Classic Alabama Pecan Bread #BreadBakers

This Alabama Pecan Bread is a sweet chewy treat – akin to a blondie - that is a must at potlucks and family reunions all over the southern states.

While its origins aren’t easy to pin down, the first Alabama pecan bread recipes date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when commercial pecan production took off in Alabama. Hence the name.

In my own home state of Louisiana, pecan growing for profit dates back even farther to the arrival of the French who recognized the potential of the wild pecan groves regularly harvested by the indigenous peoples. Nuts are an excellent protein source.

In fact, as early as the late 1700s, the Port of New Orleans started recording the sale and export of pecans as a profitable commodity. This makes Louisiana the actual origin of the pecan as a commercial crop. 

Even before I learned this history, I always thought of Louisiana as the source of the best pecans because, growing up, my extended family grew and harvested them. Until my maternal grandmother passed away, I never had to buy pecans. She always had a few pounds, already shelled, waiting for me when I’d visit. 

Alabama Pecan Bread

Recipes for Alabama pecan bread abound and there are many variations like the addition of sweet potatoes, pumpkin, cranberries, chocolate chips, coconut, etc. but the classic recipe is exactly the same on too many websites to count! This recipe was adapted from one on Mama Sue’s Southern Kitchen. 

Ingredients

1 ½ cups or 190g flour

2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup or 200g sugar

1 cup or 200g dark brown sugar

4 eggs

1 cup or 240ml canola or other light oil, plus a little extra for the baking pan

2 cups, chopped, or 240g pecans

1 teaspoon vanilla

Method

Preheat oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare a 9 x 13 in or 23 x 33cm baking dish by greasing it or line it with baking parchment.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt to combine.

In another larger bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, eggs and oil together well until you have a homogeneous mixture. 

Set aside a handful of the pecans for topping.

Add the flour mixture, pecans, and vanilla to the sugar/egg/oil bowl. 

Stir well to combine. 

Pour the batter into your prepared baking dish. Top with the reserved pecans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in your preheated oven or until done. 

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack before cutting into squares to serve. The edges aren't pretty but they were my favorite pieces. (My husband agreed!)

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month, so that means it’s time for my Bread Bakers group to share their recipes. Our host, Kelly of Passion Kneaded chose nuts as our theme. Many thanks to her for the impetus to research my favorite nut, the pecan. Check out the link list below. 

• Classic Alabama Pecan Bread from Food Lust People Love
• Coconut Flour Banana Nut Bread from Passion Kneaded 
• Cranberry Pecan Boule from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Easy Cinnamon Nut Loaf from A Messy Kitchen
• Maple Pecan Cinnamon Rolls from Magical Ingredients
• Mini Chocolate Almond Babka from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Nutty Miso Banana Bread from Sneha's Recipe 

#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.

Pin this Classic Alabama Pecan Bread!

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Small Batch Sourdough Bagels #BreadBakers

Made with active starter, these small batch sourdough bagels are boiled then baked for the chewy bite we all look for and love in a good bagel. 

It’s been a while since I’ve made bagels since we spend so much time during the year in Houston, where my hometown favorite New York Bagels, the best bagels of my childhood, are available a mere drive away. 

But since this month’s Bread Bakers host chose bagels as our theme, I decided I couldn’t miss the chance to try my hand at sourdough bagels. I am very pleased with how these turned out and, at least while we are in the Channel Islands, I’m sure I’ll make them again. 

Small Batch Sourdough Bagels

This recipe makes six bagels. I sprinkled mine with poppy seeds but you can choose whatever toppings you fancy. Or leave them plain. I adapted this recipe from one on Kimmy’s Joyful Kitchen.

Ingredients

For the bagel dough:

½ cup or 125g active sourdough starter

2 1/3 cups or 291g all-purpose flour

½ cup or 60g whole wheat flour

¾ teaspoon fine sea salt

2 teaspoons unsulfured molasses or treacle 

2/3 cup or 156ml cold water – you may not use all of it

1 teaspoon olive oil for greasing the mixing bowl before proofing

For boiling the bagels:

1 tablespoon molasses

2 teaspoons baking soda

Method 

Make sure you use an active starter, one that has been fed within the last 12 hours and stored at a temperature between 70-80°F or 21-26°C.

