Simple Sweet Dough

Cinnamon Rolls, Butter Doughnuts, Raisin Bread, Blueberry Kolochi

A basic sweet dough can make so many things. Last week the boys and I made a double batch and baked up cinnamon rolls, butter doughnuts, sticky buns, kolachi, and raisin bread. The same dough can be used for bierocks, fancy breads, and stuffed with potatoes and cheese for tiny pyrizhky. We are planning on holding a bake sale for No Kid Hungry, so this was "practice."

Sweet dough is one of the easiest yeast doughs to make by hand. My greatest challenge is to just let go and use white flour. Trial after trial, using various ratios of whole wheat-to-white, I find that the fluffiest, most tender pastries need the fine texture of white flour. Once the aroma of cinnamon buns in the oven takes over the kitchen, I can get over the health kick.

Tips for sweet dough:

* Use white flour.

* Avoid the urge to knead in too much flour. Your dough will be really soft, and that's okay. There will be eggs to add some lift.

* Use fresh eggs. Can you get them from your backyard or right from someone else's? Use those.

* Butter. Butter, butter. Butter in the dough, melted butter in the rising bowl and on top. Melted butter in the pan.... Margarine is not butter. If you are dairy-free, the only thing I have found to come close is pure coconut oil, and for that add a pinch of salt.

* Avoid instant yeast. It doubles too quickly, not leaving enough time for the flour to stretch and soften.

* If it is really warm in the house or you need the first rising to take longer so you can run errands, use half the yeast. That will buy you twenty minutes.

* After forming the pastries, let then rise until they seem almost frothy. Unlike regular bread, there is little risk of a collapse from too much rising because there are eggs in the dough.

* To make dough the night before for breakfast, pop it straight into the fridge before rising. In the morning, give it a light knead to break carbon dioxide bubbles, and give it extra time to warm up and rise after the pastries are formed. You can make the pastries ahead and refrigerate them to slow the rising. Allow them extra time, at least half an hour, to warm up before you bake them.

Bread Making Tips not fit for Home Ec

Delicious Bread for the Family, not the County Fair

Baking your own bread is rewarding. You get to control the ingredients and limit food additives. You can save quite a bit of money, and it is a great workout. And then there is the aroma... It can also be intimidating. My favorite beginner's cookbook has a whole page dedicated to "troubleshooting" in case the tops dimple or crack, the loaves rise then fall, don't rise, are dense or become crumbly.

Forget, for a minute about what you may have learned in Home Ec*. This is not about winning a prize at the County Fair; it is about providing wholesome and delicious food for your family. Since shunning store-bought bread, this is what I have learned:

Skip the loaf shape. Bread is supposed to be loaf-shaped, with a perfectly round dome on the top, right? That particular shape is hard to achieve (hence the whole county fair thing) and the slices do not fit in the toaster, anyway. Sticking to rolls, or mega-buns is more practical. Rolls fit into freezer bags more easily and can be thawed as many at a time as you need. When sliced with a good bread knife, you can get four little circles for toast, which is a hit with our kids. A mega-bun gives your bread that "artisan" shape. You can free-form loaves and bake them on a cookie sheet, too.

Kolachi (braided circle bread)

I was a lucky kid: my mother grew up in a home where Christmas was celebrated on December 25th. My father's family celebrated Christmas on January 6th. In our house, we celebrated both. On December 25th we would exchange gifts and have a big dinner. The second, "Ukrainian Christmas" was all about food. Kutia, perogies, borsch, cabbage rolls... There were a few times when we travelled to my Baba and Gida's home and joined my aunts, uncles and cousins for a traditional Christmas Eve supper. Twelve meatless dishes are served to remind us of the twelve apostles. That is a lot of good, good food.

My First Kolach!

One of my favorite parts of Ukrainian Christmas was the kolach: a braided bread that decorated the table. Sometimes three were stacked on each other to represent the Holy Trinity. Rich and sweet, I could not wait for my mother to take the candle out if the middle and let us cut it up.

Breakfast Bread

Red River Cereal, which is a blend of cracked wheat, rye and flaxseed, is one of my favorite breakfast foods.  So is toast. Why choose? Each loaf of this hearty bread contains four bowls of porridge, a bowl of oatmeal and a third of a cup of sunflower seeds. Pop a couple slices in the toaster and you have hot porridge, to go!

