Bread

Copycat Rhodes Rolls: Soft, Fluffy, and Freezer-Friendly!

October 21, 2024 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com Leave a Comment

If you’ve ever enjoyed the warm, buttery goodness of Rhodes rolls, you’ll love this easy copycat recipe that captures all that deliciousness right in your own kitchen. These homemade rolls are a staple at my house, I make them at least three times a week for my kids lunches. They’re not only simple to make but also freezer-friendly, allowing you to enjoy fresh-baked rolls anytime you want. Let’s dive into this recipe that’s sure to become a family favorite!

Why You’ll Love These Rolls

Soft and Fluffy: With the perfect balance of ingredients, these rolls are incredibly soft and fluffy, just like the Rhodes originals.
Customizable: You can add your favorite herbs or cheeses to personalize your rolls.
Freezer-Friendly: Shape the rolls, freeze them, and bake them fresh whenever you crave them!

The Recipe

Ingredients

½ cup warm water
2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup warm milk
¼ cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 ½ to 4 cups flour

Instructions

Proof the Yeast: In a mixing bowl, combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let this mixture sit for about 5 minutes until it becomes bubbly and frothy.
Prepare the Milk and Butter: In a microwave-safe container, warm the milk for 30-60 seconds. Slice the butter and add it to the warm milk, allowing it to soften and melt.
Mix the Dough: To the yeast mixture, add 3 ½ cups of flour. Start mixing, then pour in the warm milk and melted butter. Add the salt and continue kneading.
Adjust Flour as Needed: Gradually add the remaining ½ cup of flour until the dough is just slightly sticky. You may not need the entire amount, so keep an eye on the consistency.
Knead the Dough: Knead the dough for about 4-6 minutes on medium speed until it is smooth and elastic.
First Rise: Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until it doubles in size.
Shape the Rolls: Punch down the risen dough and divide it into 12 equal pieces. Shape each piece into a roll and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Cover the rolls with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel.
Second Rise: Allow the rolls to rise for another 30-45 minutes, or until they double in size.
Bake: Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C). Bake the rolls for 18-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown on top.

Freezing Instructions

If you’d like to save some rolls for later, here’s how to freeze them:

After shaping: Place the rolls on a greased baking pan and cover them tightly with plastic wrap.
Freeze: Once frozen, you can transfer the rolls to a freezer bag for longer storage.
To Bake from Frozen: When you’re ready to enjoy them, take the frozen rolls and place them on a greased 13×9 baking pan. Let them rise for 4-6 hours or until doubled in size. Then, bake as directed.

Tips for Success

Warmth is Key: Ensure your water and milk are warm but not too hot, as high temperatures can kill the yeast.
Don’t Rush the Rises: Giving your dough time to rise is crucial for achieving fluffy rolls.
Experiment with Flavors: Feel free to add herbs like rosemary or garlic powder for an extra layer of flavor!

Whether you bake them fresh for dinner or prepare them in advance to pop in the oven later, you’ll love how simple and delicious homemade rolls can be. So gather your ingredients and start baking—your kitchen (and your taste buds) will thank you! Enjoy!

The Mystery of the Missing Donuts: Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

September 24, 2020 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 2 Comments

When September rolls around here in Utah sometimes it doesn’t feel like the ushering in of Autumn. We’ve been known to have temperatures well into the 90’s, or early freezes and snow flurries depending on the year. Sometimes all you have is the word, September to remind you that the seasons are changing. But a pumpkin spiced donut helps too.

We first whipped up a batch of these on September 1st, just to make sure we kicked off fall right. They were worth waking up extra early on a Tuesday morning to make sure my first grader had cinnamon sugar in the corners of her mouth as she skipped off to school. I guess mandatory masks have their plus sides.

We only waited a few days for another batch, a breezy Saturday morning where you could almost smell the leaves changing colors. We savored the first batch, eating all six before they cooled, and I left the remaining on the kitchen counter. We had a few to take to grandmas and a few for later. I knew the donuts wouldn’t make it through the day but I was surprised after loading the girls up the car to find the plate completely empty. No donuts for later, and none to share at grandmas house.

I began a frantic search for the eight missing donuts, after interrogating each child and deciding the two-year-old was the likeliest culprit. We searched in cabinets, toy baskets, garbage bins, anywhere we thought those stubby two-year-old arms could easily reach. After a half-hour of searching not a single donut turned up. We couldn’t even find cinnamon sugar evidence anywhere. With no real evidence, we came to the conclusion that she fed them one by one to Rico, our Great Pyrenees. In fact, the lack of evidence is what led us to that conclusion, it was all licked up, every last crumb.

