Bread

I have been working on this bread recipe for several months now and I think I have it just where I want it. My goal was to make a loaf of bread that used the bread machine to do the tedious part of the bread making and still have a normal shaped loaf.

You may have noticed on my blogs in the past that I often refer to my bread machine and my slow cooker as the “hired help” in the kitchen. They really can be if you use them on a regular basis. I love my bread machine and use it a lot. Sometimes I let it do all the work from start to finish but more often I use it like I do in this recipe. I take advantage of the Dough setting and then transfer the bread to a regular loaf pan to finish up.

Since I am home working most days it is convenient for me to do this. I can still get a lot of work done while the machine does most of the work on the bread. Then at the sound of my timer I can take a break to see to the needs of the bread. At the end of a few hours I have a loaf of bread just as good as the ones that my mom and my grandma put so much work into. That being said I do still make bread the old fashioned way that I learned as a young girl. I still enjoy to work with the dough but face it most days I just don't have the luxury of the time it takes.

I want to cover a few things about this bread before I give you the recipe.

I use ¼ cup of sugar in this recipe. I do that for several reasons the first being that it helps the yeast to get maximum rise. The yeast does need sugar to give it the energy and it helps to make this a practically fool proof recipe (as long as you measure carefully and follow the directions) Also with the addition of sugar you get some of the best toasting bread since the sugar is what helps to brown it in the toaster.

I designed this bread to use plain old All Purpose flour. I love that because I don't always have special bread flour on hand, if you want to add some variety and boost the nutrients a bit you might try replacing up to half the flour with whole wheat flour. The resulting loaf will be a bit denser but equally as tasty. Or try your favorite flour and see how it works. I would recommend that you replace no more than half of the flour with another flour.

About 10 minutes after I start the bread machine I like to go and make a visual check of the loaf. At this point I adjust the liquid/flour ratio. When I lift the lid I want to find a nice ball of dough being worked by the machine. If it is too hard or there is a batch of flour that isn't getting mixed into the dough I add just a bit of warm water (no more than a Tablespoon at a time) if on the other hand the dough is too loose to form a good ball I add some more flour (again about a Tablespoon at a time) After the machine has a few minutes to work this addition in I re-check to see if the dough is forming a nice ball, if not I make another adjustment and re-check.

Another way to add some variety to your loaf of bread is to change the liquid you use. You can always use water but why? There's an entire world out there of wonderful liquids to try. I have used many things I think our favorites so far have been various fruit juices (orange is really good and makes fantastic French Toast) and buttermilk. Be warned the juices will allow your bread to raise a lot taller so keep an eye on it while it is rising in the loaf pan you might want to bake it before the hour is up. My nest experiment will be with some broth to see how that works. What can you think of to try?

At the end of the video I share a tip I learned from my mom (and she most likely learned from her mom) and I wanted to pass it on to you. As soon as you take the baked loaf out of the oven and out of the pan brush it with melted butter and wrap it in a damp towel and then onto a cooling rack. This process not only gives the bread a wonderfully flavored crust but it steams the loaf and softens the crust just the right amount. Don't use your best towels for this, you might get some stains from the melted butter and the steam but it is well worth it.

Bread

1 cup milk (heated to just warm)

1 egg

2 Tablespoons melted butter

3 ¼ cups All Purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

¼ cup sugar

1 Tablespoon dry yeast

Basic Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

This is my all time favorite recipe for dinner rolls year round. It's the recipe I pull out almost everytime I need to make some basic rolls. Not only are they a very tasty dinner roll but the bread machine does most of the work for you.

You can make these ahead; shape the dough as directed, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for anywhere from 4 to 48 hours. Take them out of the fridge, remove the plastic wrap and allow to rise in a warm place for 2 hours then bake as directed.

If you want rolls that a are crispy all around put them on a rimmed baking sheet to rise and bake as directed.

If you want rolls that are soft on the sides use a 13”x9” baking dish.

I've also used a muffin tin to make rolls that were more muffin shaped.

You can brush the tops before you bake with beaten egg for a chewier, brown crust (also this will allow you to sprinkle them with sesame seeds) or with milk if desired. Or do like I do and brush them with melted butter after they bake for a wonderful buttery crust. (wrap them in a damp towel briefly too for a softer crust)

You can make these the day before and simply re-heat them in the oven wrapped in foil too. Like I said they are really versatile.

showing 3 variations on shape

Basic Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

1 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons room temperature butter

1 egg

3 ¼ cup all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon yeast

Measure all the ingredients into your bread machine in the order specified in your owner's manual. If you don't have the manual anymore the order I listed them in is the order my machine calls for.

