The ... [read more]]]>

The fragrance and taste of the lavender is soothing, the pulpiness of the white grapes was invigorating, and the lemon added a nice summery zing. The sweetness of the grapes also made an interesting contrast with the tartness of the lemon. It was the perfect way to cool down on this scorching summer day. How are you cooling down?

White Grape Lavender Lemonade

Adapted from: Spoon With Me

There are so many wonderful bread recipes to try, and I’m always excited to make a new bread. After browsing around at Baking Bites, I decided I wanted to try one of the bread recipes posted there.

Since I just love the flavor that yogurt gives bread, I decided to try Nicole’s Soft Yogurt Sandwich Rolls. ... [read more]]]> There are so many wonderful bread recipes to try, and I’m always excited to make a new bread. After browsing around at Baking Bites, I decided I wanted to try one of the bread recipes posted there.

Since I just love the flavor that yogurt gives bread, I decided to try Nicole’s Soft Yogurt Sandwich Rolls. I wasn’t at all surprised that they melted in my mouth and tasted oh-so-good!! Here’s a picture just before we devoured most of them.

While I didn’t vary much from her recipe as far as the ingredients were concerned the first time I made the rolls, I did, however, do a couple of things differently the second time I made them. I doubled the salt in the recipe because I like a saltier bread. Also, instead of letting the dough rise on my counter top in the warm environment, I let them rise in the refrigerator while I was at work since I lost track of time and didn’t have enough time to let them rise at room temperature. Despite that, the rolls turned out great!! I also oiled the rolls prior to baking. It added some calories, but I really enjoy the flavor of olive oil on the outside of my bread.

The second time I made this I used lavender honey in the bread, and I really enjoyed the lovely aroma and taste of the rolls. The lavender flavor and scent wasn’t strong at all, but the hint of lavender combined with the yogurt made the bread deliciously different! When the rolls were done, I enjoyed one hot with butter and some lavender honey that I smothered on the bread. Yummmmmmmmmm!!!!

.

Here’s the recipe for Nicole’s wonderful Soft Yogurt Sandwich Rolls. I adapted her recipe some to suit my needs and here’s my adapted recipe:

Lavender-Honey Yogurt Rolls using a Cool Rise Method (Makes about 8 to 10 rolls)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp active dry yeast
• 1 tbsp orange blossom honey
• 2 tbsp lavender honey
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup yogurt (I used sheep yogurt)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for oiling the bread before baking)
• 2 1/2 tsp salt.

Note: I purchased my lavender honey in the cheese shop at Whole Foods. If you don’t have lavender honey, use whatever kind of honey you have on-hand.

Instructions for making the dough:

• In a large bowl, mix the yeast, honey, warm water, and 1/2 cup flour, stirring it until mixed well.
• Put that mixture in a warm place, free of drafts, and let it sit there until it gets foamy.
• After the yeast mixture gets foamy, add the yogurt, one tbsp. of oil, and 2 cups of flour to your yeast mixture, stirring until well mixed.
• Add the other 1/2 cup of flour and stir well until your dough is not too dry and not too sticky. If you need to add a little more flour or water, that’s fine.
• Put flour on the surface where you will knead your bread (I use my counter).
• Put some flour on your hands and then knead the bread until it’s smooth and elastic. That will take about 5 minutes or so. If you’ve never kneaded dough before or aren’t quite certain how to do it, here’s an excellent video at Epicurious that will show you how. It’s only about 2 minutes long.
• After kneading your dough, rub olive oil on it, and place the dough in a greased bowl.
• Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap, and then put it in the refrigerator.
• Once it’s in the refrigerator, put a towel loosely over the bowl.
• Leave the dough in the refrigerator about 8 or 9 hours or until it doubles in size. The cold air will retard the rise, or in other words, slow it down. It’s great to use this method when you can’t be home all day to let the dough rise quickly at room temperature.

Instructions for making the bread after the cool rise is completed:

• Take out of the refrigerator. It should be doubled in size.
• Oil your baking pan, and then preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
• Put the dough on a floured surface and put some flour on your hands.
• Punch the dough down, and then knead it for a few minutes.
• Pinch off small pieces of the dough to make your rolls.
• Put some olive oil on your hands and then roll the dough ball in your hands so the oil covers the dough.
• Place the dough balls side-by-side in your greased baking pan.
• After all the dough has been formed into balls and are in the pan, place the baking pan on top of the stove and let the dough rise until it’s doubled in size. That will take about 30 minutes.

Here’s what my rolls looked like at this stage:

• After the dough doubles in size, put it in the oven and bake the rolls until they’re golden brown (about 20 minutes or so). If you poke a toothpick in the roll and it comes out clean, you know it’s done.

Here’s what my rolls looked like when they came out of the oven:

The rolls were soft, moist, delicious, and even yummier with melted butter smothered on them. Kemal ate four of them with his dinner, and I ate one. Believe me, I wanted to eat more, but I had to save room for my pecan-crusted catfish and vegetable soup. I’ll be sure to have one for breakfast though.