This was the easiest bread I have ever made. I have made sour dough, white, whole wheat and other kinds in my bread machine but this is by far my favorite. One loaf is almost gone already. I was going to make another batch but we have graduation rehearsal soon. I will make more tomorrow. Beth
Beth, that's it exactly!!! I found it really easy, too, and I've NEVER had it turn out bad. (Well, OK, once it did because I forgot to switch the oven from PREHEAT to BAKE, and we won't discuss what happened then! Let's just say it was NOT a pretty sight, lol!!!) Am glad you liked it. I'm not sure WHERE I got it from!
Bread flour has a bit more gluten in it. I would just try a straight substitution. I think that worst case you will end up with a more dense but completely tasty bread. If your machine has a quick setting, I would not use this for a recipe that calls for bread flour. Another thing to try if you bread is too dense is to add a tad bit more sugar and yeast or "starting" the yeast forst then adding. I pretty much use what I have and have no trouble, but then again I use a book called "electric bread" for my recipies. All of the recipies wer tested in a few dozen machines and take into consideration the factores that come to play when baking in a machine. Anopther thing to consider is using the machine for dough formation only and then shaping and baking a non bread machine freindly recipe.
I have tried bread machine bread, and have never been able to make it consistently. With the recipe I posted, I would use my machine to knead it, but the paddle busted on me! And the cost of a new paddle was TERRIBLE! The one advantage of a bread machine is that you can make home-made bread in the summer without heating up your whole house!
I think it would be worth the heat just to smell that delicious smell all over the house. I told some ladies at homeschool graduation rehearsal about it and now they want the recipe. Do you mind if I share it Jackie? Emily thinks it makes the best PBJ sandwich in the world.
It's not MY recipe! I feel that only "secret family recipes" shouldn't be shared, so pass it on! I'm so glad Ems enjoyed it! A few years back, I made a recipe collection for the ladies in my husband's family of my MIL's Christmas Cookie recipes for Christmas. (The only present I ever gave that went over BIG with my MIL, lol!). She gave me a sugar cookie recipe, and then told me how it USE to be a secret, and how her sister NEVER gave it to ANYONE. And then, one day, she opened up the paper to find one of the cousins had sent it in to the cooking section, lol!
My grandmother had a secret chocolate cake recipe she wouldn't give to anyone outside of the family. When I got married my mother sent me the recipe and when I started making it I realized there was no chocolate in the ingredients. We teased her that she didn't want me to be able to make her mother's cake. The only special thing about the cake was the icing. My grandmother used some black coffee in the icing and it gave it a special flavor. I can see her now pouring just a dab of coffee into the icing she was stirring by hand. She measured in dabs and pinches and even in something she called skifts. Don't ask me how much a skift is, I never figured that one out. Man I miss her so. Beth
I know this is an old thread but it has Jackie's wonderful bread recipe for Amish Country White Bread and I thought some of the new people might like to have it. We make it here two or three times a week. We never buy loaves of bread since Jackie shared this and we have become "famous" at our church as the local bread bakers. One lady even called us recently for advice on her bread after seeing ours. This smells so wonderful baking and we rarely have a loaf get completely cool before someone cuts into it. (Usually Freddy) I love that it makes two loaves. We keep one and take one to family or friends. Jackie was so kind to share this and it has brought a lot of joy to our family as we make and eat it together. I always say I got the recipe from my friend Jackie. Beth
I'm so glad you bumped this up!!!!! I am now allowed to have gluten again, and I'm psyched to make this!!!!! Now....to find time.....hmmmmmmm
Beth, I am going to share a quote from Faythe's Blog... (Quote: MOM IS HELPING ME MAKE BREAD. IT IS FUN. THE HARD PART ABOUT IT IS KNEADING IT. I THINK IT WILL TASTE REALY GOOD. IT ALWAYS DOES WHEN MOM IS MAKING IT SO WHY NOT WHEN I MAKE IT? LOL!!! I got a kick out of that! She's trying hard, but really has trouble kneading it. But she'll get it sooner or later, and it still tastes good for her!
Jackie, Tell Faythe that I had trouble with all the kneading at first because I have a bad elbow. I looked at a video on the King Arthur Flour website that shows kids how to make bread. Once I saw that I realized I was putting way to much energy into the kneading process. Emily loves to help knead the dough and so does Babyboy. He calls it mashing it.
Krista, You really need to find time to try this bread. It is my favorite bread recipe of all time. I have made plenty of others but this one is by far the best. Everyone that has tried it just raves and can't get over that you can slice it and make sandwiches out of it. We slice ours with an electric knife and it looks perfect. The slices are much larger than store bought bread. Makes a great pbj and cinnamon toast made from this bread is out of this world!
