Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits

 I am a Ted Lasso Uber-fan.  During the really low days of the pandemic, I refused to watch any TV that was not uplifting.  So I watched and re-watched Ted Lasso over and over again.  And every time I saw Rebecca open that lovely little pink box and took a healthy bite of Ted's gift of biscuits with the boss, I would start to salivate.  I have been making Shortbread since I was a teenager watching Martha Stewart on TV. I use a classic Scottish Shortbread to make Christmas cookies every year instead of sugar cookies.  That is all to say, I love love love Shortbread.  I love when they 'age'.  By that I mean, I always store them in nice cookie tins lined with wax paper and I find they taste better a week or two later.  Yummo!

Now, I know that the recipe is fictitious.  And I know that recently, someone from the show released an 'official' recipe, whatever that means.  I want to suspend reality and visualize that mustachioed, anxiety riddled, jolly southerner baking that recipe.  Before they released the AppleTV Official Recipe, I had already tried a few different variations of the Shortbread I have made for years.  I was only going on visual with the golden brown, yet flaky topped inch thick fingers that conjures childhood, comfort and indulgence.  After one attempt where I had run out of Butter, I made a version with a few Tablespoons of Coconut Oil, I knew I had it, my Ted Lasso experience. I have since made the, official recipe and it is very good but it isnt that moment for me.  I think that is the point. 

Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits (Shortbread)

Ted Lasso Tribute Biscuits

175 g Butter, out at room temp for 30 minutes

50 g Coconut Oil, additional for the pan

2/3 cup Sugar, blitzed in a food processor for a 10 seconds or pounded in a mortar and pestle 

2 c Flour, scooped and levelled

1/2 t Vanilla (or Bourbon)

1/2 t Salt, also crushed, especially if using chunky Kosher salt

Optional: crushed candy canes to sprinkle on top.

Oil a 9x9" Baking Dish, well,  with Coconut Oil or Butter

Bring together the Sugar and Salt in a food processor and pulse a few times. I find that granulated sugar can have a bit of a sandy mouth feel if I do not do this and certainly, I find chunks of Kosher salt, if I do not do this.  From here you can do the rest in the food processor too. BUT, I did not. I did not feel like hauling out the food processor,  so I actually beat the sugar and salt in our mortar and pestle because I thought it would be faster.  It was not.  Then the rest, I did in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment.  

After you have broken down the Sugar and Salt, beat with the Butter and Coconut Oil, until slightly lighter.  You may need to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula occasionally.  

Add the Vanilla and beat until absorbed.

Add the flour 1/4 c at a time otherwise you will get a face of Flour.  Also, do not over beat.  Just add the flour and beat until it is mostly absorbed and then add the next scoop of flour.  

Once all the flour is mostly absorbed.  Take off the mixer and scrape down the paddle and the sides of the bowl.  I like to do the rest of the mixing by hand so I do not over beat.  Just a few folds.

Dump into the oiled baking dish and press down flat firmly.  With a metal spatula with a flat edge or a bench scraper, cut your biscuits but pushing straight down.  I divided the pan to make fingers that are 1.5" wide and 3" long, so 6 x 3 rectangles making 18 biscuits that would tuck nicely into pink boxes if you have them.

Chill for an hour.  I find that if you skip this, the cookies are a bit oily.  When they come out of the fridge, use your spatula or bench scraper to cut into the cookies again.  Now if you do not do this before the fridge, this part will be much harder!

Preheat the oven to 325

Bake for 45 minutes in the middle.  Now watch your biscuits though.  If you like them paler, you might want to take them out at 35 or leave them 10 minutes longer. 

Let cool completely in the pan.  ... if you can!   

So Fluffy! Dinner or Slider Rolls - Sourdough

Nothing says event meal like dinner rolls.  I know it is tempting to just buy, especially on Thanksgiving.  There is alot going on and the last thing you need is another thing that needs oven time.  But I promise you, these are worth.  Not only are they delicious and easy to make but it will get you the props you want from the kids.  I get specific requests for these at Thanksgiving.  

I then started making them more often just for breakfast or slider night.  I am a vegetarian and life changed for me when Beyond Meat started selling their ground round in Canada a few years ago.  Before then, I had never had a slider.  True story.   Here are a few tips to ensure these go well.  

