Ideas for finger food breads?
We often bring dishes to gatherings to be shared in a finger food fashion. The ideas people generally suggest to you for such foods are almost never bread. Muffins, slices, cookies; small pies, sandwiches, chips/dip. It would be much nicer if I could make a single, larger batch of dough and split it for the daily bread + the finger food shareable dish. Rather than set aside bowls, time and recipe thinking for a second non-bread thing to make in the kitchen. Not to mention I like bread more.
EDIT: I should add that the gatherings I had in mind are highly socialising-oriented rather than consumption oriented. I would happily bring a loaf of bread if the problem was hunger and we needed to feed a crowd. I'm looking for something highly flavoured, not fiddly to eat, and doesn't interrupt the more important purpose of chatting glibly over a cup of (for example) tea in the other hand.
Any ideas/recipes for finger foods that could be bread? As many as possible would be great!
How about Monkey bread? Break the dough up in little pieces, roll in melted butter and then cinnamon sugar. Put pieces in a bundt pan, let rise and bake.
What a good idea. I had never heard of monkey bread before I started googling.
I would go with rolls. It could be sweet like above or anything from ciabatta or pane francese to these that my family loves:
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/golden-pull-apart-butter-buns-recipe
Or you could slice up a baguette or pitas, etc.
but wouldn't you do those for dinner as a side rather than finger food? It just seems a bit filling rather than, I dunno, highly flavoured and mindless and conducive to being eaten at the same time as talking. (I guess that's what I mean by finger food.)
Just have a side of butter and let them tear of their little piece.
I've always loved the classy look of epi. I'm only hesitant because my baguettes are okay, not amazing (and, leading up to a social event, probably not fresh out of the oven). Guess I should work on them a bit.
An epi is much more forgiving than a normal baguette. They are easy and I love munching on one. But I guess it is more of a roll type of thing again. Perhaps bruschetta...
Challah is especially nice amd not too bread or roll like
grill cheese, open faced anything perhaps toasted first (butter, locs, sliced egg, caviar, lemon) (egg salad) (assorted cold cuts with pickle and veggie slices) apple wedges and peanut butter (whoops) (guacamole & shrimp - lemon)
Heck just google images for fingerfood bread for ideas. https://www.ecosia.org/images?q=fingerfood+bread
I guess I was thinking more something you could hold in one hand while you balanced a cup of tea delicately on a saucer in the other. Ladies' morning teas for example.
Foccacia in different flavors cut small, or small bread sticks with a dip?
Thanks! I was just entertaining the thought that you could mix pizza toppings into dough to prevent toddlers from picking off the toppings and leaving the pizza base. Never made foccacia but maybe it's time to start.
by rolling out the dough thin, putting on a few thin toppings .. mostly just tasty tomato herb paste and dusting with grated cheese. Cut up raw with a wheel and roll up each piece like a croissant starting from the edge of the pie shape. Brush with milk or mayo and top with a little cheese before baking. Can also leave out the tomato and go with pesto, chopped olives with cheese. (just a few ideas)
Along similar lines... roll out dough (after the bulk rise) into a rectangle and cut into squares. Make something savory already cooked and flavoured and plop a small spoonful into the middle of each square. Brush edges lightly with water or milk so they stick together as you fold up the corners and pinch to make a triangle and let proof. Brush with water or milk while they rise.
sweet or savory grissini only takes one hand.
Had to google that one! Thanks!
Oops sorry - well that probably gave you some nice examples. Good luck!
Not at all, we don't have them around here. Looks promising (and fun).
Nice thing is they are forgiving which is great if you have to prepare for an occasion. Have fun!
Thinking about vlubarsky's foccacia suggestion. Are there cautions for mixing large amounts of sugar or savoury fillings into a dough? Sourdough, if it makes a difference. Does it affect rise time, gluten development? Do you have to add eggs for structure? Eg panettone.
Pocky Bread sticks that can be dipped in just about anything.
HERE is a link I found when googling.
Her recipe isn't for a yeast bread - uses baking powder but any recipe for a breadstick can be substituted and then you can have fun with the toppings.
I'm terrible at decision-making. This appeals to avoiding deciding flavours until the very end. Or at least not having to mix up separate doughs for separate flavours.
Use an enriched bread dough to make a savoury version of chelsea buns - you can fill with things like ham, cheese, bacon, pesto, whatever takes your fancy ;-)
Here is something I did last Thanksgiving that worked pretty well. My notes are not in front of me, so this is by guesstimate.
I hard sauted thick sliced mushrooms and near the end added a bit of minced onion. A minute later, minced garlic and fresh thyme. I reserved the best slices for the dress. The rest I pureed in the food processor and added to the dough as I was mixing it.
The dough was a basic Parkerhouse Roll recipe. AP flour, commercial yeast, liquid 50/50 milk and water. generous butter, normal salt and just a little sugar.
Divided into little roll balls. Rolled them in melted butter and arranged (nestled) on a half sheet pan. Probably about 12x18 little rolls.
Before the rise, I took the reserved (prettiest) mushroom slices and pressed them one by one onto the top of each little ball (roll). During the rise, they became somewhat engulfed by the dough. I baked as normal.
After baking and cooling, I seperated the mushroom rolls and topped each one with a bit of guacamole. Then, a small (peeled and steamed) shrimp.
Finger food, definetly and they were gone shortly. Of course, now I am expected to make them all the time (which I won't) but I do think they are worth the effort every now and then. Like most appetizers, they're a little finicky for me.
dobie
Delicious! I love mushrooms. So this is almost like a canape in bread form. That gives me a whole world of inspiration to google up. As with yours, there would probably still be some level of assembly after the baking. Thanks for such a great idea.
ccsdg
I'm glad you like the idea.
The rolling in butter before onto the baking pan helps to seperate them after the bake.
That same mushroom bread recipe can be topped with marinara sauce and cheese (mozzorella, parm mix or whatever). Sometimes a little (and I mean tiny) meatball on top. Or spinach and feta.
I've also replaced the mushrooms with asparagus at the start (in the dough) and ended up with the tips on top, that you can build on however you see fit.
It's basically an enriched dough, with a theme (mushroom, asparagus, sauted onions or whatever), topped with the best of the same that imbeds itself into the little 'roll', and then some form of paste (guacamole, marinara, etc) to adhere the main guest (shrimp, meatball, tri-tip beef), really, anything.
The interesting dynamic is that the slice of mushroom or asparagus tip that is baked into the little roll, once covered over with whatever the paste is and topped with whatever the guest is, is the real surprise when eating. A little hidden treasure of pleasure, that the roll supports.
Tedious, but fun.
dobie
Slice 3/4 inch thick, then slice again into finger sized sticks and provide dips. Some of the ones I have done:
Balsamic and olive oil.
Marinara sauce
olive tapenade
Red pepper tapenade
Hummus.
Baba ghanoush
I even save heels for just this purpose, it has the extra crust to make it better for dipping.