Oat & Honey White Wheat Bread

Looking for a change from my usual bread recipes and here’s a good one! This recipe makes 2 loaves, but because we were barbecuing burgers for dinner, instead of a second loaf, I made 8 burger buns. In the picture you might notice there are only 7 buns, I couldn’t wait!

1½ cups old-fashioned oats (plus a little more coating loaves)
4 Tbl butter
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp salt
2½ cups boiling water
1/2 cup warm water (about 110°)
4½ tsp (2 pkts) dry yeast
3 cups white wheat flour
3 cups all-purpose flour

In large bowl of mixer, add oats, butter, honey, and salt, pour boiling water over and let sit for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle yeast over the 1/2 cup warm water, let sit until foamy. Add yeast mixture to oat mixture and stir. Add white wheat flour and all-purpose flour, mix until combined. Knead for about 7-8 minutes. Turn out into greased bowl, cover and let rise 1 hour.

Turn dough out onto flour surface and cut in half. Shape into 2 loaves and place in greased loaf pans. Let rise until double, about 30-45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°. Bake bread 35-40 minutes (bake buns 20-30 minutes), or until temperature at center of  loaf is 200°. Remove loaves from oven, cool in pans 10 minutes, then remove from pans to cooling rack.

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Classic Sandwich Bread

During this quarantine, I am baking some form of bread every other day. It keeps me busy, happy and we are well stuffed with carbs. This is #16 and the last of kingarthurflour.com‘s Best Basic Recipes Collection. I have baked this bread twice now and it is wonderful, great texture and flavor. Is there anything better than a big fat end piece off a loaf of homemade bread right out of the oven? I’ll answer that, no! It is the best! My favorite lunch is homemade bread and peanut butter sandwich, yes just peanut butter, my daughters think I’m a little crazy.

3 cups flour
1/2 cup milk (skim, 1%, 2% or whole, your choice)*
1/2 to 2/3 cup hot water, enough to make a soft, smooth dough
4 Tbl melted butter or 1/4 cup oil
2 Tbl sugar
1¼ tsp salt
1 pkt (2¼ tsp) yeast

*Mix cold milk with hot tap water to make a lukewarm liquid before adding to the remainder of the ingredients.

∇ This recipe makes 1 loaf, it is easy to double the batch to make 2 loaves!

To make the dough: In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients and stir until the dough starts to leave the sides of the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface, oil your hands, and knead it for 6 to 8 minutes, or until it begins to become smooth and supple. Or mix and knead the dough using an electric mixer or food processor, or in a bread machine set to the dough or manual cycle.

Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl, cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rise until puffy though not necessarily doubled in bulk, about 1 to 2 hours, depending on the warmth of your kitchen. If you’re using a bread machine, allow the machine to complete its cycle, then leave the dough in the machine until it’s doubled in bulk, perhaps an additional 30 minutes or so.

Gently deflate the dough and transfer it to a lightly oiled work surface. Shape the dough into an 8″ log. Place the log in a lightly greased 8 1/2″ x 4 1/2″ loaf pan, cover the pan loosely with lightly greased plastic wrap, and allow the bread to rise for about 60 minutes, until it’s domed about 1″ above the edge of the pan. A finger pressed into the dough should leave a mark that rebounds slowly. Towards the end of the rise, preheat your oven to 350°F.

Bake the bread for 30 to 35 minutes, until it’s light golden brown. Test it for doneness by removing it from the pan and thumping it on the bottom (it should sound hollow), or by measuring its interior temperature with a digital thermometer (it should register 190°F at the center of the loaf).

Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack before slicing. Store the bread in a plastic bag at room temperature for several days; freeze for longer storage.

More Luscious Bread! 

 

One Hour Bread

I wanted to revisit this recipe, it is one of the most popular on my site. During this COVID quarantine time I am not going to the grocery store much, so I am making bread quite often. I made this recipe again today, I think it does take more like one hour and 15 minutes. Still, pretty fast for homemade bread. I think Paul Hollywood would criticize it but I had no problem eating a couple warm slices of this bread as it came from the oven.

   

5¼ cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1½ tsp salt
2 pkt (4½ tsp) dry yeast
2 cups very warm water (about 110°)
1/3 cup oil

In bowl of mixer, add flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Pour in warm water and oil. Knead for 5 minutes. Dough will be very sticky. Divide dough into two, shape loaves, place in greased pans and cover. Let rise 25 minutes and preheat oven to 375°. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Makes 2 loaves.

Soft Cinnamon Rolls

This last week I saw a post on Instagram by kingarthurflour.com, it is a collection of their 16 Best Basic Recipes. I have decided to make all 16 of these recipes from beginning to end. It’s a great way to pass the time while quarantined. I see some people on Instagram challenging others to organize drawers or closets, that’s a lovely idea, but I prefer to BAKE! Maybe if we are in this long enough I will have to give in and organize. But, for now, let’s begin with the first of the 16 Best Basic Recipes.

  

Ingredients

Tangzhong (starter):
5 Tbl water
5 Tbl milk
3 Tbl + 1 tsp bread flour

Dough:
All of the Tangzhong (above)
4 cups + 2 Tbl bread flour
3 Tbl nonfat dry milk
1¾ tsp salt
1 Tbl instant yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm whole milk
2 large eggs, beaten
6 Tbl butter, melted

Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
pinch of salt
2 Tbl melted butter
2-3 Tbl whole milk, to make a thick spreadable frosting

To make the tangzhong: Combine all of the starter ingredients in a small saucepan, and whisk until no lumps remain. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until thick and the whisk leaves lines on the bottom of the pan. This will probably take only a minute or so. Remove from the heat, and set it aside for several minutes.

To make the dough: Mix the tangzhong with the remaining dough ingredients until everything comes together. Let the dough rest, covered, for 20 minutes; this will give the flour a chance to absorb the liquid, making it easier to knead. After 20 minutes, knead the dough — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — to make a smooth, elastic, somewhat sticky dough. Shape the dough into a ball, and let it rest in a lightly greased covered bowl for 60 to 90 minutes, until puffy but not necessarily doubled in bulk.

To make the filling: Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon, mixing until the cinnamon is thoroughly distributed.

To put it all together: Gently deflate the risen dough, divide it in half, and shape each piece into a rough rectangle. Working with one piece at a time, roll the dough into an 18″ x 8″ rectangle. Sprinkle half the filling onto the rolled-out dough. Starting with a long edge, roll the dough into a log. With the seam underneath, cut the log into 12 slices, 1 1/2″ each. Repeat with the second piece of dough and the remaining filling. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan. Space the rolls in the pan.

Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for 45 to 60 minutes, until they’re crowding one another and are quite puffy. While the rolls are rising, preheat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the bottom third. Uncover the rolls, and bake them for 22 to 25 minutes, until they feel set. They might be just barely browned; that’s OK. It’s better to under-bake these rolls than bake them too long. Their interior temperature at the center should be about 188°F.

While the rolls are baking, stir together the icing ingredients, adding enough of the milk to make a thick spreadable icing. The icing should be quite stiff, about the consistency of softened cream cheese. Remove the rolls from the oven, and turn them out of the pan onto a rack. Spread them with the icing; it’ll partially melt into the rolls. Serve the rolls warm. Store completely cool rolls for a couple of days at room temperature, or freeze for up to 1 month.