Whole Wheat Burger Buns

I'm going to start off by saying...mmm...these aren't the bestest burger buns. They're delicious bread and they'll work as buns but Michael will attest that they're not very...bun-like. If that makes sense? But he's picky. I know I'd love to eat a sammie on these, and I think you should consider them!

In the scheme of bread recipes, this is pretty standard-not terribly difficult, and not too much rise time. The whole thing should take less than 3 hours. And the rolls are lovely and have a nice balance of whole wheat flavor, without being overwhelming, and a perfect, chewy texture.

I mean...Michael said it was tasty bread. He just wants processed store-bought white buns. *sigh*

Send help.

I want to hear from the masses--what do you think? Would you want to serve your burgers on these buns? If you make them, tell me what you think!

No-Knead Crusty Bread Rolls

I've been craving a particular kind of roll. The kind that is crusty on the outside and chewy on the inside. This is the absolute perfect recipe for that sort of roll. AND it's sort of super easy to make (and no knead)! WE'RE IN A WIN-WIN SITUATION HERE, PEOPLE!

You combine some ingredients in a bowl. Let it rise (either in a warm place for a few hours or in the refrigerator overnight and then a warm place for a little bit if it's not risen enough). Form rolls. Let them rise for just like 30 minutes. Bake. THAT'S IT. And then you have the most gorgeously rustic rolls that are all crusty and chewy and JUST LOOK AT THE AIR POCKETS. They're perfect for holding little bits of butter.

They also lent themselves to Michael's caveman sensibilities--you can just grab them and tear into them like the savage he is. Or, you can be a lady* like me and cut them in half and butter them before delicately** eating them.

*In spite of etiquette classes and countless reprimands from my parents...I don't eat like a lady.

**shoving into your mouth whole.

Potato Scones

Yes yes....Kayle sees a new potato recipe and feels the need to make it. Don't give me as hard of a time as Michael does about it, mmkay? Cuz really...don't we all love potatoes? And my love means I share potato recipes with all of you soooo...I think it's a win win for all of us.

Now...I had never heard of potato scones before. Google tells me they're Scottish...which makes sense (I've been watching a lot of Outlander and I've read the books so obviously I'm an expert on Scots lol). I'm not Scottish at all (to my knowledge...although those ancestry commercials for DNA testing make me consistently curious as to what my results would be) but I am Irish. And St. Patrick's Day is coming up. And you know...potatoes are like a big deal for Ireland (which is like pretty similar to Scotland really...they both speak Gaelic and are in similar areas and yeah...) So I think these potato scones are perfect for the occasion, really.

They're a comfort food I didn't even know existed. They're made from mashed potatoes and normal scone/biscuity-y ingredients and then...they're fried in a skillet (I prefer cast iron for this sort of job. Makes me feel very pioneer-y.) And you serve them with butter. And they're darned delicious. Crisp and fried on the outside, and shining with melted butter, and then they're chewy and potato-y on the inside. I loved them.

DO YOU SEE THE GLISTENING BUTTER AND THE FRIED GOODNESS??!

Need I say more?

Pecan Sticky Buns #GalentinesDayParty

HAPPY GALENTINE'S DAY!!

What’s Galentine’s Day? Oh, it’s only the best day of the year. Every February 13th, Leslie Knope and her lady friends leave their husbands and their boyfriends at home and just kick it breakfast style. Ladies celebrating ladies. It’s like Lilith Fair, minus the angst. Plus, frittatas!

A few months ago Michael and I binge-watched Parks and Recreation. And we will never be the same-WE LOVED IT SO MUCH! So this year Galentine's Day really means something to me, because I love Leslie. And Ann Perkins. And April. And Donna. And the entire gang. Just like I love my food blogger gal pals, which is why we came together to celebrate this day of sisterhood and breakfast food! A big THANK YOU to Neighborfood and Gotta Get Baked for putting this thing together!

Waffles are Leslie Knope's absolute favorite, so I considered sharing some. But-I've already shared A TON of waffle recipes, and I've found my favorite waffle recipes. So I'm mixing it up with another breakfast treat that I know the Knope-ster would also dig: Pecan Sticky Buns! That are completely homemade, but pretty simple to make, and it only makes 4. Which is good because I, unlike Leslie, do not have triplets or a million friends and these are really best served fresh soooo 4 was plenty to split between Michael and I. But you can totally double the recipe if you need to!

These sticky buns are chewy and fluffy and smothered in a caramel-pecan mixture that it cooks in and is stuffed with. Nothing makes your mouth happy like something sweet and rich and nutty in the morning, or at least that's how I feel! Michael's response upon taking a bite was "mmmmmmm"...so ya know...even the fellas support these.

