yeast bread

• Using a stand mixer with a dough hook attached, combine the flour, yeast, and salt.
• Use a microwave or stove top to warm the milk, butter, sugar and honey to about 120-degrees (if it gets above that, give it a few minutes to drop down). Add the warm milk mixture to the flour until just combined, scraping the bowl as needed. Follow up with the egg and egg yolk, and continue to beat for about 6 more minutes. The dough should be smooth and elastic.
• Add nonstick spray to a large bowl. Drop in the dough, flipping it to grease the surface all over. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise in a warm spot until it is doubled, about 45 minutes.
• Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• Punch down the dough in the bowl. Lightly flour a work surface. Use a food scale to weigh the dough; divide it in half. Keep one of the halves covered while the other is rolled out to a foot-wide circle. Use a pizza cutter or knife to slice it into twelve triangles, like a pizza.
• To form a crescent roll, start at the wide end of a dough piece and roll it up, tucking and pressing the pointed tip underneath. Set spaced-out on a prepared pan. Repeat to form more rolls. Cover with a towel or plastic wrap to rise another 45 minutes to an hour.
• Near the end of the rise, preheat the oven at 375-degrees. Melt the half stick of butter and brush about half over the rolls.
• Place both sheets on racks inside oven and bake for 7 minutes. Switch placement of baking sheets on the racks. Bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, until they are a nice golden brown. Brush on the rest of the butter.
• Eat immediately, while warmed, or at room temperature. Crescent rolls will keep in a sealed bag for at least 2 days, and can also be frozen for later enjoyment.

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• In a stand mixer, place the warm liquids and yeast. Let stand for about 10 minutes, until the yeast is nice and foamy. Add the eggs, sugar, 2 Tablespoons of melted butter, and salt. Gradually beat in the flour, cheese, and parsley, until everything is well combined.
• Cover the bowl to let the dough rise for about an hour.
• Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper cut to crisscross and extend up all four sides. Apply nonstick spray.
• Lightly flour a surface. Turn out the dough onto it. Use the kitchen scale to weigh the dough. Divide it into 12 equal portions, forming each into a tidy ball. Place in rows within the prepared pan, each roll touching. Cover the pan to let rolls rise for another 40 minutes to an hour.
• Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Brush rolls with remaining 2 Tablespoons butter and add a sprinkle of flaked salt, if desired.
• Bake rolls for 13 minutes. Check them. If they are getting quite brown, cover the pan with foil. Bake for another 13 to 15 minutes.
• Serve rolls at room temperature or warm.

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• Warm the milk and water together, by microwave or stovetop, to about 100-degrees.
• Fit a plastic dough blade inside the food processor. Add 2 cups flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Pulse a few times. Add the milk-water, butter, and eggs, and pulse more. Add 1/2 cup more flour. Pulse again. Add the rest of the flour, pulsing until the dough becomes stiff.
• Cover mixer bowl with lid or plastic wrap and let dough rise at room temperature for about an hour. It should double.
• Remove plastic wrap, if using, and affix lid. Pulse a few times to beat down again–but be warned, the dough is so thick, the processor might jump around. Stay right there. The dough only needs a few seconds of pulses.
• Thoroughly grease the bundt pan. Pour in the batter and smooth it out to an even level. Cover pan with plastic wrap or a towel and let the dough rise until it has doubled again, about 50 minutes.
• Preheat oven at 325-degrees.
• Bake for 50 minutes. The loaf should look golden brown on top, and a digital thermometer plunged into the middle of the bread should read at least 190-degrees.
• Let loaf cool in pan about 20 minutes, then invert onto a rack to cool more. The bread is fragile to cut and requires thick slices. This Sally Lunn loaf is best eaten warm, especially toasted. It can also be cut into individual slices and frozen for later enjoyment.

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• Add ingredients EXCEPT cheese into the bread machine. That often means the liquids first. Set the machine on dough cycle and start; this should run for about 2 hours. Once the dough starts mixing, sprinkle in about half the cheese. If necessary–and if safely possible, dependent on the machine–use a spatula to press cheese into the dough. Let dough cycle continue until done.
• Prepare a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan by greasing with butter or nonstick spray.
• Pat out dough on an even lightly-greased surface. It’s time to add the rest of the cheese using a process roughly like French butter lamination.
• Sprinkle a handful of cheese over the lower portion of dough. Fold top part over it, then fold dough the other way, creating a fat dough ball. Pat out dough again. Repeat process again one or two more times, until only a handful of cheese is left.
• Pat out dough again. Use a small round cutter to slice out portions of dough. Place them in the prepared pan, spaced so they don’t quite touch. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Cover pan with plastic wrap or a light towel and let rise again in a warm spot for 30 minutes to 1 hour, until rolls become puffy and double in size.
• Preheat oven at 350-degrees.
• Bake rolls for 15 to 22 minutes. If they begin to brown too much, cover with foil halfway through. Let rolls cool a few minutes before serving.
• Completely cooled rolls can be frozen in gallon freezer bags for several months. Sealed rolls will keep well at room temperature for at least 6 days. They are good eaten at room temperature, but are best briefly warmed in the oven.

