THE Bread Dough

The long awaited bread recipe. This is going to be a long post, folks, but please don't let the length of the instructions scare you away! There are two reasons for this:

1. I am wordy by nature.
2. In order to communicate to you the little tricks I've learned throughout the years, I need to explain thoroughly. It just makes things so much easier.

So make it easier on yourself. Learn from my many years of trial and error.

First, the recipe:

Bread Dough <------- br="" click="" print="" to="">

1/2 cup warm water (about 105* to 115*)

1 packet yeast

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons oil

1 1/2 cups warm milk

Flour (A high gluten bread flour yields the best results!)

In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in salt and sugar, then allow yeast to bloom (4 or 5 minutes and you should see it growing) before adding warm milk and the oil. Add about 3 cups of flour and mix. Continue adding flour until you have a dough you can handle. Turn onto a floured surface and allow to rest for 10 minutes or so. While dough is resting, wash out your mixing bowl, dry and then generously oil it. Set aside.

Sprinkle dough with additional flour and begin kneading. Continue kneading, adding flour as needed to keep dough from getting sticky, for about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and elastic. Place in oiled bowl, then turn dough over so oiled side is up. Cover with a warm, damp towel and set in a warm place to rise until doubled in size. This will take about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours. Punch down dough and ***shape as desired. Allow to rise until doubled, about 35-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease pans. For dinner rolls, bake for approximately 12-14 minutes. Lay a sheet of foil loosely over rolls to prevent over-browning and allow to bake an additional 10 minutes or so, or until they're done. Remove from oven and rub or brush tops with butter. For cinnamon rolls, bake for approximately 10-12 minutes and check to see if they're done. Depending upon the size of the pan and the thickness of the rolls, it may take up to 18-20 minutes. 

For loaves, grease loaf pans, shape dough into loaves and bake for 20-30 minutes depending upon size of loaves.  You may need to cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning.  Loaves are done when tapping on them produces a hollow sound. 

***At this point you can shape into simple rolls, cloverleaf rolls, cinnamon rolls, loaves, etc.  This is a multipurpose dough that is delicious no matter how you shape it. 

Here is the dough once you've kneaded it and allowed it to rise the first time:

This is the dough rolled out for cinnamon rolls:

Spread with butter/margarine:

Sprinkled with cinnamon:

Brown sugar is added:

And then this is how we roll:

Once it is rolled and you've pinched the edge to seal, it's time to cut the rolls.
A knife makes this messy work. Dental floss makes it quick, neat and easy!
Simply slide the floss under the roll, bring up the sides and crisscross.

Now pull all the way through, producing a clean cut.

How easy was that?
Place rolls cut side down on greased pan.
Place pan in a warm area (I use my oven...NOT turned on, of course.)
Allow to rise for a second time, about 40-45 minutes or so.

Here they are when they're just about ready to pop into a hot oven:

And here they are all golden and yummy.

But wait! We need GLAZE!
Just a simple glaze.
Mix up a couple of cups of confectioner's sugar,
a 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and just enough water to make a good drizzle.

And there ya go!

I use this dough for everything. Delicious light rolls, loaves of bread, tea rings, you name it. Something else you can do is this: Once you have spread with butter and sprinkled on the sugar and cinnamon, you can also add finely chopped apples. OH. MY. GOODNESS. Talk about yummy! Then roll it up, slice it and bake it.

TIPS AND TRICKS

*Yeast is a living thing. Never add the oil before adding at least a portion of the dry ingredients.
The oil will bind to the yeast and suffocate it, stopping the rising process before it even begins.

*That ten minutes of resting time before you begin kneading the dough can make all the difference in the world in the consistency of your bread.
Impatience can ruin it.

*Be generous with your kneading time. Unlike biscuits, yeast bread likes being handled.
Over-handling or over-kneading will make biscuits tough.
Yeast dough gets smoother and more elastic and reaches perfection
from kneading for at least ten minutes.

*Don't try to make this bread when you are in a hurry. Trust me, you'll be disappointed.
Patience is the most important part of this recipe.
I can't stress that enough.

*Days of high humidity can cause issues, too. I do my best to avoid making bread when it's raining or the humidity is simply through the roof. The dough is sticky, difficult to handle, and the consistency of the finished product suffers, too.