Baking Yeast Breads

Brrrrrrr-it’s been a cold winter; the kind I remember from when I was a kid, but which hasn’t happened for awhile. And on top of that, our heating bill has been astronomical! The antidote for both the cold and the bills is winter baking—the hot oven means a warm kitchen filled with the wonderful aroma of baking something, especially something with yeast.


Many people, including me at one time, are intimidated by yeast. So many failures are hard to bear when you fancy yourself a budding cook. Add to that that my mother won prizes from the age of 15 for her yeast breads and was constantly telling me that it was simple. I stayed away from it for years. Then I attended a class taught, ironically, by my mother wherein the hands-on experience and being carefully watched did the trick. I finally mastered yeast breads.

Another thing that has made yeast bread making a joy for me is the bread machine. I actually make room for two of them on my counter. Before you shake your head and say that’s not the same thing as baking bread—let me assure you that I really never use my machines to bake anything. I use them to mix and knead and raise the dough and then I take it out and shape it—give it a second rising and bake it in my own pans in my own oven. I can make dinner rolls, cinnamon rolls for breakfast, pizza bases, loaves of grainy artisan-shaped bread—you name it—in the blink of an eye. Well, almost the blink of an eye. As long as you put the liquid in first and the yeast in last, almost any recipe for yeast dough comes out fine in a machine.

Another great thing about making your own yeast dough is that you control what goes into your bread or rolls—or rather you control what DOESN’T go into it. I am trying to eat healthier all the time and whole grains are a large part of a healthy diet. Without the preservatives and dough conditioners found in commercial products, some alterations may be necessary. I use a couple of teaspoons of gluten (sometimes sold as Vital Gluten) in my completely whole grain recipes—it really helps the strength of the dough so that it can rise higher. Without it, the texture of the whole grain can actually cut the strands of flour, keeping it from rising as high as white flour breads.

First, if you are using whole wheat, try the new white whole wheat. King Arthur makes one and so do a couple of other flour companies. This is not a bleached or processed whole wheat, it is actually a different hybrid type of wheat that is lighter but has the same nutritional value as whole wheat. A tablespoon of lemon juice is a great dough conditioner as well. One other caveat when using whole wheat—use at least ¼ cup of orange juice as part of the total liquid; you won’t taste orange, but the bitter taste of whole wheat is somewhat tamed by it. The recipe for the rolls is easy in either the bread machine or by hand. The food processor and a heavy-duty mixer are also alternatives to mixing and kneading by hand. Or you may be a purist who loves the hands-on therapeutic effect of kneading your own dough. The following recipe is geared for use in a bread machine. You can use any other method to mix your dough, using the same ingredients. Any way you look at it, winter is a great time to bake bread.

Whole wheat Bran Rolls

1 pkg. active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
¼ cup orange juice
1 tsp. lemon juice
2 cups white whole wheat flour (or regular whole wheat)
1 ¾ cups white flour
4 tsp. gluten flour (Vital Gluten)
½ cup whole bran
¼ cup brown sugar (packed)
1 ½ tsp. salt
1 egg
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1/8 cup wheat germ (optional)
1 egg yolk, mixed with 1 Tbsp. water (optional)

Put ingredients into the vegetable-sprayed container of a bread machine in the following order: water, juices, oil, egg, flours, bran, sugar, salt and yeast. Set machine to dough setting. When machine signals done, turn dough out onto lightly floured board. Knead lightly for 1 minute. Cover with a towel or inverted bowl and let rest for 10 minutes. Divide into 12 sections (for large rolls) or 24 (for smaller rolls). Roll into balls. Flatten each ball with a rolling pin; then shape into a smooth ball by tucking edges together. Place in a greased baking pan large enough to hold rolls separated by 1 inch. (May take 2 pans). Cover with sprayed plastic wrap, sprayed side down. Cover that with a clean kitchen towel, tucking it in under pan. Place in oven that has been heated to 170 degrees and then turned off before placing pans. Let rise until double (about 1 hour). Mix together water and egg yolk with a fork, if using. Brush egg mixture over rolls and sprinkle with wheat germ. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Do not bake on rack above or below any other dish or pan in oven.