Easy Spiced Apple Caramel No-Knead Bread

For the last several weeks I've been serving this remarkable bread to folks who come into the Teaching Kitchen. It has been truly delightful moving into the new office and being able to be more available for people to ask questions as I work there.  The other side is that I get to have the real and honest opinions of my darlings! That side has given me the opportunity to fine-tune some recipes and make them amazing!  So today I want to share the next in our series of no knead bread recipes. This one has just the right balance of tart apple, lightly sweet with buttery caramel and a kiss of spice.

Apple Caramel Spiced No-Knead Artisan Bread

Ingredients:
6 c Alta Artisan Bread Flour
½ c shredded or diced green apple
½ c  Organic coconut sugar
1T Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend
2 tsp Instant Yeast
1T Real Salt
2 tsp LorAnn Natural Caramel Flavor Oil
½ c powdered butter
2 ½ cup cool water

Directions: Combine all ingredients in a 2 gallon bucket with a lid and place in the fridge overnight (up to 7 days).

 

To bake bread: Remove bucket from the fridge. Form into 2 baguettes and roll each lightly in quick cook oats. Place in a Chicago Metallic Commercial Non-stick Baguette Pan and allow to raise until triple in size, about 2 hours (or 1 ½ hours in a lightly warmed oven no hotter than 110 degrees).   I usually let mine raise uncovered in an UN-heated oven, lightly misting the oven with water and then putting a pan of hot water in the bottom of the oven.  This gives my bread a place out of the way of my busy kitchen to relax and have a spa day. I sometimes imagine myself on that pan just resting and puffing up like that...mmm. Bloating bread thighs.

• If you do let the bread raise in the oven, remove it before the pre-heat.  Preheat convection oven to 425 degrees (yes I leave the water pan in the oven as this actually helps with a crispy crust).
•  Lightly slash the tops of the loaves with a sharp serrated knife.

•  Bake at 425 degrees 25 minutes. Yield 2 baguettes.

As a final drenching of love, I've been using my favorite butter blend to smear on the bread.  This is by and far my favorite way to serve toast.  When I was growing up we had two kinds of cinnamon toast. The regular toast, and the "Sunday Morning Toast". When there was a quit morning, and time to do it, my mom would smother her hearty homemade bread with some a cinnamon smear and then put it under the broiler.  The resulting toasted bread had a crisp caramelized layer of spiced sugar and butter melted into the bread. It may be one of the most cherished tastes of my childhood. 

 Building on that, I've made this new smear.  It uses a kiss of vanilla bean paste, coconut sugar for added nutrition and deep caramel flavor and the depth of my spice blend that is rich with Saigon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, spices, orange, lemon, rosepetal and lavender.

Spiced Caramel Butter Smear

Ingredients:
1 c butter
1 cup coconut sugar
½ tsp Madagascar Vanilla Bean Paste
½ tsp LorAnn Natural Caramel Flavor Oil
1T Chef Tess Wise Woman of the East Spice Blend

Directions:  Combine all ingredients and place in a quart sized jar. Smear a few Tablespoons on a slice of Apple Caramel Spiced No-Knead Artisan Bread. Broil in the oven 3-4 minutes until bubbly.


There you go. Make something rediculously awesome!

Always My Very Best,
Your Friend Chef Tess