UNH Slow Food

1 1/4 cups (175 grams) all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (30 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick plus 3 tablespoons (11 tablespoons or 150 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup (120 grams) (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel or 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 ounces (150 grams) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or a generous 3/4 cup store-bought mini chocolate chips

Sift the flour, cocoa and baking soda together.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed until soft and creamy. Add both sugars, the salt and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes more.

Turn off the mixer. Pour in the flour, drape a kitchen towel over the stand mixer to protect yourself and your kitchen from flying flour and pulse the mixer at low speed about 5 times, a second or two each time. Take a peek — if there is still a lot of flour on the surface of the dough, pulse a couple of times more; if not, remove the towel. Continuing at low speed, mix for about 30 seconds more, just until the flour disappears into the dough — for the best texture, work the dough as little as possible once the flour is added, and don’t be concerned if the dough looks a little crumbly. Toss in the chocolate pieces and mix only to incorporate.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather it together and divide it in half. Working with one half at a time, shape the dough into logs that are 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Wrap the logs in plastic wrap and refrigerate them for at least 3 hours. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months. If you’ve frozen the dough, you needn’t defrost it before baking — just slice the logs into cookies and bake the cookies 1 minute longer.)

Getting ready to bake: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Working with a sharp thin knife, slice the logs into rounds that are 1/2 inch thick. (The rounds are likely to crack as you’re cutting them — don’t be concerned, just squeeze the bits back onto each cookie.) Arrange the rounds on the baking sheets, leaving about one inch between them.

Bake the cookies one sheet at a time for 12 minutes — they won’t look done, nor will they be firm, but that’s just the way they should be. Transfer the baking sheet to a cooling rack and let the cookies rest until they are only just warm, at which point you can serve them or let them reach room temperature.

Serving: The cookies can be eaten when they are warm or at room temperature — I prefer them at room temperature, when the textural difference between the crumbly cookie and the chocolate bits is greatest — and are best suited to cold milk or hot coffee.

Do ahead: Packed airtight, cookies will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days (Deb note: not a chance); they can be frozen for up to 2 months. They can also be frozen in log form for months, and can be sliced and baked directly from the freezer, adding a coupld minutes to the baking time.

From: Paris Sweets: Great Desserts From the City’s Best Pastry Shops.
Found at Smitten Kitchen.

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rest at least 8 hours, preferably 12 to 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.
2. The dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it. Sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let it rest for about 15 minutes.
3. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking to the work surface or to your fingers, gently shape it into a ball. Generously coat a clean dish towel with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal. Put the seam side of the dough down on the towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another towel and let rise for about 1 to 2 hours. When it’s ready, the dough will have doubled in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.
4. At least 20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat oven to 475 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in the oven as it heats. When the dough is ready, carefully remove the pot from the oven and lift off the lid. Slide your hand under the towel and turn the dough over into the pot, seam side up. The dough will lose its shape a bit in the process, but that’s OK. Give the pan a firm shake or two to help distribute the dough evenly, but don’t worry if it’s not perfect; it will straighten out as it bakes.
5. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the loaf is beautifully browned. Remove the bread from the Dutch oven and let it cool on a rack for at least 1 hour before slicing.

Video Instructions on How to Make No-Knead Bread
From: Mother Earth News

“Bread like this will astonish your friends. It makes a perfect house present. Even if the crust splits during baking, it is still a wonderful-looking loaf. The actual man work, so to speak, is under half an hour. The yeast does the rest for you. You, of course, get all the credit.”

1. Into a large bread bowl, put 1 1/2 cups unbleached white flour, 1 1/2 cups stone-ground wheat flour and 3/4 cups coarse ground whole wheat flour (if you can’t find coarse ground, simply add regular whole wheat flour. I used buckwheat flour, because I’ve been feeling guilty about buying it eons ago and never using it.). Add one heaping teaspoon of salt, a half teaspoon of sugar (my addition, I think bread benefits from a little sweetness) and one tablespoon of wheat or corn germ. (I’m pretty sure I used bran instead, because that’s what I had on hand. Really, you can’t break this bread.)

