreadBakers

Feta olive knots are made with salty feta cheese and olives baked in a soft dough, making them the perfect accompaniment to any meal. 

This month our Bread Bakers group is being hosted by Deepti of Baking Yummies. She’s challenged us to bake rolls so make sure you scroll down to see the link list of all the lovely dough, both sweet and savory, that we’ve kneaded, shaped and baked for you today.

In my growing up family, we often had rolls at big family dinners for Thanksgiving or Christmas but they were more than likely those bake and serve ones that come in their own little foil baking pans. Man, I loved those things. All soft and buttery and melt in your mouth. I liked to mash them into small balls so they became almost like dough again and nibble on them.

I’m a grown up now and my tastes have changed. Not that I would reject a soft white roll, but I’m looking for something a little stronger in flavor, something that can stand up to a tasty bowl of soup, for instance. These feta olive knots are perfect! The feta gives the dough a little tang and each bite with an olive delivers a small burst of saltiness.

Ingredients 
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup or 180ml warm water
About 2 3/4 cups or 345g all-purpose flour start with 2 1/2 or 312g
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 oz or 50g feta
1 egg yolk (save white for brushing on rolls)
1/2 cup or 70g pitted, sliced olives (color of your choice)
Olive oil for bowl

For glaze:
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Method
Put the warm water in a bowl with the yeast and sugar and leave to prove. The yeast should turn foamy if it’s active. If not, go buy some more yeast and start again.

Assuming you’ve got foam in your bowl, add in the 2 1/2 cups or 312g of the flour and the salt. You can knead by hand but this will be easier with a dough hook if you have a stand mixer.

Add in the crumbled feta and keep kneading with the dough hook until it’s incorporated.

Now add the egg yolk and knead again with the dough hook until it is incorporated. It's kind of like adding butter to brioche dough or eggs to choux pastry. These ingredients loosen the dough and it looks like they'll never mix in. Just keep mixing and they do!

Turn your dough out onto a floured surface and knead for a few good turns by hand, adding just a little more of the flour if necessary.

Press the dough out into a rectangle and spread the sliced olives all over it.

Worst rectangle ever. I straightened it out after I took the photo, I promise. 

Fold one third in from the right and then fold the other third in from the left. Turn the dough so it is horizontal to you again, and press it out slightly. Repeat folding it over in thirds.

Make one more turn so it is horizontal to you and press it out again. Repeat folding it over in thirds. In other words, you are going to do the "fold, fold, turn" three times. The olives should be fairly evenly distributed by now.

Oil your mixing bowl and put the ball of dough in. Turn it over to coat with oil. Set aside in warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.

Punch the dough down and turn it out onto a floured surface.

Cut it in quarters and then cut each quarter in three equal pieces to make 12 rolls. Roll each piece out until it’s about 8 inches or 21cm long. Cross the ends of each piece and tuck one end through the loop.

Place the knots on baking pan lined with parchment or a silicone mat. Whisk the egg white with the water and use a pastry brush to glaze the knots.

Leave in a warm place to rest for about 15-20 minutes and preheat your oven to 375°F or 190°C.

Bake in your preheated oven 18-22 minutes or until they are puffy and lightly browned all over.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before serving.

Enjoy!

Such beautiful rolls, we've baked for you this month!

• Anadama Rolls from Passion Kneaded
• Bulochki (Russian Sweet Yeast Rolls) from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Cinnamon Rolls from Bakingyummies
• Crescent Rolls from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Feta Olive Knots from Food Lust People Love
• Flax Oat Wheat Dinner Rolls from Cook's Hideout
• Einkorn Parmesan and Garlic Rolls from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Gluten Free Cinnamon Rolls from A Baker's House
• Hokkaido Milk Rolls from Baking in Pyjamas
• Kahvalti – Turkish-style Breakfast Buns from A Shaggy Dough Story
• Masala Bread Rolls from Sneha's Recipes
• Mini Cheddar Bialys from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Oatmeal Dinner Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Pesto Rolls from Veg Nation
• Raspberry Sweet Rolls from Kylee Cooks
• Savory Cheddar Rolls from Magnolia Days
• Stuffed Vegatable Masala Buns from Spill the Spices
• Twisted Knotted Mint Garlic Rolls from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Wholewheat Low Fat Stuffed Cinnamon Rolls from Sizzling Tastebuds

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

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Caramelized Garlic Chèvre Stuffed Bread #BreadBakers

Caramelized garlic and chèvre - goat cheese - fill this wonderful savory loaf that is then topped with more cheese. Set this on your brunch table and watch it disappear!

