Category Archives: Bread

Simple Amish White Bread

Posted on by
Reply

PREP TIME: 5 MCOOK TIME: 30 MTOTAL TIME: 35 M

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons active dry yeast (2 packets)
  • 2 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 120°)
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 8 tablespoons (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 6-7 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Melt 4 tablespoons butter. I microwave on high for 30 seconds at a time until it is mostly melted.  I recommend covering with a paper towel to avoid messes.  Set aside.
  2. In the bowl of a stand mixer add sugar and water.  Sprinkle yeast over top and swirl with spoon or fingers to combine.  Allow the yeast to sit for about 5-10 minutes while the it blooms and becomes aromatic.
  3. Add melted butter, 4 cups flour, and salt.  Mix on low, using the dough hook, until smooth.  Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time until a soft dough ball forms (I use the entire 7 cups).  Turn the mixer to medium and knead for 5 minutes. When it is ready, your ball of dough should be tacky, not sticky. When you touch the dough and pull your fingers away the dough should not stick to your fingers. If it is sticky, add a little more flour 1 tablespoon at a time until it becomes tacky.
  4. Turn the dough onto a floured board; knead about 10 turns. To knead dough: fold it in half, gently press the dough away from you with the heel of your hand and then turn the dough. Repeat. When you are finished kneading your dough should be smooth and elastic. 
  5. Shape dough into a smooth ball so it will rise properly: fold the sides of the dough over into the middle of the dough. Flip the dough over. Cup your hands along the right and left sides of the dough and pull it toward you. Rotate the dough a quarter turn and repeat. After about 10 times you will have a nice smooth dough.
  6. Place 1 tablespoon of butter in a large microwave-safe bowl. Heat butter in the microwave until butter is melted.  Place the dough into the bowl with the butter, flipping once to grease the top. Make sure the smooth side of the ball is on top for the rise. Loosely cover with plastic wrap and a towel over the top and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  7. Punch dough down and divide into two loaves. 
  8. Shape the bread for the bread pans: Place dough on a lightly floured countertop. Pat one of the divided doughs into an oval. Fold the top third of the dough and fold it into the middle of the dough. Use the heel of your hand to press the top layer into the bottom layer. Repeat with the bottom third of the dough. Like you are folding a letter. Fold the dough in half. Pull the ends of the dough down and tuck under like a package to make a smooth dough.
  9. Place each dough in a greased 9-in. x 5-in loaf pan. Press the dough down flat in the bread pan, using your flat hand to help it rise evenly. 
  10. Preheat oven to 350°F.   
  11. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes.  
  12. Place bread on the center rack. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. You can turn in out onto a plate and thump the bottom of the bread if it sounds hollow it is done.
  13. Allow the bread to cool in the bread pan, on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
  14. Remove the bread from the pans and brush with the remaining butter.
  15. Let the bread cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting or you may smoosh the bread loaf. I can never wait, but it is best if you can. 

 DONNA’S NOTES

  1. Bread flour will achieve the highest possible rise and a chewier crumb, all-purpose is more common to have on hand. You can use either.
  2. You can make this recipe without a stand mixer.  Add water, yeast, and sugar to a large bowl.  Once the yeast blooms stir in the butter, salt and the flour using a wooden spoon. Turn dough out onto a floured countertop and knead for 10-12 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky and holds its shape (when you poke it, it springs back).  Proceed with remaining instructions.
  3. If bread starts to brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.  
  4. For hamburger buns, grease a cookie sheet. Divide dough and roll into balls.  Gently press on dough balls with the palm of your hand (creating a bun shape).  
  5. 4-Ingredient Amish White Bread will stay fresh for 4-5 days at room temperature. It’s still safe to eat after that time, but it will most likely be stale by then. To store the bread after slicing, place it in a paper bag. Be sure to remove as much air as possible before tightly closing up the bag. You can also freeze this bread for later use. I recommend slicing it before freezing. You can freeze for up to 6 months.

Ultimate Sticky Buns via ATK

Posted on by
Reply

Flour Paste

⅔ cup water

¼ cup (1 1/3 ounces) bread flour

Dough

⅔ cup milk

1 large egg plus 1 large yolk

2 ¾ cups (15 1/8 ounces) bread flour

2 teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 ½ teaspoons salt

6 tablespoons 

unsalted butter, softened

Topping

6 tablespoons 

unsalted butter, melted

½ cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) dark brown sugar

¼ cup (1 3/4 ounces) granulated sugar

¼ cup dark corn syrup

¼ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons water

1 cup pecans, toasted and chopped (optional)

Filling

¾ cup packed (5 1/4 ounces) dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

These buns take about 4 hours to make from start to finish. For dough that is easy to work with and produces light, fluffy buns, we strongly recommend that you measure the flour for the dough by weight. The slight tackiness of the dough aids in flattening and stretching it in step 6, so resist the urge to use a lot of dusting flour. Rolling the dough cylinder tightly in step 7 will result in misshapen rolls; keep the cylinder a bit slack. Bake these buns in a metal, not glass or ceramic, baking pan. We like dark corn syrup and pecans here, but light corn syrup may be used, and the nuts may be omitted, if desired.

