Bread

Golden Sesame Braid Bread

by

Sesame Braid Bread

Festive bread.

This Golden Sesame Braid Bread is a festive loaf and is easy to make. Using regular flour (not bread flour), eggs, and milk, it is different than your normal homemade bread.

Basic Instructions on Milk in Bread

The recipe calls for scalded and then cooled milk. I just warmed mine enough to melt the butter. Back in the day when milk was not pasteurized, milk was always scalded when used in cooking and baking. Then it had to be cooled to lukewarm so it was not too hot, or it would kill the yeast. Many cookbooks still carry those instructions: scald milk, then cool to lukewarm. I just make it lukewarm to begin with since the milk I use is pasteurized.

sesame braid bread
The braid – almost ready to go into the oven.

Mixing and Braiding

I mixed this up in my Bosch Mixer and it was simple enough. Kids will enjoy helping to “braid” the bread. The glaze of egg and water helps give it a golden glow, and the sesame seeds on the top help give it added appeal.

If you want to speed it up a little, you can add a little more yeast. As it is, the total time from mixing to coming out of the oven for me was just two and a half hours. This Sesame braid bread is well worth the time and effort.

 

Sesame Braid Bread

The Recipe for Sesame Braid Bread

I found this Sesame Braid Bread recipe in a cookbook I was given as a bridal shower gift in 1984. The cookbook is called Country Fair Cookbook (Every Recipe a Blue Ribbon Winner).

Sesame Braid Bread

 

Golden Sesame Braid

My Windowsill
A golden braid of bread that will have you coming back for more. This recipe takes just a little more time and effort - but not enough to make you want to skip making it. Let kids help you braid the bread for added fun.
Print Recipe
Prep Time 2 hrs
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 2 hrs 30 mins
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 cup milk scalded (which I do not do - see above)
  • 1/4 cup shortening
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. salt
  • 1 Tablespoon yeast
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm water
  • 3 eggs
  • 7 1/2 cup sifted flour
  • 1 egg beaten
  • 1 Tablespoon water
  • 2 Tablespoon Sesame seeds

Instructions
 

  • Combine milk, shortening, sugar, and salt. Heat enough to melt butter.
  • Cool to lukewarm.
  • Dissolve yeast in lukewarm water
  • Add yeast, 3 eggs, and 2 cups flour to the milk mixture
  • Beat until smooth, about 2 minutes
  • Gradually add enough remaining flour to make a soft dough
  • Knead 8-10 minutes on floured surface
  • Place in lightly greased bowl and let rise until double (about one hour)
  • Divide dough into six parts.
  • Roll each part into a 12-inch strip
  • Braid three strips together to form the loaf
  • Place on a greased tray
  • Brush braids with glaze made with egg and water, then sprinkle with Sesame seeds
  • Allow to rise again until double (about 45 minutes)
  • Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done

sesame braid bread

Note: This recipe is a re-post from over five years ago.

Refrigerator Rolls

by

refrigerator rolls

Overnight stay

I love this overnight refrigerator roll recipe when I don’t have any bread or other rolls prepared for Sunday lunch. I mix it up Saturday evening and toss it into the refrigerator (well, I don’t exactly toss it, but you know what I mean).

Be sure to use regular flour instead of bread flour, as the recipe calls. I tried bread flour once and said, “Never again.”

refrigerator rolls
the dough right after it is mixed

 

My hints on these refrigerator rolls

Let me give you several hints on this. I’m sure they will help make the process easier. I admit the dough is harder to handle in the morning when it is cold, especially if you have arthritis in your hands. You can let it sit out a bit to warm up before you shape into rolls.

