French

• Mix together the vanilla bean paste, white sugar, and butter until smooth and creamy, not light and fluffy. Add the salt and confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Add 1 egg yolk. Mix in the flour until just combined.
• Turn out dough onto counter to lightly knead. Divide in half and shape into long logs about 1-inch tall. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 3 hours, or freeze up to 2 months.
• When it is baking time, preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Place egg yolk into a small bowl or ramekin. Add a splash of water and whisk it with the yolk. Pour sanding sugar onto a plate.
• Brush the yolk down the length of a cookie log, fully coating it. Roll the log in the sanding sugar. Place on a cutting board and slice into pieces 1/2-inch thick. Place spaced out on cookie sheet. Repeat process with other log. Don’t squeeze the cookies too close, as they will spread.
• Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, until set and just turning a hint of gold. Let them set on sheet for 5 minutes, then transfer to a rack to fully cool.
• Pack cookies in a sealed container at room temperature. They will keep for at least 4 days.

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• Most bread machines call for adding liquids to the bucket first. Therefore, place the starter and water inside. Use fingertips to whisk them together. Add sugar and salt, followed by the flour and yeast. Start the machine on dough mixing mode.
• Monitor the dough as it mixes. If it seems especially lumpy, drizzle in some extra water until the texture smooths out.
• Once the dough is done, measure it on a food scale to divide in half. Sprinkle extra flour on a clean work surface. Press dough out to a flat rectangle, about 10 inches long, then fold inward as if folding a sheet to go in an envelope. Pinch the seam together while gently elongating bread. Place seam underneath. Set loaf on parchment paper. Repeat with other half of dough.
• Let rise in a warm spot in the kitchen or in an oven on proof mode for an hour or so, until loaves look doubled. If loaves were in warm oven, remove them so the oven can preheat at 400 degrees. On a lower oven rack, place something like a metal cake pan that is an inch or two in depth so that it can heat as well.
• Once the oven is preheated, use a French lame or knife to slash the top of the loaf so that it can vent while baking. Being VERY careful to not overfill or get scalded by steam, pour water into the hot pan in the oven. Immediately place the risen loaves on the rack above and close the oven (and don’t open it again until the bread looks done!).
• Bake for 20-25 minutes, until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. A check with a food thermometer should find an interior temperature over 190 degrees.
• Let loaves cool at least 30 minutes before slicing in. Bread will keep in a sealed bag at room temperature for up to 3 days. It can also be frozen right after cooling, and will keep well for up to a month there.

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• Mix the white sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, beat butter until creamy. Add 1/3 cup of the cinnamon sugar mix followed by the confectioners’ sugar and salt. Beat to incorporate. Add 1 egg yolk along with the vanilla. Gradually add the flour, pausing to scrape the bottom of the bowl a few times.
• Using hands, knead the dough until it fully comes together. Lay out two long stretches of plastic wrap. Roughly divide the dough in half and form it into tube shapes of the same size on each sheet of plastic wrap. Encase the dough in plastic, rolling it to smooth the edges and compress the dough. Chill the dough in the fridge for least 4 hours or as long as a few days. Save the remaining cinnamon-sugar mix.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Place the remaining egg yolk in a bowl. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a sharp knife or bench knife to slice the dough into 1/2-inch coins. Brush the top of each round with egg yolk, then dip coated surface into the cinnamon-sugar to coat. Place rounds spaced out on parchment.
• Bake for 16 to 18 minutes, until cookies are set. Let cool on pan a few minutes before moving them to a cooling rack. Store in a sealed container at room temperature.

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Make the starter

• In the bucket of a bread machine or in a separate pitcher, stir together all of the starter ingredients until combined. Cover the top with plastic wrap and let set to rise at room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.