But today isn't about the fellas it's about the ladiiies! I have so many wonderful girlfriends thanks to this blogging community I'm a part of, and I'm lucky enough to have had the same exact best friend my whole life (my bestie Alex). I don't have a lot of friends but the ones I do have I really care about and nothing sounds better than being able to actually meet up with all my ladies for brunch. And bringing these sticky buns to the party. And then watching an old movie. That's the dream.

Check out the rest of the Galentines Day Party deliciousness!

• Caramel Cheesecake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Hula Pie from Heather’s Dish
• Red Velvet Donuts from Blahnik Baker
• Strawberry Chocolate Chip Pancakes from NeighborFood
• Pecan Sticky Buns from The Cooking Actress
• Gin Lime Coconut Truffles from Food Lust People Love
• Red Velvet Chocolate Chip Cookies from Wallflour Girl
• Lavender Ice Cream from NinjaBaker
• Three Ingredient Valentine’s Day M&M Fudge from Big Bear’s Wife
• Smores Waffle Sticks from A Cookie Named Desire
• Cherry Chocolate Chip Cheesecake from Cookie Dough and Oven Mitt
• Chocolate Frosted Fudgy Brownies with Strawberries from Pineapple and Coconut
• Nutella Layer Cake from gotta get baked
  

Quick & Easy Homemade French Bread

I think this is my new favorite quick and easy bread recipe! I was honestly shocked by how simple it was to throw together and then you just have to wait about an hour for it to rise and about half an hour for it to bake and then...TA DA! French bread!

I think my current favorite use for this recipe is for garlic bread--that's what I made it for initially when we had Michael's friend over for dinner. You can make it the day of or like a day ahead of time and it helps you make seriously delicious an brag-worthy garlic bread (seriously...look at people's faces when you tell them you made the whole thing from scratch, even the bread. They will be impressed!) Slightly crusty on the outside, nice and chewy on the inside. Gotta love a delicious and easy recipe for homemade bread, am I right??!

Roasted Onion Brie Muffins

I know! Tomorrow is Thanksgiving!!! But if you haven't fully figured out what you're making...might I suggest these muffins as a unique alternative to rolls? Because you guys...they're awesome. You and your friends/family will loooove them!

Savory muffins should be a more commonplace thing! They're so much easier to make than rolls and they're just as full of carb-y goodness and you can do so many different flavor combinations! Like.....seriously.....sweet roasted onions and buttery brie paired with just a hint of rosemary all in a slightly tangy buttermilk muffin....I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT OF IT but I am so glad that I tried it because...whoa. Delish. Addictive. Unique. And baking them makes your house smell amazing.

I definitely suggest you make these if you're having a get-together (or if your family can eat 12 muffins) because these are really best the day that they're baked! And seriously...look at that muffin--look at the delicious roasted onions all up in there. And the melted brie on top. Om nom nom nom noooommm! Commence the eating!

Easy Whole Wheat Hoagie Rolls

I'm still loving this recipe for French Dip sandwiches. What I'm not loving? My inability to find whole wheat hoagie rolls. And...really....I love being able to make things myself anyway. So when I found a recipe for easy hoagie rolls I knew I would be adapting a whole wheat version for my next sammie!

And I am now completely in love. Like...I want to use this recipe for garlic bread, any and all future sandwiches I make, and I don't even know what else! Just...everything. Because that's what this recipe is--everything.

It's really a super simple bread recipe and it doesn't even take that long to make (with rise times it only really takes like 2.5-3 hours, which in the scheme of bread baking isn't bad. And 99.9% of that time is inactive, just letting it rise or bake, etc.)

Even Michael liked them! I'm not sure that he even noticed that they were whole wheat (something he tends to whine about)--he has very specific desires for hoagie rolls. He likes them to be not too big and somewhat soft (but still sturdy enough) and that is what these are! They're wonderfully golden on the outside and so soft and fluffy on the inside. They're just sturdy enough for such messy and gooey sandwiches as the 'aforementioned french dip. And I'm just a huge fan. Love love love these hoagies.

Cinnamon Sugar Swirl Bread

I had THE MOST incredible loaf of cinnamon sugar swirl bread and it haunts me.

I wanted to replicate it. So I tried. I adapted the recipe slightly to try to add my favorite component of the bread I so adore---cinnamon sugar crusted around the outside of the bread. At that I succeeded. At the attempt to copy it? I failed. *sigh*

So if anyone knows how to make a smaller, skinnier loaf with lots of swirl and really just SO much cinnamon-sugar....let me know. Or I'll just cave and buy it. Either way. 