Add the sourdough starter to the bowl of your stand mixer, along with the flours, molasses, salt and just a ½ cup or 120ml of the water. 

Use the dough hook to mix the ingredients to form a ball of dough. It takes a few minutes to come together and you might need to add just a little bit more water, if the dough is too stiff or dry. I ended up adding two tablespoons and the dough was perfect. 

Knead for about five minutes, then take the dough out of the bowl and continue to knead the dough by hand for a couple more minutes, then form the dough into a tight ball. Oil the mixing bowl with and place the dough ball in it. Roll it around to coat.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a plastic shower cap. Leave to sit at room temperature, ideally 70-80°F or 21-26°C for 6 hours. 

After 6 hours, put the covered bowl with the dough in the refrigerator for a slow overnight rise. 

In the morning, remove the bowl from the refrigerator and leave it to rest at room temperature for about an hour. 

Divide the dough into six pieces. Roll each piece into a tight ball with your cupped hand.

I like to weigh the whole ball of dough then weigh the individual pieces to get them more even but if you want to eyeball it, go ahead. My dough weighed 620g so each piece was either 103 or 104g. 

Cover with cling film and leave to rest for 10 minutes. 

To shape the bagels, lightly flatten each ball. Make holes in the center by sticking your thumb through and gently easing the hole open with thumb and fingers. Twirl the dough around on your finger to enlarge the hole.

Place the bagels on a parchment or silicone liner covered baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let sit at room temperature for 3-5 hours or until doubled in size.

It was a warm day so mine took about three hours to double. 

When you are ready to boil and bake, preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Bring a large pot of water (about 2 quarts or just shy of 2 liters) with 1 tablespoon molasses and 2 teaspoons baking soda to a slow boil. 

Place one bagel in the pot and boil on each side for just 45 seconds or so. 

Return the bagel to the baking sheet and top with your favorite bagel topping right away, or leave them plain. 

Repeat this for each bagel. Once all the bagels have been boiled and decorated, put the baking pan in your preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes. 

Mine were in for 27 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool before cutting. 

We love ours with cream cheese. 

Enjoy!

It’s the second Tuesday of the month which means it’s time for my Bread Bakers friends to share recipes. This month, as I mentioned above, we are baking bagels. Many thanks to our host, Renu of Cook with Renu. Check out the links below. 

• Sourdough Bagel Bites from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Cinnamon Crunch Bagels from Karen's Kitchen Stories
• Everything Bagel Sandwich with Halloumi and Pickles (Homemade Bagels) from Cook with Renu
• Keto Cottage Cheese Bagels from Sneha's Recipe
• Gluten Free Onion Bagels from Passion Kneaded
• Small Batch Sourdough Bagels from Food Lust People Love
• Sourdough Blueberry Bagels from A Messy Kitchen

#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.

Pin these Small Batch Sourdough Bagels!

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Nebraska Runzas #BreadBakers

A fluffy bun and a savory filling of ground beef, chopped cabbage and onion are the hallmarks of classic Nebraska runzas, a great midwestern snack. 

Way back in May of 2016, I was researching stuffed bun recipes for a Bread Bakers post in August and came across one for Nebraska runzas. It was originally published in the Washington Post, written by a food writer named Tim Carman who grew up in Nebraska.

While I didn't save the story he shared with the recipe, apparently his mom's homemade runzas were a breakthrough in the food battles the two of them were having. Unfortunately, the link no longer contains the recipe, no less the story, so I'm glad I copied and pasted that! 

I ended up not making the runzas 10 years ago, sharing instead some tasty cheese-stuffed-peppadew stuffed buns of my own devise. This time, I decided the Nebraska runzas had waited long enough! 

Nebraska Runzas

These stuffed buns don’t traditionally have any spice beyond salt and black pepper  in the filling but, as a Cajun person, I felt moved to sprinkle in some cayenne. It added a lovely little kick. Leave it out if you want to go old-school Nebraskan.

