I've been making fabulous rolls for a few months now, but I made my best loaf of bread EVER yesterday. Not only did it look good, it was soft, moist, and yummy inside. I've been playing with cooking times/temps a bit. This loaf cooked at 400 degrees for 10 minutes then 350 for 20 more minutes, so maybe that's the secret. It was about half wheat, half white flour.
I'm addicted to this bread. I'm excited for my new wheat grinder to show up in a couple days so I can play with that too.
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bread. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Grandma's Rolls and Other Recipe Info
Here is the original recipe, my revisions throughout and after. This is also great for scones and cinnamon rolls.
One Hour Rolls
1 c. hot water
6 Tbsp. shortening
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. lukewarm water
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 c. flour
Combine the hot water, salt, shortening, and sugar. Cool slightly (I start with very warm water but not hot so I don't have to cool). Soften yeast in lukewarm water, add yeast to shortening mixture. Add egg. Add 1/2 of the flour and beat well. Add enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Knead on floured board (counter, etc.). Roll out and shape into rolls, bread, scones, etc. Place on greased pan, brush with melted butter. Allow to rise until doubled in size. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.
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The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. yeast, but when I made itthe other day I only used 2 tsp. of yeast and it turned out a lot better. Since I was making scones with it and used the extra for rolls, the dough had time to rise while I was cooking the scones and eating, so maybe the extra rise beyond what it says here had something to do with it too. I've learned that patience is a very good thing when dealing with bread.
The biggest help I had in my 'training' so far was reading about the 12 steps of bread in Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." He has 3 basic white bread recipes in that book and I was very happy with the first (haven't made it to the other two yet).
If you want to see someone that REALLY LOVES bread, check out this TED.com video of Peter Reinhart talking about it.
The recipe I used for wheat bread was from "The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book," highly recommended by the breadly talented Cindi. If you look a few posts down in her blog, you'll see she is also very cakely talented.
One Hour Rolls
1 c. hot water
6 Tbsp. shortening
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. yeast
2 Tbsp. lukewarm water
1 egg, beaten
3 1/2 c. flour
Combine the hot water, salt, shortening, and sugar. Cool slightly (I start with very warm water but not hot so I don't have to cool). Soften yeast in lukewarm water, add yeast to shortening mixture. Add egg. Add 1/2 of the flour and beat well. Add enough of the remaining flour to make dough easy to handle. Knead on floured board (counter, etc.). Roll out and shape into rolls, bread, scones, etc. Place on greased pan, brush with melted butter. Allow to rise until doubled in size. Bake at 425 degrees for 12 minutes.
The original recipe calls for 2 Tbsp. yeast, but when I made itthe other day I only used 2 tsp. of yeast and it turned out a lot better. Since I was making scones with it and used the extra for rolls, the dough had time to rise while I was cooking the scones and eating, so maybe the extra rise beyond what it says here had something to do with it too. I've learned that patience is a very good thing when dealing with bread.
The biggest help I had in my 'training' so far was reading about the 12 steps of bread in Peter Reinhart's "The Bread Baker's Apprentice." He has 3 basic white bread recipes in that book and I was very happy with the first (haven't made it to the other two yet).
If you want to see someone that REALLY LOVES bread, check out this TED.com video of Peter Reinhart talking about it.
The recipe I used for wheat bread was from "The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book," highly recommended by the breadly talented Cindi. If you look a few posts down in her blog, you'll see she is also very cakely talented.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Bread Making Progress
I made wheat bread today using wheat we ground and it turned out great. This whole breadmaking thing just gets more and more fun.
While I was kneading the dough Adam asked if we could have scones for dinner, which of course involves a batch of white dough. With my newly learned bread making knowledge I cut the amount of yeast in the recipe and the scones turned out better than they ever have. With the leftover dough I made some rolls. Now they taste a lot more like grandma's (it's her recipe, but they still didn't taste like hers before).
Sammy's review: "When I first bite into these rolls, it's like fireworks!"
Hold the applause, he boosted my ego enough. :)
There's just something about bread, isn't there? We'll save some for you Jamie!
While I was kneading the dough Adam asked if we could have scones for dinner, which of course involves a batch of white dough. With my newly learned bread making knowledge I cut the amount of yeast in the recipe and the scones turned out better than they ever have. With the leftover dough I made some rolls. Now they taste a lot more like grandma's (it's her recipe, but they still didn't taste like hers before).
Sammy's review: "When I first bite into these rolls, it's like fireworks!"
Hold the applause, he boosted my ego enough. :)
There's just something about bread, isn't there? We'll save some for you Jamie!
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