Just the words caramelized garlic chèvre stuffed bread make my mouth water. You should have smelled the house while the garlic was caramelizing in butter and then while the loaf was baking! Pretty much torture, but fortunately there was relief in sight.

This month my Bread Bakers group is featuring garlic in honor of National Garlic Day on the 19th of April at the instigation of bread baker extraordinaire and our host this month, Karen of Karen’s Kitchen Stories. You might recall that I participated in Garlic Day celebrations the last two years, making slow-roasted lamb with 40 cloves of garlic in 2014 and garlicky lobster shrimp scampi in 2015. This year time got away from me so I was grateful to Karen for making sure that one of my favorite national food days did not go by uncelebrated in this space.

This recipe was adapted from Thyme For Cooking.

Ingredients
For the dough:
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 packet rapid rise yeast (1/4 oz or 7g)
1/4 cup or 60ml water
1/8 cup or 30ml milk
1/8 cup or 30ml olive oil, plus a little extra to oil the bowl
1 egg
1 egg yolk (save white for glaze)
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups or 150g whole wheat bread flour
1 cup or 125g strong white bread flour

For the filling:
3 1/2 oz or 100g cloves garlic
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon sugar
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper

For assembly:
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
8 1/2 oz or 240g goat cheese (I used a mix of fresh and slightly aged.)
1 egg white, beaten

Method
In large bowl, dissolve sugar in water and sprinkle in yeast. It should foam up within a few minutes. If it does not, get some new yeast and start again.

In a separate bowl, whisk the milk, oil, egg, egg yolk, and salt to combine. Add this to the yeast mixture with the whole wheat bread flour and stir well.

Add in about three quarters of the white bread flour and mix to make a soft dough.

Turn it out onto lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes, adding more of the remaining flour if the dough is too sticky.

Oil your mixing bowl and pop the dough back in, turning the ball to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap; let rest for 20-25 minutes. When you are using rapid rise yeast, this takes place of the first rise. If you do substitute regular yeast, leave to rise until doubled.

While the dough is resting, we’ll caramelize the garlic. Cut the fatter cloves in half and put them all in a pan with a tight fitting lid, with the water, butter, olive oil, sugar and a sprinkle of salt.

Cook  covered over a medium heat for a few minutes until the garlic softens. Remove the cover and cook slowly, stirring occasionally, keeping a careful eye out for burning, until all the water has evaporated and the garlic has turned a lovely golden color. Remove from the heat. Add a few good grinds of fresh black pepper.

To assembly the loaf, roll the dough out into a rectangle of about 12x17 in or 30x43cm.

Spread the mustard up the middle of the rectangle and then scatter on the caramelized garlic.

Starting near one end, use a sharp knife to cut diagonal strips all the way along the sides, up to the filling.

Crumble your goat cheese and set aside a good handful for topping. Sprinkle the rest of the crumbles on top of the mustard/garlic.

Fold one end in and then brush the top with the beaten egg white.

Fold the strips up and over, alternating sides, brushing the tops in between with egg white to help the strips stick together.

When you get near the other end, fold it in.

Then continue brushing with egg white and folding the strips over until all of the filling is covered. Carefully transfer the loaf to a lined baking pan. You can, of course, do the shaping on the lined baking pan but then you have to be very careful when cutting the dough strips that you don’t cut your silicone liner or parchment paper.

Brush the whole top again with the whisked egg whites. Set in a warm place to rise for about 30 minutes, then preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.

When the oven reaches temperature, bake the loaf for about 25-30 minutes or until it is lovely and golden.

Remove the loaf from the oven and sprinkle on the reserved cheese crumbles.

Return it to the oven for another 5-7 minutes or until the cheese is slightly melted and just starting to brown in places. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!

How will you celebrate National Garlic Day? May I suggest you bake some delicious garlicky bread?