Use the dough cycle on your machine to form the dough.

At the end of the dough setting remove the dough from the machine to a floured surface. Cover and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Grease your pan (see above)

divide the dough into 15 equal sized pieces, shape each piece into a ball. Place in prepared pan. Cover and rise in a warm (draft free) place for 30 to 40 minutes or until double in size.

Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Brush the tops with melted butter if desired.

Serve warm or cool on a wire rack.

Pesto Tomato Bread

This has quickly become a favorite bread to go with some of the wonderful soups I that we all tend to eat more of this time of year. And the fact that the bread machine does all the work of mixing and kneading and getting it ready for you shape and bake it makes it fairly easy too.

The touch of sun dried tomatoes and pesto give the bread just a hint of those flavors making it go so well with soups. The sun dried tomatoes also lend it a beautiful color that would make it stand out in a bread basket.

Besides going wonderfully with soup this makes some of the best grilled cheese sandwiches too!

Pesto Tomato Bread

3 cups all purpose flour

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ Tablespoons dry yeast

1 cup Plus 2 Tablespoons warm water

1/3 cup pesto

1/3 cup coarsely chopped oil packed sun-dried tomatoes

1 egg beaten with a small amount of water

shredded Parmesan cheese

Add all ingredients except the egg and Parmesan cheese to your bread machine in the order directed by your owner's manual.

Set the bread machine for a Dough setting.

When the cycle is complete roll dough out to a 16” x 12” rectangle and cut in half crosswise. Roll up each half of the dough into 12” long loaves.

Using a sharp knife make 3 diagonal slices across the tops of each loaf.

Place on a well greased baking sheet and allow to rise in a warm place for 30 to 40 minutes or until doubled.

Brush the loaves of bread with the egg/ water mixture and sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated 375 degree (Fahrenheit) oven for about 20 minutes until golden brown.

Makes 2 loaves

Bread Machine Focus week Day 4- Using the dough cycle

Another of the cycles that I consider to be really important in a bread machine is the dough cycle. With this feature you are free to make breads and rolls that you can form and bake in your regular oven. I use mine this way for dinner rolls on a regular basis. It is so nice to have the machine do all the mixing, kneading and rising for me. I then only have to form the rolls allow them to rise again and bake them. This really frees up my time when entertaining or just getting dinner on the table for the family.

Most of the bread machines I have used and looked at take about an hour and a half for this cycle. Then most recipes need to rise again and be baked so you can easily plan your time. I find that the rolls seem to rise more predictably this way than when I make them with my mixer and try to do both rises in my somewhat cold kitchen.

I also use this feature for pizza crust, cutting my prep time down a lot when making a pizza from scratch.

The recipe I am giving today is one of our favorites and makes a very basic dinner roll that is good with any meal. I found this recipe when I was on a mission for a friend to find a dairy free roll recipe that actually tasted good. I especially love the versatility of this recipe. How you want to use the rolls will determine how many rolls you get. If you want a sandwich bun (about the size of a regular size hamburger bun) you will get 12. If you want dinner rolls between 15 and 18 depending on how big you want your rolls.

Dinner Rolls

1 cup warm water

2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1 egg

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

¼ cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

4 teaspoons yeast

Combine the ingredients in your bread machine in the order specified by the manufacturer.

Select the dough cycle

At the end of the dough cycle remove the dough from the bread machine and allow to rest on a floured surface, covered for about 10 minutes.

Grease a rimmed cookie sheet (mine is about 10”X15” and is the perfect size for this recipe.

Divide the dough in to the desired number of rolls. If you want to use them for sandwiches cut it into 12 if you want a dinner roll you can do either 15 or 18 depending on how big you want your rolls.

Allow the rolls to rise covered in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Serve warm.

Bread Machine Focus week Day 3- The Delay Setting

One of my favorite features on my bread machine is the delay setting. By taking advantage of this feature I can set up my bread machine and know that when the end of the day comes I will have a wonderful, hot, delicious loaf of fresh homemade bread waiting for dinner.  On a busy day when I can leave my two favorite kitchen helpers my bread machine and slow cooker in charge of dinner I know that when dinner time rolls around I will only need a few minutes to pull together a tasty and satisfying meal for the family. I do recommend getting to know your bread machine before you leave it for the day, like I mentioned a few days ago my current machine always needs to have a bit more liquid than most recipes call for. Since I know my machine so well, I can look at the recipe and make those adjustments in the morning when I put the ingredients in the bread machine.

