Jenna's Treats & Eats - Easy Bread Two Ways

Years ago I worked at a coffee shop in Toronto that required my alarm to be set for 4:30 in the morning. As you can imagine there weren’t a lot of happy campers on the bus with me, but I didn’t really mind the early start because the second I stepped off the bus into the cold winter morning I was greeted by the smell of fresh bread wafting out of the bakery on the corner. Even on my worst days, the days where I missed my alarm, spilled my coffee and stubbed my toe, the smell of baking bread always make me smile.

The smell of bread in the oven still sends me straight to my happy place, which is why I love making it so much. Yes the process can be a little (ok, very) time consuming but it is well worth it.

The bits of the recipe in italics are just little facts and tips that I’ve picked up along my bread making journey.

The recipe will make three loaves of bread, I like to make one cinnamon raisin and two jalapeno cheddar so the ingredients are listed for that. If you’d rather have two raisin and one cheese just decrease the cheddar toppings by half and double the cinnamon mixture. If you want all cheddar jalapeno… well you get the point. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup of water, warmed to 120- 125 degrees

• 5 tsp yeast

• ½ Tbsp sugar

• 1 cup milk, warmed to 110-115 degrees

• ½ cup softened buttered, cubed

• 3 eggs, lightly beaten

• ½ cup sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• 7-8 cups of flour

FOR THE FILLINGS

• 3 Tbsp melted butter

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 1 Tbsp cinnamon

• 1/3 cup raisins

• 1 cup grated cheddar cheese

• 2- 4 Tbsp finely chopped jalapenos (seeds removed)

DIRECTIONS

- In a small bowl or measuring cup stir ½ Tbsp sugar into warm water until dissolved. Add the yeast, give it a few quick stirs and set it aside for 10 minutes. -Proofing lets you know the yeast is still active. Some brands of yeast will tell you to skip this step but I like to do it anyway. No point in going through all the time an effort of bread making just to realize your yeast was shot. (The sugar gives the yeast something to feed on, neat right?)

- Mix butter, sugar, salt and eggs in a large bowl using a wooden spoon. Slowly add half of the milk, 3 cups of flour, the rest of the milk and another 3 cups of flour. At this point I usually abandon the spoon and just dig in with my hands. Once a shaggy dough has formed place a ½ cup of flour on your work surface, scoop out dough on top and begin kneading, adding the last half cup of flour as you go. – If your dough is too sticky slowly add a bit more flour, no more than a cup. You want the dough to be damp and a bit sticky but not to the point where it’s getting stuck to your hands.

- Don’t worry about the chunks of butter in the dough, it’ll get worked out during the kneading process.

Kneed for 10 minutes or until done. Place dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover with a warm, damp towel and let the dough sit for 2 hours or until it has doubled in size. -Kneading the dough helps stretch and strengthen the gluten (think of it as yoga for your bread. Make sure you’re pressing down and out with the heels of your hands).

- To test if your dough has been kneaded enough roll it into a ball and hold it up in the palm of your hand, if it retains its shape then it’s good to go. You can also poke it with your finger, if the hole fills back up quickly and leaves a small dimple the dough is done.

- When you leave your dough to rise make sure it’s somewhere warm with no drafts. I like to leave my dough to rise in the oven (while it’s off) with the light on.

- Place a baking sheet under the bowl while your dough is rising. It’s easy to get distracted by other things and come back after a couple of hours to find a doughy mess all over the inside of your oven.

- “Punch” the dough a few times to slightly deflate. - “Punching” the dough removes some of the gases that the yeast produces while rising to give you a finer grain. Resist the urge to take out your frustrations on the dough and just lightly press into it with your knuckles.

- Lightly flour your work surface, roll dough into a large rectangle (18”x 24”). Cut dough into three sections length wise.

- Mix cinnamon, sugar and raisins, and cheddar and jalapenos. Brush dough with melted butter. Sprinkle toppings over the dough.

- Tightly roll up your bread pinching the seam at the bottom to seal. Tuck the ends under and place each roll in a loaf pan. Brush lightly with more melted butter and set aside, uncovered, to rise another 2 hours or until dough is an inch higher than the edge of the pan.

- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, bake bread for 30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the bread sounds hollow when tapped.

- Brush with the last of the butter, rest for a few minutes and then remove from the pans onto a cutting board to finish cooling. – Take your bread out of the pans as soon as you can (don’t burn yourself), leaving it in the pan for too long will create condensation and leave you with soggy bottoms.

#Catering #Recipes #Food #autumn