Stand Mixer recipes wanted

[Anne_in_VA]

I just got a Kitchenaid mixer for Christmas and have tried a couple of the recipes in the little booklet with OK results, but I'd really like some recipes that others have tested and will work.  I love to bake and cook so any help would be appreciated.

I've made bread (never did come together until I took it out of the bowl and hand kneaded); kInd of defeats the purpose though.  I did meatballs for a party and those came out better than when I do them by hand - moister and very tender.

Anyone have some good recipes? 

[wvugurl26]

I use mine a lot, trying to think of what I make. Primarily it's mixing up cookie dough, cake batter, icing, making whipped cream, that sort of thing. I love baking desserts. I'll have to look for some stuff I might be forgetting.

I think beergut made some bread that turned out well.

[Shooby]

I make bread all the time. Love the dough hook. I make my own pizza crust easy peasy from the recipe that came in the book. I make pasta and have the pasta attachments. I make cakes ,cookies, meringue. i make whipped cream. I use it to whip my mashed potatoes.

[Anne_in_VA]

Can you post some of your recipes, especially bread and dough recipes as I like to bake.  I want to get the pasta attachment so would like pasta recipes too.

I tried the bread recipe in the booklet that came with it, but I think it called for too much flour as it never really came together as a dough without adding more water and pulling it out of the bowl and hand kneading it.  That loaf was rather dry too.

Thanks for any help you can give with recipes.

[beergut]

I make Italian breads and focaccia using the stand mixer, really makes it easier because you don't have to do the 10-20 minutes of kneading some recipes call for. 

Here is one of my favorite focaccia recipes, from Academia Barilla:

INGREDIENTS:

Per 4 servings

2 lb all-purpose flour

1 oz fresh yeast

2 ½ cups water

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

¾ oz salt

SOLUTION

3 ½ tablespoons water

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

salt to taste


PREPARATION:

Mix flour, yeast, salt and enough water to make dough. Allow to rise for at least three hours covered with a dish towel. Then distribute it uniformly into a rectangular tin, slightly oiled, with a height of about 0.8 inch pressing with your fingers to make small dimples.



Sprinkle with salt, oil and fennel seeds to taste. Bake in a hot oven (400°F) for about twenty minutes.

---------------------------------------

I don't use fennel, I prefer to use garlic powder or other Italian seasonings. Focaccia is fun because you can make so many varieties of it with so many different toppings once you have the basics down.

What I do is put the yeast and water in the mixing bowl, and let it proof for a few minutes. I then add the salt,  extra virgin olive oil, and flour in, and then starting mixing it using the beater attachment. After about two minutes, I pull out the beater, and use the dough hook for about 8-10 minutes. If the dough looks too raggedy, I add a little more water, if it looks too wet, I add a little more flour. This particular recipe calls for a lot of flour, though, so I don't add it all at once, usually a pound and a half, begin mixing, then slowly add the second half pound. 

After I take the dough ball out of the mixer, I cover it with olive oil on all sides, then put it in a bowl to rise. Let it rise for three hours in a covered bowl with a dish towel. Take it out of the bowl, punch it down, separate it into flat loaves in different dishes. This is a sizable amount of dough, so I usually make 3-4 different loaves. I've used round loaf pans and regular loaf pans, and had no issues. Once in the pan, drizzle the top of the loaf with olive oil, and crimp imprints in it with your fingertips. Drizzle with garlic powder, or seasoning mixture of your choice. 

Cook in oven at 400 for 20 minutes, then let out to cool. 

[beergut]

Basic pasta dough:


INGREDIENTS:

Per 4 servings

4 eggs

1 lb all-purpose flour

1 pinch salt

1 ½ oz extra virgin olive oil

I hope you like eggs, because this is an egg-based pasta. I don't mind egg in certain foods, but cannot eat cooked eggs, and the smell can cause me to gag. The only issue I had with this recipe is that while mixing it, the odor of eggs is strong, and when first cooking it, you can smell the eggs. It comes out tasting fine, though. 

Put the flour in the mixing bowl, then the salt, then the olive oil. If you want, you can make a well in the middle of the flour, and break all four eggs into the well, but this is not required. The first time I made pasta, I did it completely by hand (no mixer), and you start out by mixing everything into the well. I still use that method, but make the well in the mixing bowl. 

Start mixing using the beater attachment. then switch to the dough hook after two minutes. Use the dough hook for 4-6 minutes. I keep about half a cup of water on hand. If the dough is too powdery and raggedy, I slowly add some of the water to moisten it. It should pull aside from the bowl, and become a slightly sticky texture. 

