Home > Roll Recipes > Family Bread Recipe
by Robert
(Wilmington)
This recipe works perfectly if you use exactly the ingredients I do. But will do nicely even if you substitute a bit on the flour ratios.
I am not a professional baker, and yet this recipe comes out perfect every time, and once you are used to it, it takes very little effort.
It is the taste and consistency that make this bread so wonderful. The buns are the perfect serving size for sandwiches and hamburgers, or simply a roll with dinner, and they make delightful toast as well.
***Updated 6/28/2011***
Directions:
Heat 2 cups of water 1 Tbs. butter in microwave for 1 min. let sit while you mix the first part of the recipe.
In a large bowl (I use my stand mixer bowl) put:
1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
1 tbs. instant yeast
2 tbs. vital wheat gluten
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 tbs. honey or sugar (either one works well but I prefer the honey)
Add the warmed water and butter and whisk together till it makes a smooth warm batter.
Add 3 1/2 cups bread flour Mix in stand mixer for ten minutes or mix with a spoon then knead for ten minutes by hand adding flour to prevent sticking till dough is smooth and elastic.
If using a stand mixer turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for a bout two minutes flouring jut enough to make it not stick to your hands or the counter top.
Place in an oiled bowl (you can simply spray a bowl with cooking spray and plop in the dough and then spray the dough as well) I have recently started to use extra virgin olive oil because I love the flavor it imparts to the finished bread.
Cover with a moist towel and let sit in a warm place (85 deg F) till doubled. About an hour.
(An oven with a big bowl of hot water placed on the bottom of the oven is perfect).
Turn the dough out gently, (no sense in losing all that fine rising you just did! ) onto the counter. No flour on the counter this time. Cut the dough gently into twelve even pieces. (I use a weight scale) it is usually about 1200 grams total weight for the recipe so each bun is about 100 grams.
Roll the dough gently in your hands in such a way as to stretch the “skin” of the dough and tuck it under making a ball of which the surface is smooth all the way round. Think of it as stretching the surface and tucking in the wrinkles underneath the ball. Set the dough balls on a cookie sheet or sheet pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray or olive oil, and then dusted with cornmeal.
Once again, spray the dough balls with cooking spray and cover with that still moist towel and let rise again for about an hour.
Heat the oven to 450 degrees F and then remover the towel and bake for 15 mines. Just for evenness I take the bread out and rotate the pan half way through the cooking time, but if you don’t care about appearances then don’t bother.
Take the bread buns out of the oven and let cool as long as you can stand to wait before you simply have to butter one or more of them and eat while you dream that you have gone to bread heaven.
Here is where you get the stuff you might never have heard of:
The white whole wheat is King Arthur at any big grocery store or online.
The vital wheat gluten is in the baking isle of most big grocery stores or online. It is made by Hodgston.
The instant yeast can be gotten at any Sam’s club. Ps this is the cheapest way to buy yeast that I know of. It’s less than half the price of those little packets you buy at the store.
Some notes:
The flour measuring technique I use is the simple scoop and swipe method. Scoop the cup measure in the flour bag and swipe off the excess with a flat object like a knife or ruler.
I no longer spray the tops with cooking spray before and after the second rise. Instead I take a clean spray bottle and fill it with water and spray the buns before and after the second rise, then again half way through the cooking cycle when I am turning the pan around anyway. This will give you a nice hard crust like a Kaiser roll.
For the onion roll variation I take minced dried onions like you get in the spice isle at your local grocery and toast them in a nonstick fry pan with either olive oil or butter over medium heat stirring with a wooden spoon or shake and flip method if you dare and you are good at it, till they are a nice golden brown. Cool them and add ½ cup of them to the dough mixture before you start kneading it in either the stand mixer or by hand. Everything else is the same. But before you cook the buns take two egg yolks and about 2 tablespoons of milk. Whisk it together and then use a pastry brush to very gently coat each bun. Bake as usual and start thinking up things to put on them for sandwiches mmmmmmmm My favorite is thin sliced turkey, havarti cheese, fresh sliced tomato, and a bit of thousand island dressing yum again.
By the way the cost for this entire batch of bread is not only cheap, it is dirt cheap. We are talking 50 to 60 cents for the entire twelve buns and the health value is enormous since there is nothing artificial and it is more than 1/3 whole wheat very low in sugar and just a smidgen of fat. All in all this bread has it all flavor ease of making consistency and value. Now if the only had a Nobel prize for bread ….lol
Comments for Mainville Family Bread Recipe
Feb 19, 2015
cs1
by: Nicole
Bread is not something that is very easy to make, getting it soft and evenly baked takes experience and skill. Moreover, if it is a flavored one the job gets even more tough. Considering all this, you are doing a great job.
Mar 22, 2012
love at fist bite
by: Anonymous
love this recipe
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