Category Archives: Yeast

Bread Machine Whole Wheat Bread

I have recently rediscovered my bread maker. Great, a loss of more valuable real estate on the counter! But so worth it. I can’t honestly remember the last time I regularly bought bread at the shops. Home made bread, whether you do it completely from scratch or with the assistance of a bread maker…just so yummilicious! The house smells good, the bread is good – even if it doesn’t come out just right- oh, yes, the taste of freshly baked bread, straight out of the oven with a bit of butter or good olive oil.
I have to admit that I love a slice of homemade white bread; it’s like you have died and gone to foodie heaven. It’s what childhood should taste like. White, pure, absolutely delicious. Maybe that is why I love it so much; it symbolizes what I miss, what I hope I gave my children and what I hope to give to my grandchildren.
I digress, while I do love white bread and all it has to offer, I also love a fresh-outta-the-oven slice of whole wheat goodness! It is more sensible, right?  Now the cookbook that came with my bread maker was sadly lacking in everyday recipes…who makes Potato Bread on a regular basis? Or Banana Bread…in a bread maker?? So I sat down at the computer and googled whole wheat bread; I settled on this one from my trusted friends over at Betty Crocker <-she taught me how to cook, bless her soul! I chose this recipe for Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread but have changed it up a few times: once I used Epicures 3 Onion Dip mix and Parmesan Cheese, another time I used Garlic and Italian Herbs…subbing out the Cinnamon and Cranberries, of course. So far they have all been a hit!

whole wheat cranberry bread
Grilled Cheese on Whole Wheat Cranberry Bread

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Hot Water (70degreesF – 80degreesF)
1/4 cup Honey
2 Tablespoons (1 ounce) Butter, cubed
2 cups Flour
1 1/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 1/2 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon Nutmeg
2 teaspoons Bread Machine or Quick Active Dry Yeast
1/2 cup Dried Cranberries or Raisins

Carefully measure all ingredients into the bread pan, in the order listed, except for cranberries – I often use the a bit of this a bit of that regime for making recipes but never for bread! It wants precision.
Select Whole Wheat cycle (on my machine Setting 2)
Use Medium or Light Crust colour.
Do NOT use delay cycle – Dough cycle is alright.
Add Cranberries when the machine beeps.
Remove baked bread from pan and cool on cooling rack.

herb and garlic whole wheat bread
Herb and Garlic Whole Wheat Bread

Omit Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cranberries.
Measure water, butter and honey into baking pan.
Add flours, salt and ADD
1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
Carefully stir herbs and garlic into the flour without disturbing underlying water.
Sprinkle Yeast over combined flour mixture.
Use the same Whole Wheat Bread cycle (Setting 2 on mine)

Three Onion and Parmesan Cheese Bread
Three Onion and Parmesan Cheese Bread

Omit Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Cranberries.
Measure water, butter and honey into baking pan.
Add flours, salt and ADD
1 Tablespoon Epicure 3 Onion Dip Mix
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated – when the machine beeps.Carefully stir herbs and garlic into the flour without disturbing underlying water.
Sprinkle Yeast over combined flour mixture.
Use the same Whole Wheat Bread cycle (Setting 2 on mine)
When machine beeps, add Parmesan Cheese.

Scrumptious Dinner Rolls

These are simply the BEST, quick and easy yeast rolls you will ever make. And make them you will, and often, because they are that easy and that incredibly yummy!
Admittedly, I already had a tried-and-true recipe for quick dinner rolls but when these popped up in my Facebook feed I simply had to try them. I have had favourable results with a lot of Kitchen Meets Girl recipes and figured this recipe for 30-Minute Dinner Rolls would be no different.  I was right. I love being right, especially when it comes to food!

The Best Dinner Rolls you will ever have
The Best Dinner Rolls you will ever have

1 cup + 2 Tablespoons Warm Water
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
2 Tablespoons Active Dry Yeast
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, at room temperature
3 1/2 cups Flour

Preheat oven to 400F.
Lightly spray a 9X13″ pan with vegetable oil spray.

In mixing bowl combine warm water, oil, yeast and sugar.
Allow to rest for 15 minutes.
Using the dough hook, stir in 2 cups of the flour, salt, egg into the yeast mixture.
Add remaining 1 1/2 cups of flour slowly, about 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition.
On low speed, knead for about 5 minutes.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface, gather into a ball and knead a few times, until smooth and elastic.
Shape dough into 12 evenly shaped balls and place in prepared pan; cover with a clean tea towel and let rest for 10 minutes.
Bake in preheated 400F oven for  about 10 – 12 minutes, or just until the tops are golden brown.
Remove from oven and turn out onto wire rack to cool slightly before serving.

Yield: 12 Dinner Rolls

Oh, and BTW, they are absolutely incredible with Vegemite!

