Almond Schnecken Recipes

GRANDMA DOUGLAS'S SCHNECKEN

Steps:

• 1. To make the dough, melt the 1/2 cup butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the milk and sugar and heat just to lukewarm (about 110°F), stirring to dissolve the sugar. Pour the warm milk mixture into a bowl. Stir in the yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for 10 minutes, then stir in the salt.
• 2. Beat the whole egg and egg yolk together and add to the yeast mixture. Stir in the flour 1 cup at a time until you have a sticky dough. Scrape the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead for about 5 minutes, until you have a nice smooth dough. Butter a large bowl. Place the dough in the prepared bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Put the bowl in a warm place and allow the dough to rise for 2 hours, until tripled in volume.
• 3. Meanwhile, brush a 9 × 13-inch baking pan with some melted butter (or spray it with vegetable oil spray). To prepare the sugar-pecan topping, melt the butter with the brown sugar and corn syrup in a small saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring to combine. Remove from the heat and spread the mixture in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with the chopped pecans.
• 4. Punch down the dough and turn it out of the bowl onto a lightly floured work surface. Knead for a minute, then use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll the dough into a rectangle about 15 × 12 inches and 1/8 inch thick. To make the cinnamon-sugar filling, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-low heat and allow it to cool. Brush the butter thoroughly over the surface of the dough. In a bowl, mix together the sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the melted butter. Roll the rectangle up, like a jelly roll, along one long edge.
• 5. Slice the log of rolled dough into 1-inch-thick slices and arrange the slices, cut sides up, in the prepared pan. Cover the pan with a piece of plastic wrap (you can spray the plastic wrap first with vegetable oil spray to be sure it doesn't stick to the dough) and allow it to rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.
• 6. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Bake the schnecken until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Check them occasionally during the baking time, and if they seem to be browning too quickly, loosely cover them with a sheet of aluminum foil.
• 7. Remove the pan from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the schnecken out of the pan while still warm by inverting the pan over a large platter or baking sheet. Serve the schnecken warm.

ALMOND SCHNECKEN

Steps:

• From one end of the finished dough, cut off a single slice that represents a generous one-tenth of the dough. Place this on a floured board, tap it out lengthwise and crosswise with pastry pin and then roll it out into an extremely thin sheet that will fit in the bottom of a large (say, 11-by- 16-inch) baking pan. (This requires patience, but at least you can be firm and aggressive: a bit of cutting, fitting and patching may be necessary, but all you really need to achieve is the covering of the entire bottom of the pan.)
• Place this thin tissue of dough in the bottom of the pan and let it rest. Roll out the remaining dough into a rectangle measuring 18 inches wide, and of whatever length it comes to when you have made it a uniform quarter-inch in thickness.
• Mix the almond paste with beaten egg until it has a spreadable consistency (adding almond extract as desired, for more flavor).
• Spread the almond paste over the entire rectangle of dough (except for 1 inch on one of the 18-inch sides) and roll the dough up into a loose ''jelly roll'' 18 inches long (rolling toward the edge left free of almond paste). Dab a bit of water along this edge with your finger and seal the roll firmly.
• Restretch the thin tissue of dough in the pan to cover the bottom completely and sprinkle it with the grated chocolate and with sugar as desired.
• Cut the roll of dough crosswise into 15 schnecken and arrange them evenly on top of the sheet in 3 rows of 5 each. Let rise in a warm place for 2 to 3 hours, or until doubled in bulk (the dough, being cold, will take a while to get going).
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush the tops of the risen schnecken with beaten egg, sprinkle on sugar as desired and bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown (lower heat if they seem to brown too quickly).

CHINESE ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Mix the soy sauce, salt, cornstarch, and sherry in a large bowl. Stir in chicken; cover and refrigerate.
• Heat 1 1/2 cups of the peanut oil in a large, deep skillet. Fry almonds in the oil until golden, about 1 minute. Drain fried almonds on a paper towel.
• Drain all but 3 tablespoons of oil from the skillet. Stir in the mushrooms, bamboo shoots, celery, onion, and water chestnuts. Cook and stir vegetables for 1 minute. Remove from skillet.
• Heat 1/4 cup oil in the skillet. Cook and stir the marinated chicken in hot oil until no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in cooked vegetables, chicken stock, and reserved soy sauce mixture; simmer until thickened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in fried almonds before serving.

