Bread Sticks

1 Cup water
1 Egg, lightly beaten
3 ¼ Cups bread flour
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons dry milk
¼ Cup butter
1 ½ teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the bread machine first.  Set the machine on the dough setting. Make sure you check on the dough after five or ten  minutes of kneading.  It should be a smooth, round ball.  If it’s too dry add liquid a tablespoon at a time until it looks OK.  If it looks too wet,  add flour a tablespoon at a time until it looks right.

Here’s how the dough looks when it’s done.

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured surface.  Divide the dough into 18 equal pieces.  Then roll each piece until it’s a rope that will fit in your greased cookie sheet like so.

Note that you’ll need two pans for this.

Cover the rolls with a clean, light-weight kitchen towel and let the rolls rise for half an hour. Then remove the towel and put the bread sticks  in a 400 degree oven for 10 to 13  minutes or until done.  (It took only 11 minutes in my oven.)

Move the cooked bread sticks to a rack to cool.

The bread sticks tasted great, but seemed a little large.  The next time I make them I’m going to try to make 20 bread sticks instead of 18.  That should make them the right size.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagels

1 1/2 Cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon dark brown sugar, packed
4 Cups bread flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Cup raisins
2 1/4 teaspoons yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. Set the machine on the dough setting.

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured surface.  Divide the dough in half.  Then divide those pieces in half.  Keep going until you’ve got 12 equal pieces of dough.  Then roll each piece until it’s a 10 inch long rope.

Form each rope into a circle and place on two greased cookie sheets.  It’s OK to give the ends a little pinch to make sure things stay together.  Cover them with towels and let rise for 30 minutes.

(Please excuse the state of my pans.  One of goals for 2010 is to get new ones.)

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 15 mintues.  Then turn the bagels over and bake for another 10 minutes.

The bagels were a little more brown than I’d like.  The next time I make this recipe I’ll decrease the cooking time by a few minutes.  It was a winner though, so I will be making this one again.

But the heat wave is over, we’re back from vacation and life is getting back to normal.  It’s time to discuss one of Mr. Diva’s favorite things in the world.  Let’s talk pizza!

Once a month Mr. Diva makes us pizza. Any more than once a month and we wouldn’t fit through the doors of our house.  If we had it any less, we’d have horrific pizza withdrawal symptoms.

Pizza Dough
1 – 1/2 Cups water
1 – 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 – 3/4 Cups bread flour
1 – 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 – 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 – 1/2 teaspoons active bread yeast

Follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of what ingredients to add first.  Use the dough setting of your bread machine.

As an aside, this is a great all-purpose recipe.  I use it for hamburger buns and even dinner rolls.

Once the dough is done, roll it out and make two rectangles.  The above recipe works perfectly for our two extra large cookie sheets. Lay the dough in the cookie sheets.

Then brush the dough with olive oil to seal it. Add your pizza ingredients.  We typically start with tomato sauce.  Then we add diced red peppers, garlic and onion. Mr. Diva believes in lots of pepperoni.

The cheese is next.  Typically Mr. Diva will add sliced mozzarella, grated Romano and grated cheddar.

Once the pizza is assembled Mr. Diva bakes it for 25 minutes at 400 degrees.

With two pizzas we not only have a great dinner, but lots of  yummy lunch left overs.

Rosemary Bread or Dinner Rolls

2/3 C. Milk
2 Eggs
3 C. Bread Flour
2 – 1/2 Tablespoon Sugar
1 – 1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 – 1/2 Tablespoon Butter or Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Chopped, Fresh Rosemary
1/2 teaspoon Dried Thyme
1/2 teaspoon Dried Cilantro
2 teaspoons Yeast

In a large measuring cup or bowl mix the milk and the egg. Put in the dried spices to rehydrate them. Then follow the instructions that came with your bread machine in terms of which ingredients to put in the machine first. Set the machine on the dough setting.

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough in half so that it’s easier to work with. Then divide the dough into dinner roll sized balls and flatten them a little bit. (I ended up with about 16.) Put the dough on a greased cookie sheet. Cover the rolls with a clean, light-weight kitchen towel and let the rolls rise for half an hour. Then remove the towel and put the rolls in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Move the cooked rolls to a rack to cool.

I had puzzled over how to make hot dog buns with dough from my bread machine. Then I noticed that King Arthur Flour sells a hot dog bun pan.  Here’s how it looks. See all the ridges?

The first step was to make the dough for the buns.

Bread Machine Hot Dog Buns

1 – 1/4 Cups water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Egg
3 Cups bread flour
1/4 Cup instant mashed potato flakes
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 – 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons active bread yeast

Add the ingredients to your bread machine as per the machine’s instructions. Use the dough setting.  Turn the dough out on a floured surface and make it into a rectangle shape that will fit into the bun pan. Grease the pan and then add the dough.

Here’s the part that threw me off. It sounds a little strange but what you do next is grease the bottom of clean cookie sheet and put this on top of the pan. The idea is that the cookie sheet will help shape the buns.

Let the dough rise until it’s almost filled the pan. I let it rise for an hour and I think that was a little too much. Next time I’ll check it after forty five minutes.

Then put the pan with the cookie sheet still on top into a 375 degree oven. Cook the rolls for 18 minutes. If they’re not brown enough for you then take the cookie sheet off the top and cook for a few more minutes. I didn’t have to do this though. Mine turned out wonderfully without the extra minutes.

Cool them on a rack in the pan for five minutes. Then take the buns out of the pan. Flip them over and let them finish cooling.

The pan makes ten buns. To prepare them you cut each bun down the middle without cutting through to the bottom. Then cut down the indented lines to separate the ten buns.

And here’s one of the buns in action:

We used them for hot dogs and ham sandwiches. I did have a problem with the bun being a little too big when I ate my hot dog. This wasn’t a problem for Mr. Diva and it wasn’t a problem for either of us with the ham sandwiches. I think that keeping an eye on the rising dough next time will help keep the buns a more manageable size.

Check out the updated version of making hamburger buns in the bread machine.

On Labor Day the Man of the House is going to fire up the grill and we’re going to have some lovely hamburgers. My part of the proceedings will be to make the hamburger buns.

It’s really pretty easy.  For me the most difficult part is making the buns the right size.  Mine tend to be a bit large, but over time I’m getting the hang of it.

Hamburger Buns

1 – 1/2 Cups water
1 – 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 – 3/4 Cups bread flour
1 – 1/2 Tablespoons sugar
1 – 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 – 1/2 teaspoons active bread yeast

Use the dough setting of your Zojirushi Bread Machine. When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board and divide in half. The goal is to get 7 to 8 hamburger buns of appropriate size and shape. When you’ve got the buns the right size and shape put them on a greased cookie sheet. Remember not to put them too close together as they’ll get larger as they cook.

Cover the buns with a clean, light-weight kitchen towel and let the buns rise for half an hour. Then remove the towel and put the buns in a 400 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes.

Move the cooked buns to a rack to cool.

Some store-bought buns get mushy and fall apart when you’ve added the burger and the condiments. These buns will hold everything in place and are still nice and soft.

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day!