Bread Dough

I've gotten a number of recipe requests in the last few months, and I've been thinking for awhile about just posting recipes on a blog-- both for foods that I've made for years as well as for foods I've just tried out.

Per Natalie and Laura's request, here's my roll recipe. You can use it to make bread, stromboli, rolls...it's rather versatile. Take it and make it your own.

Dough:

• 3.5 cups flour
• .5 cup butter
• 3 TBsp sugar
• 2 TBsp yeast
• 1 cup milk
• .5 cup water
• 1 tsp salt

Because yeast needs warmth and sugar to best activate (the warmth activates it and sugar gives it something to feed on), I melt the butter, warm the milk and water, and then add the yeast and sugar to that. The liquids should be warm, but not so hot that you can't comfortably stick your finger into them. You want to activate the yeast, not kill it. (Avoid microwaving the yeast while you're at it.) Once you've combined the water, milk, butter, yeast, and sugar, add the salt. Stir, and then begin adding your flour. You'll be able to use a whisk to start out, but soon you'll need to get in and use your hands. I roughly use 3.5 cups of flour, but the dough should be slightly tacky to the touch by the time you're done. Use more or less flour as needed. Knead for several minutes, being careful to avoid breaking the dough in the process.

At this point I'll turn the oven on to warm for the future-- 200 degrees is good. Put some oil in the bowl you've been mixing in and roll your dough in it (again, not breaking the dough). Cover the dough/bowl with a clean dish towel and leave to sit for 15-20 minutes. It should rise quite well. Turn off the oven (you don't want it too hot). If you're going to make rolls, pull the dough apart and pat it into roughly the size dough you want. This recipe should make twelve rolls. Place them onto an appropriate pan, cover them with the dish towel, and put them in the warmed oven. Leave them to rise for about 15 minutes before removing the towel (important!) and turning the oven on to 350 degrees. Bake until golden brown.

Conversely, you can grease a bread pan and place the wad of dough in that instead to bake at 350 degrees for some nice bread.

I used this recipe last night to make dough for stromboli and I think it turned out well. That's a whole other post though, I think.