Trying to find the humor while living my own “who stole the cookies from the cookie jar” moment would’ve been easier if these pumpkin spice donuts weren’t so perfectly delicious. Thankfully, enough time has passed now, and enough batches of donuts have been eaten in the meantime, that we can laugh about it now. And whenever I have a half dozen of these lovelies baking in the oven without fail Rico appears at the door, looking extra drooly and expectant. I can’t blame him.

**You will need a donut pan! Don’t have one? I’d suggest you invest! I bought mine at King Arthur Flour. Don’t want to buy one? I saw a great tutorial on how to make your own here

Baked Pumpkin Spice Donuts

Serving Size:

16-18

Time:

1hr

Difficulty:

Beginner

Ingredients

15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
3/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. buttermilk
4 T. melted butter
3 eggs
3 1/4 c. flour
1/2 t. salt
2 1/2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
2 t. pumpkin pie spice
CINNAMON SUGAR COATING
3/4 c melted butter
3 t. cinnamon
3/4 c sugar

Directions

Mix the pumpkin, brown sugar, oil, buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mix only until combined. Over mixing will make the donuts tough and dense.
Spoon the batter into a large piping bag, or a ziplock bag with a corner snipped off.
Pipe the batter into a greased donut pan, filling them about 3/4 full
Bake at 350 F for 18-25 minutes (depending on your oven) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Remove onto a cooling rack
For the cinnamon sugar coating, mix cinnamon and sugar together,
Dip both sides of the donut in melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Pizza Crust #1–Thick, Chewy and Freezable

March 23, 2015 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

If you are anything like me you have been on the hunt for a pizza crust that is worthy of it’s toppings. I’ve tried so many recipes over the years. Pizza becomes very personal. Are you a thin crust person? Are you a deep dish person? Do you like a crust that you bake halfway before topping? Let me tell you what I love about this crust and then you can decide if you match me in pizza personality. If you do you will want to make pizza dough. If you don’t you still have the number of your favorite pizza place via magnet on your refrigerator right?

There are two pizza crust recipes that I love at the current time. Today we will talk about pizza crust #1. This is NOT a dough that you cook partially before topping it. For me those types of dough’s never seem to bond with all the toppings. I’m in to bonding. This dough has a great texture and is appropriately chewy. It is easy to make and make ahead if you want. You have a choice after the first rise…make a pizza or freeze the dough for a week. Let’s make pizza dough #1… Start with 2 1/4 teaspoons of dry yeast sprinkled over 1 1/4 cups of warm water. Keep your water around 110°. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast and water to feed the yeast and get it nice and bubbly.

Set it aside in a warm spot in your kitchen for 5-8 minutes. When the yeast has had a chance to activate, add 1 Tablespoon olive oil, 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Mix. If you are doing this by hand use a sturdy wooden spoon and get it all nicely incorporated before adding the last bit of flour. Those of us using a stand mixer–well turn it on and let it do all the work for about a minute. Now it’s time to add the remaining flour. If you are working by hand sprinkle one cup of the remaining flour over the dough, reserving the last quarter cup, if needed, to diminish the tackiness of the dough. Using your hands, turn the dough onto itself until all the flour has fully incorporated. Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and continue to knead the dough for 8-10 minutes or until you feel the dough become smooth and elastic. You will most likely need to add that last quarter cup of flour just a little at a time. If you are working with a stand mixer, add one cup of flour and allow the mixer to run at medium speed for about 6 minutes adding the last quarter cup of flour just a bit at a time as the mixer runs. The test of this dough is that if your hands are moving with the dough it doesn’t really stick to you like this–

However, when you stop working for a minute it does this–

Lightly coat a bowl with olive oil or cooking spray. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover and allow to rise for about one hour or until it has doubled. Deflate the dough.

Now you are ready to either make pizza or freeze the dough. Today I decided to freeze the dough. Spray a freezer safe bag with cooking spray and place the dough in the bag. Remove all the air that you can, seal the bag and pop it in the freezer. This dough will make one large 15 inch pizza crust. When you are ready to thaw the dough just leave it in the refrigerator overnight. Often when I thaw my dough I find that it decided to raise a bit more. Bonus! This means I can make a smaller personal pizza with the extra dough.

If you are going to use the dough right away, simply shape the dough, top it and bake it until the edges are golden brown and your sauce and toppings have melted to your desired gooeyness. This usually takes a 450° oven about 15 minutes.

***cooking a pizza on a pre-heated pizza stone will always give you better results.

***no matter how tempted you are to load your pizza with heavy delicious things…remember that dough does need to cook (and in some cases transfer to the oven on a peel)

***add delicate things like basil leaves or spinach during the last couple of minutes of baking.

Pizza Crust #1 Thick Crust

Prep time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour

This crust raises so nicely and provides a thick and chewy crust... use it right away or freeze it for later use.