2. Mix 1/2 scant teaspoon of yeast (active dry is just fine) with 1 1/2 cups of liquid–half milk, half water, or more water than milk–whatever you have on hand. (If you’re going to leave it overnight, use 1/4 teaspoon of yeast.)

3. Pour the liquid into the flour and stir it up. (If you have a KitchenAid, you can use the paddle attachement for this, then switch to the kneading hook when you’re done.) The dough should be neither dry nor sticky, but should tend more toward to the stick than the dry. If too sticky, add a little more flour.

4. Knead the dough well, roll it in flour, put it in a warm bowl (although I have put it in a regular old bowl right off the shelf, says Colwin, as did I) . I covered mine with plastic wrap at this time–a towel works as well–but realize it might not be neccessary. Leave it in a cool, draft-free place and go about your business. (We decided to check out the 8th Annual New York Pickle Festival, not that you asked.)

5. Whenever you happen to get home, punch down the dough, knead it well and forget about it until convenient.

6. Sometime later (with a long first rise, a short second rise is fine, but a long one is fine, too) punch the dough down, give it a final kneading, shape into a baguette* (see my notes below), slash the top with four diagonal cuts, brush wtih water and let proof for a few minutes (it was 30 minutes, in our case). However, if you haven’t the time, it can go straight into the oven.

7. You can preheat the oven or put it in a cold oven, it matters not a bit. Bake at 450° fr half an hour. Turn the oven to 425 ° and bake for another five to twenty minutes. (This range is long because I found my bread was done–sounded hollow when I tapped the bottom, quite brown on the outside and registered 200 or so on a thermometer, all different techiniques to check for doneness–after just 5 more minutes, but Colwin suggests 20. It will vary based on the density of your bread, the size of your baguette, etc. etc. so just check in with it every five minutes or so.)

Baguette Technique: Pat the dough out gently into something approximating a rectangle. On the long side, fold in the bottom two corners, just a bit. Now begin rolling the dough, tucking the seam underneath.You can stretch the baguette at this point to make it longer or leave it as is.

Adapted by Smitten Kitchen from Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen
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Directions
1. Thinly slice and wash the leeks. You should have about 6 cups. You can also substitute a sliced onion or bunch of chopped chives if you don’t have enough leeks.

2. Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Add the leeks, thyme and 1/2 cup water. Stew over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the leeks are tender, about 12 minutes.

3. Add the wine and continue cooking until it’s reduced, then add the cream and cook until it just coats the leeks and little liquid remains. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Let cool for 10 minutes, then stir in all but 1 tbsp of the beaten egg and 2 tbsps of the parsley (or all the tarragon).

5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Roll out the dough for one large galette on a counter or upside-down cookie sheet and transfer to a greased baking sheet.

6. Spread the leek mixture on top of the dough, leaving at least a 2-inch border around the filling. Crumble the cheese on top then fold the dough over the filling (again, depending on how large a border you leave, you can close it up completely or leave some of the filling visible in the middle).

7. Brush with the reserved egg and bake until the crust is browned – 25-30 minutes. Remove, scatter the remaining parsley over the top, and serve.
From Garden of Eating.

• 4 cups old-fashioned oats ( do not use instant)
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like your cereal)
• 1 1/2 cup sliced almonds, walnuts, or pecans (just omit if you don’t like nuts)
• 1/2 cup vegetable (we used canola) oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cup raisins, currants, dried cranberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, coconut, sunflower seeds, etc.

Directions

1. Preheat oven 325 degrees
2. Mix oats, sugar, honey, oil, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla
3. Spread evenly on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes (stirring occasionally)
4. Add nuts,seeds and/or coconut and bake for additional 10 minutes
5. Remove and let cool and then add your raisins and cranberries.

You can easily modify this recipe to suit your own tastes – less brown sugar or honey if you don’t want it very sweet, less oil for crunchier granola.

• 3 cups rolled oats (don’t use instant)
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4-1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Preheat over to 325
2. spread evenly on cookie sheet
3. bake for 30-35 minutes (mix every 10 minutes)
4. Let cool – great with coconut shavings and raisins

You can easily modify this recipe to suit your own tastes – less brown sugar or honey if you don’t want it very sweet, less oil for crunchier granola.