Hard, rigid dough will give you the same type of bread, but soft, pliable dough will give you soft, delicious, gooey bread. You can use soft dough as a foundation for many recipes for buns, cinnamon rolls, pizza, sweet buns, pretzels, crescent rolls and others. While some bakers add extra water to keep their dough soft, a couple teaspoons of lemon juice is the magic ingredient for making your dough even softer and more pliable.
Mix seven cups of flour with the yeast and gluten flour. Stir with a wooden spoon until well blended.
Add the water and mix for one minute using a wooden spoon until the mixture is well-coated and begins to resemble dough. Make sure you mix in any remnants of dough and yeast that may be clinging to the bottom of your bowl.
Combine the salt and oil, mixing thoroughly. Add the honey and lemon juice once you have incorporated the salt and oil. Stir vigorously for one minute until all ingredients are well-distributed throughout the dough.
Put in the remaining five cups of flour and beat vigorously for 6-10 minutes. You can use your wooden spoon, though an electric mixer will make the job easier.
Refrigerate the dough for later use or distribute it equally to greased loaf pans. This recipe will give you four loaves of bread.
References
- "Recipes for Russian Food;" Karen Smith; 2008
- Ask Sasha: Whole Wheat Bread Recipe
Writer Bio
Lane Cummings is originally from New York City. She attended the High School of Performing Arts in dance before receiving her Bachelor of Arts in literature and her Master of Arts in Russian literature at the University of Chicago. She has lived in St. Petersburg, Russia, where she lectured and studied Russian. She began writing professionally in 2004 for the "St. Petersburg Times."