Author: Shanon

Serves: 1 Pizza Crust

Ingredients

2¼ teaspoons dry yeast
1¼ cups warm water
½ teaspoon sugar
3¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

In the bowl of your stand mixer, or a large bowl you can use for kneading, sprinkle yeast and sugar over the top of the warm water for proofing. Keep the temperature of your water around 110°.
Let this stand for 5-8 minutes or until it is nice and bubbly.
Add olive oil.
Add flour and salt.
Mix with a wooden spoon to combine or mix on low in your stand mixture until flour is well incorporated.
Add remaining cup of flour.
Mix.
At this point if you are working by hand, turn the dough out and knead for about 10 minutes. If you are working with a stand mixer mix for 6-8 minutes.
As you are working the dough by hand or mixing in the mixer, sprinkle the remaining quarter cup of flour, testing the dough. The dough will be a bit sticky.
Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat.
Cover and allow to rise in a warm spot for about an hour or until the dough has doubled in size.
Deflate and shape or deflate and freeze.
Top and bake at 450° for about 15 minutes
**to freeze place deflated dough in a freezer bag that has been coated with cooking spray. Remove air from the bag, seal and freeze.***to thaw place the dough in the freezer overnight.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread. . .YUMM

November 20, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

Let’s embark on a little bread making journey. This one involves a beautiful and delicious cinnamon swirl. You can’t go wrong when a bread has the words “cinnamon” and “swirl” in its name. This bread is light and tastes great by the slice, it can be frosted, streusel topped or slathered with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter. If you have leftovers, try making french toast, it is decadent!

My youngest child sometimes feels like he has 3 mothers and 4 dads. His brothers and sisters are generous with their opinions and admonitions. It can get heavy for the baby of the family. On the other hand, he reaps some pretty great rewards from being at the tail end. For instance–getting checked out for lunch, trips to the gym, tickets to see Boston and The Doobie Brothers, awesome hand-me-downs and occasionally breakfast at Kneaders. Kneaders serves up an incredible all-you-can-eat french toast for breakfast. Keven, my youngest, is pretty fond of the endless breakfast meal and Kate, his older sister, is fond of Keven and so he convinces her to take him to breakfast and to pay. He is a charmer….

Whatever your motives might be for baking this bread–do it. This is a dough that has plenty of rising time so plan your errands accordingly or use all the rising time to organize your pantry. You will feel so accomplished!

Start by scalding your milk (warming until their are bubbles around the edges of the milk–do not boil) and once scalded add butter or margarine, sugar, salt and cinnamon. When the milk mixture has cooled enough that you can comfortably poke your finger into the middle, add flour, potato flour and yeast.

Turn your mixer on and mix the ingredients for about 2 minutes–the dough will pull away from the sides of the bowl. We are going to sneak in a mini first rise here. Turn off the mixer and let the dough stand for about 15 minutes. Feel the dough during this time and make sure it isn’t stiff. Remember that you will eventually (after you’ve organized your pantry and done some of your laundry) be rolling this out to a nice long 16 inch rectangle, so the dough needs to be workable. If you feel the dough is a little stiff–toss a couple of tablespoons of warm water on the top during this first rest/rise.

After 15 minutes, turn the mixer back on and mix for 5-6 minutes, test your dough for consistency, and transfer the dough to an oiled bowl. Brush the top of the ball of dough lightly with oil and cover with plastic wrap. Allow dough to rise in a warm spot for about 1 1/2 hours. The dough should double in size. I love the color that the dough takes on since we added cinnamon to the dough and not just to the filling. (this photo is before the rise)

Now–you have a few minutes. This is a great time to take care of a couple of things. Separate an egg and whip up the white for brushing on the dough–no butter spread here. Next mix up your cinnamon and sugar filling. Lastly if you are feeling ambitious and don’t want to have to soak your pan when you are all done–cut a piece of parchment to line your loaf pan. After you have gone to all this effort it’s frustrating if the loaf doesn’t release from the pan. No matter how tightly you try to seal your loaf for baking, inevitably some of the sugar mixture escapes and it makes a pretty nice glue. It’s not that I am averse to soaking and washing pans–but I would like my loaf to look like a loaf and not look like monkey bread. Mine pan looks like this:

Okay your dough has risen. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and roll to a 16″X 8″ rectangle. Brush the dough with egg white and sprinkle the filling over the top evenly.

Beginning with the short end, roll the dough tightly towards the other end. Pinch the edges together including the ends. You are trying to keep all the filling inside of the loaf. Place the loaf inside the baking pan, lightly grease the top with oil, cover with plastic wrap and set aside for final rise. This usually takes about an hour. Sometimes if I think it’s being a little slow I set the loaf on my stove top and turn my oven on for a few minutes to generate some heat near the dough. When you feel that the dough has crowned above the rim of the pan place the loaf in a 350° preheated oven and bake for about 40 minutes. During the last 15 minutes of baking I like place a tinfoil “tent” over the loaf to keep it from browning too much.