SCHNECKEN (STICKY GERMAN CINNAMON BUNS)

Steps:

• Butter a 12-cup muffin pan.
• Line a roasting pan or baking pan with parchment paper (for turning the sticky buns onto later)large enough to cover muffin pan.
• Combine flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl.
• Melt butter in the milk over very low heat and beat in eggs.
• Stir milk/butter mixture into the dry ingredients to make the dough. Knead for 10 minutes or for 5 with dough hook. When it is springy and satiny, form a ball and put in a greased bowl. Turn to coat and cover with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
• Syrup: Using an electric mixer cream butter until soft and smooth and add sugar. Beat in syrups and then divide mixture among the muffin cups and top with walnuts (about a tablespoonful in each sticky-based waiting cup.).
• Preheat oven to 350.
• Knock dough back, knead once or twice and then roll out to a large rectangle (apx 24X12) with the long side nearest you. Beat egg and add milk; glaze the dough using a pastry brush or your fingers.
• Mix the filling ingredients in a little bowl and sprinkle onto the dough. Now, roll up from the long side and away from you, carefully and firmly (not too tight) keeping a firm sausage shape.
• Cut into 12 even slices, and lie each slice spiral-swirly cut side up, on top of the nuts and syrup in the muffin cups.
• Leave to rise for about 20 minutes then put into the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, by which time they should be golden and cooked: crisp in parts, voluptuously gooey in others. You may want to put a baking sheet under pan to catch any falling goo.
• Place roasting pan or baking sheet on top and turn the whole thing the other way up. Remove the muffin tray and dislodge any nuts that are still stuck in it, adding them, along with any residual syrup, to the upturned buns.
• Leave to cool, then stuff your face -- as if you needed encouragement.

ALMOND CROISSANTS

Steps:

• Make the frangipane: Place the almond flour in a medium skillet and set over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden brown and toasty smelling, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl, combine the butter and brown sugar, and beat with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon until the mixture is light and creamy, about 2 minutes. Switch to a whisk and whisk in the eggs, one at a time, until incorporated. Whisk in the almond extract, then add the flour, salt and toasted almond flour, and whisk until smooth and satiny. Set the mixture aside.
• Make the syrup: In a small saucepan, combine the sugar, rum and 1/3 cup/80 milliliters water in a small saucepan and heat over medium, stirring just until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Assemble: Arrange a rack in the upper third of the oven and heat to 350 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
• Use a pastry brush to soak the cut sides of the croissant halves liberally with the rum syrup. (Use most of it or all, if the croissants are very stale.) Spread the bottom halves with half of the frangipane, dividing evenly and spreading all the way to the edges. Place the top halves over the bottom halves, then spread the remaining frangipane over the tops of the croissants. Sprinkle the sliced almonds over top, dividing evenly.
• Place the croissants on the baking sheet, spacing evenly, and bake until the almonds are toasted and the frangipane is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

EASY ALMOND CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Place chicken pieces in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish. Season with garlic powder to taste and bake in the preheated oven for 1/2 hour.
• In a small bowl mix together the soup and milk. Pour mixture over chicken and bake for another 1/2 hour. Meanwhile, toast almonds and add to chicken during the last few minutes of baking.

GERMAN SCHNECKEN

Steps:

• Soften yeast in the warm water.
• Pour the scalded milk over sugar and salt in a large bowl; stir until sugar is dissolved. Cool to lukewarm.
• Blend in 1 cup of the flour and beat until smooth. Stir in yeast. Add ABOUT HALF the remaining flour and beat until very smooth. Beat in the eggs. Vigorously beat in the 1/2 cup softened butter, 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time. Beat in enough remaining flour to make a soft dough.
• Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cover and let REST 10 minutes.
• Knead until smooth and elastic ABOUT 10 MINUTES. Form into a ball and put into a greased deep bowl; turn dough to bring greased surface to top. Cover; let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Punch dough down; pull edges of dough in to center and turn over completely in bowl. Cover; let rise again until nearly doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Lightly grease twenty- four 2 1/2 inch muffin pan wells. Put about 1 teaspoon of the melted butter into each well; reserve remaining butter.
• Mix the chopped nuts, brown sugar, currants, and cinnamon. Spoon 2 teaspoons into each well and gently press 3 or 4 pecan halves onto mixture.
• Again punch dough down; form into 2 balls. Roll ball into a rectangle 1/4 to 1/3 inch thick, 6 to 8 inches wide, and 12 inches long. Brush top surface of dough with half the remaining melted butter and sprinkle evenly with half the remaining brown sugar mixture. Beginning with longer side, roll dough tightly into a long roll. Cut roll into 12 slices. Place a slice, cut side down, in each well. Repeat with second ball. Cover; let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Bake at 375 for 15 to 20 minutes. Invert muffing pans on wire racks, set on waxed paper or aluminum foil, leaving pans over Schnecken 5 minutes. Remove from pans and cool on racks, glazed side up. To store, wrap tightly in foil Reheat just before serving. 2 dozen Schnecken.
• CAI The Canadian Family Cookbook.