Best Ever Dinner Rolls with Vegemite - Yum!
Best Ever Dinner Rolls with Vegemite – Yum!

Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

I have recently discovered the Dough setting on my Breadmaker and am putting it to good use! Why don’t I just make bread from scratch, you ask? Let’s face it, I just am not tall enough, nor are my counters low enough to ensure comfortable Kneading…and bread dough begs to be kneaded for 8-10 minutes. For these two reasons I have decided to let my machine do the hard work for me. That isn’t cheating, is it?

I really need to unsubscribe from Chocolate, Chocolate and More on Facebook because everyday something comes through the feed that I just HAVE to make! Heaven knows I simply do not have the time or the people on hand to eat all of the stuff I want to make…
That said, I am delighted to have had this recipe for Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls come through because I often make soups and stews which are so much better with home made bread or buns.

Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls
Super Light and Fluffy Dinner Rolls

1 1/2 cups Hot Water, from the tap
1/3 (65g) Vegetable Shortening, cubed
1/4 c Sugar
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Egg, well beaten
4 cups Flour
2 1/4 teaspoons Active Dry Yeast  (1 pkg)

In bread mixer pan add ingredients in order listed.
Use the Dough setting on your Bread Maker ( usually 1 1/2 hours)
Turn dough out onto lightly flour surface and knead into a smooth ball.
Portion dough evenly into 12 – 15 pieces.
Shape each portion into a ball and place in greased 9X13″ pan.
Cover lightly with oiled plastic wrap or L-Foil and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake in preheated 375F oven for about 15 – 18 minutes, until golden on top and sounds hollow when you tap on the surface.
Remove from oven, immediately brush with butter.
Turn out onto wire rack to cool completely.

* I used a 9X13″ but portioned my dough for 16 pieces instead of 12! I put the extra dough into 2 lil ramekins and baked along side the big pan of rolls.

If making by Hand:
In bowl of your mixer, combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
Use paddle attachment and add hot water.
Mix on Low speed until all combined.
Add shortening and egg, continuing to stir until well blended.
Switch to dough hook and add remaining flour.
Knead dough for 10 minutes.
Dough will be very soft and sticky.
Transfer dough to a large greased bowl, turning dough to coat.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm location until doubled in size.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface.
Roll dough into smooth ball, cut into four equal pieces and then those four pieces into three pieces each to give you a total of 12 rolls.
Shape each piece into a ball and place in a greased 9×13″ pan.
Cover with towel and let rise again until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake as directed above.

Yield: 12- 18 Dinner Rolls

 

Dinner Rolls

One of the reasons that I love my Kitchenaid Mixer is because it takes the hardship out of making bread dough! Which, in turn, makes it very easy to make fresh dinner rolls to accompany hearty soups.
My husband recently bought me a bread maker so I tried the dough setting, which worked fine. The Recipe book that came with the bread maker didn’t have a Dinner Roll recipe so I used the White Bread recipe on the Dough setting. I shaped the dough, proofed the rolls, covered lightly with a clean tea towel in a slightly heated oven in which I then placed, on the oven floor, a bowl with about four cups of boiled water. I proofed them for about 45 minutes then baked them in a 400F oven for about 17 minutes (I had the time set for 18), removed them from the oven and immediately brushed with them with melted butter.
After all that effort? I was not too pleased with the dinner rolls! Why not? Because I was expecting these!

Dinner Rolls
Crescent Shaped Dinner Rolls

3 1/2 cups Flour
1/4 cup Sugar
1/4 cup Shortening (butter works too)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Quick Rise yeast
1/2 cup very warm Milk (120F – 130F)
1/2 cup very warm Water (120F – 130F)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Butter, melted

Mix 2 cups of the flour, the sugar, shortening, salt and yeast in Kitchenaid mixing bowl.
Add warm water, warm milk and egg; using the Paddle attachment, beat on low speed for about a minute.
Scrape down sides of bowl and stir a couple of times.
Switch to Dough Hook attachment and slowly add enough remaining flour to make a soft, pliable dough.
Knead for about 7 minutes or until smooth and elastic.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface, knead a few times by hand to shape the dough into a ball; cover and let rise for 10-15 minutes.
Lightly spray two baking trays with vegetable oil spray; dust ever so slightly with cornmeal.
Divided dough in half; cover the half you are not working with.
On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into a large thing circle.
Using a knife, cut dough into 8 wedges.

Crescent Shaped Rolls
Rolled out, cut and ready to roll up

Tightly roll each wedge, from base to tip, place on prepared baking tray, forming a C-shape with each roll.

Roll up the Wedge to Win
Roll up the Wedge to Win!

Cover and let rise for about 30 – 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 400F.
Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven and immediately brush with melted butter.

Makes 16 Rolls