Allow the loaf to cool for 5 minutes before removing from the pan. This is where you will be happy that you have lined the pan with parchment. Once removed, cool for a few more minutes before serving . Way to go! (psst–save some for french toast)

Cinnamon Swirl Bread

If you have leftovers you can make the MOST delicious french toast with this bread!

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Recipe type: Sweet Bread

Serves: 1 1loaf

Ingredients

1 cup scalded milk, cooled
4 tablespoons butter or margarine
3 tablespoons sugar
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups flour
¼ cup potato flour
2½ teaspoons instant yeast
Cinnamon Filling
1 egg white beaten (for brushing on the dough)
⅓ cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Instructions

Scald milk and remove from heat.
Add butter or margarine, sugar, cinnamon and salt.
Set aside to cool.
In your stand mixer combine flour, potato flour and yeast.
When the milk mixture is cool enough to stick your finger in (technical term), add to the flour mixture and mix for 2 minutes or until dough comes away from the sides of the bowl.
Turn off the mixer and let the dough rest/rise for 15 minutes. If the dough feels stiff at this point add a tablespoon or two of water to the dough and allow it to just sit with the dough as it completes this first rise. Dough needs to be manageable but not stiff. You are going to need to roll this into a 16 inch length. It shouldn't stick to your hand but it should want to 🙂
Continue to knead for 5-6 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, bushing the top of the dough with oil as well.
Cover with plastic wrap and set it aside to rise for 1½ hours until it has doubled in bulk.
When the dough has doubled transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and roll the dough into a rectangle that measures about 16" X 8".
Combine Cinnamon Filling ingredients in a small bowl.
Brush rolled dough with egg white.
Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar filling on the dough evenly.
Starting with the short edge, roll the dough into a loaf.
Pinch the side seam and the ends closed. This keeps the filling inside.
Place the rolled dough in to a lightly greased of parchment lined 8½" X 4½" loaf pan and brush the top with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise 1 hour, watching for the dough to crown over the top of the rim of the loaf pan.
During the last 15 minutes of the rise preheat oven to 350°.
Bake at 350° for about 40 minutes, tenting the top of the loaf with foil during the last 15 minutes to prevent the loaf from browning too much.
Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan before removing.
Remove from pan.
Cool an additional 5 minutes before attempting to slice.
Serve warm with Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter or hope for leftovers to make french toast. Either way it's a great endeavor!

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter

November 6, 2014 by Shanon Balser 2 Comments

Well if you are tired of wading through wordy descriptions and far too many photos, today is your lucky day. One photo. Short description. You want to make this butter. You want to make it and you want to slather it on french toast, toast, pancakes, muffins, rolls, pumpkin bread and of course–cinnamon bread. Whip it up in no time and eat it in even less!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Brown Sugar Cinnamon Butter

Spread this on anything from pumpkin bread to french toast to add a little something special. This is great to take along to a party with your homemade bread.

Author: Sweet Suppertime

Ingredients

¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup butter, softened
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Sprinkle of cinnamon as garnish

Instructions

Soften ½ cup butter
In a mixer or with your muscles, whip butter, brown sugar and cinnamon until it is smooth and creamy.
If you are feeling extra domestic pipe it into a dish using a decorating bag.
Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Store leftover portion in the refrigerator, if there is any 🙂

Steakhouse Brown Bread

November 4, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

There was a time, many moons ago, when I was expecting my last child. I craved steak, salad and bread from the Outback Steakhouse. I wanted it, I needed it and so my dear husband ordered takeout (quite often) for me. He became friends with people at this well known establishment and often they would give him a complimentary Coke as he waited for the order to be filled. Lovely Outback Steakhouse. At a time when I was confined to bed rest and had plenty of time to conjure up cravings, they became the object of my culinary desire. To this day I love going to the Outback Steakhouse. I love the bread so much that I have searched for a recipe that might come close to their delicious appetizer. This is what I have come up with. Keep in mind, this is not a whole wheat bread. It gets its color and flavor from molasses with some help from cocoa powder. Don’t judge.

Here’s the ingredients you will need. Not pictured is the egg white you will brush on to the raised loaves to help the oats stick to the bread.

Preheat your oven to 200°. Measure 1 3/4 cups warm water into a bowl or better yet, save yourself a dirty dish and do it all in your glass measuring cup. Add 1 package of active dry yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Give it a stir and set it aside. If you are working with a large package of yeast just remember that 2 1/4 teaspoons usually equals a packet of yeast. Set this aside for 6-7 minutes or until the yeast is nice a foamy.

Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (weird huh?), 1/4 cup molasses, 3 1/2 cups bread flour, 1 cup rye flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter and 2 teaspoons of salt. At this point we have reserved 1 cup of bread flour to add later. Mix ingredients in a stand mixer on medium speed for 5 minutes. Now we are going to add that last cup of flour a little at a time, with the mixer running, until the dough pulls away from the bowl. I usually end up using the entire cup, but you don’t want a stiff dough here. It will be a bit sticky.

