The Lovely Lady Baker - Maple Oat Bread

Bread Bread Bread! I love making and eating bread. Hope you all had a chance to try at least one of the recipes. I made the Maple Oat Bread and will probably try the Dill bread at some point soon. Thanks Dana for choosing this month's recipe. Check out the rest of my post on the Lovely Lady Baker.

March Recipes: Yeast Breads

Hello Coven members. Our March recipes were picked by Dana, and she knows bread. Here is what she had to say:

"When Harvard and I were in our early 20s we taught “University For Man” bread basics classes. I wanted to help people to see that using yeast needn’t be just for grandmothers or James Beard kind of people. Yeast casserole breads were an easy transition to give confidence. This one is beautiful and easy to “wow” company with without much effort. It is also delicious!"

Dilly Casserole Bread

1 pkg. dry yeast
1 c. creamed cottage cheese (lg. curd better)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. dill seed (Note - not dill weed)
1 tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. soda
2 1/4 - 2 1/2 c. flour

1/4 c. warm water
¼ c. finely minced onion (not instant)
1 tsp. salt
1 egg

Sprinkle yeast over warm water. Heat cottage cheese to lukewarm in microwave. Combine in mixing bowl with sugar, onion, butter, dill seed, salt, soda, egg and yeast mixture. Add flour to make stiff dough, beat well after each addition of flour. Let rise to double in size in warm place, 50 to 60 minutes. Stir down, turn into well greased round casserole. Let rise again until light and double in size. Bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Brush with butter, sprinkle with coarse salt. Remove from pan when cool. Makes 1 round.

Nothing beats real bread dough coming alive under the heel of your hands though. I had planned to post pictures of some of the kneeding/shaping techniques when I post my entry. This recipe is my own adaptation based on wanting one loaf at a time now and wanting something that would hold a little longer without going stale so quickly (the bane of good bread with no preservatives added)…thus, it is a little denser and chewier than the average bread. Makes GREAT toast and I use it a lot for feeding guests because it stays moist when sitting in a basket.

Here is another yeast bread option to try this month:

Maple Oatmeal Bread-one 1.5 lb loaf

Sprinkle 2 tsp. yeast (bread machine or regular) over 1 c. lukewarm (105-115 degrees) water—let stand while combining

¼ c. oil

¼ c. real maple syrup (not pancake syrup)—can substitute honey

1 ¾ tsp. salt

add yeast mixture.

Stir in 1 c. rolled oats

Stir in enough of the 3 cups bread flour (opt. substitute 1 c. whole wheat flour and 2 c. bread flour) until a stiff dough

Kneed in the rest of the flour, and more if necessary, until the dough can be kneeded for 5-10 min.

The ball should spring back into shape when indented and be smooth and not sticky.

Roll in a greased bowl and leave to rise in a warm place with a damp towel over the top until double (1.5-2 hours)

Punch down and shape loaf

Let rise uncovered up to 1 hour or until less than double in bulk (don’t let it over rise)

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until the top is golden brown and the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped, 30 to 40 minutes.

Here is a link to the printable version. If you haven't ever made a yeast bread before - feel free to post some questions in the "comments" section and I can try and answer them - if I can't maybe Dana will be able to step in.

Happy Baking

The lovely Lady Baker

The Lovely Lady Baker - Lemon Bars by Tartine

Lemony goodness. I'm a sucker for all things shortcrust. Check out the Lovely Lady Baker for the full post.

Christmas Cookies

I really enjoyed the recipes for December, thanks Laura! I hope all of you have had a chance to make at least one of them amid all of the holiday celebrations. I made sugar cookies for Christmas parties and shared the leftovers at work. They were great! Find the rest of my post at the Lovely Lady Baker!

December Recipes have Arrived!

I hope you all enjoyed the pies from November. I asked Laura to pick this months recipe (remember it is more or less based on the order you joined the club). She picked two as the majority of you have and I'm very excited for both of them. Here is what Laura had to say....


"Oh the pressure of having to choose a recipe for December!  For this month I am torn between tradition and something new.  I have decided on two options since the recent months have offered more than one recipe choice.  One leans far traditional, the other is not your typical holiday baking.

    My traditional recipe is not something new to me, (Sorry, Christina, for breaking the rules.) but it is tried and true in my kitchen at Christmas time.  They are the absolute best sugar cookies!  The sour cream makes them extra moist and the cream cheese frosting make a tasty combination.

    The second option, Zucchini & Red Onion Flatbread, is a recipe I came across in a recent Bon Appétit issue.  To me it sounds like a great light meal with a nice salad in this season laden with cookies, fudge, candy, chocolate....  I'm anxious to try it and hear what you all think!

Happy Baking!"

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies with Cream Cheese Icing

Cookie Dough:

Mix ingredients in this order, adding one at a time.

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 c. margarine

2 egg yolks

1 t. vanilla

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. salt

1 c. sour cream

5 c. flour

Make dough and chill at least 2-3 hours or over night.

Roll out on a floured surface and cut with cookie cutters.

Bake at 350 degrees for 9-12 minutes, depending on how soft you like sugar cookies.  I tend to bake and average sized cookie cutter 9 to 10 minutes.

After the cookies are completely cool, decorate with the icing recipe below.

Icing Ingredients:

2 lb powdered sugar

1/2 c. margarine

8 oz. cream cheese

1 T. vanilla

water, to desired consistency

food coloring, if desired

November Recipes

Hi cOven members. This month Elisa chose some recipes that will work well for the holiday season. Here is what she said....

"November = Thanksgiving = Pies. I didn't want to add a lot of work to a month that is already chockfull of baking and cooking so I chose three pies in hopes that the group could multi-task and contribute to the cOven and their Thanksgiving meal!

I'm from Texas so I couldn't resist the traditional pies we Texans love, pumpkin and pecan...but these recipes have a few extra ingredients that will hopefully make them special. I threw in an apple pie recipe (also with a twist) in case there are those that don't care for either pumpkin or pecan. Feel free to use the crust recipes below our your own."

The links are google documents so you will be able to save or copy them more easily than from the blog. Happy Baking!


Apple Cheddar Cheese Pie

Pumpkin Pie with Rum and Cream

Chocolate Pecan Pie


NPR's Vodka Pie Crust

Alton Brown's Pie Crust

Try and post sometime between the 25th and the 30th. And as always if you want to link to the Lovely Lady Baker you are welcome to.

October - Molasses Cookies

Hope you all had a good time with both recipes. I chose just to make the cookies. Can't wait to see all of your posts!

Check out my full post at The Lovely Lady Baker