peanut butter and jelly bread

What a perfect combination!

This bread is not as sweet and rich as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but it is delightful because the bread itself has a warm, peanuty flavor. Also, the texture is almost like cake because of the egg.
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Ingredients
1 egg, beaten
2 cups plus 2 Tbsp bread flour
2 Tbsp whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp active yeast
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp cool water
3 Tbsp unsalted smooth peanut butter
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, whole
1/4 cup unsalted dry-roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
1/3 seedless fruit jam of choice (I used raspberry preserves)
nonstick cooking spray

Directions
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flours, salt, yeast, and the egg. Blend the water and peanut butter in a blender until smooth (some settling will occur fi this is left to stand, so blend just before using.) Add mixture tot he flour mixture and, using the wooden spoon or your hand, mix until you have a we, sticky dough without any lumps, about 30 seconds. Stir in the whole peanuts until evenly distributed. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature until the surface is dotted with bubbles and the dough is more than doubled in size, about 12 hours.

2. When the first rise is complete, sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour. Use a bowl scraper or rubber spatula to scrape the dough out of the bowl in one piece. Lightly flour your hands and gently pat and pull the dough into a rough rectangle about 8 by 12 inches.

3. Now you're going to make a sort of jelly roll: Position the dough so a long side is in front of you. Spread the jam evenly over the surface of the dough, leaving a 1-inch border on all sides. Lift up the far side of the rectangle and fold one third of it over toward the cetner, the continue rolling up the remainder into a cylinder. With the seam on the bottom, tuck the ends of the roll under to seal them, so the jam doesn't ooze out during baking.

4. Lightly coat the loaf pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle half of the chopped peanuts into the bottom of the pan. Gently transfer the dough, seam side down, to the loaf pan. Sprinkle the remaining chopped peanuts onto the dough. Cover the dough with a towel and place it in a warm, draft-free spot to rise for 1 hour. The dough is ready when it has doubled. If you gently poke it with your finger, it should hold the impression. If it springs back, let it rise for another 15 minutes.

5. About 15 minutes before the end of the second rise, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F, with a rack in the center.

6. Bake until golden, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. If the peanuts start to darken, loosely cover the loaf with foil. Use pot holders to invert the pan onto a rack, remove the pan, and turn the bread right side up to cool thoroughly. (Don't dawdle - the bread will get soggy if it cools in the pan.)

kalamata olive ciabatta

Ciabatta is a rustic Italian bread shaped like a slipper. I made a ciabatta loaf with kalamata olives, as requested by my good friend Julia, who almost took a part in the making of this bread. I looked at several recipes and combined them as I pleased. I like doing this to see what I could improve in each recipe. The first was from the Cook's Illustrated magazine, where they have a team of chefs that take about 25 tries until they find the best recipe. The other is from Richard Bertinet's Dough, a book that shows simple recipes for beautiful breads, but it's so simple that it is sometimes difficult to know exactly, what he wants you to do.

By the way, my ciabatta was much too "springy," because I added too much flour as I was kneading it. Remember that the dough must be wet!

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Wet and very sticky dough is the key to making good ciabatta. The key to manipulating the dough is working quickly and gently. When possible, use a large rubber spatula or dough scraper to move the dough. If you have to use your hands, make sure they are well floured. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack.

Ingredients

Biga

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 cup water, at room temperature

Dough

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp instant or rapid-rise yeast

1 1/2 tsp table salt

3/4 cup water, at room temperature

1/4 cup milk, at room temperature

2 Tbsp black olives (optional)

Directions

FOR THE BIGA: Combine flour, yeast, and water in medium bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees) overnight (at least 8 hours and up to 24 hours).

Remember to preheat your oven to 475 F (250 C) at least one hour before you start making the dough. This is important for ensuring a beautiful crunchy crust.

FOR THE DOUGH: Preferably make the dough by hand. Put the flour in a mixing bowl and rub in the yeast. Scoop the ferment into the bowl, then add the water, and salt, mixing well until all combined (if desired, add olives now). Once the dough is no longer sticking to the bowl, transfer it to your counter with the help of a dough scraper or spatula, and knead the dough until it looks shiny and elastic. Remove the dough from the bowl, transfer to a lightly oiled surface and mold into a ball (see future post for how to knead and form dough into a ball).

Lightly oil a bowl, place the dough in it, and let rest for 1 1/2 hours, covered with plastic wrap, until it has risen and feels bubbly and light (so when you poke it the dough doesn't come back up).

Flour your work surface generously with white flour or cornmeal, and with the help of a dough scraper or spatula, turn the dough out in one piece. Flour the top. Press the dough lightly and gently, dimpling it slightly with your fingers. Divide the dough into four roughly equal strips, and fold into three. Do this by folding one side of your flattened dough into the middle and press it down and seal. Bring the other side over to the middle and again press down to seal. Finally fold in half lengthwise and seal the edges.

Place the pieces of dough onto well-floured lint-free dishtowels. Cover with another towel and let rise for 30-45 minutes.

Flour a baking tray (turned upside down) or wooden peel, pick up one ciabatta at a time, turn it over, stretch it lengthwise a little at the same time, and lay it on the peel or tray (This stretch is what gives the bread its characteristic "slipper" shape.) Spray the loaf with water and then quickly slide the ciabatta onto the baking stone or tray. Turn down the heat to 435 F and bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated and Richard Bertinet's Dough