I have done a lot of yeast bread baking of all kinds over the years. I make loaf bread and rolls pretty regular but I don't make as much of the sweet pastry breads as I use too. Nothing beats the smell and taste of homemade bread!
Yesterday I decided to make a loaf of bread totally by hand. Yep... two stand mixers, a food processor, and two bread machines standing by while I mixed and kneaded dough on the countertop. I just wanted to see how it would turn out, and it turned out pretty well! It didn't rise as high as the machine-kneaded dough but it tastes great.
Actually, cleaning up and washing/drying mixer bowls and attachments is work, too. I didn't make nearly the mess doing it all by hand.
I try to make what the Austrians call "Bauernbrot," Two thirds whole wheat flour, and one third rye. I let my bread maker bounce it around, since it's very hard to kneed by hand.
I think I have finally found a burger bun that we really like. Today I used the "small batch dinner rolls" recipe and shaped them into 4 burger buns which is a good amount for the two of us. I don't like having a bunch of bread in the freezer so small batch baking suits my needs. These are not big, heavy buns but are on the smallish size. Here's the recipe in case anyone would like to try them. They are really easy and fast to make, which is another plus. Small Batch Dinner Rolls This makes 4-6 dinner rolls or 4 burger buns. Preheat oven to 400° F ▢ 1/3 cup warm water plus 1 Tbsp (105-110°F) ▢ 2 tsp dry active yeast ▢ 1 1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil or olive oil ▢ 1 cup all purpose flour plus 3 Tbsp ▢ 4 tsp sugar ▢ 1/2 tsp salt ▢ 1 Tbsp egg, beaten (Mix remaining egg with 1 T water for egg wash to brush on rolls before baking) Place yeast and sugar into warm water (105 – 115 degrees F). Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes until foamy and bubbly. In the bowl of a stand mixer combine flour, salt, egg, oil and yeast mixture. Knead with dough hook until soft and smooth, about 5 minutes. Dough will be sticky, so grease your hands to remove it from mixing bowl. On lightly-floured surface, divide dough into 4 to 6 pieces and form each piece into a ball. (For burger buns, divide into FOUR pieces) Keep added flour to a minimum. Place in a small greased baking pan, press down slightly into desired shape and cover. Allow to rise for 10 minutes. Brush tops with egg wash and sprinkle sesame seeds if desired. Bake in 400 degree oven* for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Brush with melted butter after baked and still hot. Keep buns covered so they will stay soft. *I baked these in my Breville countertop oven and they came out great.
Thanks! I'll try these when I finish the ones I've got in the freezer. I assume you scaled this down from a larger recipe??
Nope; this is the dinner roll recipe I found when I was searching for "small batch" baking. Here's that first attempt... https://www.seniorsonly.club/threads/homemade-bread.16519/page-10#post-599654 Today I made four "buns" and put sesame seeds on with the egg wash. We ate all four of them so it turned out perfect!
Today I made croutons with stale homemade bread; they turned out really good. Cut bread into cubes, put them on a baking sheet, drizzled olive oil and sprinkled with garlic sea salt and dry parsley. Baked at 400° for about 10 minutes; flipped them halfway through.
Yum! Love homemade croutons! I can eat them straight up out of the oven. Homemade breadcrumbs are good too!
I have made corn tortillas a few times, but not flour. I had a wooden tortilla press but got rid of it because I didn't make enough tortillas to warrant it taking up space. I just buy them now, if I need some for a recipe. I have made tortillas chips and tortilla bowls from the left over tortillas that were pretty tasty.