Sourdough Joins the Mile-High Club

Happy Boxing Day!

Because Audrey, Jr demanded sacrifice, the sourdough starter ended up in the traditional Christmas morning breakfast: Mile-High Cinnamon Roll Bread.

Coincidentally, my friend from Colorado enjoys the Mile High Cinnamon Roll bread immensely (the capital Denver is the Mile-High city). He chooses to violate it with cream cheese while I like it with Earth Balance. Whatever floats your boat, man.

I like my green juice from a pilsner glass; some people prefer mason jars. All together, now...



The following recipe is an update to 23 December 2013's Mile-High Cinnamon Roll Bread.
How sanguine this post was!

Sourdough Variation

1 cup fed teff sourdough starter

1 cup non-dairy milk (I used a mixture of unsweetened vanilla almond and coconut)

3 tablespoons coconut oil, solid

1/4 cup warm water

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

1/2 teaspoon organic granulated sugar

1/4 cup water

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

1 cup GF oat flour

1 cup King Arthur Flour Ancient Grains GF blend

1 1/2 cups sorghum flour

2 teaspoons xanthan gum

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup tapioca flour (AKA: tapioca starch) for rolling

Vanilla Water

3 tablespoons water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cinnamon Sugar

1/3 cup coconut sugar

4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

4 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

Procedure changes: deal with the sourdough first (feed your starter if necessary). Scald the nondairy milk first, then proceed with the other parts of dough assembly.

Let rise for 1 1/2 hours (first rise) or until doubled. 

Roll and fill 

and let rise, covered, again for 1 hour. Uncover and bake for 47-50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes then remove to a rack to cool completely.

The sourdough especially takes a second rise well.

Killer cinnamon coconut sugar cocoa filling! Can you tell I'm slightly obsessed with this bread?

Air pockets! Wonderful!

More tradition-rewriting. My grandmother used to make legit, oldskool eggnog on Christmas Day, with raw eggs. She beat it with the rotary beater she had since she and my grandfather got married. I didn't ask if she made it this year. It finally hit me when surfing Pinterest this week that I should use those two cups of cashews soaking in the back of the fridge (I had intended to use them for Berry Swirl Cheezecake) for some vegan nog.

Cashew Eggnog
Similar to http://thewholejourney.com/veg-nog

2 cups raw cashew pieces, soaked overnight and drained
2 cups dates, pitted, soaked overnight and drained
4 cups water
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
dash cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons rum (for flavor, add more as desired)

In a high-speed blender, blitz everything into creamy oblivion. With a lower-powered machine, blitz in batches and combine in a bowl.

Serve chilled.

With a side of iPhone. I eat it from a small glass with a spoon because it is t-h-i-c-k.

Another suggestion a friend tried: cut the nog with a little water, cinnamon whiskey (i.e., Fireball), and ice.

Bacardi is vegan according to Barnivore, the authority on the veganinity of alcohol. Rum is gluten-free because it is made from fermented sugarcane.

Parting shots:
Made some paleo almond bread tonight to warm up the kitchen and to use up three-month-old almond butter I stashed in the fridge.

Aunt Mary Crea used to serve dates stuffed with peanut butter and rolled in white sugar at her and Uncle Paul's Christmas Day evening parties. Since I forswore baking cookies this year and didn't make spaghetti casserole, I had said almond butter in dates for Christmas morning pre-dog-walkies breakfast.

Here's to ya!