Welcome to #MadeItMonday, where I post something I’ve made in the previous week, and where you can join in and post something you made too! The rules are easy: post a pic somewhere of something you’ve made in the last week (ish; let’s say in the last month as the hard-and-fast) and tag it. Sit back and enjoy scrolling through all the beautiful things we’ve collectively created, and celebrate the fact that humans can be awesome! 🙂
Baking this weekend as my creative act. We got the breadmaker out for the first time in this tiny kitchen and discovered that with some judicious rearrangment, we could make it fit. Only then we also discovered that the wiring in our house, which we knew was cruddy, can’t handle the breadmaker – every time it gets to the oven setting, it trips the switch.
So I thought I could just use it for dough, at least – only then it tripped the switch halfway through the knead setting too :\ I pulled the dough out and invented some sort of process, and it still worked out, so you know. But the kids devoured most of the 13 dinner rolls I made on Friday in less than 48 hours, and when I made a second batch today for lunches for the week, I didn’t bother using the machine. I figured 15 mins of kneading dough totally counts as an arm workout, right? RIGHT. So, actually, now that I know it really only takes me 20 mins of effort to throw together some rolls for the week, I’ll probably actually do it more often. It’s pretty easy, and I’ve developed a method of kneading that doesn’t destroy my weak wrists, so that’s cool. If you do have weak wrists or other issues that mean you can’t knead something for 15 mins straight and you don’t have a bread machine, many free-standing mixers come with a dough hook, and you could let that do it for you too. (Now I want to try that out and report back, hmm.)
RECIPE
Add 1c warm water, 1 pkt yeast (2 – 2 1/4 t, depending on your preference/the size of your packets/etc/I tried it with both measurements and they were pretty comparable) and 2 + a bit T of caster sugar into a large bowl. Let it sit somewhere warmish for ten mins. (It’s freezing here rn, so I turned the oven on to heat up, turned it off, then left it open with the bowl sitting on the door both for this and for the rising.)
Should be a bit foamy now. If no foam, your yeast is dead. Call your local necromancer, or just buy some fresher stuff.
Add 3c plain flour (scoop and sweep method) and, if you have it, 3T of gluten flour. I forgot this on rounds 2 & 3, but I do recommend it, esp if you’re just using regular plain flour instead of bread flour, because it helps the dough rise fluffier 🙂 Also add 4T melted butter (you can use oil but butter makes the bread taste a lot better) and a good, solid 1 1/2t of salt. Like, measure that sucker out, because it’s more than you think, and you need all of it, or the bread will taste weak. Optionally add in 1T or so of dried herbs – I use rosemary, because yum.
Beat it around with a wooden spoon or whatever until it comes together. It’ll be pretty dry. That’s okay.
Dump it onto the bench and pound the fear of God into it (knead it) for 15 mins (probably only 10 if you’re not a weakling like me 😉 ). Kneading is like, you push the heel of your palm down into it and stretch it out away from you a bit, then flip it a bit and repeat. Etc. Ad nauseum. For 10-15 mins. Should get paler and softer as you work it – the last 5 mins will be noticeably easier than the first 10.
Oil the bowl you were using before, shape the dough into a ball and pop it back in the bowl. Cover with a tea towel and leave somewhere warmish to rise for 30 mins.
Give it a light knead, just a couple of mins, then shape into lil rolls or braid it or turn it into baguettes or shape it in any other way you see fit. Cover it (tea towel is fine here, but plastic wrap sprayed with non-stick spray is also good) and let it rise in that warmish spot for another 30 mins.
Bake in a moderate oven until it’s golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom. Dinner rolls will take you about 20 mins.
Ta da! You made the breadz. :3
What have you made this week? (It doesn’t have to be fancy!!) Don’t forget to tag your contribution, or even better, leave a link in the comments!! I love seeing what inspiring things other people have made 🙂 🙂 🙂