World's Best Cinnamon Raisin Bread~

I have made this bread a lot and it is delicious!! It's great toasted with butter and cream cheese, and as French Toast! 

~Makes 3 loaves~

• Ingredients:
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 cup warm water (must be between 110-115 degrees)
• 2 (1/4 ounce) packages (or 6 teaspoons yeast) active dry yeast
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I have used salted)
• 1 cup raisins
• 8 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup white sugar (I usually use 3/4 cup....not supposed to be a big  cinnamon roll) 
• 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon (I use 2)
• 2 tablespoons butter , melted (approx.)

Directions:

1. 1
   Warm the milk in a small sauce pan on the stove until it just starts to bubble, stirring occasionally.
2. 2
   Remove from heat.
3. 3
   Let cool until lukewarm, about 120-125 degrees.
4. 4
   Dissolve yeast in warm water and set aside until yeast is frothy, about 10 minutes or so (make sure your water is at the correct temperature or the yeast won't activate.) Then mix in eggs, sugar, butter salt and raisins (stir in the cooled milk slowly so you don't cook the eggs.) Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough.
5. 5
   Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes until smooth.
6. 6
   Place in a large, buttered, mixing bowl and turn to grease the surface of the dough.
7. 7
   Cover with a warm, damp cloth and let rise (I like to let my bread rise in the oven with the light on. It has just the right amount of heat and keeps the bread out of drafts.) Allow to rise until doubled, usually about 1 1/2 hours.
8. 8
   Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick.
9. 9
   Moisten the dough with 2 tablespoons milk and rub all over the dough with your hands.
10. 10
    Mix together 1 cup of sugar and 3 tablespoons cinnamon and sprinkle mixture evenly on top of the moistened dough.
11. 11
    Roll up tightly (the long way).
12. 12
    The roll should be about 3 inches in diameter.
13. 13
    Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends and pinch bottom together.
14. 14
    Place loaves into well greased (you can use Crisco or butter for this) 9 x 5 inch pans and lightly grease tops of loaves.
15. 15
    Let rise in warm place, uncovered, again for about an hour.
16. 16
    Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when tapped.
17. 17
    Remove from oven and let cool on rack.
18. 18
    Take melted butter and spread over tops of loaves.
19. 19
    After about 20 minutes, lay loaves on their sides and remove from pans.
20. 20
    Allow to cool before slicing.

Egg Bagels

I use this recipe to make all the bagels that our family eats.
We all really like it :) You can do the plain or make them everything bagels :)

Egg Bagels

Ingredients: 2 cups Potato water 110F

1/4 cup oil

4 Lg Eggs

7 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbs Yeast

1 1/2 Tbs Salt

Heat water and salt to 110. Add to flour and yeast. Add oil and eggs. Knead.

Let rise in oiled bowl 1 hour or until doubled. Punch down and cut into quarters. Cut each quarter in 3 or 4 pieces, and roll into a 10" rope, overlapping ends 1". Lightly flatten one side, and pinch both together.

Set aside on a floured surface. Cover and let rise for 15 minutes.

Heat a large pot of water 3/4 full to boiling.  2-3 at a time, place bagels (with flat pancake turner) into the water, and boil for a minute on each side. When done, put on a lightly greased cookie sheet or whatever you want to bake them on. 

Now is the time, if you want to put toppings on. We usually put dried minced garlic, sesame seed, and whatever else you may want to add.

Put oven rack a little lower than midway down, and preheat oven to 415 and bake for 25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Herbed Focaccia Bread

Herbed Focaccia

Ingredients:

1/2 cup warm water (105-115 F)

1 1/2 cup milk

6 Tbs Olive Oil

5 cups Unbleached all-purpose flour

2 Tsp Salt

1 Tsp chopped fresh time or 1/4 tsp dried thyme

1 Tsp chopped fresh rosemary or 1/4 tsp dried rosemary

1 Tsp chopped fresh sage or 1/4 dried sage

Coarse Salt to Taste

Directions:

In a small bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. 

Stir until dissolved. Add the milk and 4 Tbs of the Olive Oil and stir to combine.

In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, stir together the flour, salt, thyme, rosemary, and sage. Add the yeast mixture and stir until a soft dough forms, about 2 minutes. Turn the dough out on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Shape it into a ball.

Oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn it over one to coat the top. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm draft free place (I use the oven) until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450 F

Using fingertips, press down firmly into the dough to make dimples. Drizzle the entire surface with remaining 2 Tbs Olive Oil ad sprinkle with salt to taste.

Bake until golden brown 17-18 minutes. Slide Focaccia Bread onto wire rack and let cool completely.

And......ENJOY!

P.S. It's REALLY good dipped in Balsamic Vinegar and Olive Oil!

-Lauren

Cinnamon Rolls

Today 3 of my friends and I got together and made some delicious cinnamon rolls.
Here is the recipe that we used for them.

Cinnamon Rolls

Makes 8 to 12 large buns  

6 1/2 T. granulated sugar 

1 t. salt 

5 1/2 T. unsalted butter, softened 

1 egg, slightly beaten 

1 t. vanilla extract 

3 1/2 c. unbleached bread or all-purpose flour 

2 t. instant yeast 1 1/8 c. milk  

Filling:  6 1/2 T. granulated sugar 

1 1/2 t. cinnamon 

Glaze:  

1 c. powdered sugar, sifted 

1/4 t. vanilla extract 

milk   

Cream together the sugar, salt, and butter.  Beat in the egg and vanilla; add the flour, yeast, and milk.  Mix until dough forms a ball, then knead for about 10 minutes, adding flour and milk as necessary. Let rise in a covered, oiled bowl until doubled, about 2 hours.  Transfer dough to lightly oiled counter. Roll into a 12”x14” rectangle. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top. Roll up from the longways and cut into 8 to 12 rolls.  Place cut-side down on parchment-lined baking sheets, or in a 9/13 baking pan.  Let rise until doubled, 75 to 90 minutes.  Bake at 350 for 20 to 30 minutes.  Let cool on wire racks.  Combine ingredients for glaze, drizzling the milk in slowly while stirring.  Use enough milk for the glaze to have a liquid, but still slightly thick texture. Drizzle the glaze over the buns with a small spoon.

Here are some pictures of our rolls before we put the glaze on :)

From nearest to farthest: Ariannes, mine, Katie's and Raquels is hardly visible

Katie's

Raquel's

Mine

And last but not least....*drum roll please*...Arianne's.

Hope you all enjoy it if you try it!

~Lauren~

doughboy's eulogy

Recently i was devastated by the article below... ;)






Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours.

Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, and wasted much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Doug h and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.





~Lauren~

Welcome!

A warm welcome to you all!

Thank you for taking time to visit this blog!

I pray that you will be encouraged and inspired by what I will post here.

This blog will be dedicated to bread recipes that are tried and true. 

Every Friday I get together with some friends, and we try different bread recipes from different cookbooks and all together!

It is a lot of fun, and we learn a lot through it all!

Hope you enjoy!

~Lauren~