Another good time to use the delay setting is for breakfast. Wouldn’t your family love to wake up to the smell of fresh bread waiting for them in the morning? Just slice and you are ready to head out the door.

Now, not all recipes can be left on Delay. You need to read through the list of ingredients. In order to be safe on the delay cycle there needs to be no fresh dairy (butter is okay though) or eggs, honey, meats or fresh fruits or vegetables.  As long as none of these ingredients are in the recipe you are good to go.

Do make sure when you are layering your ingredients in the bread machine that yeast will be safe from coming in contact with the liquid ingredients until the machine starts to mix, that is one of the reasons the yeast is almost always put in last on top of everything else.

Today’s recipe is Crusty Italian Bread; this is one of our family favorites and works well with almost any Italian inspired meal as well as almost any soup. This is one of my favorites to pair with slow cooker meals for a quick dinner on a busy day.

Crusty Italian Bread

1 1/8 cups water

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 cups bread flour

1 envelope dry Italian salad dressing mix

3 Tablespoons Sugar

1 ¼ teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon yeast

Layer ingredients in the bread machine in recommended order.

Set machine to Delay cycle, 1 ½ pound loaf

Enjoy

This recipe also bakes well at the basic or white bread setting if you don’t need to use the delay.

Bread Machine Focus week Day 2- What goes in to a loaf of bread and why?

We all have read recipes for bread and most of us have probably even made at least a few loaves of bread. Did you ever wonder why you are putting in the ingredients that you are and what they do for your loaf of bread?

For most breads the major ingredient is flour, usually a bread flour or an all-purpose flour. Flour provides the structure for the loaf and contributes to the flavor. For a yeast bread at least a part of the flour needs to be a wheat flour because wheat contains gluten. By getting the flour moist and beating it the gluten becomes very elastic and allows the dough to stretch as the yeast rises and gives the loaf the strength to keep its shape. There are some gluten free recipes for yeast bread and I will try to do a focus week in the future on those recipes. For now we are working with breads made with wheat. Rye flour contains some gluten but not as much as wheat and that is why it is normally mixed with wheat flour.

Another ingredient that is important is the liquid in the bread recipe. It can be water, milk, eggs, juice almost any liquid can be used. Most recipes call for at least some water to dissolve the yeast in, and the liquid should be warm (not hot) to allow the yeast to start growing. Yeast has 2 major roles in the loaf of bread, it is the ingredient that allows the yeast to come to life and it moistens the flour to allow the gluten to develop. The liquid you choose also will affect the texture and flavor of the finished loaf.  Milk will create a velvety grain that is much softer than other liquids. Eggs beaten and used as part of the liquid will add richness to the bread as well as adding a nutrient boost. Fruit juice can add a wonderful flavor to bread. Water used alone will produce a coarse texture and a chewier crust.

Leavenings- are the ingredients that produce carbon dioxide gas and lighten the dough- make it to rise and be airy and light. There are 2 main types of leaveners chemical and biological. Chemical leaveners are baking powder and baking soda and we will talk about those another day. This week we are focusing on yeast breads so that is our emphasis today. Yeast is a microscopic plant that when activated with warm liquid gives off bubbles of carbon dioxide that make your bread dough rise. For the recipes I am sharing I use dry yeast in the granulated form, my preference is Bob’s Red Mill brand and if you can get it is well worth it. This product is sold in a bag and must be kept refrigerated but is by far the best yeast I have ever used. When I can’t get it I buy any other brand of yeast from the grocery store in a jar. I never buy the packets of yeast because I find they are way more expensive and much more prone to spoilage.

Sugar and salt are in most bread recipes, sugar has two main functions it feeds the yeast and also helps the crust to get brown. Salt helps to control the growth of yeast, without the salt the yeast will grow too quickly and loose it’s leavening qualities before the bread is finished. They both obviously add to the flavor balance too. Sugar can be in the form of granulated sugar, brown sugar, honey, or molasses all giving their own distinct flavor profile.