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1. I would only recommend you make these in a Toast Oven if you have a 'taller' one.  The kind that allows you to do much more than toast.  The shorter ones that are specific for toast will not work.  They will burn the tops before they are cooked through.  
2. If you are doing them in the toaster oven (not the short kind), use a metal (non stick) cake pan.  If you use glass, it will insulate the bottom and in the small oven, they will cook unevenly.  For the same reason, put the rack at the lowest level.
3. If you are doing them in a proper oven, you can use either glass or non-stick but if you have multiple racks, do not use glass if you are going to put them above other food.  The bottoms will not cook.
4. Dividing the dough.  I always weigh.  Sure if you are in a rush, do what everyone else tells you and just divide and divide.  But I have found that dough is unevenly dense and balls of the same size all weigh differently.  You'll only see that when you see bulgy ones come out of the oven.  I pre-weigh my mixing bowl... well actually I have known the weight of my stand mixer bowl forever, 808g.  I have it written in the last page of my recipe collection book.
5. If you are doing dinner rolls, you can divide by 20 and layout the balls 5x4.  If you are doing sliders you can make 12 so they are slightly bigger.  
6. To add a bit of chew, you can substitute all or some of the water with milk or soy milk and skip the milk powder. (a higher protein plant milk.  Cashew or Oat is not great, it will just be expensive water, from a functionality standpoint). Do not get me wrong, I prefer Cashew.  I find it to have the most neutral taste.  My kids prefer soy.
7. If you do not have a starter, you can substitute for function not taste, 50%50% 50g water and 50g flour but, then you will need another 1 teaspoon of yeast
8. I find measuring and levelling flour for breads annoying so I weigh a quarter cup and do math for the whole recipe. 
9. If you are using Sourdough starter, do this in the morning because the bulk fermentation takes longer (first rise).

So Fluffy Sourdough Dinner Rolls

So FLUFFY! Dinner Rolls - Sourdough

1 c Water (or milk)

2 T (Tablespoon) Sugar (or honey or maple syrup)

3 T Milk Powder

1 t (teaspoon) Instant Yeast

1 large egg

60 g Butter (1/4 c or half a stick) (room temperature, or microwaved for 15s)

1 t Salt

3 1/2 c All Purpose Flour (for me, that means about 500-525g because my flour generally weighs 35-37.5 g per quarter cup, see Tip 8)

Optional: chopped fresh herbs like sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano

1. Heat your Water or Milk in the microwave for 45s.  Add to your stand mixer bowl with the Sugar and Yeast and let bloom for 5-10 minutes.  
2. Add the starter with the bowl on scale.  It is roughly 1/2 c.  If you are in a rush, you do not have to wait for the yeast to bloom and just throw it all together.  
3. Add all the ingredients, except the herbs.
4. Mix with dough hook, for 10-15 minutes until the dough pulls cleanly away from the bowl and forms a smooth dough.  If it is looking dry, add water only 1 teaspoon increments and wait a good minute before adding more. If it is looking dry, add flour in 1/2 Tablespoon increments and again, wait a good minute before adding more.  
5. Add the optional herbs for the last few minutes of the kneading time. 
6. Remove the bowl from the standmixer and remove all the dough from the hook.  Take the dough and form in a smooth ball in your hands by turning it in on itself.   You can use a floured surface, silpat, or like me, just holding your hands.  
7. Drizzle a teaspoon of oil into the stand mixer bowl and then take the ball and swirl it around in the bowl to lightly oil the bowl and the ball.  
8. Cover and set aside for at 3 hours until doubled.  
9. Push down and knead a few times to even out the air distribution.  I just do this in the bowl with my knuckles and heel of my hand.
10. Weigh the whole bowl.  Subtract the weight of your empty bowl and divide by the rolls number you plan to do.  
11. Lightly butter your baking dish of choice.  
12. Take out your handy dandy scale again and weigh out the balls, rolling smooth and place in your baking dish.
13. Let rise for 2 hours.
14. Preheat oven to 375F bake for 18-25 minutes.  Watch that the tops are golden brown.  
15. Serve warm.  

Optional, if they will be eaten right away, brush with a bit of honey and melted butter.  They will not store this way very well, as I learned.  This will assume you will eat them all.  

