Yep....that's the nature of the beast....I find that lots of careful work with a dough scraper and "procedure gloves" on my hands...it's not awful...but still a pain. Here's my recipe. Biscotti Di Prato 3 3/4 C all purpose flour (stirred till fluffy before measuring) 2 C sugar 1 tsp double acting baking powder 1/4 tsp salt 4 eggs 2 egg yolks 1 tsp vanilla ( or 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp almond extract if using almonds) 1 2/3 c almonds or hazle nuts coarsley chopped and litely toasted. eggwash Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. whisk together eggs, yolks and extracts, add eggs, etc to flour mixture and stir until a dough forms (looks like it can never happen... but keep working it...it will. I sometimes add a VERY little sprinkling of water) add nuts, turn out on a non-stick surface ( I use a marble board or my formica rolling board) and knead 3 or 4 times. Divide into fourths and shape each piece into a 11 x 2 in. log ( make it "tall" as they flatten while baking) Place on buttered and floured baking sheets, brush with egg wash (egg yolk whisked with 1 T water). Bake at 350 for 35 min and cool 20 min. Slice 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick. Place on clean baking sheets ( cut side down) and bake 10 or 12 minutes at 275. turn pieces over and bake another 10 minutes. If you want to make them extra fancy, dip half a slice in melted chocolate and sprinkle with finly chopped nuts. You can make bigger 'scottis by making two thicker logs, but be sure to leave room for spread. Best dipped in tea or coffee....or best yet in a sweet dessert wine! Enjoy! Linda

Oh wow, this was a disaster. Trying to read btw here, the bosch instructions and the recipe I missed where I was supposed to heat the milk, sour cream and butter first so only warmed the milk and sour cream. It was too late for the butter. Did the water sugar, yeast and some flour and butter first, pulsed, then after that it all got random, there was an egg too, can't remember exactly when, including speeds and how long mixing/kneading, trying to please 3 different set of instructions. The dough seemed too sticky when I pulled it out to put on a greased surface as per recipe instructions even though I did add extra flour. While wondering why the bacon for the filling was only burning not cooking I notice that there is a lot of smoke coming from the oven vent burner (electric stove) - I open the pre heated stove and tons of smoke comes pouring out (and hasn't quit). The pizza stone that I unsuccessfully tried to "season" with some pillsbury rolls spread flat that just burned on - well I never could get it all scraped off and now its black burned on and there's smoke everywhere. I give up. I turned the oven off, the bacon off. I'm going to have a warm relaxing shower, put on my jammies, and drink some wine and ignore it all. Wish the place didn't smell so much.

I've been reading these and all of trailrunner's post. They are just great. All the hints were great. I bake bread out of boredom, I rarely use a recipe, for better or worse and like the wet doughs as well as quicker higher yeast doughs for pizza. Someday I'll get that "super peel" with the cloth belt thingy. I am forced to pre-cook my thin pizza crusts without one- My favorite bread is an olive bread that is made locally in the East Bay and sold now only at the local Berkeley farmer's market- you can go to their bakery, and they will sell stuff to you, but it's not a store front, no sales help, no hours- if they are there they'll sell it to you- they're also fresh pasta makers- 'Phoenix Pastificio'- if you're ever in the area. I've never tried to make that bread, it's almost Holy to me...( although I know he uses a biga and those black Kalamata olives). It has a thin almost black burnt crust, with large ciabatta holes to the crumb and flavor to die for.

I live in an area with a heavy Amish/Mennonite population. One of their country stores bakes doughnuts every Friday morning and sell till they're gone. I've never been, because I don't need the doughnuts, but I hear they usually sell out in a couple of hours. They're dense and heavy (definitely not light and fluffy) and shaken in a bag with granulated sugar. Not filled with anything. If I'm going to eat a doughnut, that's what I want (with some of the loose sugar brushed off). When I was a kid, my mother bought day-old boxed glazed doughnuts from the bargain bakery (they may have been Hostess brand; I don't remember). She kept them in the freezer so Dad would have a supply for his lunch bucket - they were already a day old, after all. There was nothing better than sneaking down to the basement deep freeze on a hot summer day and eating a frozen day-old glazed doughnut!