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• In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, 2 of the eggs, and the vanilla. Set aside.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment affixed, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Mix in the chilled butter cubes until they are broken down to the size of peas, which will take a minute or two. Keep the mixer running as the milk mixture is drizzled in. Everything should come together as dough.
• Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it into a ball and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. Chill it in fridge for at least 6 hours, or a full day.
• About 2 1/2 hours before the buns are to be served, prepare to shape them. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the filling’s two sugars, cardamom, and cinnamon. In another bowl, beat the remaining egg with a splash of water and set it aside.
• Lightly flour a large, clean work surface and a rolling pin. [Note for bakers who have hot kitchens: you may need to move fast here, as high-butter content dough can be finicky as it warms.] Roll out the dough into a 12×16 rectangle. Use an uneven spatula or the back of a spoon to evenly spread the softened butter over the surface, leaving a 1-inch border along the top and bottom edges.
• Sprinkle the sugar and spice mixture over the butter. Brush the edges with the beaten egg; set aside the egg to use again for a wash in a short while. Fold the dough in half so that the two egg-washed edges meet. Then use a knife, pizza cutter, or bench knife to make ten even slices perpendicular to the fold.
• One at a time, pick up a strip at the two short ends and twist them each in opposite directions while pulling and stretching gently. Coil the strand to make a bun, tucking the outermost end underneath the round. Set on prepared sheet and continue to form more with several inches of space between them.
• Cover formed buns with plastic wrap and set aside to rise until puffed, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Preheat oven at 400-degrees and situate racks inside to have five inches of space between them.
• Remove the plastic wrap and brush the buns with the remaining egg wash. Bake for 12 minutes, then swap the pan positions in the oven, then bake another 8 to 12 minutes. Buns should be a consistent brown, and a digital thermometer discreetly plunged into a center roll should be over 190-degrees.
• Let rolls cool slightly before indulging. Rolls will keep for up to 3 days in a sealed container at room temperature, and will taste best warmed slightly in an oven or toaster oven. Rolls can also be frozen for later enjoyment.

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Follow these same directions, regardless of the batch size.

• Affix steel S-blade inside food processor.
• In a cup, stir together the dry yeast and water. Place the flour in the work bowl, followed by the yeast-water, sugar, and salt. Pulse a few times. Add the eggs and spin until they are mixed in, no more than 10 or 15 seconds.
• Start the processor on low and pour in the melted butter in a solid stream. Stop mixing after about 20 seconds. The dough will be very sticky and fluid.
• Apply nonstick spray or butter in a big mixing bowl. Pour in the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rise at room temperature until it has tripled in size, no more than 3 hours. Keep an eye on it, because it can expand fast.
• Flour hands and punch down dough.
• Cover bowl with plastic wrap again, and stash the bowl in the fridge. Keep it there overnight, at minimum, or up to a day. It will rise a bit but nowhere near as much as the initial rise.
• To make rolls, prepare a baking sheet with parchment or nonstick spray.
• Prepare egg wash. Crack egg into a bowl. Beat in milk. In addition, add water to a small saucer and set it within reach.
• Grab small handfuls of dough. To get amounts even, use a kitchen scale to measure out 4-ounces worth. Working fast, pat into a ball. Dip fingers in water then stroke dough to smooth out rough spots. Set rounds on prepared sheet, spaced out. If the dough gets too sticky to work with, place in fridge briefly to chill again.
• Once rolls are formed, brush them with the egg wash. Let them rise for an hour, until nicely puffed.
• Preheat oven at 400-degrees.
• Gently brush on more egg wash. Place in oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until browned and set. Doneness can be double-checked by jabbing a thermometer into a subtle spot along the bottom to ensure the middle is over 190-degrees.
• Rolls are best eaten within a day, but they keep very well frozen. Eat them warm or at room temperature.

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