This All Around Bread Dough is so versatile you can use it for sweet and savory bread variation. It’s simple and easy, this will totally change the way you look at homemade bread.

I’ve been making my own bread for quite a while now and I couldn’t be more happier. I was once intimidated with making homemade bread, it doesn’t matter what kind of bread. Whenever I saw a bread recipe, no matter how much I admired it, I immediately brush off the idea of making it. That time, it was more like I’m satisfied in just admiring the photos but I don’t want to get my hands on them. The long wait, the kneading and the yeast! Yeast sure have a way of scaring people from making homemade bread and I was not an exception back then. 

Well, I’m happy to say that was I converted to a homemade bread lover, in fact, I cannot stop making them. More than the taste and the end product, it’s the sense of pride and accomplishment that I was able to make a bread at home, and not just any bread, a really good one too. I love them and my friends love them and that is more than enough motivation for me to keep on making it. 

This dough is one of my precious dough recipe in my website. It to totally changed the way I look at bread making. It inspired me to make homemade bread more and to be more creative.

So if you are like me back then, let me help you get that homemade bread fear out of the way. Let’s start with the basic, the Yeast. This is a yeast bread dough so it’s good to get acquainted  with it, get to know it, understand it better so that we can get out our fear from using it. Don’t be scared, you know the saying “we fear what we do not know?”. Well, once you get to know and understand yeast, and practice using it, you’ll eventually and slowly be comfortable in using it.

Active Yeast vs. Instant Yeast

Because yeast plays a very important role is making this soft and fluffy bread, let’s take few minutes to understand it. What it is, what are the common types of yeast, the difference among the yeast, and what role the yeast do in bread. I normally encounter 2 types of yeast in most recipes, and in the grocery so I decided to focus on this two types of yeast, although there is a 3rd type “Fresh Yeast” but I never used it.

Types of Yeast

• Active Dry Yeast – This and the Instant Yeast are what I used in most of my bread. In terms of appearance and texture, this kind of yeast are coarser and have bigger granules. It requires to be dissolved in warm water with sugar to activate it. It normally takes 5-10 minutes to do this, and you will now that it’s been “awaken” when bubbles starts to form in the surface of the water, and you would be able to smell it too. This last longer in terms of shelf life and should be kept in a cool dry place. I kept mine in the refrigerator.
• Fast Acting or Instant Yeast – In terms  of appearance, this kind of yeast have a finer granules as compared to active dry yeast. This does not require to be dissolved in warm water and sugar. This can be mixed directly with the dry ingredients such as flour,  just make sure to keep it away from salt when you mix it as salt can kill the yeast when they touch directly with each other. I normally mix the flour, salt and leavener then I add the instant yeast last. This should als be kept in cool and dry place. You basically save 10 minutes of time when you use instant active yeast as you skip the activation process.

Interchanging Yeast

You can interchange active yeast and instant yeast in the recipe, I sometimes do this when I have the other and the recipe calls for the other. You just have to be mindful of the measurement. For dry active yeast you generally need to use half the quantity of fresh yeast stated in the recipe and for instant yeast you need to use 1/4 of the quantity of fresh yeast. The fresh yeast has higher measurement, followed by active yeast, then instant yeast. Let’s say the recipe calls for 30g (1 ounce) of fresh yeast, you can substitute it with 15g (.5 ounce) active dry yeast, or 7g(.25 ounce) instant yeast. Just don’t forget the when you substitute instant yeast with dry active yeast, you have to dissolve it first in warm water to activated it. Do not just mix it along with other dry ingredients unless specified in the recipe.

So, now that’s the basic of yeast.  Let’s have a look at some very important tips that we should bear in mind in making yeast bread.

Why is My Dough too Wet or too Dry?

Don’t get frustrated if your dough did not turn out immediately as what you see in the photo or video. Most likely It is not because you did not follow the recipe. When it comes to bread making, the amount of flour and liquid is not always 100% precise. This is way often times you will encounter recipes that says, if your dough is dry, add a bit more liquid. If your dough is too wet, add a little bit more flour. This instructions are not meant to confuse you, they are meant to guide you on how to adjust as you work through your dough. The reason for this is that although the measurement of water and flour are specified in the recipe, it still could slightly vary depending on many factors. For instance, all-purpose flour could very from country to country, or even from brand to brand. Don’t be surprise if you find that some brand tends to require a bit more liquid as the others. On top of this, the amount of liquid is also affected by the state of your flour. How old is the flour that you are using? Older flour nearing expiry tends to be drier and this requires more liquid. Bread making requires patience, and practice. Once you learn how to feel the right texture of the dough, everything will be quick and easy. You can instantly tell if you need to add more water or flour to get the dough in right state.