My failure stated-I still really loved this bread. For the record. It was delish. Especially toasted. With butter. Yeah...that was good.

I don't know what it is but the smell of cinnamon (and bread-always) is so crazy comforting and homey. And when you are baking it this bread smells AMAZING. You're going to just want to curl up in your Christmas blanket, watch some home movies, and call your mom. And if you bake yourself a loaf on Christmas eve this is so perfect for Christmas morning breakfast!

So. This bread. The top is a little crunchy because of the cinnamon sugar. The bread itself is soft and chewy (although, as stated, I like it best toasted. My bread was too big for my toaster so I just put it under the broiler until toasted--which is dangerous and a couple pieces may have been sacrificed to the burnt toast gods. Oops.) The cinnamon swirl is buttery and rich and super flavorful. I love it. You'll love it. Everyone's happy.

One Hour Dinner Rolls

Did you know that I AM A LADY?

...Well....I'm not. So I figured out pretty early on in my life. My dad used to constantly scold me for...I don't know...stuff (sitting cross legged maybe?) and tell me I needed to be "a lady". (Which is hilarious if you know my dad. It's a drunk redneck telling someone to be a lady...sheesh.) In Girl Scouts we took an etiquette class and there was one singular moment that made 7 year old me say, "What? Eff this. No. WAY." (I didn't say eff this...at that age I was very unsure of what that word meant but I knew I wasn't supposed to say it.)

The moment? We were told to break off one tiny piece of dinner roll, butter it, eat it. Repeat. IT'LL TAKE YOU A THOUSAND YEARS TO EAT A ROLL AT THAT RATE (or so I felt). You cut a roll in half, butter each half, then shove each half into your face. The end. Everyone is happy.

Since obviously that is the way to do things, I made my peace with the fact that I would never be a proper lady. Because I will never butter my rolls one tiny piece at a time. Rolls are too good to ruin with etiquette.

And much like I don't want to wait many many minutes to butter and eat a roll....I don't want to wait hours and hours for homemade rolls to be made. Sometimes I just don't have the time or energy to make my absolute favorite roll recipe. Which is why I wasted no time in making these rolls when I learned they only take ONE HOUR-beginning to end. Total. Period. UNO HORA!

And look....yes...they don't hold a candle to my fave rolls.

BUT they are super fluffy and pretty and tasty and are perfect for those days where you're crunched for time or just lazy! Like...maybe you're making a bunch of other dishes for a certain holiday where we all eat so much we have to undo the top button of our pants (or just wear a dress if you're a prepared non-lady). 

Like that.

No-Knead Skillet Bread

Happy Memorial Day!

Something about baking bread....it's almost elemental. 

It feels like getting back to your roots. 

And the smell...is like home.

Which is why it's so sad that most people feel like baking bread is too difficult. Cuz guys IT'S NOT! Especially this recipe: no kneading, only a little over 2 hours start to finish (which isn't that long! And 1 and 1/2 hours of it are inactive, just waiting for it to rise--during which you can do some laundry, clean, watch TV, read a book...whatevs!) and it just bakes up in a gorgeous, rustic, cast iron skillet. And there's some pretty pretty rosemary on top. ooooh

Once you've baked up the beautious bread, you can use the bread for whatever you want (I used it for some grilled cheese even) but may I suggest roasted garlic? Cuz...roasted garlic is the bomb dizzel.

Random sad fact: As I write this I have been out of garlic for almost 1 whole week and haven't had a chance to go to the grocery store. It's a tragedy.

End of the day you have fluffy, golden brown, herbed, roasted garlic spread-ed, bread. That's a total crowd pleaser. Or just a you in your sweatpants pleaser. Either way, everyone is happy!

Roasted Garlic Focaccia

Aghhhh today I am SUPER anxious! Michael has his job interview and I am just hoping hoping HOPING it goes smashingly and he gets the job and he gets a great shift schedule and everything works out perfectly for the move and it all just falls into place...

is that too much to ask?

Whatever. I'm anxious. You know what's an awesome cure for my anxiety?

Bread.

Making, baking, and eating bread. Especially when it's covered in roasted garlic that makes Michael turn to you and say, "What's this stuff? Cheese?" (at this point he's already tried it and declared that he liked it, so it was safe for me to say:) "Nope. Roasted garlic."

Mmmmm....I feel better just talking about it.

I've been dying to make focaccia* for quite some time now: I mean, it's a pretty simple bread, and it looks crazy delish.

