The CuisiNerd

An adaptation and amalgamation of a number of recipes I found.

This recipe makes 3 loaves or rounds, and is sized for a 5.5-quart stand mixer – if your mixer motor is under 350W, you may want to scale this down a bit. The key is to have a liquid:flour ratio of about 3:5 (by weight)

1. Mix the following wet ingredients together in a bowl or other large measuring vessel:
• 1 lb warm water (2 cups)
• 4 oz. honey (1/2 cup)
• 1.5 Tablespoons dry yeast
• 1 Tablespoon salt
• 3 eggs (beat into mixture)
• 4 oz. oil (canola or olive)
2. In the stand mixer bowl, put in:
• 2.6 pounds bread flour (approx. 8 cups)
• Liquid mixture
3. Mix on low speed with a dough hook until ingredients are combined, and then let knead for about 10 minutes.
4. Let the dough rise in the mixer bowl, covered with a cloth, for about 2 hours.
5. punch down the dough and knead by hand for about 3-4 minutes, adding flour as needed.
6. Divide the dough and knead each piece for another minute or so and form into rounds or loaves.
7. Let rise for another 45 minutes.
8. If you wish, brush on an egg wash (beat 1 egg with a tablespoon of water) for a golden brown crust.
9. Bake at 325F for 30 minutes.

no, this isn’t a birdseed bread – the recipe is simple enough to be tweeted. It’s very versatile and can be used as pizza dough, pita, rolls, sandwich bread, you name it.

This bread is brought to you by the number 3.

3 Cups liquid (some combination of water and milk, lukewarm, under 105°F)

3 Tablespoons sugar (or other sweetener such as honey, maple syrup, or molasses. Don’t use zero-calorie sweeteners here, this is to feed the yeasties, not to sweeten the bread – that’s what jam is for)

3 teaspoons yeast (1 Tablespoon – if using packets, 1 packet is just under a tablespoon and will do fine)

Stir together in a mixing bowl and let sit for a few minutes for the yeast to activate.

Add:

3 teaspoons salt (1 Tablespoon)

3 Tablespoons oil (canola, olive, or butter, any one will do – use less if you want a crispier crust)

3 Cups bread flour or other high-gluten flour

3 Cups whole wheat flour (or other grains in any combination you desire. half WW/half rye works well too. You can also use 3 more cups of bread flour for plain ol’ white bread)

If using a stand mixer, combine together with a dough hook and knead on low speed for 15 minutes (3 times 5!)

If doing this by hand, stir the ingredients together and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is nice and stretchy.

Shape into two (not 3!) loaves (or lots of rolls!) and put in loaf pan

Cover with a towel and rise in a warm spot for an hour (3 times 20!) – you can turn your oven on low (usually 170°F) until heated, then turn the oven off and put the loaves in there to rise.

Bake at 350°F for half an hour (3 times 10!). If rising in the oven, you can just leave them there and turn it on. Start the timer when you turn the oven on)

Variations:

Pita: Divide the dough into 16 pieces and shape into balls, and let rise . Roll them out and bake them on a stone for a few minutes on each side.

Pizza Crust: Just like pita, only with different sized dough balls. Add sauce and toppings and bake at 500°F.

Rolls: Like pita, but skip the part where you make them flat.

2 cups boiling water

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup maple sugar (or other sugar)

1 tablespoon honey

1/4 cup butter

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon instant active dry yeast

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

combine water, oats, sugar, honey, butter, salt and cinnamon. Let cool to lukewarm. Add yeast and flours and mix.

Knead about 10 minutes by hand, 5-7 minutes by machine until dough is smooth and shiny.

Transfer to greased bowl, cover (not airtight) and allow rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough in half. Shape each half into loaf. Place in greased loaf pans.

Cover pans lightly and allow to rise about 1 hour.

Bake loaves in preheated 360 degree oven for 33 minutes. Remove from oven when golden brown. Allow to cool.

I love this bread recipe. It’s simple, and not much in the way of kneading required.

2 cups lukewarm water

1 cup buttermilk (can be substituted by using 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar then fill with milk to one cup, let sit for 5 minutes or so)

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)

1 1/2 tablespoons Kosher salt (use 3/4 as much for table salt)

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

6 1/2 cups flour (I usually use high-gluten or bread flour for at least half, then whole wheat for the rest)

grease for the pans

1. Mix everything but the flour.

2. mix in the flour without kneading.

3. cover (not airtight) and allow to rise at room temp until the dough rises and collapses (or flattens on top), about 2 hours.

4. Dough can be used immediately after first rise, or put in the refrigerator and used within 7 days.

5. Grease a 9x4x3 in pan. (or, a standard bread pan) Cut and shape the ball to fit the pan by stretching and turning the ends under until in an oval. (Full recipe makes 2 or 3 loafs)

6. Drop the dough into the greased pan. You want the pan to be slightly more than half full.

7. Allow the dough to rise again – 40 minutes for fresh dough, 1 hour, 40 minutes for refrigerated.

8. if using a baking stone, turn the oven on 20 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350.

9. Bake bread near center of oven 45 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Remove from the pan. Allow to cool completely before slicing (if you want nice slices. Or, you can tear into it right away if you don’t mind irregular hunks of yummy, warm bread).

Another recipe for dinner rolls, this time more bread-style than brioche.

Dry:

• 2 lbs flour (this can be a mix of bread and whole wheat flours. Recommend not going more than 50% WWF)
• 2 tsp salt

Wet:

• 1 Cup warm water
• 1 Cup warm milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons yeast
• 1/2 stick melted butter (add after the yeast has activated)

combine wet ingredients and let yeast activate for about 10 minutes. Add to dry ingredients in stand mixer and knead with dough hook for about 20 minutes.

Allow to rise until doubled in size (about 90 minutes) and divide into rolls. Place close together on a cookie sheet and let rise for another 20-30 minutes. Heat oven to 425F (Gas 7 for those in Europe) and bake for about 20 minutes.

Easy recipe for dinner rolls. Makes a good base for a cinnamon raisin bread too. This is essentially a brioche dough. The recipe has been sized for a KitchenAid 5.5-quart stand mixer and makes about two dozen dinner-sized rolls. You can also use this for hamburger buns if you make them larger and flatter.

Stir the following ingredients together and let sit for about 10 minutes:

• 3/4 cup milk or buttermilk (warmed to about 40C/100F)
• 3/4 cup water (also warmed)
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast (or 2 packets if not using bulk yeast)

While the yeast is activating, combine the following into the stand mixer bowl:

• 30 oz flour (about 5 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup sugar (1 cup if making cinnamon raisin bread)
• 1/2 Tbsp salt

Mix briefly and then add:

• 3/4 cup softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 2 eggs
• yeast mixture

Combine with the dough hook on low speed until well mixed. Turn up the speed a notch and let it knead for about 10-15 minutes.

After kneading, let the dough rise until double in size (about 45 minutes). Shape the dough into rolls, put on the baking pan and let rise for another 30 minutes. Bake the rolls at 400F for about 10-15 minutes until golden.

To make this into a cinnamon bread, add an extra 1/2 cup of sugar as noted above. After the kneading is done, add a bunch of raisins (a cup or so should do it unless you REALLY like raisins) and 2 tablespoons of cinnamon. Shape into loaves and bake at 350F.