• Black Garlic Parmesan Sourdough Bread from Magnolia Days
• Buttery Garlic Cheddar Rolls from Kylee Cooks
• Buttery Garlic Knots from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Buttery Garlic Pull Apart Bread from Cook's Hideout
• Caramelized Garlic Chèvre Stuffed Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Cheddar, Garlic and Jalapeño Beer Bread from A Palatable Pastime
• Cheddar Garlic Dinner Rolls from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Cheese and Garlic Biscuits from A Baker's House
• Cream Cheese Stuffed Garlic Rolls from Herbivore Cucina
• Domino's Style Garlic Bread from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Easy-Peasy Garlicky Mini Rolls from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Garlic Batard from Hostess at Heart
• Garlic & Gorgonzola Focaccia from Baking in Pyjamas
• Garlic, Herbs and Cheese Bread from La Cocina de Aisha
• Garlic Naan with Green Chiles from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Garlic Pull Apart Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Garlic Sunflower Bread from Passion Kneaded
• Gluten Free & Vegan Garlic Breadsticks from What Smells So Good?
• {Gluten Free} Seeded Black Garlic Flat Bread from Culinary Adventures with Camilla
• Green Garlic Parathas - Flat Bread from Sneha's Recipes
• Herbed Garlic Butter Garland Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Multi Grain Garlic Naan from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Pissaladière from The Bread She Bakes
• Roasted Garlic Focaccia from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Triple Garlic Knots from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Whole Wheat Garlic Ciabatta Bread from Cooking Club

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.

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Chocolate Filled Bundt Bread #BreadBakers

This lovely Bundt loaf boasts loads of dark chocolate in a slightly sweet yeast bread, with a thick chocolate glaze. Perfect for a decadent breakfast or even dessert.

This month my Bread Bakers are pushing out the cacao boat, using cocoa, chocolate or carob in a variety of breads. Many thanks to my fellow Dubai blogger, Shireen from Ruchik Randhap, who is hosting this great event.

I bookmarked this recipe from Just a Pinch more than a year ago, renaming it Chocolate Filled Yeast Bundt Cake so maybe Bread. From a quick read through, it sure sounded more like bread than cake. I ended up adjusting a few ingredients so it's even more bread-like than the original but whatever you call it, it's good and chocolatey.

Ingredients
For the dough:
4 cups or 500g all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
1/4 cup or 50g sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cup or 315ml warm milk (110°F or 43°C)

Note: If you are using organic or unpasteurized milk, heat it to 180°F or 82°C and then cool down to the right temperature. Read more about how, why and when to scald milk here at Pastry Chef Online.

For the filling:
12 oz or 340g dark chocolate

For the glaze:
6 oz or 170g dark chocolate,
2 tablespoons butter, plus extra for greasing Bundt pan
1 tablespoon golden syrup

Optional: Sprinkles for decorating

Method
Grease a 10-inch  or 25cm Bundt cake pan with butter and sprinkle with flour.

Sift the flour into the bowl of your stand mixer and add salt, yeast, sugar, eggs and warm milk.

Mix with the bread hook until all of the flour has been incorporated into the wet ingredients and you have a sticky dough.

Cover the dough bowl with a kitchen towel and leave it in a warm place for about an hour or until the dough doubles in size.

When the hour is almost up, melt the 12 oz of dark chocolate either in a double boiler or in the microwave with a few short zaps. Set it aside to cool a bit.

Sprinkle your clean work surface with flour and knead the dough for a few minutes.

Roll out the dough into a rectangular shape that is 12 x 16 in or 31x41cm. Spread the cooled chocolate on it.

Roll the up the dough, jelly roll style, starting from the longer side. Pinch the ends together.

Quickly move the roll to your greased Bundt cake pan, trying to make sure the seam side is down. Sprinkle with flour and then cover with a towel for 30 minutes.

Start preheating your oven so it will be at 350°F or 180°C when the 30 minutes are up.

After half an hour

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Leave plenty of headroom for the bread to rise. Because rise it certainly will!

Leave to cool for about 15-20 minutes and then turn out onto a wire rack. I had to trim some off of one side of my bottom to get it to stand up straight.

For the glaze, warm up all ingredients in a double boiler or with a few good zaps in a microwaveable bowl until chocolate is melted. Let it cool a little and pour over the bread.

Decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

Enjoy!