Ingredients

For the dough:

3⁄4 teaspoon active dry yeast

1⁄4 cup or 60ml warm water, plus 1/3 cup or 90ml room-temperature water 1/3 cup or 90ml milk

1⁄4 cup or 48g vegetable shortening

3 1⁄4 cups or 406g flour, plus more as needed for kneading

1 tablespoon sugar

1⁄2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

Canola or other light oil, for greasing the proofing bowl

Milk for brushing on before baking

For the filling:

1.1 lb or 500g lean ground beef

Olive oil

1 small onion, cut into small dice, about 1 cup (about 125g)

2 1⁄2 cups chopped green cabbage (from 1⁄4 large head) (about 170g) 

3⁄4 teaspoon salt

Several generous grinds black pepper

1⁄2 teaspoon cayenne, optional

Method

Combine the yeast and the 1/4 cup or 60ml of warm water in small bowl or measuring vessel, adding a pinch of the sugar and stirring until the yeast has dissolved.

Combine the 1/3 cup or 90ml of the room-temperature water, the milk and shortening in a small saucepan; heat over low heat until the shortening has liquefied but the temperature of the mixture is no greater than 130°F or 54°C.

Add in the rest of the sugar and the salt and stir till dissolved.

(If during that time the yeast mixture hasn’t bubbled at all, your yeast might be dead. So dump it out and start over.)

Combine 1 cup or 125g of the flour, in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the yeasty liquid, the warm milk mixture and the egg to the mixer bowl.

Beat on medium-low speed until well incorporated. Stop to scrape down the bowl and beaters; then, on medium-low speed, gradually add the rest of the flour, beating to form a wet dough.

Change over to the dough-hook attachment and knead in your stand mixer or on a floured surface, adding a little extra flour, if needed, until you form a dough that’s smooth and elastic and a still a bit tacky.

Lightly grease a proofing bowl with oil, then place the dough in it. Cover with a damp towel or cling film and leave to rise in a draft-free spot for 1 to 2 hours or until the dough has about doubled in size. 

Meanwhile, make the filling. Fry the ground beef with a drizzle of olive oil in a large saute pan or skillet over medium heat. Cook until you get a few well browned crunchy bits, breaking up the meat to a crumbly consistency as it cooks.

Stir in the onion and cook for 6 to 8 minutes or until translucent.

Add in the cabbage. 

Cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring to incorporate, until the cabbage has softened. Season with the salt, black pepper and cayenne, if using. Stir well and remove from the heat. Set aside to cool.

Uncover and punch down the dough. Divide the dough into 12 equal portions (it’s good to use a kitchen scale for this) and roll them into balls. Divide your filling into 12 equal portions. (A scale is handy here as well!) These are my first six.

Working with one at a time on the floured work surface, roll out each portion of dough to your best approximation of a 5-inch or 12.5cm square, – NOT ROUND. A round runza is how they are made in Kansas, not Nebraska! 

Spoon one portion of the filling into the center of each piece. Dampen the edges with water.

Fold the sides in. 

Then fold the top and bottom together and pinch to seal the seams, making your requisite rectangle.

Preheat the oven to 375°F or 190°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. 

Place seam-side down on the lined baking sheet. I had to do mine in two batches since I was baking in a small oven. Our new kitchen is meant to be ready by this weekend though. 🤞

Let the runzas rise for 20 minutes then brush them with a little milk.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy! 

It's the second Tuesday of the month so, as mentioned above, it's time for my Bread Bakers to share their recipes. As you might have surmised, the theme is stuffed buns! Many thanks to our host, Radha of Magical Ingredients. Check out the links below.

• Custard Buns from A Messy Kitchen
• Ham and Cheese Stuffed Buns from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Hot Dog Flower Buns from Karen’s Kitchen Stories
• Nebraska Runzas from Food Lust People Love
• Salted Caramel Apple Wreath from Magical Ingredients
• Small Batch Nebraska Runzas from Sneha’s Recipe

#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.

Pin these Nebraska Runzas!

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