Bargain Box Olive Zaatar Buns

Dough:

3  cups flour

1 tsp fast yeast

1 tsp salt

3 Tbl olive oil

1 cup water

Filling

1 Tbl Dried Zaatar (mixture of sesame seeds, ground sumac, dried thyme, oregano, marjoram available at Middle Eastern stores)

2 Tbl olive oil

2 Tbl olive paste (blend black pitted Kalamata olives with garlic in a small processor)

The day before you plan to serve these:

Combine flour, salt, and yeast, oil, and water in a bowl.  Mix until a dough is formed (you may need more water if it is particularly dry).   Use your hand to lightly knead it in the bowl.  Cover the bowl with a plate and let rise until doubled.  Pat down the dough and let it sit covered overnight.  It is not necessary to knead this dough because of the long rising time.

Put the dough on a board and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Make the zaatar oil by combining the herbs and olive oil in a jar.

Divide the dough in two. (You will need a long counter space to roll this dough out on, if you don’t have that divide it into three pieces.) Roll out the first piece to a long strip, trying to square off the ends.  The strip should be approximately 4 inches wide.  Let the first piece rest for ten minutes and roll out the second piece. 

Roll the first piece out longer, the rest period allows it to do this.  Once you have a long strip brush the zaatar oil on it in a thin layer.  Leave about ¼ inch on the far side.  Brush with a thin layer of olive paste (if the olive paste is thick, thin it with olive oil). 

Roll the strip up to make a long rope of dough.  Cut it into six pieces, making the pieces at the end a little longer.

Using your hand, coat a baking sheet with a small amount of olive oil.  Rolling the buns will be easier if your hands have a bit of oil on them.

Take each piece of dough; roll it so that it is longer and a bit more compact.  Turn each piece into a spiral, pat it down to flatten it out, and put it on the prepared baking sheet.  Do the same with the second piece of dough.

Let the buns rest for 30 minutes.  Bake in 375 degree oven for approximately 30 minutes.

Yield 12 buns

Adapted from a recipe from tasteofbeirut.com

New York Crumb Cake for the Bargain Box

Don’t know why this is called a New York crumb cake as opposed to a Los Angeles crumb cake.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour

½ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 egg

½ cup milk

2 Tbl oil

1 tsp vanilla

Crumb topping:

2 ½ cups flour

1 cup of packed brown sugar

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

1 stick of unsalted butter melted and cooled

Powdered sugar

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush a baking pan (I used a 9 inch round pan) with oil and dust with flour.

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl. In a separate bowl stir the egg, milk, oil, and vanilla. With a rubber spatula mix the dry ingredients in with the wet until well combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

Combine the dry ingredients for the crumb topping and add the cooled butter and mix until crumbly. Sprinkle on top. Bake for approximately 40 minutes turning the pan half way through the baking.

Cool on a rack and cut into pieces.

Adapted from a marthastewart.com recipe.

Bargain Box Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

2 Tbl sugar
1Tbl instant coffee
1 Tbl cocoa
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
½ cup or one stick unsalted butter at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs - room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream or ½ cup thick cream combined with ½ cup plain yogurt - room temperature


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a Bundt pan. If using a cake pan, cut out a piece of parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan and butter and flour it.

In a small bowl combine the sugar, coffee, and cocoa and set aside.

Mix together flour, baking soda, and baking powder in a separate bowl.

Cream the butter with the sugar and when well combined add the eggs one at a time. Mix together and add the vanilla.

Combine and mix 1/3 of the flour into the egg mixture, and then add ½ of the sour cream. Repeat the process ending with the flour. Combine well.

Pour 1/3rd of the batter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the cocoa mixture on top. Pour 1/3 of the batter on top of the cocoa mixture and sprinkle the remaining cocoa on top. Cover with the last 1/3 of the batter. Using a table knife, cut through the batter and bring it back up to create swirls.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for half an hour and then turn onto a baking rack to complete the cooling.

Adapted from Aunt Patty’s Coffee Cake, marthastewart.com

Bargain Box Mawardi Orange and Walnut Cake

Ingredients:

1 ½ cups flour

1 cup whole walnuts

Zest from one orange

2 tsp of baking powder

2 large eggs

1 cup brown sugar or white if brown is not available

Juice from 2 Mawardi oranges (any orange will do)

½ cup olive oil

Confectionary sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut out a piece of parchment paper the size of the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan. Brush the pan with olive oil and place parchment paper on the bottom and brush with oil. Dust with flour.

Finely chop the walnuts or place in a food processor to grind being careful not to grind too much.

In a mixing bowl combine flour, ground walnuts, orange rind, and baking powder. Make a hole in the center and add the eggs, sugar, orange juice, and olive oil and mix so that it comes together as a batter.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan for ten minutes and then turn over a baking rack, peel off the parchment paper, and allow the cake to cool.

Once cooled, using a sifter spoon powdered sugar over the cake and place a walnut in the center.

Adapted from marthastewart.com