Mmmm... Bread

Today my husband asked me if I was planning to make bread all the time now (rather than buying loaves).  I said I probably would and asked why he was asking.  "Because this is really good bread," he responded while taking a bite of toast.

On Friday I made two loaves of my favorite bread recipe.  It's actually a recipe for hamburger buns that I just decided to make loaves out of.  One of my biggest complaints about bread recipes is the crusty crust.  I like that in Italian breads, but for an everyday sandwich bread, I was looking for something a little softer.  I have seen all sorts of tips for making bread crustier, but I never seemed to find anything to make a crust softer.  This recipe is just soft enough and makes 12 rolls or two loaves of bread.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 (.25ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Combine the milk, 1 cup of water, butter, sugar and salt in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil then remove from the heat and let stand until lukewarm.  If the mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast.
   
   
   
   
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour and yeast.  Pour in wet ingredients and stir until the dough starts to pull together.  If you have a stand mixer, use the dough hook to mix for about 8 minutes. If not, knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes.  Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to coat.  Cover and let stand until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
   











3. Punch down the dough and divide into 12 portions.  They should be a little larger than a golf ball.  Make tight balls out of the dough by pulling the dough tightly around and pinching it at the bottom.  Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or aluminum foil..  After the rolls sit for a minute and relax, flatten each ball with the palm of your hand until it is 3 to 4 inches wide.  You may want to oil your hand first.  Set rolls aside until they double in size, about twenty minutes. (For loaves, divide dough into two, stretch into a rectangle and roll .  Pinch the sides and the bottom seam.  Place into loaf pan seam side down.  Cover and let sit until the right size.)
   
   
   
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).  Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tablespoon of water in a cup or small bowl.  Brush onto the tops of the rolls.  Position 2 oven racks so they are not too close to the top or the bottom of the oven.  (I don't use the egg wash on the loaves.)
   
5. Bake for 10 minutes in the preheated oven.  Remove the rolls from the oven and return them to different shelves so each one spends a little time on the top.  Continue to bake for another 5 to 10 minutes, or until nicely browned on the top and bottom. (For the loaves, I use a similar time table.  Instead of switching racks, I just swap sides of the rack.  I bake them until they smell done and are hollow sounding when you tap the top.)

These are really good rolls and make a really nice loaf of bread.  The bread makes excellent grilled sandwiches too.  My next bread adventure should be to try to find a nutty bread to make... or a rye bread for my husband.

Thanks and Happy Eating!