Make the dough

• If the starter didn’t rise in the bread machine, place it there now and add the additional water, salt, flour, and yeast. Start the dough cycle.
• Once the full cycle is done, apply nonstick spray or olive oil in a large bowl. Gather the dough into a ball and place it in the bowl, flipping it to completely coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until it doubles, about an hour. Prepare one or two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Weigh the dough and then turn it out in a lightly floured work space. Determine the desired size of rolls; for standard dinner-sized ones, twelve is ideal. Divide the dough accordingly, forming into balls by tucking the lumpier bits and seams underneath. Fill a saucer with water to dab fingertips to make smoothing the dough easier. Space rolls out on prepared pan(s). Lightly cover with plastic wrap.
• Let rolls rise about 45 minutes. They should puff up. Preheat oven at 450-degrees.

Make the egg wash

• Whisk together the egg and water. Remove and discard plastic wrap from rolls. Brush egg wash over the rolls.
• Bake until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. Rolls should sound hollow when tapped. They are best eaten hot the day they are made, but if frozen promptly, they will reheat later for same-day eating and still taste delicious!

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Make the crust:

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and chop until it’s pea-sized. Add the egg and pulse until it comes together; if it doesn’t, add tiny drizzles of water until it does–just make sure the dough ends up cohesive, not wet. Turn out the dough onto a big piece of plastic wrap and compress the dough to form a disc. Wrap it up and chill it in fridge for a few hours, minimum, or a few days.

Make the frangipane:

• Use a rubber spatula to combine the almond flour, sugar, flour, butter, egg, apple brandy, vanilla, pie spice and salt, making it smooth. Stash it in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembling the galette:

• Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Prepare a big cookie sheet with a piece of parchment. Bring out the dough to warm for a few minutes, then lightly flour a surface and roll it out to about a 12-inch round. Move it to the parchment paper.
• Spread the frangipane over the dough, leaving a blank 1 1/2-inch border. Set the baking sheet in the fridge while preparing the apples.

Prepare the apples:

• Peel the apples and slice to 1/4-inch thickness. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice, and pie spice. Add this to the apples, and toss them to coat. Bring out the galette dough. Arrange the apples on the frangipane starting from the middle, spiraling them outward while slightly overlapping them. Fold the blank edge over the apples to form a thin, pleated crust. Brush the beaten egg over the crust, then sprinkle it with coarse sugar.
• Bake galette for 35 to 40 minutes. Apples in middle should be fork-tender when done. Cool for about 30 minutes.

Make the glaze:

• In a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, warm the honey and brandy until it is loose and spreadable. Using a clean pastry brush, brush glaze over the apples.
• Let galette cool another 30 minutes, minimum, before cutting it–a pizza slicer is great for this. The galette is best eaten the day it is made, or promptly frozen in slices to be eaten soon after it thaws.

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• Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Prepare a 9-inch springform pan by cutting a piece of parchment to fit the base. Apple nonstick spray to the pan, then add the parchment, and spray it as well. In addition, tear a piece of aluminum foil to cup the bottom of the pan to catch any drips.
• Peel the apples and chop into 1-inch pieces. Toss with lemon juice. Set aside.
• In a big bowl, beat eggs until they are pale and foamy. Add the white sugar, apple brandy, and vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the big egg-sugar bowl along with the melted butter. Scrape the bowl as needed, stirring everything until just combined. Don’t expect a huge amount of batter–it’s there to act like delicious glue for all of the apple pieces!
• Reserve 1 heaping cup of the apple chunks. Fold the rest of the apples into the batter, coating them. Dump the mix into the prepared pan and even out with an uneven spatula. Arrange the remaining apples on top, pushing them into the batter and smoothing them out as much as possible.
• Bake for 20 minutes. Add sparkling sugar over the top. Bake another 20 minutes and check on the cake. It is done with apples in middle are tender and a digital thermometer plunged into the center reads at least 200-degrees. If needed, cook longer; if it’s browning too much, cover with foil.
• Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes on a cooling rack. Carefully release the springform ring to let it completely cool for at least an hour; place in fridge to speed the chilling process, if desired.
• Slice into wedges. Enjoy cold, at room temperature, or warmed, with confectioners' sugar sprinkled over the top. Pieces can also be individually wrapped and frozen for later.

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