I'll try to get a picture I took of Rachael, age 2.5, helping me make bread, scanned in and posted. She has a gigantic apron on, and is covered in flour!
The Amish recipe Jackie posted is soooo versatile and tastey. I have one other Amish Bread recipe but it is more complicated so I do not use it much. Handsome loves this bread too. I make whole wheat and Jackie's recipe so we have both breads. I have this great recipe for Cinnamon Raisin Bread. I examined both recipes; Jackie's and the Raisin Bread, and combined both into one recipe, with adjustments of course. After combining and changing the two recipes a bit, the Cinnamon Raisin Bread was better than ever and softer than the original recipe. I was able to leave out the eggs as well. I didn't think it would come out right without the eggs but I doubled the yeast and went ahead and added 3 tbs of gluten and got a fluffier and softer bread! The extra yeast also helped the top rise better.
Patty, have you posted the recipe for the Cinnamon Raisin Bread? Sounds great!!! I wonder what it would be like if you used chopped apples instead of raisins....
I bet it would taste great with chopped apples. I never thought of that. This is the Cinnamon Raisin Bread in its original form. I think I got it from allrecipes.com. CINNAMON RAISIN BREAD · 1 1/2 cups milk · 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C) · 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast · 3 eggs · 1/2 cup white sugar · 1 teaspoon salt · 1/2 cup margarine, softened · 1 cup raisins · 8 cups all-purpose flour · 2 tablespoons milk · 3/4 cup white sugar · 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon · 2 tablespoons butter, melted 1. Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles, then remove from heat. Let cool until lukewarm. 2. Dissolve yeast in warm water, and set aside until yeast is frothy. Mix in eggs, sugar, butter or margarine, salt, and raisins. Stir in cooled milk. Add the flour gradually to make a stiff dough. 3. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes. Place in a large, greased, mixing bowl, and turn to grease the surface of the dough. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled. 4. Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a large rectangle 1/2 inch thick. Moisten dough with 2 tablespoons milk. Mix together 3/4 cup sugar and 2 tablespoons cinnamon, and sprinkle mixture on top of the moistened dough. Roll up tightly; the roll should be about 3 inches in diameter. Cut into thirds, and tuck under ends. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch pans. Lightly grease tops of loaves. Let rise again for 1 hour. 5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes, or until loaves are lightly browned and sound hollow when knocked. Remove loaves from pans, and brush with melted butter or margarine. Let cool before slicing. I will post how I made it using the Amish Bread recipe on the next post. Even if you do not change a thing in this recipe, it is very tastey. It almost tastes store bought.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread Altered version Dry Ingredients 8 cups of all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons of gluten 1 teaspoon of salt 1 1/2 tablespoons of yeast 3/4 cup of sugar, or to taste 2 tablespoons of cinnamon, or to taste Moist Ingredients 1 cup of milk 2 cups of warm water heated to 120-130 degrees 4 tablespoons of butter 1 cup of raisins, more if desired Extra warm water in case dough is too dry. Filling for Swirl Center 3 tablespoons of cinnamon ¾ cups of brown sugar, or to taste warmed, softened butter, not melted Directions 1. Combine swirl ingredients and set aside. 2. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl. 3. Heat all moist ingredients until it reaches 120-130. I try to hit 130 because it cools as it is kneaded. Add moist ingredients to dry and mix. Add more warm water if dough is to dry. You want a slightly sticky dough. 5. Knead for 10 minutes then place in a well greased bowl and allow to rise for a half hour or until doubled in size. 6. Punch down and allow to rise for 15 more minutes. Punch down again then roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface. Roll into a ¼ - ½ inch thick rectangle. Rub the softened butter over the whole rectangle then sprinkle the filling all over the dough. Roll up the dough tightly. The roll should be about 3-4 inches thick and long enough to cut into three loaves. 7. Cut into thirds. Pinch and tuck the ends under on each side of each loaf. Place loaves into well greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Lightly grease tops of each loaf and allow to rise for ½ - 1 hour. 8. Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hallow when tapped. Using a butter knife, gently pull the bread away from the edges of the pan and carefully remove the bread right away. Brush the bread with butter. Allow to cool before slicing. EDITED TO ADD: When I said you want an slightly sicky dough, I should really have said you want an almost sticky dough. You want to be able to roll the dough but you do not want it to be dry either.
Patty, I'm going to try that. It sounds fantastic. But I will use apples instead of raisins, because I'm the only one who will eat raisin bread.
Jackie, I changed the yeast to 1 1/2 tablespoons. After I went over the recipe and thought YIKES!!!! LOL I actually put the equivalent of three packages of yeast. 2 tablespoons would make it four packages, since one tablespoon equals two packages. Sorry about that.