Turn the kneaded dough onto a floured surface.

Form dough into desired shape. You can make one large loaf, several small loaves or rolls. I like to make two loaves. This bread does not require a first rise before forming so jump right in. Lightly grease or line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place your loaves on the baking sheet. Spray the top of the loaves with cooking spray or lightly brush with cooking oil.

Turn off your preheated oven and place the baking sheet in the oven for rising. And can we say how well I cropped this photo so that none of you are any the wiser about my less than pristine oven?

Allow the loaves to rise in the oven for 25 minutes or until they have doubled in size. Remove them from the oven. Increase the temperature of the oven to 350°. While the oven is coming up to temperature carefully brush the top of the raised loaves with egg white (whisked) and sprinkle with uncooked oats. Go ahead and dab extra egg white on top of some of the oats to make them good and sticky. It looks so pretty when it comes out of the oven.

When the oven reaches the desired temperature slip the loaves in and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove them from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack. Brush with melted butter. Serve warm.

Can I just say that making bread is something you can get good at? In general it requires few ingredients and with a little practice you can enjoy a home filled with a wonderful aroma and the memorable taste of fresh homemade bread. Don’t give up!

Steakhouse Brown Bread

This bread gets it's dark color from the molasses and cocoa powder. Not to worry, it doesn't taste like chocolate but the cocoa powder adds a unique richness to the bread. Add a tablespoon of caraway seeds for a lovely Rye Bread variation.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups warm water (95°-115°)
1 packet active dry yeast (this equals approximately 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 cup molasses
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 cup rye flour
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons melted or softened butter
1 egg white for brushing raised bread
Sprinkling of uncooked oats
additional butter for brushing the loaves after they are done

Instructions

Begin by preheating your oven to 200°.
Stir together water (somewhere between 95° and 115° it should be very warm, but not hot), yeast and sugar. Just a light stir to bring the yeast in contact with the sugar and water. Set aside for 6-7 minutes or until the yeast is nice and foamy.
Pour yeast mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer and add cocoa, molasses, 3 1/2 cups of the 4 1/2 cups required flour, rye flour, 2 tablespoons softened butter and salt. With dough hook in place mix all ingredients for 5 minutes in your stand mixer. Add the last cup of flour to the dough as it mixes until the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. The dough for this bread should be slightly sticky. Most of the time I end up using the entire last cup of flour. 🙂
Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into desired shape. I like to make mine in to two separate loaves but it works great to put the dough into a large oval pan as well. Place the dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and coat the top of the dough lightly with cooking spray.
Turn your preheating oven off and place the loaves into the oven. Allow the loaves to raise for 25 minutes or until the loaves have doubled in size.
Remove the loaves and preheat the oven to 350°.
While the oven is preheating, carefully brush the tops of the rising loaves with egg white and sprinkle uncooked oats over the top. I like to wet the sprinkled oats with a little bit more egg white to make sure they stick during the cooking process.
Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes.
Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack. Brush with butter.
Serve warm.

https://www.sweetsuppertime.com/?p=341

Simple and Savory Focaccia Bread

February 24, 2014 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

The weather turned cold and foggy yesterday, and there is nothing like a cold and foggy day to inspire you to put on a pot of soup. And there is nothing like being up to your elbows slicing and dicing veggies for your soup to make you cast all your cares to the whirling wind outside and make a batch of bread to go with it.

I won’t claim that this is the most authentic focaccia bread; but I will claim that it is simple and savory and it mops up soup or balsamic vinegar and oil like a champ! If you happen to have any leftover, this bread makes a delicious sandwich. Good luck with that…

Proof 1 Tablespoon active dry yeast in 1 cup warm water {about 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit}. Give it a swirl or stir and add 1 Tablespoon of sugar. Just sprinkle it evenly over the top.

Yeast will become bubbly. Ours took about 7 minutes and looked like this:

While yeast is proofing, mix 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 Tablespoon of olive oil, and 1 Tablespoon of crushed rosemary.

We’ll add additional rosemary, red onions, and salt to the top of our bread

before it goes in the oven. I like to get them prepped now.

Add flour mixture to proofed yeast and knead for five minutes in a mixer or ten minutes by hand.

Dough should be soft and smooth but not too sticky.

Transfer dough to an oiled bowl and cover with plastic wrap.

Dough should raise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

Punch down the dough and separate it into two equal pieces, place on baking sheet, and use your fingers to make crater-like indentations in the top of the dough.

Cover with a cloth or plastic wrap an allow the dough to rise until doubled in size, about another 30 minutes.

