One Dough... So Many Possibilities!
When you find a recipe that allows you to open so many doors in your kitchen, it is a treasure! And if that recipe happens to lead you to soft and fluffy bread, that treasure becomes a gem! Let me share with you my Basic Bread Dough secrets.
These are some examples of how I tweak this dough to create awesomeness!
I used to be so afraid of everything bread. Only masters could pull off baking bread, right? Luckily, I had a bit of egging on to learn to make bread from a very good friend. Being German, bread is part of Svenja’s life. She showed me the basics of yeast proofing and kneading and baking bread.
For a good while I took baby steps, using a bread machine (a birthday present from a gorgeous group of ladies, including my bread baking German sista). Eventually I started using the machine only for the kneading and proofing process, then baking loaves in the oven. I have found lots of amazing recipes, some easy to follow, and others that took me several tries until I nailed them.
I am now in love with bread making and when I come across a recipe that makes my world a little bit easier and lots more delicious, I have to share.
This recipe is golden! Once you become familiar with it you will be tweaking it here and there to create wonderful treats for your family and friends.
The Basic Dough recipe is originally for One Hour Dinner Rolls. I have found it so useful for things like:
Whole Wheat Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls
Ham & Cheese Pockets
Sandwich Bread
Like I said the possibilities are endless! To add texture you can add seeds, nuts, oats, olives, raisins. To make whole wheat you can swap part of the all purpose flour with whole wheat flour, add flax meal, wheat bran, oat bran. The oil you use can tweak the flavor. I have swapped the vegetable oil with olive oil, butter, lard, infused olive oils. Add flavors to the dough like garlic, onion, chives, herbs for savory breads. Cinnamon, vanilla, almond essence, chocolate, nuts, seeds, chocolate chips… seriously endless possibilities!
All you need to make this dough:
1 1/4 cups Warm Water
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp Dry Instant Yeast
3 1/2 cups All-purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1 Egg
1/3 cup Vegetable Oil
Mix dry ingredients first, add the wet ingredients, mix until you form a dough and shape into a loaf, rolls, twist it, stuff it… You can allow the shaped dough to rise a few minutes if you have the time… not super necessary, though. Nice, right? Always bake this bread at high temperature, this activates the yeast rise quickly, making up for not proofing and rising beforehand. Baking times vary depending on the size of the bread you make. For whole loaves, like the Babka up there, or stuffed bread pockets, you should bake for 20-25 minutes, smaller buns taking half the time (10-15 minutes).
And the beauty of this recipe is that you don’t really need to do proofing for the yeast. You can mix all the ingredients together at once, knead a few minutes, shape and bake! This basic recipe is perfect for quick Fluffy Dinner Rolls that can be done in less than one hour! Try out this recipe first before you jump into tweaking and adding stuff for other recipes.
I will keep adding more recipes to the blog, linking them here as time goes by. Make sure to check this post once in a while… you will find more delicious ways to use this gem!
Let me know what yummy ideas you come up with using this beautiful Basic Bread Dough!
