Caldwells Cookbook

3 1/2- 3 3/4 cup bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon salt

1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast

1/2 cup very warm water

1/2 cup very warm milk

1 large egg

Mix 2 cups of the flour, sugar, butter, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water, warm milk, and egg. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 min then medium speed 1 min, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 5 min. or until dough is smooth and springy. Place dough in large greased bowl. Cover bowl loosely and let rise in warm place about 1 hour or until double. Separate dough into 6 balls. Place on greased baking sheet. Cover loosely and let rise for 30 min. or until double. Heat oven to 375. Bake for 15-20 min. or until golden brown. Let cool completely. With a butter knife cut a circle around the top at least 1/2 inch from side. Pull off top and some of the inside and place on the plate next to bread bowl. Fill with soup or fondue and serve.

Dough Starter

2 1/4 cups + 2 1/2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1 3/4 cups water

2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon honey

3/4 teaspoons yeast

In a mixer bowl combine the flour, water, honey, and instant yeast. Whisk until very smooth.

Flour Mixture and Dough

2 cups + 3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

1/4 cup dry milk

3/4 teaspoons instant yeast

9 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 1/4 teaspoons salt

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, dry milk, and instant yeast. Sprinkle this on top of the starter and cover tightly. Allow it to ferment for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature. Add the butter to the bowl adn mix with the dough hook on low speed (#2 if using Kitchen Aid) for 1 min. or until the flour is moistened enough to form a rough dough. Scrape down any bits of dough. Cover the bowl and let rest for 20 min. Sprinkle on the salt and knead the dough on medium speed (#4 if using Kitchen Aid) for 7-10 min. With an oiled spatula, scrape dough into a 4-quart bowl lightly oiled bowl. Push down the dough and lightly spray the surface. Cover the container with a lid. Allow the dough to rise until double about 1 1/2-2 hours. Using a oiled spatula, scrape the dough onto a floured counter and press down on it gently to form a rectangle. Pull out and fold the dough over from all 4 sides into a tight package. Again oil the surface, cover, and makr where double the height would now be. Allow the dough to rise for 1-2 hours or until it reaches the mark. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured counter and cut it in half. Shape each piece into a loaf and place into prepared loaf pans. Cover them loosely and allow to rise for 1 1/2-2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 with shelf on the lowest level. Gently set the pans on the bottom shelf and bake for 50 min. or until golden brown. Halfway through baking, turn the pans around for even baking. Remove the bread from the oven and set it on a wire rack. Unmold and cool top side up on a wire rack until barely warm, about 1 hour.

1 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 eggs

1 cup mashed banana

4 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 can crushed pineapple, drained

1 cup coconut

Grease 2 large loaf pans and set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs; stir in bananas. In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to banana mixture and blend well. Add pineapple, pecans, and coconut; mix on low speed until blended. Pour into pans and bake at 325 for 60-80 min.

1 tablespoon sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1-1/4 cups milk

2 eggs, separated
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat the waffle iron. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Melt butter, stir in milk, then egg yolks. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and whisk to combine. In a small bowl with an electric mixer, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold into batter just until blended. Pour about 1/2 cup batter over the bottom of each hot waffle grid. Close lid and bake until golden (when almost all the steam stops flowing out of the iron) about three to four minutes.

3-1/2 cups unbleached flour

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 cup milk, or more

1 pound unsalted butter

2 tablespoons flour, for dusting

1 egg

1 tablespoon milk

mini-chocolate chips (optional)

In a mixer with a dough hook, place the yeast, flour, sugar, salt and the milk and mix for 2 minutes until a soft moist dough forms on the hook. If most of the flour isn't moistened with this quantity of milk, add more, a tablespoon at a time until it is moistened and smooth, using up to 4 tablespoons. Turn mixer on high and mix for another 4 minutes until very smooth and elastic.
Turn the dough out of the bowl onto a floured board, cover with a damp kitchen towel and allow it to rest for 15 minutes. Remove the towel and roll the dough into a 10 by 9-inch rectangle 5/8-inch thick. Wrap in plastic then chill for 1 hour and up to overnight.
Ten minutes before the dough is done resting in the refrigerator, prepare the butter. Beat it with your rolling pin on a floured surface to soften it and form a rectangle 6 by 8 1/2 inches. Place it between parchment paper or plastic wrap and set aside.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll it on a floured work surface into a 10 by 15-inch and 1/4-inch thick rectangle. Brush any excess flour off the dough. Place the shorter side of the dough parallel to the front of your body on the work surface. Place the butter in the middle, long-ways. Fold the bottom up over the butter and brush off any excess flour and then fold the top down over the butter to overlap and encase the butter. Press down lightly with the rolling pin to push all the layers together and make sure they have contact.
Continue rolling the dough to form a new 10 by 15-inch rectangle, patching any holes with a dusting of flour where butter may have popped through. Fold into thirds, like a letter, brush off any excess flour and mark it with an indentation made by poking your finger once at the corner of the dough meaning you have completed the first "turn". Wrap well in plastic and chill 1 hour and up to overnight. Do this again three more times marking it accordingly each time and chilling in between each turn. After the fourth turn roll it out to a 13 by 24-inch square that is a little less than 1/4-inch thick and cut out your croissants and shape them. If using chocolate chips sprinkle the inside of croissant with chocolate chips and roll them up inside the croissant.
I roll out my dough and cut it with a pizza cutter into 6-inch strips then cut them into triangles, 6 inches wide at the base of the triangle. Stretch these triangles again 9 inches long, then place on the work surface and put a piece of scrap dough in the center of the wide end to enclose, which will plump up the center. Roll the triangles up towards you starting at the wide end and place them 2 inches apart on a parchment lined sheet pan with the tip tucked under and the ends slightly curved in to make a crescent shape. You may freeze the croissants at this point, or, in a small bowl, whisk together the egg and milk and brush the croissants with this egg wash.
To proof the croissants, place them in an oven that is warm but not turned on, with a pan of hot water in the bottom to create a moist environment like a proof box. Set aside to proof for 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 hours until puffed up and spongy to the touch. Remove from the oven.
Spritz a preheated 425 degree F oven with water, close the door, and get the croissants. Place the croissants in the oven and spritz again, close the door and turn the oven down to 400 degrees F. After 10 minutes, rotate your pan if they are cooking unevenly and turn the oven down to 375 degrees F. Bake another 5 to 8 minutes until golden brown.