Category Archives: Bread

Dinner Rolls Take Two

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Happy Carbohydrate Friday! (I’m pretending its a thing during this crazy time)

I decided to take another run at dinner rolls in my bread machine. My last attempt was okay but I knew I could do better. I did some internet searches and landed on the Bread Machine Dinner Rolls on the Betty Crocker website.

The dough came together nicely. I managed to make more reasonably sized dinner rolls that were almost all the same size. The batch made 15 rolls and they raised nicely. I think I need to space them a little better during their second proofing.

The rolls taste and texture were a VAST improvement form my first try. This recipe is definitely a keeper. I printed it and put it inside my bread machine cookbook. My family quickly gobbled these with a bit of butter and peach jam.

Happy Baking!

Stress Baking

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I’m my father’s daughter and when I feel uncertain or stressed….I like to work me feelings out by making carbohydrates. Today’s self care is brought to you by my bread machine and my first go at making dinner rolls.

The batch went swimmingly well in my machine. However, I definitely need more practice at sizing my rolls. I kind of overshot the “roll” size and landed more in a “hamburger bun” size range.

My family pronounced them delicious no matter the size. They browned beautifully and rose nicely. I used a basic white dinner roll recipe from my Bread Lover’s Bread Machine Cookbook by Beth Hensperger. The texture was light but this recipe used eggs and it had different texture than I an anticipated. I’m new to hardcore baking but my mother told me this is normal for egg based breads. I think I am going to make the pizza dough recipe for the next round and shape them as rolls instead of crust. It is just flour, salt, olive oil, water and yeast in that recipe.

Based on the current social distancing, I think I’m going to get a lot of baking practice. And I might end up needing bigger pants…

Happy Baking!!

Should Have Done This Sooner

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I have continued my carbohydrate craze this week and tried something new….pizza dough in my bread machine. And y’all…I should have done this sooner!

My mom got me this great book on bread machine bread. Its really comprehensive and has helped me make really successful bread. But that is all I have ever made.

Jellybean and I needed a project this week so we decided to make homemade pizza. I pulled out the book and used the machine to make one batch of regular crust and on batch of whole wheat crust. It was SOOO EASY. The machine does all the hard work and when it’s done you can cook it right away, store in the fridge for 24 hours or store in the freezer for 3 months.

As a working mom who handles most of the cooking I feel like this has opened up a whole new world for dinner options. My family gets home between 5 and 5:30 and everyone is hungry, especially the kids. I can’t take an hour to cook dinner or there will be meltdowns. It’s just how it is with our littles right now and I know it will change when they get older. But as it stand now, during the week I have to plan meals that can come together quickly.

So holy cow, I can make up dough the night before and put fresh rolls, homemade pizza or whatever else I can think of in the oven for a few minutes when I get home. This has kind of fired up my cooking mojo and maybe I can shake up our recipe rut a little this spring.

What is your favorite (and quick) thing to do with basic dough?

Beer N Cheese Bread

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My Beer N Cheese bread came out gorgeous!

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My recipe came from my favorite bread book, The Bread Lovers Bread Machine Cookbook. I chose to use Copperhead Pale Ale from Free State Beer. This is a locally brewed Kansas pale ale beer. However, I mostly chose this beer because it was the last of the sample box I purchased and I didn’t want to drink it. It had been staring at me forlornly from the fridge…

Therein lies my mistake. This bread raised and baked beautifully. It was tender and moist on the inside and a nice toothy crust on the outside. I was terribly excited to slice it up. But my hopes were crushed, I just didn’t like how it tasted!! The reason I didn’t like the beer was because it had a bitter bite to it. And this came through in the bread. Lesson learned: don’t cook with a wine or beer that you wouldn’t otherwise drink!!

Don’t get me wrong, Free State has awesome beer and I especially love their wheat beer! I highly recommend this Lawrence, KS brewery and restaurant. It’s just that the Copperhead isn’t for me.

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This bread is okay with either lots of butter or jam. But I feel that this batch is destined for the community kitchen at work. This is my way of “frogging” my baked goods, lol! Next time I will use a tastier beer that I enjoy!!

Happy Knitting!