Lazy but NEVER Fails Loaf Bread Sourdough

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I am an avid bread baker.  I have been making bread since I was 12.  I swear that AP used to be stronger than it is today.  Nowadays you have to have Vital Wheat Gluten handy.  They used to sell Cake Flour, AP and Whole Wheat and that was it.  Then in the mid to late 80s they have Bread Machine Flour.  In any case, I only buy Cake Flour as needed from the bulk store and I keep, AP, mainly for Crepes and Pancakes, Whole Wheat and VWG in stock always.  I occasionally buy Rye and Chickpea Flour too.

Home Sourdough Starter

I have had my current Whole Wheat Starter for about 10 years.  I had an older one that died because I did not feed it often enough.  I do not bake daily.  I bake about 2x a week.  So I have a few tricks I have used to keep it thriving and tasty.  I will not go into how I started it here.  I would recommend you look up Alton Brown's post or video.  BUT! I insist you use a scale.  It makes life so much easier especially to avoid levelling flour in a measuring spoon. 

1. I keep it in the refrigerator.  All the professional bakers may exhale and chillax.  It keeps it slow and less likely to over ferment or die.  By over ferment, I mean you get alot of alcohol smelling darker liquid on top, affectionately called 'hooch'.  Do not get it twisted.  Do not drink!!  When I do have that.  I measure it out with a spoon and pour it down the drain and replace with water so I can better approximate the hydration level.
2. When I am away longer, I may put it in the freezer.  You will not kill it.  If you have ever read the novel the Martian, you will remember, it only takes one little bug to survive and your colony will return.  I would put it out on the counter and feed it when you take it out of hibernation.
3. I change my 100% hydration, meaning 50% Water and 50% flour to slightly more flour if I may skip because then feeding is slowed down.  I may do 40/60.
4. As a last alternative, scoop out and toss 100 g of starter and feed it if you are really worried.  

Now, by lazy NEVER fails, I mean, when I do not want to over think it like when I make pumpernickel, then I make this.  Why is it lazy? because the measurements are unforgettable and you can start in the morning during breakfast and bake after dinner and let cool until bedtime. Tada ready for the next morning!  How? I do use a tiny bit of commercial yeast.  When I do no yeast, all starter bread overnight, I find the next morning takes too long to warm up after the overnight bulk ferment.  So the timing just does not always work for real life with jobs and kids.  I may do it on weekends or on days off.  Otherwise, our 'daily' sandwich or toast bread is this.  

I typically bake in my Emile Henry Loaf Pan without the cover.  It makes a longer loaf that lasts a few more days.  My husband tends to cut pieces like 3/4" thick.  I will actually do this same recipe in a standard loaf pan too if I know that we will not be eating as much bread that week because regardless, my husband will go through it because he is a sandwich junkie.  I may let the final rise in the standard loaf pan slightly shorter like 30 minutes.  Once you read, the recipe, you will see why I call it the Lazy Never Fails.

From this basic recipe you can do a number of variations.

1. Replace 100 g or more of the Whole Wheat Flour with Rye Flour

    a. Add 1T of Caraway Seeds or Dried Onion Flakes

2. Replace 50 g of the Flour with Instant Oatmeal

3. Replace 50 g of the Flour with Chickpea Flour for more protein

4. Add 2T of Cinnamon and 1/2 c Raisins 10 minutes from the end of the kneading

5. Replace the Whole Wheat Flour with AP if your kids prefer

Lazy Daily Sourdough Loaf Bread

LAZY BUT NEVER FAILS DAILY SOURDOUGH LOAF BREAD

215g Sourdough Starter

215g Warm Water

1T Honey, Agave Syrup, Maple Syrup or Sugar (15-20g)

1/8t or pinch of ground Ginger or ground Cumin, it stimulates the starter

1/4t Instant Yeast

1/4c Vital Wheat Gluten (35g)

350g Whole Wheat Flour (give or take 25 g, try starting with 300 and add 1T at a time, depending on how humid your area is)