Tips for a Successful Soft Homemade Bread

1. Liquid Temperature – Yeast grows in temperature between 110 – 115F, so its important to have the water that you are using to “proof” it in this range. If you go lower or higher, the yeast might not proof properly. That means the bread will not rise as much, resulting to a flat and tough bread. 
2. Check Yeast Expiry a Date – you might be wondering how come the bread did not rise when you followed exactly the recipe. Well, first thing first, make sure the yeast is not yet expired. Expired yeast is the common reason for flat and dense bread. If your bread did not expand or rise during the rest period, it is most likely that the yeast is not fresh or the water temperature is too hot or cold.
3. Amount of Yeast – Just because you want a tall bread doesn’t mean you have to put as much yeast in the mixture. Sometimes adding too much yeast can cause the bread to collapse during the rest period. Just imagine putting more air than what is needed in a balloon, the balloon will explode. The same case with bread. 
4. Right Type of Yeast – We’ve discussed the 3 types of yeast above. Make sure to use the right one for your recipe, and make necessary adjustments if you want to swap one from another. 
5. Rest Period – Yeast bread needs time to rise. There are bread that uses less yeast but requires more rest time, the likes of No Knead Bread or Artisan Bread which usually require 8- 16 hours rest period to get the volume and to develop the flavor. There are 1 hour bread like my Rosemary Dinner Rolls which used this same bread dough. The point is, give it time to rest, don’t touch it just leave it in a warm place. The first rest period will normally tell you if your dough is good or not. If it rise and almost double in size, then your on the right track.  
6. Expiration and Quality of the Flour – The quality of the flour greatly affect the texture of the bread. All-purpose flour could differ from country to country although they are all called as all-purpose flour. Sometimes it depends on the brand too. The closer the flout to expiration date or if it is already expired, the flour could tend to be drier, which means it would require more liquid than mentioned in the recipe. This is a common issue of way sometimes the dough tend to be tough and dry, or sometimes it is a little bit sticky to handle. This is why sometimes you have to add few more tablespoon from the suggested flour measurement to get the right texture. The dough should be soft, smooth and elastic. If it is too wet, add a bit more flour until it is no longer to sticky to handle. If it is too dry, a small amount of liquid helps provide moisture to the dough.

These are the 6 common points that I remind myself when making homemade bread. Bear this in mind and you’ll sure to have a nice soft homemade bread.  

Now that we have a background about Yeast and tips for, bread making, let’s check the recipe.

4 Methods  To Make This Dough

There are 4 ways that you can choose from in how you make this bread. Choose whichever works for you. 

1. Stand Mixer – This is what I always use when I make this dough. It’s the fastest and easiest method and less manual handling. This is the step outlined below in the instruction. 
   
2. Hand Mixer – It’s doable but I never used it because I don’t have a dough attachment. Just for the sake of demonstrations , I used hand mixer in the video as this is what most people will have. Important point to remember, use DOUGH attachment, a regular hook attachment will not work as it will be jammed with dough. Also, it’s going to be too heavy for the hook attachment to mix the dough. 
3. Manually – If you don’t have any electronic baking equipment for making the dough, you can do it manually. Simply follow the same instructions, do the mixing in a large bowl and transfer in counter top and knead manually. It will take a lot of arm exercise, but I’m telling you, it’s worth it.
4. Bread Machine – If you happen to have one, use the dough setting. Add all the wet ingredients first, followed by all dry ingredients. Remove the dough after the 3rd rise and shape and fill then bake in the oven. Do not forget to remove the dough otherwise it will continue into the bake stage.

Ok, now let’s go and put all these pointers to work. Let’s make your first (or maybe not) homemade bread dough. At the end of the recipe, I’ll add links to recipes where I used this dough, or recipes where you could substitute this dough. Let’s get started

Ingredients:

Big Batch Ingredients (12 dinner rolls):

• 1/2 cup Water (110F) microwave for 20 seconds
• 1 1/4 teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
• 4 tbsp + 1/2 teaspoon Sugar, divided (1/2 tsp for yeast, remaining for flour mixture)
• 2 tbsp flavorless Oil ( I used Canola Oil)
• 1/3 cup Milk (80F) or microwave for 20 seconds
• 1 large Egg – room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour  + 1/4 cup on the side ONLY as needed
• 3/4 tsp Salt

Small Batch Ingredients (6 dinner rolls):

• 1/4 cup warm Water (110F) microwave for 15 seconds  
• 1 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
• 2 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon Sugar, divided (1/2 tsp for yeast, remaining for flour mixture)
• 2 tablespoon flavorless Oil (I used Canola Oil)
• 4 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Milk (80F) – microwave for 20 seconds
• 1 large Egg – room temperature
• 1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour + 1/4 cup on the side ONLY as needed
• 1/2 tsp Salt

Small Batch Ingredients (4 dinner rolls):

• 1/4 cup Milk any percentage  (warm 110F) or microwave for 20 seconds
• 1 1/4  teaspoon Active Dry Yeast 
• 2 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon granulated Sugar (Divided: 1/2 tsp for yeast, and 2 tbsp for the dry ingredients mixture)
• 2 tablespoon flavorless Oil (I used Canola)
• 1 large Egg – room temperature
• 1 cup + 3 tablespoon All-Purpose Flour (plus more ONLY as needed)
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Reminder: The instruction below is for big batch measurement (12 pieces). Please make necessary adjustment and use the small batch measurement if you are making a small batch.

