Dinner buns

Remember home made buns? They don't just come from a store. Surprisingly, bread and buns are fairly easy to make. You just need time, and a warm place for the dough to rise. A bread machine can do the mixing and kneading for you in small batches, but you need to be there when the dough is ready to shape into buns and bake. Variations with fruit, whole grains and even herbs can be attempted once you have the rest of the process down pat.

Here is a family favorite my mother in law has generously shared.

Prepare the following:

• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp. yeast

Mix in 1/2 cup warm water, and set aside for 15 minutes.

To 2 cups warm water, add:

• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 Tbsp. salt
• 1/2 cup oil

Mix and add yeast along with about 4 cups flour. Stir until gluten is broken in dough. Add 4 more cups of flour. Dough should be sticky. Heat oven to 150 degrees F. Cover dough, and let rise about 1 hour until doubled by warm oven. Punch down dough, shape into balls and put in pans. Cover buns and let rise on counter until double. Uncover, and bake in preheated oven at 350 degree F. for about 15 -20 minutes until golder brown.

Bread machine version:

Add to your bread maker bowl:

1 1/8 cups warm water
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
dash salt
1/8 cup oil
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. yeast (for bread makers)

Select the bread machine dough setting and when final rise has finished, take the dough out of the machine and place on greased cookie sheet. Divide dough into 12 equal portions and shape into balls. Let rise covered in warm place until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees F until done or about 15-20 minutes. Cool and serve with butter or your favorite spread.

Warning: One is not enough!