While dough is raising, sauté 1/2 medium purple onion, sliced, in a small amount of oil until just wilted.

Garnish loaves with remaining (1 Tablespoon) crushed rosemary, sautéed onions, and salt before putting into the oven. ** You may like pushing the garnishes deep into the bread before the second rise. There is really no wrong way to do this–simple and savory. Be creative. Just make sure it gets it’s second rise!

Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

We added cheese to one of our loaves(at the end of the baking process) and broiled it for about a minute until it was bubbly. Remove the bread from the oven and drizzle with an additonal 1 Tablespoon of olive oil.

The actual labor time for this recipe is so small, but you do need to pick a morning or afternoon when you are around to meet the raising and shaping requirements. Stormy days lend themselves to this recipe. Sun-dried tomatoes are a great topping for this bread as well. Go grab the olive oil and balsamic vinegar and do a bit of taste testing; there are two loaves after all!

Simple and Savory Focaccia Bread by Sweet Suppertime

1 cup warm water

1 Tablespoon active dry yeast

1 Tablespoon sugar

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon rosemary, crushed or chopped

1 Tablespoon olive oil

Topping

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 Tablespoon rosemary, crushed or chopped

1/2 purple onion sliced

olive oil for sauteing the onion

optional: grated cheese of your choice

Keeping the temperature of the warm water at around 100 degrees, add yeast and sugar to water and set aside for about 7 minutes or until bubbly.

While the yeast is proofing combine flour, salt, rosemary and olive oil in a bowl.

Once the yeast has become bubbly, add the flour mixture to the yeast mixture and mix for five minutes if using a mixer or 10 minutes if kneading by hand. Start the mixer slowly so that you don’t splash your flour all over and then increase it to a speed where the motor is not laboring. On my KitchenAid I started on 1 and moved up to speed 3. The dough should form a nice ball and be soft but not sticky. I usually reserve about a 1/4 cup of the flour to add as the dough mixes. It’s so much easier to add flour than water!

Lightly oil the top of the dough and cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rise until it doubles in size. About 30 minutes.

If you are going to top the Focaccia Bread with any toppings, this is a great time to prepare the toppings. For this I sliced 1/2 of a purple onion and sauteed it in olive oil on medium heat until the onion had just started to wilt. Have your rosemary and salt handy for topping your bread after it finishes it’s first rise and you shape it.

Once the dough has risen nicely, divide the dough into two balls and pull the edges in to form a ball. You can bake this in any pan, today I liked placing it on parchment, freestanding,. Place the dough balls on a large baking tray on opposite ends of the pan so that when they raise during baking they don’t fight with each other. Push your fingers deep down in the dough to form the traditional look of focaccia. Now you are ready for the second rise.** Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise for about another 30 minutes, or until double.

Bake at 375 for 15-30 minutes or until golden brown. If I am adding any kind of cheese ( which I like to do because it holds all those yummy onions together) I add it during the last 5 minutes of baking. If it isn’t as crisp as I would like the cheese to be I broil it for about 1 minute

Serve this up with soup or delicious olive oil and balsamic vinegar. My favorite right now is a mango balsamic with an herbed olive oil.

**You have three choices for garnishing;

1. Either garnish before the second rise, pushing the toppings down into the bread or

2. Wait until the loaves have had their second raise (doubling in size) and add the garnishes right before oven time.

3. Don’t garnish at all

Side note as you decide to branch out here– try putting the dough in a round or square cake pan and dousing the bottom of the pan liberally with olive oil. It makes the crust crispy and

Momma’s Bread

November 27, 2013 by laceyaltadraper@gmail.com 1 Comment

Do you know anyone who does not love the smell of homemade bread? Do you know anyone who would turn down a warm slice of bread slathered with homemade raspberry jam? Me neither!

I am so lucky because my mother taught me to make bread at a very young age. In fact, I have so many fond memories of homemade bread with my mom that I am having a hard time choosing which one to put down for the sake of this blog collection. Is it the countless times that I walked through the door after school to the comforting smell of homemade bread? Is it the feel of the dough in my hands or watching her hands knead and shape the loaves? Is it watching her slice off a piece and then listening to my brothers tease her about how she just couldn’t cut the loaf straight?

Ultimately what I would love to remember my whole life and what I would love for my own children to know is that for years she never used a recipe and she didn’t have a machine to do the kneading. She had a small sauce pot that, I would imagine, held about 2 cups of flour and she used her silverware to measure with. She didn’t measure the temperature of the water she was proofing yeast in and she didn’t measure anything. I can see her in my mind working over the dough adding cups, dashes and sprinkles. I see her swirl the bowl with warm water after sprinkling the yeast and a dash of sugar so that the water would contact the yeast without necessarily stirring it. And I see her pinch at the dough and feel it to see if it feels just right after adding the last bit of flour. “Come here Shanon,” she would say, “feel the dough… this is how is should feel.” To this day I love the feel of a good dough and my hands tell me long before my taste buds do if the dough was done right.

