How to Make Homemade Bread Dough (for Pizza, Cinnamon Rolls, etc)

(New to the Healthy Living Series? See my previous articles here.)

I got the opportunity to spend the afternoon at my friend Anna’s house and she helped me learn how to make homemade bread dough that can be used for lots of different things.  I recently got a Wondermill Wheat Grinder from my friends at Life’s Daily Bread and wheat berries, so now I just needed to know what to do with it!

In the video below, Anna is giving tips on how to bake your own bread, how to knead the dough, rising tips and anything else that might help. She has a Bosch Universal Mixer, and she doubles the recipe below. I took her recipe and cut it in half so I could do it in my Kitchen Aid Mixer with my dough hook.  Only run for about 10 minutes in a Kitchen Aid or it will get tough.

With the recipe below she makes bread, pizza dough, hamburger buns or cinnamon sticky buns.  I omit the sweetener for the pizza dough. Out of the recipe below I can make any of the following:

• 3 loaves of bread
• 3 cinnamon sticky bun pans
• hamburger buns
• dinner rolls
• 3 medium pizza crusts (no need to rise twice, just combine and divide into 3 balls)
• Any combination of the above.
• 8 thin pizza crusts (I put my pizza crusts in a dough ball in freezer and unthaw to roll out for later.)

Homemade Bread Dough (for Pizza, Cinnamon Rolls, etc)

 

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Prep time

1 hour 15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

1 hour 40 mins

 

Serves: 3 batches of dough

Ingredients

• 1½ tablespoon instant yeast (2 tablespoons dry active yeast)
• 3 cups hot water (110-125 degrees)
• ⅓ cup honey
• ½ cup oil (coconut, grapeseed or olive work well)
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 8-9 cups flour (7-8 cups wheat berries)
• 2 tablespoons vinegar (optional — it is an inexpensive dough enhancer that makes bread soft like store bought bread, I add it when I add the oil and flour mixture)

Instructions

1. Place yeast, water and honey into Kitchen Aid Mixer. Let sit 10 minutes to proof yeast. While yeast is proofing grind wheat (or measure out store bought).
2. TIP* Spray measuring cup with oil, that way the honey slides right out with no mess or waste.
3. Combine flour and sea salt. Don’t ever add salt directly to yeast mixture, it will kill the yeast.
4. Next, add oil to yeast mixture, then add 8 cups flour mixture (w/ salt), vinegar and fully mix. Add additional flour if dough is sticking to the sides. You have enough flour if the sides are clean and the dough is on the dough hook without really sticking to your fingers.
5. Let the machine run for 8-10 minutes.
6. Drizzle oil on counter top and drop dough out onto it and begin kneading. I prefer to knead with oil over flour, less mess and it keeps the bread moist.
7. Oil bowl and place dough back in and cover with a towel and let rise 20-30 minutes. It should double in size. I usually place mine under a light in a warm area.
8. UPDATE I now let my dough rise two times, then once in the pan. So a total of three rises. It made all the difference in my bread loafs. Details below.
9. Once it has doubled in size , punch down, place back into bowl and rise another 20 minutes, covered and in a warm place.
10. After second rise, punch down a second time, and pinch off dough into 3 balls. Don’t tear, it will destroy yeast fibers. Knead each piece individually until smooth. Once bread loaf is ready, spray bottom of pan only (not sides, dough can’t rise properly if it is slick). Lay dough in glass or stainless steel bread loaf pan.
11. Let rise (double in size) 20 minutes to one hour depending on the temp in your house (in summer it takes 30 minutes, winter closer to an hour). It has finished rising when it doubles in size, or you poke and it doesn’t spring back. If you forget about it and it rises too high, it will flop in the middle during baking. If this happens, punch it down and start over again with the another rise.
12. I set the timer for 20 minutes, then preheat the oven. That usually gives me a total of 30 minutes to rise.
13. Put into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let it cool on a rack immediately, it will get soggy if you leave it in the baking pans.

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Place yeast, water and honey into Kitchen Aid Mixer. Let sit 10 minutes to proof yeast.  While yeast is proofing grind wheat (or measure out store bought).
TIP* Spray measuring cup with oil, that way the honey slides right out with no mess or waste.

Combine flour and sea salt. Don’t ever add salt directly to yeast mixture, it will kill the yeast.

Next, add oil to yeast mixture, then add 8 cups flour mixture (w/ salt), vinegar and fully mix.  Add additional flour if dough is sticking to the sides.  You have enough flour if the sides are clean and the dough is on the dough hook without really sticking to your fingers.

Let the machine run for 8-10 minutes.

Drizzle oil on counter top and drop dough out onto it and begin kneading.  I prefer to knead with oil over flour, less mess and it keeps the bread moist.

Oil bowl and place dough back in and cover with a towel and let rise 20-30 minutes. It should double in size. I usually place mine under a light in a warm area.

*UPDATE* I now let my dough rise two times, then once in the pan. So a total of three rises. It made all the difference in my bread loafs. Details below.

Once it has doubled in size , punch down, place back into bowl and rise another 20 minutes, covered and in a warm place.

After second rise, punch down a second time, and pinch off dough into 3 balls.  Don’t tear, it will destroy yeast fibers. Knead each piece individually until smooth. Once bread loaf is ready, spray bottom of pan only (not sides, dough can’t rise properly if it is slick). Lay dough in glass or stainless steel bread loaf pan.

Let rise (double in size) 20 minutes to one hour depending on the temp in your house(in summer it takes 30 minutes, winter closer to an hour).  It has finished rising when it doubles in size, or you poke and it doesn’t spring back.  If you forget about it and it rises too high, it will flop in the middle during baking.  If this happens, punch it down and start over again with the another rise.

I set the timer for 20 minutes, then preheat the oven.  That usually gives me a total of 30 minutes to rise.

Put into a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes. Let it cool on a rack immediately, it will get soggy if you leave it in the baking pans.