*Side note: Michael and I got into a discussion on the correct way to say focaccia. He says "focasha", I said, "FocaCHIa" and I'm pretty sure the correct pronunciation is somewhere in between. Regardless, try saying focaccia over and over again...it just starts to sound ridiculous (as is the case with most words if you say 'em enough.)

Yeah. This recipe doesn't disappoint. It's sort of like a giant, chewy loaf of garlic bread. That's like...super...deliciously...garlicky. I love roasted garlic. And bread. We finished off these four loaves in less than a week. Just the two of us. I ate 1 whole loaf in that first day.

Whatever. No shame.

Cinnamon Roll Breadsticks-Guest Post at The Spiffy Cookie

Alright! Today is the rehearsal dinner for Kevin (Michael's brother) & Emily's wedding!

Exciiiiiting!

Also exciting is the fact that I'm guest posting at The Spiffy Cookie today! Erin, the super sassy, super brilliant, girl behind The Spiffy Cookie (speaking of which-how cute is that name? I literally started reading her blog for the sole reason that um...I love cookies. Yeahh) is working on finishing up her PHD (see, smart!) so she asked a few of her food blogging buds to help her out with some guest posts. Today that person is moi! Erin and I were lucky enough to meet when she was visiting NY, along with a group of food bloggers who live in the area, and we had so much fun! She is just as adorable in life as she is on her blog. And her blog-if you don't follow it yet, do. Let's just say that sometimes she does weekly chocolate/pb posts. Uh yes. It's because she lived in Ohio for awhile (where, as you may know, I am from) and Ohio State and Buckeyes and pb/choc. Get it? Got it? Good.

I decided to share these SUPER delicious, fluffy on the inside, crisp and sugar on the outside, cinnamon roll breadsticks. You'll never order cinnasticks from a pizza chain again. Click on over to her blog to read my guest post and get the recipe!

Ciabatta Bread with Morel & Leek Jack Cheese (Great Midwest Cheese Review)

Soo...ever since I went to the Summer Fancy Food Show I've been practically swimming in free stuff. Now, I realize this isn't very PC of a food blogger thing for me to say. But it's true! And I am NOT complaining, I'm working with some really cool companies and getting to try some seriously tasty products. The partnership I might be most excited about it with Great Midwest flavored cheeses. You might notice on my sidebar and footer, there are 2 new lovely ads, courtesy of them. On Monday there will be an in depth review (and giveaway!) and news about a super cool grilled cheese contest they're holding! 

Anyway, part of what the Great Midwest people wanted from me was to develop an original grilled cheese recipe. Now um...that was a little tough for me to think of at first. Like...how original can grilled cheese be? So I decided I'd start with the bread. I adapted a ciabatta recipe I'd been wanting to try (GREAT CHOICE, more on that later) and grated in cheese-one of Great Midwest's flavored cheese, Morel & Leek Jack. The Morel & Leek Jack cheese has a nice, subtle, smoky herb flavor that I thought would be nice in the bread. (Click here to find where you can buy it.)

And it was. Part of the beauty of the Great Midwest cheeses is how smooth, and silky they are and how wonderfully they melt. Just look at what it did when baked into this ciabatta:

Ohhh yesss.

But let's rewind. I was kind of intimidated when I read the instructions for the ciabatta (not about the adding the cheese part, I figured just added the cheese in before you start kneading and it'd work out-and it did), plus you have to make sure not to forget to make the biga (which is sort of like a starter?) the night before. But when I went into the kitchen it actually was much easier than I'd thought and I produced 4 loaves of the best ciabatta I've ever tasted (and maybe my favorite bread recipe I've ever made?)

The outside of the loaves is a gorgeous golden brown, just crisp enough without being hard or tough, and the inside of the bread is so wonderfully soft (Michael couldn't stop exclaiming over how soft they were). The cheese gives you wonderful little bites of salty, smoky flavor. 

You can eat this bread plain, with butter, smeared with your favorite spread (roasted garlic, cream cheese, etc.), toasted, it makes great sandwiches, I bet it would be awesome in a savory bread pudding...really the possibilities go on and on!

And you know what? It makes a BEAUTIFUL grilled cheese. But more on that on Monday...

Blueberry Lemon Sour Cream Quick Bread-Guest Post with Kristin of Baker Bettie

Hey there world! I'm still hanging out in Ohio, but don't fret, I have left you all in capable hands! Today you get the utmost honor of a guest post by Kristin, AKA "Baker Bettie". I was lucky enough to hang out with the amazing lady last month, and I love her even more now (didn't know that was even possible!) Not only is she all cool and pin-upy, and a fabulous photographer, and a genius about the science of baking (I have learned so much from her blog!), and a girl who makes me laugh out loud with the stories she shares, she's also just a cool chick who is super nice and sweet and fun to hang out with! We declared ourselves best bloggy friends. Hooray!