Breads with Cocoa, Cacao or Carob in any form

• Chocolate & Cherry Swirl Breads from The Bread She Bakes
• Chocolate Orange Swirl Buns from Mayuri's Jikoni
• Chocolate and Vanilla Brioche from Kidsandchic
• Chocolate Banana Quick Bread from Basic N Delicious
• Chocolate Buttermilk Quick Bread from Cindy's Recipes and Writings
• Chocolate Cinnamon Rolls from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Filled Bundt Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Bread from Hezzi-D's Books and Cooks
• Chocolate Monkey Bread from Sara's Tasty Buds
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Quick Bread from Magnolia Days
• Chocolate Peanut Butter Cinnamon Rolls from From Gate to Plate
• Chocolate Yeast Bread from Cook's Hideout
• Croatian Povitica - Chocolate Walnut Swirl Bread from Herbivore Cucina
• Dark Chocolate Cherry Pocket Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Dark Chocolate Chip Hot Cross Buns from Baking in Pyjamas
• Double Chocolate Espresso Scones from Wholistic Woman
• Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread from Sizzling Tastebuds
• Egg Free 45 Minutes Chocolate Buns from Gayathri's Cook Spot
• Eggless Chocolate Babka from I Camp in my Kitchen
• Eggless Chocolate Swirl Buns from Seduce Your Tastebuds
• Eggless Triple Chocolate Scones from Spill the Spices
• Four-Chocolate Sour Cream Quickbread from What Smells So Good?
• Leopard Print Bread from Spiceroots
• Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate filled Croissants) from G'Gina's Kitchenette
• Pane Al Cioccolato - Chocolate Bread from Ruchik Randhap
• Petits Pain au Chocolat - Mini Chocolate Croissant from Sneha's Recipe
• Sourdough Cacao Sweet Bread from The Schizo Chef
• Sweet Russian Chocolate Braid from Hostess At Heart
• Two Chocolates Greek Yogurt Banana Bread from La cocina de Aisha

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.

We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.

If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send me an email with your blog URL to foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com.



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Gouda Herb Muffins for Derkje #MuffinMonday

Loads of cheese, fresh herbs and a bit of spicy cayenne pepper make these savory muffins rich and flavorful. 

Every Monday I get together with a lovely group of ladies for Bible study. We come from many countries and varied backgrounds but we enjoy our time together trying to learn whatever God wants us to learn, whether from the Bible or each other.  And, with such a diverse group, as you can imagine, there is so much we can learn from one another. The last couple of weeks we’ve been joined by someone special, the mother of one of our little group, who has been visiting since the holidays. As you might have guessed from my title, her name is Derkje.

As I left our meeting last week, she leaned over and almost whispered, “Do you have a recipe for a savory muffin? Perhaps with cheese?”  Well, I have plenty! But most of them make 12 muffins and our dear Derkje recently lost her husband, love of her life and best friend of more than 60 years. Even though they freeze well, 12 muffins is an overwhelming number and I didn’t want to discourage her from the outset with a large batch she’d never end up baking. So I worked out a recipe for just six, baked them up, and passed them over with the printed notes. I wanted to use a cheese that was readily available where Derkje lives in the Netherlands so I made them with Gouda, but you can substitute any aged cheese you have. A nice cheddar would work just as well.

At today’s meeting, I told her that I’d be sharing the recipe with the rest of you for Muffin Monday but, not to worry, I wouldn’t use her name. Derkje replied that she would be delighted if I would. It’s a name that was given to her by her father and she is very proud of it. Isn’t that lovely? She heads home tomorrow and we are going to miss her lively contribution to our group.

Ingredients
8 1/2 oz or 240g Gouda cheese
Small handful mixed fresh herbs of your choice (green onions, thyme, basil, parsley, coriander, rosemary, etc.)
1 cup or 125g flour (or 125g + 1 tablespoon self-rising flour)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (Omit if using self-rising flour.)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder (Derkje says use more! And I agree!)
1/2 cup or 120ml milk
1 egg
1/4 cup or 60ml canola or other light oil

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and generously grease your 6-cup muffin pan.  I would suggest putting the batter into a greased tin rather than muffin cups because the cheese in these makes them bake up lovely and browned and crunchy all over.  You’d miss that in a paper cup. I used non-stick cooking spray but you can use butter or a little more oil.

Grate your cheese, setting aside a generous handful for adding to the top before baking.

Pull the leaves off of any herbs with woody stems, then mince your herbs, saving a few tiny sprigs or leaves for decoration, if desired.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients, including the cayenne pepper.

Then stir in the big pile of Gouda, making sure all the bits are well coated with flour. Add in herbs and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, milk, and oil together.

Pour milk mixture into dry ingredients and fold until it is just combined.

Spoon the batter into your very well greased muffin pan.

Top with the reserved cheese and decorate with a herby leaf or two.

Bake in your preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until they are looking browned and crispy and delicious and you can’t wait another second to eat them.

BUT, allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes then use a non-pointy knife to loosen/remove them from the muffin pan.

Enjoy!

Check out all the other great recipes my Muffin Monday bakers are sharing today!

• Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Chocolate Chip Muffins from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Cinnamon Pear Muffins from Making Miracles
• Coconut Lime Mango Muffins from The Spiced Life
• Glazed Orange Poppyseed Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Gouda Herb Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Nutmeg Banana Muffins from Sew You Think You Can Cook
• Orange Muffins from Passion Kneaded

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.


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