Then she was asked to teach a class at church about bread making. I could not for the life of me figure out why she seemed so concerned about this. She was, after all, the master at this! She worried and fretted and made batch after batch. She was working out the measurements so that she could send the ladies home with a recipe. I wonder how many neighbors received a loaf of her bread during the weeks that led up to that class? The recipe that follows is the culmination of her efforts. Later in life my dad bought her a Braun mixing machine. I am happy that, before she taught me to make bread in that machine, she taught me to make it by hand. For the sake of this post, I made the recipe by hand and my biceps and abs (for some reason) are feeling it today! You can easily use your machine to do this, but I have to say it was pretty fun to do all by myself. The thing I think everyone should understand about making bread is that even ugly bread smells and tastes good. Practice makes perfect (until you need a great photo or somewhere special you needed to take it 🙂

To start your bread making, scald 2 cups of milk in a saucepan. To me this means that the milk starts to form bubbles around the edges or forms a thin film on the top layer. Remove the pan from the stove top and add 2/3 cup shortening 2 1/2 Tablespoons salt and 6 Tablespoons sugar. Stir until the shortening is melted and the sugar and salt are dissolved. Add one cup cold water and set this aside to cool a bit.

Yup! That’s a Mickey Mouse scraper, he’s my bud.

While the milk mixture is cooling a bit, let’s proof the yeast. In a glass bowl measure 1 cup of warm water. I like to put water in the bowl and warm it up a bit before I actually put in the warm water I will be using to proof the yeast. It’s a quirk. Anyway, if you want to take the temperature of the water you are using you will want to keep it around 100 degrees. If you feel adventurous and don’t want to take the water’s temperature, hold your wrist under the running water until it feels nice and warm but not hot. Hot will kill the yeast. Put one cup of warm water in your glass bowl and then sprinkle 3 Tablespoons of active dry yeast over the water. Add 1 teaspoon of sugar to the yeast mixture to feed the yeast. Swirl the bowl or give it a quick stir. Just one. Then set it aside to get it all nice and foamy. It takes about 8 minutes or so. Put it in a nice warm place. It is the king of this process!

shanon balser, sweet suppertime, proofing yeast

Working with a bowl that can easily hold 10 cups of flour, pour the warm (but not hot) milk mixture into the bottom. Add the yeast mixture and 7 cups of flour. Stir to incorporate the flour. Add 2 of the 3 remaining cups of flour and begin working the dough with your hands.

bread by hand, homemade bread, bread, sweetsuppertime

Now it’s your choice whether to keep working in the bowl or live dangerously and work it on the counter. You have about 10 minutes to spend with this guy, so get comfortable. If the dough sticks to your hands, sprinkle the last remaining cup of flour, a little at a time, onto your dough and work it in. Most likely you will need the whole cup.

I like working the dough on the counter after I have gained control of the dough in a large bowl. Folding the dough like a package, bring the edges in to the center over and over again. Pull and stretch the dough. This is where you form the necessary gluten that makes the dough light. Work the dough in this manner for about 10 minutes until bubbles of air form and pop.

Form the dough into a ball, brush with oil, cover it with a clean dish cloth, and leave it to rest and raise for about 45 minutes, or until it doubles in size.

bread, sweet suppertime, shanon balser, homemade bread

While the dough is rising grease 3 large bread pans both on the bottom and sides. I like using wax paper or parchment. Momma always kept a piece inside her shortening container for such uses.

Punch down the dough. This is my kids’ favorite part; punching down the dough for me. Divide the raised dough into 3 equal parts and shape them into loaves. There is really no magic to this. Some people shape it into a rectangle and roll it up. I fold the dough in on itself just like when I am kneading it. Grabbing the top in my fingers I roll it back and forth on the counter to smooth the top and shape it into a nice roll that matches the size of pan I am using.

Place the shaped loaves in the prepared bread pans and brush with oil. Cover with a towel and once again place in a warm spot to raise until double or reaches the top of the loaf pans. This takes about 45 minutes. After about 30 minutes, preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Now it’s time to bake the bread/masterpiece. Place the loaves of bread on the center rack of the oven at 350 degree for about 35-40 minutes or until the loaves are golden brown. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. I like to brush the top of the loaves with butter.