Take pasta dough out, make it into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, and let it rest for 30 minutes. 

After 30 minutes, unwrap dough, cut a small section of it out of a corner, and put it into the pasta machine. 

I have a manual pasta machine that I use for spaghetti, fettucine, and tagliatelle. Put the dough into the machine on setting 5, crank it through so it is smoothed out, , sprinkle flour on both sides, then crank it through again. If you have the pasta attachment for the mixer, you can just use the attachment, but I prefer to do this manually. Go down each setting, from 5 to 4 to 3 to 2 to 1, cranking it through twice and flouring it lightly every time. Once it is down the last setting, you are ready to cut it. If you want to make spaghetti simply put it through the spaghetti cutter attachment. If you want to make tagliatelle, simply fold it onto itself in a tri-fold, like an S, and start cutting out the width you want. Once you have the dough made and flattened out, you can make whatever pasta you want. 

You don't have to have a pasta machine, you can simply flatten out the dough with a rolling pin, but the machine is much easier. 

[Shooby]

  I do 4 eggs to about 4 cups of flour and pinch of salt.  Then, i start adding water 1 TBPS at time to get it the right consistency.  In my experience you need more liquid than the recipes i have tried seem to indicate.  I have tried oil.  But, i have added more water than most call for.  It is just a question of getting the dough right.  With experience you will get to know the texture of the doughs you are working with.  Mine is usually done when it is very slightly sticky.  But, you don't want it too sticky.  I usually let it rest and sometimes chill it a bit.  I made my own lasagna last week and it was really good.
  This dough ball then i usually cut into 4 sections then roll it and put it through my pasta maker.

  I also like making fettucine.  Though it is sometimes hard to lay all the noodles out without them getting stuck together.  There was a bit of a learning curve on that too.  I don't like making spaghetti as it tends to fall apart more easily and get tangled.

[Anne_in_VA]

Thanks!  I think the issue was the recipe said to use the dough hook right from the beginning.  I guess I should have used the beater attachment.  Oh well, next time.  If you've got more recipes, keep them coming.

[Shooby]

 Well, i start all my doughs with the dough hook and don't have any issues.  Sometimes you need to lift the head and push the dough off the hook and off the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

[Shooby]

  With the bread dough i make pepperoni rolls and those are a big hit.  I make the dough, let it rise, then divide it into golf ball sizes of dough.  I roll it out flat and then put about 5 pieces of pepperoni and half slice of provolone.  Then, i roll it up, egg wash and bake.  I bake on parchment paper.  It doesn't burn and bakes nicely.

[wvugurl26]

Jan 11, 2016 7:51:59 GMT -5 Shooby said:

  With the bread dough i make pepperoni rolls and those are a big hit.  I make the dough, let it rise, then divide it into golf ball sizes of dough.  I roll it out flat and then put about 5 pieces of pepperoni and half slice of provolone.  Then, i roll it up, egg wash and bake.  I bake on parchment paper.  It doesn't burn and bakes nicely.

I'm lazy, I just use Rhodes frozen rolls to make them. Then again they straight inhale them practically whole so I'm not they would appreciate home made rolls!!

[Shooby]

Jan 11, 2016 7:58:02 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Jan 11, 2016 7:51:59 GMT -5 Shooby said:

  With the bread dough i make pepperoni rolls and those are a big hit.  I make the dough, let it rise, then divide it into golf ball sizes of dough.  I roll it out flat and then put about 5 pieces of pepperoni and half slice of provolone.  Then, i roll it up, egg wash and bake.  I bake on parchment paper.  It doesn't burn and bakes nicely.

I'm lazy, I just use Rhodes frozen rolls to make them. Then again they straight inhale them practically whole so I'm not they would appreciate home made rolls!!

I don't know.  I think it takes more work to use frozen dough.  I have to plan to buy them, unthaw them, etc.  I always have flour on hand and my mixer is on the counter at the ready, so it is much easier for me to just make a batch of dough.

[Anne_in_VA]

I don't think I'd use the frozen dough either.  I bought some once for a special event but didn't use it all, then put the rest in the freezer.  Months later I came across it but it had freezer burn and wouldn't rise when defrosted.  I'll have to try the the pepperoni rolls though for the grandkids.  I bet they'll like them!  Thanks!

[grumpyhermit]

Couple thoughts on the bread dough:

1. How are you measuring your flour? Weight is typically the best.

2. The amount of water needed is going to depend quite a bit on ambient humidity. So you should play it by feel. If the recipe calls for 3 cups of flour, just add 2.5 and then slowly add in the rest until the dough comes together properly.