30g or 2T Butter or Oil

1/2 - 1t Salt

1. I start as I wake up at 7am.  I take the starter out and open the top.  Then make myself a cup of tea.
2. In my stand mixer, I add the Water, Starter, Sugar or Syrup, Ginger and Yeast and finish making my tea.
3. Add the Vital Wheat Gluten (VWG), 300g of the flour to start. I add the 350g because I know.  After a couple of times, you will know what your flour needs.  Add the rest of the ingredients with the flour.
• nb/ I pre measured my flour ages ago and despite what the King Arthur site says, my flour weights 35g per 1/4c and 9g per Tablespoon.
4. Using the dough hook, start on Stir or Low or you will get a face of flour.  Run on low for at least 5-10 minutes as you make your breakfast or kids lunch.
5. Check if the dough is pulling away from the sides.  If it is too sticky and clinging to the bottom of the bowl, add flour in 1T increments but at least a 1 or 2 minutes part.  It takes time to get incorporated.
6. If the dough looks too dry after 10 minutes of mixing, add water in 1t TEASPOON not tablespoon increments but again, waiting at least 2 minutes in between to see if it needs it.  
7. I like to mix it for at least 20 minutes.  The heat from the mixer warms up the starter slightly and as well, since I use WW flour, it helps with gluten development.
8. Take the bowl off the mixer and clean the dough off the hook.  I like to knead by hand either on the counter or in the air just like playing with clay to form a smooth ball.  
9. Holding the dough ball, I drop in 1 t of oil into the mixer bowl and rub the dough ball around to oil the ball and the dough ball.
10. Let rise for at least 6 hours.  This takes me to just after lunch, 1pm.  (This was my pandemic routine working from home.)
11. At around 1pm, I deflate and flatten out on a Silpat Baking Mat to avoid mess, or a floured surface. I try to flatten out to at least the length of my baking pan and a 6" wide.  Then I roll up and place in the dish.  I line my pan with parchment paper or sprinkle cornmeal.
12. Let rise for another 4 - 5 hours depending on how active your yeast or starter is.  You can over ferment and that will look like a deflated soufflé.  No going back on that tbh.  Just bake it.  I have pushed it out to 6 because I am running other errands or working.  If I know I cannot bake it until later, I will put the loaf pan in the refrigerator and bring it out 1 hour or so before baking.
13. Set a sturdy pan in the very bottom of the oven with an 1 cm of water.  if you use a flimsy pan, it may warp down at the bottom.  A roasting tray is best, not a cookie sheet.
14. I set the oven rack in the level just below middle.  
15. Preheat the oven to 400F.  I use 400F convect but actual 400F because some ovens will adjust that down to 375F automatically without telling you.  See my note below to see if your oven does that.
16. Place the loaf in the oven at full temp.  Try to offset the water tray and where you place the loaf.  Set your timer for 45 minutes.  (now I am cheap and I hate running an oven that long, so I am known to bake a potato at the same time)
17. When your timer reads 40(softer crust) or 35 (crustier) minutes, turn down the oven to 375F actual... see note below.  If you are confused just use regular bake setting but same temperatures.  The times will not change for me.  My husband has a thing against the convect setting because he thinks it's not as strong but I feel like it evens out the hotspots in the oven but I dont mind it speeds up baking.
18. Let cool on a cooling rack for at least 2 hours.  This takes me to just before bedtime :).  Place in a loaf container or bag.  I live for this container.  It is the length of my Emile Loaf baker.  I will admit when I use the standard loaf pan and the loaf is "taller", it sometimes can squish the loaf.

NOTE: convection bake.  I use convection bake setting on my oven all the time.  I completely disregard the guidance from the oven manual that says that you need to turn down the temp 25 degrees and cook 25% less time, unless you're cooking a turkey or roast for 4 hours, which as a vegetarian, I would never do.  When I say to bake at 400F convect, I actually want 400F.  My oven will actually set the temp to 375F after I push start and it will actually read 375F.  My oven at the cottage however, will read 400F and do the adjustment invisibly.  So annoying.  How did I know this? because I had a loaf come out underbaked.  So if you convect bake and you see your oven do the adjustment, then it is easy.  While the oven is still own, push Convect again and re-enter 400F.  It will now show 400F and heat to 400F.  I do this while in the preheat.

If you have the annoying ovens that make the temp adjustment invisible, you will have to set the convect bake to 425F for the first 5 minutes then turn down to 400F to get the temp you actually want.  How will you know?  Set the oven to convect bake to 400F.  Wait for it to come to temperature and when it beeps, CANCEL, then immediately choose "regular" BAKE for 400F.   It will show current actual temperature as it heats up to 400F.  Mine read 375F. So I set my oven to 427F Convect at the cottage.

If you do not care about hotspots then just use Bake.  I just found that with the longer baking tray that I would have to turn the loaf halfway through.