INSTRUCTIONS

FOR THE FLOUR PASTE: Whisk water and flour together in small bowl until no lumps remain. Microwave, whisking every 25 seconds, until mixture thickens to stiff, smooth, pudding-like consistency that forms mound when dropped from end of whisk into bowl, 50 to 75 seconds.

FOR THE DOUGH: In bowl of stand mixer, whisk flour paste and milk together until smooth. Add egg and yolk and whisk until incorporated. Add flour and yeast. Fit stand mixer with dough hook and mix on low speed until all flour is moistened, 1 to 2 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. Add sugar and salt and mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes. Stop mixer and add butter. Continue to mix on medium-low speed for 5 minutes longer, scraping down dough hook and sides of bowl halfway through (dough will stick to bottom of bowl).

Transfer dough to lightly floured counter. Knead briefly to form ball and transfer seam side down to lightly greased bowl; lightly coat surface of dough with vegetable oil spray and cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise until just doubled in volume, 40 minutes to 1 hour.

FOR THE TOPPING: While dough rises, grease 13 by 9-inch metal baking pan. Whisk melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, corn syrup, and salt together in medium bowl until smooth. Add water and whisk until incorporated. Pour mixture into prepared pan and tilt pan to cover bottom. Sprinkle evenly with pecans, if using.

FOR THE FILLING: Combine sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and mix until thoroughly combined; set aside.

Turn out dough onto lightly floured counter. Press dough gently but firmly to expel air. Working from center toward edge, pat and stretch dough to form 18 by 15-inch rectangle with long edge nearest you. Sprinkle filling over dough, leaving 1-inch border along top edge; smooth filling into even layer with your hand, then gently press mixture into dough to adhere.

Beginning with long edge nearest you, roll dough into cylinder, taking care not to roll too tightly. Pinch seam to seal and roll cylinder seam side down. Mark gently with knife to create 12 equal portions. To slice, hold strand of dental floss taut and slide underneath cylinder, stopping at first mark. Cross ends of floss over each other and pull. Slice cylinder into 12 portions and transfer, cut sides down, to prepared baking pan. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise until buns are puffy and touching one another, 40 minutes to 1 hour. (Buns may be refrigerated immediately after shaping for up to 14 hours. To bake, remove baking pan from refrigerator and let sit until buns are puffy and touching one another, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.) Meanwhile, adjust oven racks to lowest and lower-middle positions. Place rimmed baking sheet on lower rack to catch any drips and heat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake buns on upper rack until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Tent with aluminum foil and bake until center of dough registers at least 200 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Let buns cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Place rimmed baking sheet over buns and carefully invert. Remove pan and let buns cool for 5 minutes. Using spoon, scoop any glaze on baking sheet onto buns. Let cool for at least 10 minutes longer before serving.

Kindred’s Milk Bread

Posted on by
Reply

via https://food52.com/recipes/39343-kindred-s-milk-bread

Ingredients 
  • 5 1/3 cups bread flour, divided, plus more for surface (Kindred uses King Arthur)
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/3 cup mild honey (such as wildflower or alfalfa)
  • 3 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder (such as Alba)
  • 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (from about 3 envelopes)
  • 2 tablespoons kosher salt
  • 3 large eggs, divided
  • 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, at room temperature
  • Nonstick vegetable oil spray
  • Flaky sea salt (optional, but shouldn’t be)
Directions
  1. Cook 1/3 cup flour and 1 cup water in a small saucepan over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a thick paste forms (almost like a roux but looser), about 5 minutes. Add cream and honey and cook, whisking to blend, until honey dissolves.
  2. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook and add milk powder, yeast, kosher salt, 2 eggs, and 5 remaining cups flour. Knead on medium speed until dough is smooth, about 5 minutes. Add butter, a piece at a time, fully incorporating into dough before adding the next piece, until dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic, about 4 minutes.

  3. Coat a large bowl with nonstick spray and transfer dough to bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  4. If making rolls, lightly coat a 6-cup jumbo muffin pan with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 6 pieces. Divide each piece into 4 smaller pieces (you should have 24 total). They don’t need to be exact; just eyeball it. Place 4 pieces of dough side-by-side in each muffin cup.
 If making loaves, lightly coat two 9- by 5-inch loaf pans with nonstick spray. Turn out dough onto a floured surface and divide into 12 pieces. Nestle pieces side-by-side to create 2 rows down length of each pan.
 If making split-top buns, lightly coat two 9- by 13-inch baking dishes with nonstick spray. Divide dough into 12 pieces and shape each into a 4-inch long log. Place 6 logs in a row down length of each dish.
  5. Let shaped dough rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size (dough should be just puffing over top of pan), about 1 hour.
  6. Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat remaining egg with 1 teaspoon. water in a small bowl to blend. Brush top of dough with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt, if desired. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until bread is deep golden brown, starting to pull away from the sides of the pan, and is baked through, 25 to 35 minutes for rolls, 50 to 60 minutes for loaf, or 30 to 40 minutes for buns. If making buns, slice each bun down the middle deep enough to create a split-top. Let milk bread cool slightly in pan on a wire rack before turning out; let cool completely.