  •  Make sure you use a bowl that is large enough to allow the dough to rise a little.   (It will blow the lid off and spill onto your refrigerator shelves. Ask me how I know!).  A bowl double the size of the dough works well.
  • Put the lid on tightly.  I’m sure you can imagine why.
  • Put something heavy on top of the lid.  Something like a gallon of milk turned on its side so it will fit on that shelf.  The extra weight reminds the lid that it is to stay put no matter how much pressure it receives from down below.
  • Because the dough will be stiff and cold in the morning, you can actually put it on the counter and cut it with a good knife. That way you don’t have to twist and turn and pull to get the dough divided into smaller pieces, especially if your hands are stiff and sore.  I’ve done this, and I can’t tell any difference in the rolls.
cut the cold dough with a knife

Morning completion

In the morning (or about three hours before serving), take the dough out of the refrigerator and shape it into 24 balls. (See my note and the photo above about using a knife if it’s hard to tear pieces off the dough.)

Put them on a greased baking sheet (or pan).  Leave enough space between the rolls so they can spread out as well as up.

For the bread, you’ll need all-purpose flour instead of bread flour – which is especially nice if your bread flour supply is low.  Warm water, yeast, sugar, salt, shortening and an egg round out this recipe.  The dough will be a little sticky, so you’ll want to toss some flour on the counter when you’re ready to roll the dough into balls.

referigerator rolls on tray 2
Woops. My OCD hadn’t kicked in yet or these rolls would be in a straight line.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forget about them for about two hours until they look like this:

refrigerator rolls rising 2

Then pop them into the oven to bake.  I always brush some butter on the tops when they come out of the oven.

refrigerator rolls done

After  that, have somebody find a basket and plop the rolls into the basket.  Enjoy!

refrigerator rolls

The recipe for refrigerator rolls

Refrigerator Dinner Rolls

My Windowsill
The nice thing about these rolls is that you can serve them fresh out of the oven even though you've mixed them up the day before.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 15 mins
Total Time 30 mins
Course Bread - Rolls
Cuisine American
Servings 2 dozen

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
  • 2 cups warm water 110-115
  • 1/2 cup sugar I use less
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 6 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup shortening I use vegetable oil

Instructions
 

  • Dissolve yeast in warm water
  • Mix 2 cups flour, sugar and salt, then add the yeast/water mixture.
  • Mix together on medium speed for 2 minutes
  • Add egg, shortening, and the remaining flour to form a soft dough.
  • Do not knead.
  • Put dough into a greased bowl, turning to grease all side of the dough.
  • Cover with lid and refrigerate overnight.
  • Punch down and turn onto lightly floured surface.
  • Separate into 24 rolls and roll into balls.
  • Place on greased baking sheet
  • Cover and let rise until double - 2-3 hours.
  • Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes or until nicely browned.
  • Grease tops with butter or margarine.

This recipe comes from Taste of Home.  Find more great recipes at www.tasteofhome.com.

I first posted this recipe six years ago and am bringing it back. This is on my menu for this Sunday when we celebrate a birthday with a friend.

Homemade Rye Wheat Bread

by

rye baking in oven

A re-post from five years ago!

The Rye Wheat Bread

I am not a fan of rye bread or of 100% whole wheat bread. You’d think my German ancestry would affect these taste buds, but it’s not so. I have sisters who like whole wheat bread, but I missed that gene.

Yet, this rye wheat bread is good. This recipe produces a moist, rich bread.  In addition to rye, wheat and white flour, you will need eggs, instant potatoes, margarine (or butter), milk, salt, sugar and yeast.

Don’t panic because of the ingredients.  It’s still an easy recipe.

The how to.

Dissolve the yeast in warm water, then mix the dry ingredients together.  Add the melted margarine (or butter) and milk to the yeast mixture and all the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

For this recipe, you only need 1 Tablespoon of yeast.  I sometimes add a little more if I’m in a hurry to get the bread rising. For bread with wheat flour, one thing you want to do is make certain that you don’t add too much flour.  Add a little at a time until it is mixed in well.  You’ll want this dough to be a tad on the sticky side.

 

rye in bowl

Put the dough into a greased bowl and let it rise three times.

ready for the first punch!