As a bonus, you can use sour milk if you happen to have some in the fridge. Your bread will have a faintly tart taste like sourdough.  Adding a cup or two of wheat bran before the flour will add even more fiber. Bread always slices better the day after it is made.

Grillin' Buns (vegan option)

Which is better, the aroma of a smokey barbecue, or of fresh bread baking? Both! Fresh off the grill, these flat little buns are great for burgers, cheese sandwiches, or as a dipper for hummus.

Grillin' Buns

Per dozen:

1 tsp sugar
1 tsp yeast
1/8 cup cup lukewarm water

1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk (or another half cup water if you prefer a vegan bun.)
1/8 cup olive oil
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt

3.5- 4 cups flour (white, or 3 cups whole wheat plus white for kneading)

Dissolve sugar and yeast in lukewarm water, let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat milk to lukewarm and mix with warm water, oil, sugar and salt.

Add yeast mixture to the rest of the liquid ingredients. Add the first three cups of flour, one cup at a time. Turn the dough onto a board and knead for 8 minutes, working in as much of the fourth cup of flour as you can.

Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into the bottom of the bowl. Turn the dough bal around in the oil to coat the top and flip it dough-side up in the bowl. Cover with a cloth and let rise until double, about half an hour to forty-five minutes. If you are using whole wheat flour, knead the dough again after half an hour and let it rise for another half an hour.

[If you use charcoal, start the grill at this point to make sure the grill is hot enough when the buns are ready to cook.]

Punch the dough down and shape into a dozen balls. (I will split the dough in half, then half again, then twist each quarter into three portions.) To shape the balls, roll them in your hand, outer dough-in, as if you were flipping them inside-out. Pour a bit more oil in the bowl and lightly coat your hands. Quickly roll each dough ball in your hands to coat with the oil, re-dipping your hands as needed. The light coating of oil will keep the dough from drying out during the next rise.

Let the dough balls rest for 10 minutes. Next, gently roll each ball out to about 1/2 " thick, and place the circles on cookie sheets. Allow the rolls to rise until double, about half an hour. (If you double the recipe, place half of the sheets in the fridge to slow down the rising.)

When the coals are hot (or the gas is on) close the lid to heat up the grill like an oven inside. Take the buns out on the cookie sheets. If your grill has a temperature gauge, note that 450F internal temperature is ideal. Keep the lid down until just before you put the buns on the grill. You have to move quickly to get a good rise without burning the buns. Grill is hot, the buns are ready, you have a flipper and a pair of tongs on hand.... GO!

Open the lid, and gently place half a dozen buns on the grill. Try to avoid the middle and other "hot spots." Close the lid. After about five minutes, open the lid again and turn the buns over. They should look like toasted english muffins. Close the lid again and wait a couple minutes. The buns should rise quickly due to the high internal heat. You can move them around some to ensure they are golden on both sides. After you take them off, close the lid on the grill to raise the internal temperature again. Grill the next half dozen.

When you are done with the bread, put your burgers, veggies or whatever else you have to cook on the grill. The buns will soften up on the outside while the rest of the meal is cooking.

The buns freeze very well in a sealed zip-lock.



I shared this recipe with the Ultimate Recipe Swap- Grilling Edition.

www.stealthymom.com

Soft Rolls

Soft Rolls

A batch of these soft rolls makes three dozen, and they freeze very well. They are the perfect size for a toddler sandwich, a 1/4 pound burger, a dunk for soup, or a treat with butter and honey. If sliced thinly, they make four slices for crispy toast.

White Bread (vegan, low sodium)

White Bread (vegan, low sodium)

Simple and cheap, nothing fills a home with a heavenly aroma like fresh bread. To make two loaves, you will need:

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 tsp sugar

1 tablespoon active, dry yeast

2 cups lukewarm water

1/8 cup sugar
2 tsp lite salt

3 tbsp olive oil

6-7 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

additional olive oil

Hearty Artisan Bread (low sodium)

This recipe varies a bit from “classic” recipes your grandmother may have passed down. There is no butter or shortening, and whey takes the place of milk. Flaxseed meal contributes to the soft texture. With its subtle, nutty taste, you might forget that this bread is low in sodium!

(The whey is left over from making cheese. If you have none on hand, use 1 1/2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups milk.)