Basic Bread Recipe

This is the best bread recipe that I have come across in my search for the best tasting bread. Make sure that you use bread flour. I like the Gold Medal flour for bread the best. Enjoy the sweet yeasty taste of this bread and maybe divide it in half for cinnamon or orange rolls. Perhaps you would like to just make rolls for a special dinner. The variations are endless.

3 cups of warm water
2 Tbs. of yeast
1/3 cup of sugar
Add the sugar to the water and dissolve. Add the yeast and let it sit until it starts to bubble (2 or 3 minutes). To this mixture add:
7 1/2 cups of flour
1/2 cup of shortening
3/4 cup of dry milk
1 Tbs. salt
Mix together for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise until double in bulk (about 1 hour). Punch down. Shape into two loaves. Let rise again until it doubles in bulk. Bake in a 400 degree oven about 30 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool.

Dinner Rolls
Use the Basic Bread Recipe above and add 2 eggs. Let the dough rise until doubles in bulk (about 30 minutes). Roll out and shape according to desire.
PAN ROLLS: Form dough into small smooth balls. Place on greased pan. Cover; let rise in warm place, free from draft, until doubled in bulk (30-60 minutes). Bake in moderate oven 375 degrees about 15 to 20 minutes.
REFRIGERATOR ROLLS: Prepare Basic Roll Dough. Do Not Let it Rise. Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover; chill at leasat 2 hours or up to 4 or 5 days. About 2 hours before serving, shape the dough as desired on floured surface. Cover the dough and let it rise until double (1 1/4 hours). Bake in a hot oven at 400 degrees 12 to 15 minutes.
PARKER HOUSE ROLLS: Roll the dough 3/8 inch thick; cut with floured 2 1/2 inch round cutter; brush with butter. Make off-center crease; fold so the top overlaps slightly; seal end edges of each roll.
CLOVERLEAF ROLLS: Place three 1-inch balls in greased muffin pan (fill half full).
JIFFY CLOVERLEAF ROLLS: In the pan snip golf ball sized pieces of dough across the top, making 2 cuts at right angles with the scissors.
CRESCENTS: Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle. Brush with melted butter. Cut into 12 pie-shaped wedges. Beginning at wide end of wedge, roll toward point. Place point down to bake. The rolls can be left straight or curve slightly.
BOWNOTS: Roll the dough in 18 x 10 inch rectangle, 1/2-inch thick. Cut strips 10 inches long, 3/4-inch wide. Roll strips lightly under fingers; loosely tie them in a knot.
BUTTER FANS: Roll the dough into a 27 x 14 inch rectangle, 1/2 inch thick. Cut crosswise in eighteen 1 1/2 inch strips. Brush with melted butter. Stack six strips; cut in 9 portions. Place cut side down in greased muffin pan.
CORKSCREW: Wrap a rope of dough 8 inches long 1/4 inch thick around a greased wooden clothespin or dowel stick. Seal the ends.
BROWN AND SERVE ROLLS: Follow the basic recipe and shpe as desired. Instead of baking the rolls in a hot oven, bake them in a slow oven (275 degrees) 20 to 40 minutes, which is a bit longer than usual. Be sure that the temperature is just 275, because that is the secret of success. When you take the rolls from the oven, they will be "platinum blond," but completely baked on the inside. When you want to serve them, remove from the refrigerator and pop them into a 450 oven. In seven minutes, they will be golden brown. You can store these rolls in the refrigerator for two weeks.

VARIATIONS: You can make a different taste to the rolls by using any one of the following:
1/4 cup of chives to dry ingredients
1/2 pound of bacon crisply fried
1/4 cup of sesame seed to dry ingredients
1/3 cup of soft butter with 1 packet of onion soup mix.
1/4 cup of onion, finely chopped and 1/3 cup of cheese, grated.

Sweet Rolls
Use the Basic Bread Recipe, adding 3 eggs and 1/4 cup of sugar.

ORANGE FILLING
6 Tbs. softened butter1 1/2 tsp. shredded orange peel1/2 cup of granulated sugar1/2 tsp. cinnamon1/2 Tbs. finely chopped candied orange peel
ORANGE ICING
2 cups of powdered sugar3 to 4 tsp. orange juice or enough to make a glaze consistency.

CINNAMON ROLLS
1/4 cup of soft butter1/2 cup sugar1/2 cup brown sugar4 tsp. cinnamon1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and spread combined ingredients over the top of the dough. Roll into an oblong and cut with a knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Cool the rolls and frost them.
For extra gooey cinnamon rolls make this caramel topping:
1 cup of brown sugar4 Tbs. of light corn syrup1/2 cup soft butter2 tsp. cinnamon
Combine all the ingredients and spread evenly over the pan. Then place the sliced rolls on top. After they are cooked, cool 1 minute; invert onto a serving plate or wire rack.