3. Type of flour can also be a factor. I use KA All Purpose, which tends to require a bit more water than other brands due to the higher gluten content.

[garion2003]

I think you can use most any recipe, just adapt. Maybe the meatballs were over worked since you used the mixer to do it - so may be cut back on the time. Not sure what to say about the bread, I haven't kneaded bread my hand in years because I have the mixer to do it for me.   I use the dough hook from the beginning as well and never had an issue. Maybe you can find a  youtube video of someone doing it from start to finish.

[kittensaver]

Jan 11, 2016 15:16:41 GMT -5 garion2003 said:

I think you can use most any recipe, just adapt. Maybe the meatballs were over worked since you used the mixer to do it - so may be cut back on the time. Not sure what to say about the bread, I haven't kneaded bread my hand in years because I have the mixer to do it for me.   I use the dough hook from the beginning as well and never had an issue. Maybe you can find a  youtube video of someone doing it from start to finish.

 A stand mixer is not an appliance waiting for recipes, a stand mixer is a tool to make the recipes that you find and want to try easier (sometimes much easier).

If you want to make bread, try the La Brea Bakery cookbook (you can get it on Amazon). Also the King Arthur Flour cookbook (it's awesome).

 

[Anne_in_VA]

Thanks for the tips!  I have been using KA bread flour and only added 2/3 of the flour at first on speed 2 as the recipe directed, but the dough just never seemed to come together properly.  I'll look for those cookbooks - thanks!

[Anne_in_VA]

I ordered the KA 200th Anniversary Edition cookbook and the La Brea Bakery cookbooks on Amazon.  I can't wait to do more baking!

[beergut]

This is a recipe for French bread I did the other night. I used Gold Medal Bread Flour, and found the recipe while perusing their website.


INGREDIENTS

2packages (4 1/2 teaspoons or 2 tablespoons) active dry yeast

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

2cups warm water

1 tablespoon salt

5 1/2cups Gold Medal™ Better for Bread™ flour


Put yeast and sugar into bowl, pour in warm water, allow to proof for 10 minutes.

Put in flour and salt, put on beater attachment, and turn mixer on 1 setting for two minutes to let it mix. After two minutes, take off beater attachment (may need to remove dough clinging to attachment), then put on dough hook. Put on setting 1 or 2 for about 8 minutes, or until dough is no longer clinging to sides. Dough should be sticky, but not come off on your fingers. I keep a 14 cup of water on the side in case it becomes to raggedy, and slowly add it in. Also keep some flour on hand if the dough is too moist. 

Everything depends on the humidity in your kitchen, as others have said, you'll get accustomed to how long it takes and how much flour to use in your kitchen. 

Take dough out and roll into a ball. Put ball in a buttered bowl, rolling around to get butter on all sides. Cover bowl with a towel, and let rise until it doubles in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn on oven, preheat to 400 degrees. 

Punch down dough. Divide it into halves, and shape each into an elongated loaf. Put in oven for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees. It will have a nice golden brown color, and you'll know it is done because it gives a hollow sound when you thump it. 

Take out of oven, let cool, cut and serve. 

[chiver78]

totally following this thread!

Anne, I've been using this banana bread recipe for a few months since I finally took my mixer out of the box - allrecipes.com link

I add a lot of cinnamon and nutmeg to the dry ingredients bowl, some vanilla to the egg/banana mash, and some chopped walnuts to the bowl as it's all mixing together. I'll add more cinnamon/nutmeg to the mixing bowl as needed.

this makes a decadent French toast, esp with a homemade blueberry syrup, whipped cream, and more chopped walnuts. enjoy!

[weltschmerz]

Jan 11, 2016 8:00:44 GMT -5 Shooby said:

Jan 11, 2016 7:58:02 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I'm lazy, I just use Rhodes frozen rolls to make them. Then again they straight inhale them practically whole so I'm not they would appreciate home made rolls!!

I don't know.  I think it takes more work to use frozen dough.  I have to plan to buy them, unthaw them, etc.  I always have flour on hand and my mixer is on the counter at the ready, so it is much easier for me to just make a batch of dough.

Why would you freeze them?

[Shooby]

Jan 15, 2016 3:59:32 GMT -5 weltschmerz said:

Jan 11, 2016 8:00:44 GMT -5 Shooby said:

I don't know.  I think it takes more work to use frozen dough.  I have to plan to buy them, unthaw them, etc.  I always have flour on hand and my mixer is on the counter at the ready, so it is much easier for me to just make a batch of dough.

Why would you freeze them?

Freeze what?  Are you talking to me?