My Wife's Creation

Homemade Sweet Amish Bread with a twist

 

It is always my dream to be able to make and bake my own bread, pastry and cakes. At the very young age, I secretly admire those pastry chef who were making and decorating beautiful cakes, pastries and bread. I told myself that one day I will be able to bake and decorate my own. But as I grew up, my path did not direct me to the baking industry. Instead, it brought me to "banking industry" but at least its sounds alike :). Years had past and seems like all my baking dreams are just memories of my childhood.

Then I got married and moved to Bahrain and after three years we migrated here in the U.S. It was year 2006 when my baking desires ignited again. Being a mother of my then 4 years old son and 2 years old daughter you'll always think of something that your family will enjoy. The baking started when I baked a cake for my husbands' 40th birthday and that moment of happiness seeing your children enjoying the left over chocolate in a bowl and whip attachment. Plus the excitement on their face when we cut the cake made me want to keep on baking. And the desire to learn more are still on fire as of this writing.

Anyway, going back to baking my own bread is a trial and error for me. I have tested so many bread recipes before some of  them are good and some are not so good. I had failed many times, some recipe works but still missing the texture and distinct taste that I'm looking for a bread.

But failures did not stop me from searching until one day I saw this recipe called Sweet Amish Bread.I checked the ingredients and everything was already in my kitchen and seems so easy to make. So I gave it a try and I thank you all who posted this recipe because of you guys I've learned and am now enjoying good bread at our very own kitchen. Originally, the recipe is meant to bake using loaf pan. But since I don't have a loaf pan, I shape it like a dinner roll or a log. 

Since I started making this bread recipe, my family stopped buying bread. And you don't need to have a stand mixer or bread machine to make it. You're clean hands are good enough to make this bread. Just like the Amish do.

 (I used all purpose flour for the picture above, taste and texture still the same.)

 Ingredients:

6 cups of bread flour or all purpose flour

2/3 cups of granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

2 cups of warm water

1 1/2 tsp of salt

1/4 cup oil

1 Tbsp. melted butter (optional)

Procedure:

• In a bowl, combine warm water and sugar. Sprinkle active dry yeast to your water mixture. Stir and let it sit in a warm place for 5 to 10 minutes or until it becomes frothy.  (Here is the thing, your water should be warm enough to active your yeast but not too hot to kill the active bacteria. Others used a thermometer, but it doesn't work for me. So, I just let hot water running in our faucet until its warm enough to the touch but not hot for me to move my hands away.) 

• Add the oil and salt into your yeast mixture and mix the flour 1 cup at a time until it forms a soft dough. The dough would be sticky, so make sure that you sprinkle a little flour (1-2 Tbsp.) on your counter or board. Knead your dough until smooth and elastic. Do not over mix your dough.
  
  
  
  

• Transfer your dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with plastic or damp towel. Let it rise until double in size. ( To speed up the process, I run the microwave empty for at least 1 minute to warm up the inside and place my bowl until dough rises for about 20-30 minutes.)

• Once the dough double or at least double in size   remove the bowl from the microwave and punch down to release the air. Then knead for about 5 minutes and roll into a log. Cut the dough base on your preference or put it on a loaf pan.
• Grease your pan or line it with parchment paper. Arrange your dough into the pan cover with plastic wrap of damp towel. Let it rise again until double in size. (I don't usually wait for an hour to proof this bread, it will still rise as you bake it. I just let it sit in the oven with the light on for at least 30 minutes.)

• Bake it at 350°F for 25 minutes or until golden brown it depends to the size of your bread. Remove it from the oven and let it cool on a wire rack or enjoy while still warm. (NOTE: If you use your loaf pan you need to bake it for 35-40 minutes depending on the size of your loaf pan.)
• Optional : You can brush the top of  your bread with butter while still warm.

                                

                                

 Enjoy! 

I'll be posting different variation using this bread recipe soon. Thanks for visiting my web page.