You must read this.

You guys. This is serious.

I went to a bread making class in our ward from a lady who is a baker extraordinaire. The "bread recipe" she shared with us isn't anything super special. Although it's the perfect combination of moistness and saltiness and sweetness. BUT what she did share that completely changed my life (or at least my baking life) was that you can do ANYTHING with bread.

Don't look up the cinnamon roll recipe separate. Just use your same bread recipe, roll out the dough, spread melted butter, cinnamon and sugar (you don't even have to combine them beforehand), roll it up, rise, bake, etc.

Want to make asiago cheese rosemary and thyme bread? Sure, add them in.

Want to add eggs? Sure, add one or two, it won't change it much and you don't even need to rearrange the other ingredients. It's revolutionary. Last night I decided to try something new. I rolled out one of my loaves of dough. Spread butter, cinnamon and sugar in between. I rolled it up, shaped it into my bread pan and let it rise. Before the oven, I mixed together a concoction of the same thing- melted butter, cinnamon and sugar (but thicker than before) and brushed it all over the top of the loaf.

You guys.

I never thought such deliciousness was possible. I almost died it tasted so good. The top was all crunchy and the inside moist and doughy and sugary. mmmm... And the inside looked like a swirl. Like legitimate cinnamon swirl bread. I didn't think I was capable of such a thing.

Alright.

Here it is:

2 cups warm water
1/4 cup sugar
5 tsp yeast
PROOF for about 10-20 min. No set time. Just until it starts to grow.

add 1/2 cup vegetable oil (could use extra V. olive oil, lard, etc. ANY kind of fat)
1 1/2 tsp salt
5-6 cups flour (white or wheat, doesn't matter. Wheat takes a little longer to cook and will be heavier healthier bread).

Knead 15-20 min by hand or 10 min in a mixer.

Let rise to approximately triple its size. This varies, doesn't have to be exact.. In Florida (in a bowl on top of a 350 degree oven) it takes about two hours.

Punch down, Knead about five times (not five minutes).

Form into whatever you're making. Bread pans, braided artisan bread on top of a cookie sheet, little dinner rolls in muffin tins, cinnamon rolls in a 9x9 pan.

Let rise to the size you want.

Regular white bread loaves bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Wheat, closer to 25. Littler loaves on a cookie sheet, more like 15-18 min.

Olive Bread: add olive oil and 1/2 cup chopped olives

Herb seasoned bread: can add oregano, thyme, garlic, rosemary. Just about any herb.

Bacon bread: fry some bacon, add some of the grease plus the chopped bacon.

If you want your bread shiny on top (which I do every single loaf), you beat one egg and brush it on top of the bread right before it's put in the oven.

Seriously.