Fats are the finial must have in the loaf of bread; this is what makes the bread moist, tender and palatable. Fat can come in many forms also- salad oil, olive oil, butter or shortening to name the most common.

Your loaf of bread can also have many other special ingredients to add special flavors- herbs, cheeses, nuts, dry fruits almost anything can be added. These ingredients aren’t necessary to the basic creation of the loaf they are there to give it a special flavor and character.

This potato bread is a good example of using extra ingredients to make your loaf of bread special. The potato makes for a nice soft bread that is perfect for both sandwiches and toast and the rosemary accents many sandwich fillings perfectly. I totally recommend this bread for your next chicken or turkey sandwich!

Potato Rosemary Bread

1 1/3 cups warm water

2 Tablespoons butter (softened)

3 cups bread flour

½ cup dry instant mashed potato mix

1 Tablespoon dry rosemary (crushed)

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon dry yeast

Put the ingredients in your bread machine in the order your owner’s manual directs.*

Select basic or white cycle (this bread would also do well on the delay setting)

* If you don’t have an owner’s manual for your machine look online. Most bread machines call for layering the ingredients in the order I have them listed in the recipe.

Bread Machine Focus week Day 1- the Basics

Welcome to the first of what I hope will be a continuing feature of this blog- the Focus Week! A Focus Week will be just that a week set aside where I will focus on a specific topic. Sometimes it will be an appliance (like this week) sometimes an ingredient, a type of food or who knows but the recipes that week will come with my thoughts and experiences, a little (or a lot) of education and hopefully some great recipes that you can try in your own kitchen.

So while we focus on the bread machine, I first want to say I love mine! I use it a lot not just to bake bread but to make dough for everything from pizza to dinner rolls. Out of every 10 loaves of bread we eat in our house I probably make at least 9 of them. Over the course of the year about half of those loaves of bread come directly out of my bread machine. The bread machine I have currently is my second one; I did wear out the first one. This one has more bells and whistles than the last one but most of those are not necessary. If you have never used a bread machine before and are shopping for one I would recommend you start with a very basic machine. The only features you really need are the ability to make a basic loaf of bread, a dough setting (so you can make a dough to remove and make rolls or pizza and what have you) and a delay timer (so you can have bread ready later in the day) the other features are nice but really are not necessary at all. There are many nice bread machines to be had for under $100 and these are the perfect ones to start out with. Do look for a manufactures warranty of at least a year. If the manufacture won’t stick behind the product for at least a year there is probably a reason.

You might be wondering why I say buy a basic model for your first bread machine, the reason is you need to learn a few things about yourself before you spend big bucks on a lot of features. You may find that the basic machine is just exactly what you need and you will be very happy with those features. Or you might find that you really don’t use it as often as you thought you would, not a problem a basic machine will still be handy to use and will serve you for many years.

One of my favorite things to do on a busy day is set up my slow cooker with soup and my bread machine to make a special loaf of bread and I can get on with my day. It doesn’t matter if I am busy at home or out and about I know that at the end of the day dinner will be waiting for us with very little bother, a very nice feeling at the end of a long day.

If you are going to leave your bread machine on a delay setting be sure of a couple of things first. You need to choose a recipe with no fresh dairy or eggs in the recipe; those could start to spoil before the machine comes on and make you sick. There are a lot of recipes that are very safe to use on a delay setting however. Also know your bread machine, for instance with my current machine I find I need to add about 2 Tablespoons more liquid than a lot of recipes call for. I never had that problem with my old machine that is why you need to check your machine after the first 5 to 6 minutes of mixing and adjust your mixture. You may find you need to add more flour or more liquid, when you get to know your machine you can make these adjustments when you are filling the pan.

Today the recipe I am sharing is for a basic white bread. I am listing the ingredients in the order that they go into the bread pan in most bread machines. Be sure to check your owner’s manual for specifics with your machine.

Basic White Bread from the Bread Machine

1 1/8 cups lukewarm water

1 teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons sugar

3 Tablespoons butter

3 1/3 cups bread machine flour

1 Tablespoon dry milk

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

Spray the pan from your bread machine with no-stick spray and add the ingredients to the pan in the order specified in your owner’s manual.

Use the basic or white bread cycle for this loaf and choose the 1 ½ pound loaf size setting.

Stay tuned tomorrow for another great recipe and we will talk a bit about the ingredients that go into a loaf of bread and what they do.