Bread Making

Yesterday our house was filled with church attendance and one of our favorite pastimes.  Bread making.
 My husband Bill makes the bread and I make cinnamon rolls.  We've been doing this once every three months or so for the past thirty years and we're still having fun.


Here's the bread recipe that we use. It makes enough for 4 loaves of bread or 2 loaves of bread and about twenty small cinnamon rolls The BIG trick is to use Safflower High Oleic oil.  It makes an incredible light tasting bread that we love...


White Bread:

4 Cups hot water
4 teaspoons Yeast
4 Teaspoons Salt
4 Tablespoons Oil

4 Tablespoons Sugar
Flour, about 9-11 cups total

Combine 2 cups flour and yeast.

In large measuring cup, heat 3 cups water to 120-130 degrees.  Add salt, oil and sugar to hot water and stir until dissolved.

Add flour gradually until dough forms and pulls away cleanly from the side of the bowl.  In a Bosch this is about 8 minutes.  Dough should be slightly tacky but elastic when pinched with fingers.

Remove dough from mixing bowl, form into a nice rounded ball, and drop into a greased bowl to coat dough ball.  Turn dough ball over and cover bowl, set in a warm place and let dough rise until double in size about 30 to 40 minutes.

Punch down dough, remove from bowl and divide into 4 equal parts.  Form into loaf shape, set on a lightly floured surface, cover and let sit for about five minutes.

Grease loaf pans and shape balls into loaf shape and place in loaf pans or roll into 8X14 size squares to make cinnamon rolls.

If making bread:  let dough rise until double about 30-40 minutes in a warm place.

If making cinnamon rolls:  Melt one teaspoon of butter and pour onto rolled dough.  Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and add nuts and raisins to taste.  Roll side over one another and form a log,  Cut into sections with dental floss (see picture).   Let rise until double in size 20- 30 minutes.  Bake at 350 degree  for 12 to 15 minutes.

Bake the bread 30 to 40 minutes.  The bread will appear golden brown after about 20 minutes.  You will need to put an aluminum foil tent over the bread for the last 10 minutes so the top doesn't burn.

Remove loaves from pans and let cool on wire rack.  Rub top of each loaf with butter to soften crust.  Place in plastic bags when warmth remains barely discernible in loaf.

Enjoy!