Hello lovely readers of The Cooking Actress! My name is Kristin and I am the lady behind the blog/food/camera over at Baker Bettie. I know, I know. If my name is Kristin what is up with the Bettie thing, right? I often refer to Baker Bettie as my more confident pinup baking alter ego. But over time, the blog has transformed Kristin and Bettie into one and the same.

I am so excited to be guest posting here on Kayle's fabulous blog. I believe Kayle and I first became blogging friends way back in 2011. We immediately bonded over our love for vintage fashion and, of course, our mutual food obsession. We finally got to meet in person a few weeks ago and spent a fantastic day in the city exploring a bunch of foodie sites.

I have only a handful of very close friends. You know the kind. The ones that you know you will stay close to for the rest of your life. The ones that you are truly deep down excited for when big life events happen to them. I made these friends when I was young and they have stuck around. It is difficult to make those kinds of friends once college ends. It is just hard to make that kind of connection again. But Kayle and I hit it off right from the start. And once I figured out her name is pronounced "Kay-lee" and not "Kale" it has felt like we have known each other for years. She is just about as sweet as they come!

Recently I started a series on my blog called Back to Bake-sics. In each post I broke down the science of various different baked goods to create very simple and adaptable recipes. One of my favorite basic baked goods is quick bread. I make it frequently in all kinds of ways. It is so easy to make it savory or sweet and flavor it with pretty much anything you imagination can come up with. Check out this post for the basic recipe and to understand how it can be easily adapted.

There are few flavor combinations I love more than blueberry and lemon. Especially in the summer. These flavors just feel like summer. I like to think of blueberry and lemon as sort of a lifelong friend of flavors, as silly as that may sound. It just always comes through for me. In muffins, or biscuits, or cookies, or of course bread.
This bread is ready to go into the oven within 10 minutes and comes out incredibly moist and flavorful. I also think this would be awesome with raspberries, blackberries or cherries. Or a combination sounds pretty awesome too! You could even pair it with a different citrus. Orange, lime, or grapefruit?! Oh, the endless possibilities!

English Muffin Bread

I think this is Michael's favorite bread that I've ever made. It's soft, it's got air pockets, it's delicious, long story short: yummy. He loves English muffins, and I love the bread version because it's so much more versatile! Not only is this like...the perfect thing for toast, but it's also awesome for sandwiches and you know...whatever else you may use bread for. I even snuck some whole wheat flour into this, and it was super awesome, I couldn't even really tell that I'd done it.

Just a stunning, golden brown loaf of bread, with soft fluffy insides studded with English muffin's trademark air pockets. Pretty pretty pretty.

I just adore bread. All of it. And I love baking it. I am totally not even a little bit afraid of yeast anymore. *Knock on wood* I have never had a bread recipe go wrong, I've never messed one up, everything always turns out wonderfully. And come on...what's better than the smell of fresh baked bread?

Toast yourself a slice, slather it in butter and/or jam.
Make a grilled cheese.
Have a little BLT.

Make English muffin bread.

DOOO ITTT.

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Confession: whenever I see a Rockin' Body commercial I think to myself "Those people look so in shape and like they're having so much fun! If I buy that maybe I can look like that too! And have fun dancing!" And then I remember my unused Flirty Girl Fitness DVD's....*sigh* 

Since I'm apparently allergic to exercise, I...ya know...try to make small changes to keep stuff under control on this body 'o' mine. Switching to whole wheat is a big move I made, like, a couple years ago (I mean...in some stuff...obviously white flour still has it's place in many baked goods). Mostly this applies to pasta and bread.

Anyway, after I had that nutella & pb sandwich I toldja about, I knew I wanted to make homemade Nutella AND a nice, classic, completely whole wheat sandwich bread. Obviously the first place I turned to was King Arthur Flour for the recipe-and they did not disappoint.

This pretty darn easy recipe yields a nice, soft, loaf of bread that is perfect for sandwiches and toasting and spreading good stuff on it. The whole wheat flavor is not overwhelming at all and it's pretty much just the best.

Michael super duper loved this recipe ("it's soft", he commented).

Sometimes you just need some recipes that are classic staples, that you know you're gonna hang on to and use for like...ever. This is one of those. Lurve. I could live on bread. I mean it. That whole "man cannot live on bread alone" thing? Does not apply to me-except for water. I need water too. Moral of the story is I would have fared just fine (food-wise) in an old timey prison.