You punch it down the first time and let it rise again.  After you put the bread into loaf pans, you let it rise again.

rye in pans no pricks

I always prick my loaves with a fork; it  helps the air escape and keeps the tops from developing bubbles or cracking.

rye rising in pans 2

Let the loaves rise and then put into a pre-heated oven.  The temperature is 425 and you only need to bake it for 25 minutes. Remember that the wheat and rye will make it look darker, so you don’t need to think it’s getting too dark.

This bread is excellent for toast or for grilled cheese sandwiches

A grilled cheese on rye-wheat bread.

.  It’s a moist bread and  not as dry as a lot of bread with whole wheat flour in it.

You can slice the bread and put it in the freezer.  Then when you want a few slices, you can just take out the amount you need.

 

The rye wheat bread recipe.

Here’s the recipe.  And a confession:  this is not Dave’s favorite bread recipe. So after making this one and hearing his many hints for his favorite recipe, I made that one, too.  You can find it by going to this link.

Rye Wheat Bread

My Windowsill
A little extra effort because of additional ingredients, but well worth the time! This moist wheat-rye bread is excellent toasted or just served plain.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 15 mins
Cook Time 25 mins
Total Time 40 mins
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 4 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup margarine or butter
  • 2 2/3 cups milk
  • 2 cups warm water
  • 1 Tablespoon yeast
  • 1 cup sugar brown or white
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 cup rye flour
  • 4 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 Tbsp. instant potatoes
  • 7-8 cups white flour

Instructions
 

  • Dissolve yeast in warm water
  • Heat margarine/butter and milk to lukewarm
  • Mix sugar, eggs, salt, rye flour, whole wheat flour, instant potatoes, and 5 cups white flour together
  • Add the yeast/water and margarine/milk
  • Add t he remainder of the white flour until the dough is rhe right texture
  • Put into a greased pan and let it rise until double
  • Punch down and let rise again
  • Make into 4 loaves and allow to rise again
  • Bake at 425 for 25 minutes or until done
  • Brush with margarine, oil, or crisco

 

Pinterest Rye Wheat Bread

Easy Homemade Butterhorns

by

Butterhorns – taste the difference of homemade.

These easy homemade butterhorn rolls are a delight to serve. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them. Place the butterhorns on a tray about three hours before you want to serve them, and let them rise as they thaw. I got this recipe from my sister Loretta years ago, and sometimes I only make half a batch. Most times, I make the entire batch and have some to store in the freezer.

butterhorns

The how to.

For this recipe, you’ll need butter and margarine and shortening, sugar, salt, yeast, water, eggs, milk, and bread flour. I’m showing a chart below for the full recipe and for a half-recipe. I prefer the whole recipe because I like having extra ones in the freezer for later use.

Easy tip: I melt the butter and margarine in the microwave, then add the milk and mix it together. This cools the temperature of the butter/margarine so it will not kill the yeast.

Rolling out the butterhorns

Mix your dough, then divide into 8 sections. Roll each section into a circle, then brush the circle with melted butter or margarine. Using a pizza cutter (or a knife), cut into 8 pie-shaped wedges.butterhorns

 

 

 

 

Beginning at the wide end, roll each wedge, leaving the end on the bottom.

Place the butterhorns onto a greased tray, and let them rise until double.

Place close together if you are freezing the unbaked butterhorns. If you are baking the rolls, leave more space between each roll.

Easy freezing

To freeze, put the butterhorns onto a tray and place in freezer for several hours. Then place the rolls into a freezer bag and put into the freezer. These are great for a Sunday lunch. Allow the rolls to thaw and rise while you are in church.  They will be ready to pop into the oven when you get home.

butterhorns

64 Rolls 32 Rolls
3 cups milk 1 1/2 cups milk
1 ½ cups sugar ¾ cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt 1 ½ tsp. salt
½ cup water ¼ cup water
12 Tbsp. butter 6 Tbsp butter
12 Tbsp. margarine or shortening 6 Tbsp margarine or shortening
 8 medium eggs 4 medium eggs
   13 1/2 Cups bread flour   6 3/4   Cups bread flour

The recipe.