Small Batch of 4 do NOT use warm water. Please make necessary adjustment when following the instruction below depending on the serving portion you are making

Instructions:

1. Activate Yeast: In the bowl of an electric stand mixer (Refer to discussion above for other Methods of making this)  whisk together yeast with water and 1/2 tsp of the granulated sugar. Rest 5 minutes until mixture is foamy. If Making the small batch of 4, use the milk to activate the yeast.
2. Add Wet Ingredients: Set mixer with paddle attachment and mix in remaining sugar (1 1/2 tbsp), egg, and oil on low-speed.
3. Add Dry Ingredients: Add salt and 1 cups of flour and mix on low-speed until combined, then switch to a hook attachment. Set mixer on low-speed and slowly add in remaining 1 1/2 cups flour while gradually adding the milk. Allow mixture to knead on medium-low speed until smooth and elastic, adding more flour as needed, about 8 minutes. Pay close attention to the texture of the dough. As soon as it comes together, stop adding the milk. You may or may not use all the milk.If the dough is too sticky add 1 tbsp of flour at a time (but not more than 1/4 cup) until the dough starts to form, dough should be slightly sticky and not too dry. If too much flour is added rolls will be dense and heavy. A good measure of correct texture is a clean mixing bowl. Most of the time, 3 1/2 cup is more than enough to get the right consistency.
4. First Rest Period:

• Dinner Rolls: First rest period minimum 30 minutes and 2nd rest period (after shaping) 30 – 45  minutes – Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest as per suggested time. Suggested Baking Time:  20 – 25 minutes at 350F
• Loaf Bread (Pull-Apart Bread (7-9 inch): First rest period minimum 30 minutes and 2nd rest period (after shaping) 1 hour – Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest as per suggested time. Suggested Baking Time:  25 – 30 minutes at 350F
• Cinnamon Roll Style: First rest period minimum 30 minutes and 2nd rest period (after shaping) 40 minutes – 1 hour – Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest as per suggested time. Suggested Baking Time:  30 minutes at 350F
• Burger Buns: First rest period minimum 30 minutes and 2nd rest period (after shaping) 1 hour – Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest as per suggested time. Suggested Baking Time: 13 – 15 minutes at 350F
• Star Bread: First rest period minimum 1 hour and 2nd rest period (after shaping) 30 minutes – Remove the dough and form into a ball. Transfer into a greased bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap or warm towel and allow to rest as per suggested time. Suggested Baking Time: 18 – 20 minutes at 350F

TIP: To help the dough rise better, leave it inside the oven pre-heated to 110F ONLY. Make sure to turn-OFF the oven as soon as it reaches 110F. Some oven has a proofing setting, mine doesn’t, so this is my trick.
5. Shape and Prepare for 2nd Rest Period: Take the dough out from the bowl and lightly push the dough down with the heel of the palm of your hands. Knead then shape and potion as desired. Arrange in a baking sheet or baking loaf pan.
6. 2nd rest Period: Let rest for the second time following the rest time-period mentioned above (step 4).
7. Preheat oven during last 10 minutes of dough rising. Most of the time, I bake in 350F, adjust baking time as per your recipe instruction.

There you go! You now have an all-around sweet and savory bread-dough. I’ve compiled list of recipes where you can use this all around dough. Once you have this basic bread dough, the possibility of variations are endless.

Suggestions on What To Make Using This Dough

These are just few of them.  I have also have Egg FREE All-Around Dough Recipe in case you do not have any egg  in stock.

• 1 Hour Rosemary Dinner Rolls
• Italian Herb Bread Rolls
• Soft Toasted Bread Bowl
• White Bread Loaf
• Purple Yam Sweet Roll Bread
• Purple Yam Loaf Bread (Substitute this dough)
• Purple Yam Pull Apart Bread (Substitute this dough)
• Italian Easter Chocolate Egg Bread (Substitute this dough)
• Small Batch Dinner Rolls for Two (Makes 4)
• [VIDEO] All Around Bread Dough: Nutella Star Bread (Plus Bonus Twist Bread)

My Other Videos:

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