Do you love bread? Chocolate? Or both?
Recipe #61: chocolate chip bun

If you are one of those people who never get tired of eating bread or if you are one of those people who never get tired of eating chocolate, then you defintely won't get tired of our chocolate chip bun.

If you're tired from working overtime, or if you have a carefree afternoon, or if you're enjoying a rainy day, a chocolate chip bun and a cup of tea or coffee will make you feel like you're the luckiest person in the world.

Some of my colleagues even asked me where I bought this. If you follow this recipe, your creation will look very professional.

Ingredients

1. 3/4 c. water
2. 1 egg
3. 1/4 c. butter
4. 1/4 c. sugar
5. 3 c. bread flour
6. 1 tsp. salt
7. 2 tsp. yeast
8. handful of chocolate chips
9. chocolate syrup
10. half of an egg yolk and 1 tsp. water, mixed well

Directions (dough)

1. Mix all ingredients, except chocolate chip, syrup and egg yolk, in bread machine
2. Set to "dough"; once the dough is ready, remove it from the container and punch it down.
3. Split dough into 8 to 12 pieces, depending on how large you want each to be.
4. Flatten the center of each piece a bit
5. Apply egg yolk mixture to surface of dough pieces.
6. Add chocolate chips on center of buns.
7. When dough has risen a little more (after about 20 to 30 minutes), add chocolate syrup.
8. Put in oven (preheated at 350 degrees) for about 15-18 minutes.
9. When buns are golden, remove from oven and add chocolate syrup.

Tips

1. Chocolate chips can be used whole or chopped into small pieces.
2. If you do not have chocolate syrup, the buns will still taste very good.

recipe #38: zucchini bread (yeast)

If we don't harvest the zucchinis for a few days, then we are in for a surprise. They are often hidden by the leaves, and when discovered, they can grow up 11-12pounds. Such a large squash would be very hard to cut, and we would even wonder if it is edible. But when we tasted it, it was still very fresh, tender and sweet.

We figured that it would make good bread. Not only does the bread taste better than expected, it is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Whether we eat this this way, grill it or use it in sandwiches, the zucchini is very useful.



Ingredients

1. 1 c. water or buttermilk
2. 1 tsp. sugar
3. 1 Tbsp. agave syrup
4. 2 Tbsp. oil
5. 1 1/2 c. zucchini, gratsw
6. 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
7. 3 c. bread flour
8. 1 Tbsp. sesame seeds
9. 1 tsp. salt
10. 2 tsp. yeast
11. Red hot pepper (optional)

Directions

1. In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, stir together warm water, sugar, and yeast. Let yeast grow for a couple minutes; it will bubble almost immediately.
2. Add 2 1/2 c. bread flour, whole wheat flour, salt, agave syrup, oil and zucchini into the mixing bowl.
3. Mix on low speed (level 2) with a dough hook, add remaining 1/2 c. bread flour into the bowl, and keep kneading for about 10 minutes until dough pull away from the bowl.
4. Remove dough from bowl and knead until smooth.
5. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let it rise in a warm spot for an hour, or until it has doubled in size.
6. Divide dough into two pieces. Shape them into loaves, and place in greased loaf pans. Let them rise again about 30 minutes.
7. Bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 35-40 minutes, or until the tops of the bread are golden brown.
8. Let loaves cool in pans for few minutes, and put them on wire racks to cool completely.

Tips

1. If you have a bread machine, mix the ingredients according to the directions for the bread machine. Set it to basic.
2. If you want, you can add various types of seeds or grains. This adds a country style.
3. The reason for keeping 1/2 cups of flour is because the dough will be hard at first. But when the juices from the zucchinis are released, they will mix well with the dough. At this point, you can add additional flour to adjust the softness of the dough your liking. The recipe will not have exactly three cups of flour.
4. For the adventurous ones, you can replace the peppers with jalapenos; the bread would still taste pretty well.

The other way to eat bacon
Recipe #17: green onion (scallion) and bacon focaccia

From my memory, I never liked yeast bread when I was little... until my mother started making her own bread.

Unexpectedly, I started enjoying it. So far, my mother has made dozens of types of bread, with the bacon and scallion focaccia being one of my favorite types.

Not only do I like it, all of her friends' eyes would light up (you can see from the pictures) when I deliver it to them. After eating, they would tell me, "You're so lucky. How to you get to enjoy so many good foods every day?" Naturally, this has become their favorite as well.

Ingredients

For the base:

1. 3/4 cup water
2. 1 extra-large egg
3. 1/4 cup olive oil
4. 1 tablespoon sugar
5. 2 cups bread flour
6. 1 cup whole wheat flour
7. 1 tsp salt
8. 2 tsp yeast

For the topping:

1. 8-9 strips of thck bacon, cooked
2. 2 Tbsp. scallions, chopped
3. 1 Tbsp. Caesar salad dressing
4. 1 small egg, slightly beaten

Recipe

Making the dough (the method is similar to that of the onion focaccia):

1. Mix base ingredients in bread machine
2. Set to "dough"; Once the dough is ready, remove it from the container and punch it down.

The finished product:

1. With the dough punched down and split into 2-3 pieces (depending on your liking),
2. Roll the dough into a long piece.
3. Arrange cooked bacon on top of dough.
4. Spread beaten egg on dough and bacon; cover the surface.
5. Place in oven for about 18-22 minutes.
6. Remove from oven when bread is golden nd immediately add scallions. Put back in oven for 1 minute.
7. Place on wire rack and squeeze Caesar salad dressing to increase color and appearnce; serve warm.

Tips

1. Be sure follow the insructions on the bread machine; many machines work differently, especially when it comes to moisture. Adjust the water to fit; one rule of thumb is that the longer it takes to knead, the more water is required.
2. If you do not want to use whole wheat flour, you can use three cups of white flour.
3. If you are using thin bacon, you do not need to cook it first.
4. You don ;t need the salad dressing if you dn;t have it. However, it grealy improves the taste.
5. You can cut the bread into pieces and serve on plates.