Now it’s time to call the family and get out the butter and jam. Actually I never have to call the family… the smell of fresh baked bread summons them all on its own. This is a baking project well worth the time! Enjoy one loaf right away and take another to a neighbor. No worries there is still one left for supper.

sweet suppertime, homemade bread, bread recipes

Momma’s Bread Recipe by Alta Chamberlain for Sweet Suppertime

Scald two cups of milk. Remove from heat and add 2/3 cup shortening, 6 Tablespoons of sugar and 2 1/2 Tablespoons of salt. Stir until shortening, sugar, and salt are dissolved. Add 1 cup cold water, stir.
Dissolve 3 Tablespoons yeast in one cup warm water with 1 teaspoon sugar, and let rise to a foamy sponge
(about 8-10 minutes).
When the milk mixture is lukewarm, add yeast and seven cups of flour (momma used all purpose flour, feel free to use bread flour). Stir briskly until blended (about 1 minute). Add remaining 3 cups of flour and knead until the dough is smooth and air bubbles form and pop. This should take about 10 minutes. You may need to add additional flour if the dough is too sticky, but don’t add too much as the dough will become stiff. Moisten the top of the dough with oil. Cover and let rise until double in bulk.
Shape into loaves and place in greased bread pans. Cover and let rise until the center of each formed loaf has raised to the top of the bread pans.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake on center rack for approximately 35 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and brush with butter if desired.
Makes 3 loaves.

Note: Momma used all purpose flour and sometimes used half wheat flour and half white flour. I use bread flour and love making the half and half as well.

Peanut Butter Banana Bread

January 15, 2013 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

We go through a lot of bananas at our house. Honestly most of them end up in a protein shake made by my 17 year old. There are a lucky few who get dipped in peanut butter and downed as a healthy after school snack. And then there are bananas that escape the aforementioned and are thus set aside for a higher purpose; banana bread. Depending on my mood, there are a few different recipes that I love to mix up with over-ripe bananas. Today is a peanut butter theme.

When I start off a batch of banana bread I do it with three bananas that are very over-ripe. The riper the better. Because I want the bread to come out cleanly from the pan I like to take parchment paper and trace the bottom of the pan and leave one sheet in the bottom of the pan. Then I spray the parchment and the sides of the pan with a cooking spray. It’s a good idea to cut out lots of these at once. I store them right in my pan. It’s like an inbox for parchment paper!

For this recipe I lightly folded peanut butter chips into the batter and then topped the filled pans (filled to within 1 inch of the top) with a mixture of peanut butter chips and 1 TB of brown sugar. The pans shown above are 3 inches wide and 7 inches long from inside to inside. My kids know that I like to leave one on the counter for them and take one to a friend, so although this would fit nicely in once larger pan for one loaf..I choose to turn it in to two.

And then they come out of the oven about an hour later looking like a million bucks and the kids are already telling me I really don’t need to give one away. Yes…that is a smear of peanut butter on top!

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Sweet Suppertime

Preheat your oven to 350 and prepare your pans for baking.

Mash up 3 medium ripened bananas and set aside. You should end up with 1 1/2 cup-ish. Be close. If you are more than a couple tablespoons off add a bit more sour cream in that section

In a bowl combine the following and set aside:

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Give this a stir to mix the salt an soda around with the flour.

In a mixing bowl combine at medium speed (for about 30 seconds) the following:

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs, one at a time

3 mashed bananas

Add:

The flour mixture that you have set aside, mixing just until moist. Fold in:

1 cup peanut butter chips (I like to throw in white or chocolate chips sometimes)

Spoon equal amounts into your prepared pans and top with a sprinkling of additional chips and 1 Tablespoon of brown sugar.

Bake for about one hour, or until a test pick comes out fairly clean. Cool for about 15 minutes before removing easily from the pans (since you have prepared them so well)

NOTE: at about 40 minutes if I think the tops of my bread are browning too fast I will slip a piece of foil over the top to prevent too much browning. And, as you can see from the photo I also like to dollop some peanut butter on top just to complete the banana/peanut butter flavor.

Rustic No-Knead Bread

December 20, 2012 by Shanon Balser Leave a Comment

Ingredients

o 3 1/2 Cups of all-purpose flour

o 1 1/2 to 2 tsp salt

o 1/4 tsp yeast

o 1 1/2 cups water

o butter

o sesame seeds

o 1 . In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Mix ingredients to distribute evenly. Add water. Stir until incorporated; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl and let rest for 12 hours. (when the surface of the dough is dotted with bubbles the dough is ready)

o 2 . Place dough on a well-floured work surface then gently press dough being careful not to pop any bubbles then sprinkle the dough with flour. fold dough.

o 3 . Coat a second large bowl with butter. Sprinkle sesame seeds in oiled bowl. Place the dough seam side down in the bowl. Cover and let rise until more than double in size, and does not readily spring back when poked with a finger. About 2 hours.

o 4 . After about 1 1/2 hours, place a 6-8 quart heavy, covered pot (such as cast iron Dutch oven, pyrex or stone) in the oven to preheat with the oven at 450 degrees. When the dough has fully risen, carefully remove hot pot from oven. Turn dough over into hot pot. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for additional 5 1o 10 minutes until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. See variations of this recipe below: