Christmas Batter Bread Recipes

ROSEMARY BATTER BREAD

Steps:

• Grease bottom and sides of 9x5-inch loaf pan with shortening or cooking spray. In large bowl, mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast. Add water, parsley, shortening, rosemary and thyme. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in remaining 1 cup flour until completely mixed.
• Smooth and pat batter into pan, using floured hands. Cover; let rise in warm place about 40 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
• Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until loaf sounds hollow when tapped; remove from pan to cooling rack. Brush loaf with butter; cool.

EASY BATTER BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water.
• Stir sugar into yeast/water mixture, let mixture sit until tiny bubbles start to form.
• Add butter, salt and half the flour.
• With electric mixer on medium speed, beat batter for 2 minutes.
• Add remaining flour, stirring by hand (or on low speed) until well blended and smooth (batter will be very thick, like a very soft dough).
• Cover bowl with a tea towel, and let the batter rise in a warm draft free place for 30-60 minutes or until doubled.
• Beat the batter by hand, about 25 strokes (the dough will deflate).
• Spread batter evenly into a greased 8x3 or 9x4 inch loaf pan.
• Smooth out the top of the loaf by patting it with your floured hand.
• Cover pan, and let batter rise again (about 30-60 minutes) until dough has reached the top of the pan.
• Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the loaf sounds hollow when the top is lightly tapped.
• Remove from pan.
• For a softer crust, brush the top of the hot loaf with butter.
• Cool on a wire rack.
• Bread slices best when it is cooled.

BEST AUTHENTIC STOLLEN (GERMAN CHRISTMAS BREAD)

Steps:

• Place the raisins, candied citrus peel and almonds in a medium bowl and pour the rum over it. Stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while the dough rises.
• Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
• Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, mace and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast/milk mixture. Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together. Knead the dough on the bread setting for 7-8 minutes. Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the bowl with a little oil, return the dough ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or lightly warmed oven (just barely warm), to rise until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour (likely closer to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the environment).
• Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit/nut mixture to the dough (it should have absorbed all the rum by now but if there is excess liquid, pour it out before adding the mixture to the dough). Using the dough hook, knead the fruit/nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it in two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval to about 1 inch thickness. Roll each piece of marzipan into a log the length of the oval. Press the marzipan gently into the middle of the dough. Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the marzipan, then fold right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen (see pics). In other words, don't fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen. Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the marzipan. Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump (see pics). Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40-60 minutes until puffy. At that point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough (they will burn during baking).
• Towards the end of the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F. Let the Stollen sit for 5 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes all over the stollen (this will allow the butter to seep in), then generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while the stollen are still warm. Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely. You may want to give it another dusting of powdered sugar once cooled.
• The stollen can be sliced and eaten now or wrapped tightly (wrap in plastic wrap then foil) and left to "ripen" in a cool place for 2 weeks. The liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the dough for more flavor and moisture. Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
• Makes 2 large or 3 medium Stollen.For eating, I like to warm the slices up for a few seconds in the microwave, it makes the crumb nice and soft.