Best Bread Dough

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup warm water
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 egg (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 1 (3 1/2 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
• 1 (1/4 ounce) package yeast
• 1/2 cup butter, melted (optional)
• 1/3 cup cinnamon (optional)
• 1 cup sugar (optional)
• 16 ounces cream cheese frosting (optional)

Recipe

• 1 dough by hand: mix water, yeast and sugar. set aside.
• 2 mix all of the pudding mix with the milk.
• 3 add melted butter, egg and salt. mix well. for really soft rolls, don't use the egg; for cinnamon rolls, the egg is a must -- otherwise they flatten out (but they're still tasty!).
• 4 add yeast mixture. mix, then knead in flour until dough is smooth.
• 5 set in a warm place for 1 hour, then punch it down. let it rise again for another 45 minutes.
• 6 dough in 2lb bread machine: put the ingredients in the machine in the order listed above. use the dough setting.
• 7 do not cook a loaf of this in the bread machine! it is a very airy bread, and it will probably ruin your bread machine! (lesson learned the hard way -- ).
• 8 to make dinner rolls: form the dough into 1.5 to 2 inch balls, and place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. bake in 350 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden on top.
• 9 to make kolaches: form the dough into 1.5 to 2 inch balls. put mini-sausage and cheese on top, then pull the dough around and wrap it up as best you can. place 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet. bake as for dinner rolls.
• 10 cinnamon rolls: roll dough to 0.25 inch thick rectangle on a floured surface. mix 1/2 cup melted butter, 1/3 cup cinnamon and 1 cup sugar; spread evenly (as best you can) over the surface of the dough.
• 11 roll up tightly, starting from a long side. slice at 1 to 2 inch intervals. place slices on a greased cookie sheet, 2 inches apart. (pour a little melted butter over each one to make the rolls extra moist!).
• 12 cover and let rise 30 minutes.
• 13 bake at 350 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes. remove them as soon as they turn golden. frost with cream cheese frosting.