Easy Homemade Butterhorns

My Windowsill
An easy yeast butterhorn recipe. Make ahead and freeze for later, or bake the day you mix them.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 mins
Cook Time 14 mins
Total Time 44 mins
Course Yeast Rolls
Cuisine American
Servings 64 4olls

Ingredients
  

  • 3 cups milk
  • 3/4 cup margarine or butter
  • 3/4 cup shortening
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 8 medium eggs
  • 1 Tbsp. salt
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 6 level Tbsp. yeast
  • 13 1/2 cups bread flour
  • Melted margarine or butter

Instructions
 

  • Warm milk - do not boil.
  • Dissolve yeast in warm water and milk with some of the sugar.
  • Add shortening, butter, and the rest of the sugar.
  • Next, add salt, about 2 cups of flour and mix well.
  • Then add eggs and mix well.
  • Add the rest of the flour, a little at a time.
  • Knead by hand or with mixer for 5-10 minutes
  • Let dough rest for a few minutes, then divide into 8 pieces.
  • On a floured surface, roll each piece into a circle.
  • Brush the circle with melted margarine
  • Using a pizza cutter (or a knife) cut into 8 pieces (like you would cut a pie)
  • Beginning at the wide end, roll each piece up to the narrow end
  • Make sure the end is on the bottom
  • Place onto a greased tray and brush with melted butter or margarine.
  • Let rise until double
  • Bake in 350-375 oven for 14 minutes.

 

Pinterest butterhorns

 

 

Oatmeal Bread

by

Oatmeal in bread.

Hands down, this oatmeal bread is my husband’s favorite homemade bread. I got the recipe from his aunt Sue, who got it from her sister Edna. I’ve seen oatmeal bread recipes in many cookbooks over the years, so I don’t know from where it originated. I don’t make it as often as I make other bread, so every once in a while Dave has to remind me that this is his favorite, and he wonders when I’m going to make the oatmeal bread again.  That’s what happened the other week after I had made the rye-wheat bread.  He let me know he’d really appreciate having some of his favorite bread. Lucky man, he got to eat it fresh out of the oven the next day for supper.

In addition to oatmeal (and you can use regular or minute, despite the fact that the recipe calls for minute oatmeal), you’ll need brown sugar, margarine (I use butter), salt, sugar, and water.

The how to

Mix your dry ingredients together first.

oatmeal, sugar, and butter

Add boiling water and stir until it is all dissolved.

oatmeal with hot water

Once the mixture has cooled to lukewarm, add yeast dissolved in warm water. Next, add flour until the dough is the right consistency. Put the dough into a greased bowl and let it rise until double.

 

Punch the dough down and let it rise again. Then put the dough into pans. This recipe makes two loaves.

Prick the loaves with a fork. This helps the air escape and keeps the bread from developing bubbles in the crust. In our Pennsylvania Dutch language, the word we use is gix (it rhymes with fix.)  So you can gix the dough or prick it. (It’s the same thing.)

Let it rise until double and then bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Once you remove the bread from the oven, brush the tops with margarine, butter, vegetable oil, or Crisco. It gives the crust a nice glow and softens the texture.

The recipe

Oatmeal Bread

My Windowsill
A homemade bread with a slight oatmeal flavor and texture. This recipe makes two loaves.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 4 hrs
Cook Time 30 mins
Total Time 4 hrs 30 mins
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 2 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp. butter or margarine
  • 1 cup oatmeal
  • 1 Tbsp. salt
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • 1 Tbsp yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 5 cups bread flour

Instructions
 

  • Put brown sugar, salt, butter and oatmeal into a bowl
  • Pour boiling water over the mixture and stir until well-mixed
  • Let cool to lukewarm
  • Dissolve yeast in warm water
  • Add yeast mixture to oatmeal mixture
  • Add 5 cups bread flour
  • Place in greased bowl and let rise until double
  • Punch down and let rise again
  • Punch down and then make into loaves
  • Prick through the loaves with a fork
  • Let rise until double (about an hour)
  • Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until done

Pinterest Oatmeal Bread

This is a repost from over five years ago. I think it’s time I make this for Dave again!