No kneading, no rising Honey Wheat Bread

No kneading, and no rise time makes this bread fast and easy. Not to mention delicious!! This was a crockpot recipe that I adapted to conventional oven.

Ingredients:
2 cups warm (not hot) milk
2 TB canola oil (it's healthier than vegetable oil)
1/4 Cup honey
3/4 tsp salt
1 pckg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
3 cups whole wheat flour, divided
3/4 to 1 Cup bread flour (or all-purpose flour)

1. Grease or spray bread pan. In electric mixer, combine milk, oil, honey salt, yeast, 1 1/2 cups wheat flour and 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix at medium low speed for 2 minutes.
2.Gradually add remaining wheat flour and 1/4 to 1/2 cup bread flour. Mix until completely combined. Unlike other bread recipes, this dough is VERY sticky. You may be tempted to add more flour, but you don't need to.
3. Transfer to prepared pan and cook in a 325 degree oven for 1 hour. If your crock pot is big enough, you can also put the bread pan with the dough in it, in the crock pot and cook it on high for 3 hours.

Homemade Hamburger Buns

This is the most tastey bread I have ever made. I love these homemade hamburger buns. I won't buy store bought ever again. I like to make a double batch and freeze a bunch so I have them on hand. They are so mouth watering good. Whenever I make them we just have to have sloppy joes or a hamburger.

This recipe is from Annie's Eats. And if you're cool like me and don't have a kitchen aid then you have to mix it by hand, which isn't too bad on this recipe.

Light Brioche Burger Buns
Ingredients:
3 tbsp. warm milk

1 cup warm water
2 tsp. instant yeast
2½ tbsp. sugar
1½ tsp. salt
1 large egg
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
2½ tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

For topping:
1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp. water, for egg wash
Sesame seeds

Directions:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the milk, water, yeast, sugar, salt and egg. Mix briefly to combine. Add the flours to the bowl, and mix until incorporated. Mix in the butter. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 6-8 minutes. The dough will be somewhat tacky, but you want to avoid adding too much extra flour which will create tough buns.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1-2 hours.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Using a dough scraper, divide the dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each portion of dough into a ball and place on the baking sheet, 2-3 inches apart. Cover loosely with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise again, 1-2 hours, until puffed up and nearly doubled.

Set a large metal pan of water on the lowest rack of the oven. Preheat the oven to 400˚ F with a rack in the center. Brush the tops of the buns lightly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake the buns about 15 minutes rotating halfway through baking, until the tops are golden brown. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.

Remember they freeze well! Make a double batch!

Easter Bunny Bread

Here is the Easter Bunny Bread I made last year. Thought I would share the recipe with you before Easter this year incase you want to try it out. Happy Easter!

The recipe is a little hard to follow. Click on the picture to enlarge it and get a better idea.

2 loaves (1lb. each) frozen bread dough, thawed
2 raisins
2 sliced almonds
1 egg, lightly beaten
lettuce leaves
dip and veggies of your choice

Cut a fourth off of one loaf of dough; shape into a pear to form head. For body, flatten remaining portion into a 7 in. x 6 in. oval; place on a greased baking sheet. Place head above body. Make narrow cuts, about 3/4 in. deep, on each side of head for whiskers.

Cut second loaf into four equal portions. For ears, shape two portions into 16. in. ropes; fold ropes in half. Arrange ears with open ends touching head. Cut a third potion of dough in half; shape each into a 3 1/2 in. oval for back paws. Cut two 1-in. slits on top edge for toes. Position on each side of body.

Divide the fourth portion of dough into three pieces. Shape two pieces into 2 1/2 in. balls for front paws; shape the remaining piece into two 1 in. balls for cheeks and one 1/2 in. ball for nose. Place paws on each side of body; cut two 1 in. slits for toes. Place cheeks and nose on face. Add raisins for eyes and almonds for teeth.

Brush dough with egg. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30-45 minutes. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Place bread on a lettuce-lined 16 in. x 13 in. serving tray. Cut a 5 in x 4in oval in center of body. Hallow out bread, leaving a 1/2 in shell. Line with lettuce and fill with dip.

Ham and Cheese Sandwich

My friend Heidi made this for us. So yummy! The bread is absolutely divine!

This makes a lot! You could half the recipe or make it all and freeze half.

Ingredients:

1 recipe Bread Dough

2 lbs. thinly sliced ham

1 c. Cream cheese

1/2 c. A1 Sauce (We used BBQ)

1/2 c. butter, melted

1.5 c. fresh parmesan cheese

Bread Dough:

3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 pkgs. dry yeast

4.5 tsp. salt

3 c. water

3 3/4 c. milk

12-13.5 c. flour

3/4 c. sugar

3.4 c shortening

In a sauce pan, cook potatoes covered in water until tender(10-15 min), drain and mash. Measure 1.5 cup mashed potatoes and set aside. In a large bowl combine 6 c flour and yeast. In sauce pan heat milk, sugar, shortening and salt until warm, stirring constantly until shortening almost melts. Add to dry mixture, add egg and potato. Beat on low with mixer for 1/2 minute, scrapping sides constantly. Beat on high for 3 min. By hand, add remaining flour to make a soft dough. Knead 6-8 min. Shape into a ball and place in a lightly greased bowl turning once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size (about and hour). Punch down, turn out on lightly floured surface. Let rise 10 minutes.

After dough has risen, take big pieces of dough and flatten them. Brush them with melted butter and place 3 large, thin ham slices on each. Spread cream cheese over ham and drizzle 1 tsp. A1 Sauce through the center of the roll. Wrap dough around ham and tighten the edges. Brush with butter and roll in fresh Parmesan cheese. Place on cookie sheet and let rise 1 hour. Bake at 350 degrees until golden, approximately 20-30 minutes.

That is the recipe. It makes about 10-12 servings or in our case about 12-14 sandwiches. If we were to make it again I'd put more BBQ in then we did and maybe whip the cream cheese and more smoothly put it in. Those two ingredience add a lot of flavor.