Bread Dough

I have a white bread recipe from a good friend that has become our family favorite, mainly because it is so versatile and can make so much (always good with a large family).  Today the little boys helped me mix it up and when all was said and done we ended up with 6 loaves of bread, a pan of pizza buns and a pan of cinnamon twists.  This is also good for me because I am becoming more and more cheap in my old age and I refuse to buy 3 loave of bread for $5 that tastes like cardboard, and I cannot afford the really good stuff.  Besides, I have a couple boys who will only eat white.  This recipe is easy to whip up once a week.

These will be frozen for lunches (yay! no sandwiches next week!)

With the boys help we came out with 6 loaves of varying sizes.  It probably should have only been 5.

In case you want to give it a try, here's the recipe.  It can be halved if needed and it's really not finicky.  Have fun!

White Bread

8 c. lukewarm water

2 Tblsp. yeast

1 c. sugar

1/2 c. oil

2 big Tblsp. salt

3 eggs

1/3 c. powdered milk (I just add 1/3 c. of real milk cause I never have this)

Flour to consistency (I find around 20 c. or so)

Proof your yeast for 10 mins or so (if you want).  This means put the yeast and sugar in the water and wait for 10 mins til it gets frothy.  I did today and I think it made a difference.

Add the oil, eggs and milk.  Begin adding flour.  After about 10 c. or so, add the salt.

Keep adding flour until you get a nice soft dough that isn't sticky.  Knead it for a few minutes on your counter until it's smooth and elastic.

Let this rise for an hour or so.  (I always get busy and forget about it, so it gets nice and big!)

Take the dough and split it into 8 pieces.  Decide what you want to do with it.  Shape into bread loaves for the week, or do something creative.  We've made it into cinnamon buns, cinnamon twists, cinnamon bread (see a pattern there?)  pizza buns, regular buns, chococalte bread, parker house rolls, clover leaf buns, etc.  Pretty much any kind of bread you want to do.

You will need to bake almost everything at 350 for around 20-30 mins.  Just experiment!

For the twists above:  Roll a piece into a rectangle and cover with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Cut into strips and twist them a few times.  Put into a baking pan with melted butter on the bottom.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins.

For pizza buns:  Roll into a rectangle.  Cover with pizza sauce, ham or pepp, and cheese.  Roll like a jelly roll.  Cut into pieces.  Let rise 15 mins.  Bake at 350 for 20-30 mins.

Chocolate Swirl loaf:  Take an amount you would use for a loaf of bread.  Pat it into a rectangle.  Spread a little bit of butter on just to keep it together, then sprinkle with white sugar and cocoa.  Turn it back into a loaf.  Make sure you pinch the edges underneath really good.  Put in the pan and rise again, then bake.