Zwieback | Baked Bread In The Oven/Baking Recipes

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May

2009

Zwieback is German for 'twice baked', and refers to a sweetened bread (or Rusk as it's called in Britain) that is sliced and then baked again or toasted until dry and crisp. It is called "Biscotti" in Italy. The use of the term in English dates back to the 1890s. It was often given to teething babies to gnaw on. More recently, Zwieback had become a choice for a crust for cheesecake or other pudding type cakes. Unfortunately, the company that produced the Zwieback have stopped making them and no amount of pleading from the masses has convinced them to bring this product back.

This recipe is not as difficult as it seems. My grandmother made this recipe often. It is from "The New Settlement Cookbook" issue dated 1954 which I inherited. As you can see, the "secret ingredient" is anise but if you don't care for the taste, you can substitute 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract which is what my grandmother did on occasion. Back in the day, whatever was in the pantry was used.

Zweiback

2 cups whole milk, scalded and cooled slightly

1/2 cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 eggs yolk, beaten

1 tbs. salt

1/2 tsp. powdered anise

8 cups (approx) unbleached all purpose flour, sifted

4 tbs. sugar

2 tbs. active dry yeast (2 packets)

Vegetable shortening to grease the bowl

1. In a saucepan, melt butter in warm milk over medium heat.

2. Add salt and 2 tbs. of sugar. Cool to lukewarm, (approx 110F) set aside. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, sprinkle yeast over remaining lukewarm water and 2 tbs. sugar and anise.
3. Cover the yeast mixture with plastic wrap and set aside until bubbly. Combine cooled milk mixture and yeast mixture. Mix well. Add beaten egg yolks.

4. Slowly add 3 cups flour, beating on low with electric mixture. Adding 1 cup at a time to make a soft dough.

5. Knead dough on a floured board until dough is velvety and elastic, about 3 minutes. Place in greased bowl, turning to grease top of dough.

6. Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface and let rise in warm place until double in size.

7. Form dough into 3 inch wide oblong rolls. Place on greased baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Let rise until almost double and bake at 375F about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown. When cold, cut into 1⁄2 inch slices and brown evenly until crisp on both sides at 325F in the oven.

Makes about 2 dozen Zwieback biscuits.

And now, I will share with you my secret for raising bread dough...
I put the bowl of dough on an electric heating pad set on low. This cuts the rise time nearly in half and provides uniform texture.

Recipe submitted by Dae Thompson of Marietta, GA.

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