All My Recipes

Artisan Bread

3 and 1/4 cups bread flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 and 1/2 cups cool water

In a large un-greased mixing bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together. Pour in the cool water and gently mix together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working it until all the flour is moistened. If needed, use your hands (as I do in the video tutorial above) to work the dough ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine!). Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting this risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Place covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours – 3 days. I usually let it rest in the refrigerator for about 18 hours. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That’s fine and normal– nothing to worry about.
Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims and make sure it’s nonstick) with flour and/or cornmeal. Turn the cold dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough in half. Some air bubbles will deflate as you work with it. Place dough halves on prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape into 2 long loaves about 9×3 inches each (doesn’t have to be exact) about 3 inches apart. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes. You will bake the dough on this prepared baking sheet. See recipe note if you want to use a pizza stone.
During this 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C).
When ready to bake, using a very sharp knife or bread lame (some even use kitchen shears), score the bread loaves with 3 slashes, about 1/2 inch deep. (“Score” = shallow cut.) If the shaped loaves flattened out during the 45 minutes, use floured hands to narrow them out along the sides again.
Optional for a slightly crispier crust: After the oven is preheated and bread is scored, place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13 baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3-4 cups of boiling water into it. Place the scored dough/baking pan on a higher rack and quickly shut the oven, trapping the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
Place the shaped and scored dough (on the flour/cornmeal dusted pan) in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Gently tap the loaves– if they sound hollow, the bread is done.
Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

Pepperoni Rolls

Separate Original Bread dough into dinner roll-sized balls.
Stuff with pepperoni.
Bake at 350° until golden brown.
Top with butter.

Original Sandwich-Style Bread

• 1 pack rapid rise yeast

• 1 pack regular yeast – both types of yeast can be found in the baking aisle of any grocery store, I use Kroger brand

• 5 lbs. all-purpose flour

• ½ cup sugar

• 2 tbsp. salt

• ¼ cup oil – the dough takes this amount, you will end up using about another half bottle, I use vegetable oil

Pour flour into a large stainless-steel bowl, reserving 2-3 cups to the side for kneading.
Add sugar and salt to the flour and combine well.
In a separate bowl, combine both packs of yeast with a cup of warm water until completely dissolved.
Add oil and yeast water into flour mixture and combine.
Add water to the mixture little by little until a sticky, dough-like texture is achieved.
Pour some flour onto your countertop, dump dough onto the flour, and knead until the stickiness is gone.
Using more oil, grease the inside of your stainless-steel bowl. You’ll want to use a good bit to make sure the dough does not stick.
Put the dough back inside the bowl, grease the top of the dough, and cover to let rise. The warmer it is in your kitchen, the faster the dough will rise.
Once the dough has doubled in size (usually a few hours later), flour your countertop again and knead your dough out on top of it. When the dough is no longer sticky, place it back inside your greased bowl, cover and let rise again.
You’ll allow your dough to rise 3 times total. After you have kneaded your dough for the third time, cut it into sections.
With each section, tuck the sides backwards into its middle. The result should be log-shaped dough. Put each log into your bread pans. The pans should be (you guessed it) well oiled.
Allow the dough to rise one more time in the bread pans before baking at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. You do not need to let the dough rise as long the final time, only until the loaves are your desired size.
Once the bread is baked and mostly cooled, you can butter the tops of the loaves if desired. As the bread cools completely, the butter will melt and soak into the tops of the bread.
Slice and eat!

Cinnamon Rolls

Separate out some of your Original Bread dough to make cinnamon rolls!

Roll out a section of dough to a flat sheet.
Brush that entire section with melted butter. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar all over the butter. Pat down to make sure it all sticks.
Roll the sheet up so you have a log shaped dough and cut sections. Add the sections to a greased glass dish and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown.

Cinnamon Roll Frosting

2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp butter melted
2 tsp vanilla
4 Tbsp milk can substitute with heavy cream or half and half

Combine powdered sugar, melted butter, vanilla and milk in a large mixing bowl until smooth.
Pour over warm rolls and spread.

Banana Bread

Pumpkin Bread

2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 15-oz can 100% pure pumpkin

Preheat the oven to 325°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Generously grease two 8 x 4-inch loaf pans with butter and dust with flour (alternatively, use a baking spray with flour in it, such as Pam with Flour or Baker's Joy).
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk until well combined; set aside.
In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until just blended. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Continue beating until very light and fluffy, a few minutes. Beat in the pumpkin. The mixture might look grainy and curdled at this point -- that's okay.
Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until combined.
Turn the batter into the prepared pans, dividing evenly, and bake for 65 – 75 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the loaves cool in the pans for about 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled (about 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups mashed)
1/3 cup melted butter, unsalted or salted
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar (1/2 cup if you would like it less sweet, 1 cup if more sweet)
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C), and butter a 4x8-inch loaf pan.
In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.
Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour at 350°F (175°C), or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.)