Last year I made pepperoni rolls for the first time. Now I don’t know what I’d do without them!

• I serve pepperoni rolls hot out of the oven for dinner.  They go great with a hearty soup!
• I wrap the leftovers in foil and put them in the freezer.  Later I put the foil-wrapped package of rolls in the oven just like I would a frozen dinner.  I’d love to say that I started with a preheated oven.  I don’t.  I put them in a cold oven at 320 degrees for forty-five minutes. Your time may vary.
• They’re great for road trips and picnics.  I thawed the frozen rolls in the refrigerator and then packed ‘em up.  They taste great at room temperature and are a quick, tidy snack.

So how do you make pepperoni rolls?  It all starts out with a dough that’s a little on the sweet side.  I use a variant on my sour milk bread dough.  The difference here is that I don’t use sour milk.

Dough for Pepperoni Rolls – Two Pound Bread Machine

1 ½ cups milk
4 cups bread flour
1 ¼ teaspoon salt
4 Tablespoons sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons oil
1 ¾ teaspoons yeast

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

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board and divide it into 16 pieces of approximately equal size.  Flatten each dough ball into a circle of about four inches in diameter.  Then place 6 pepperoni slices in the middle.  I usually lay them down three at a time in slightly overlapping rows.

 Then roll the dough around the pepperoni . . .

Pinch the edges closed.  Place the roll seam side down on a greased cookie sheet.  When you’re done you’ll have something that looks like the photo below.  (I keep thinking that I’ll find a better layout so that the two last rolls aren’t over on the side by themselves.  Let me know if you find a better way of placing the rolls.)

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 an oven preheated to 375 degrees for about 17 minutes.

After you’ve made these once you’ll find that these come together rather quickly.  I always try to have a batch of them in the freezer for those nights when everyone is too tired to cook.

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2. Dinner Rolls with Rapid Rise Yeast

In my Zojirushi the dough cycle with regular yeast is one hour and fifty minutes.  The rapid rise cycle is only forty five minutes.  That’s quite a time savings!

Dinner Roll 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
2 teaspoons rapid rise yeast 

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

When the dough is done put it on a lightly floured board and divide in half. The goal is to get 18 to 20 dinner rolls of appropriate size and shape. When you’ve got the rolls 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 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.

This is one of my favorite recipes.  I use it to make hamburger buns as well as pizza dough.

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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.

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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.

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But the heat wave is over, we’re back from vacation and life is getting back to normal.  It’s time to discuss one a favorite topic of the Man of The House.  Let’s talk pizza!

Once a month the Man of The House makes us pizza. Any more than once a month and we wouldn’t fit through the front door.  If we had it any less, we’d have horrific pizza withdrawal symptoms.

Bread Machine 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 pizza 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. The Man of the House believes in lots of pepperoni.

The cheese is next.  Typically the Man of the House adds sliced mozzarella, grated Romano and grated cheddar.

Once the pizza is assembled the Man of the House 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.

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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.

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