a college student's bucket list

Finally a recipe that I’ve actually tried! This was the first time I made bread (or dough) from stitch, so it didn’t turn out as pretty as I would have liked (and no, my final product is not at all like what you see in the picture).

Ingredients needed:

For the dough-

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 tbsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 egg
• 2/3 cup water

For those who are looking to simply get to the instructions quickly, please scroll to the end of this post.

As instructed, I started with the yeast mixture. I bought one of those tiny packets from the supermarket that sell them for a dollar and poured it into a bowl with tap water and sugar and mixed. The instructions told me to let it sit and “bubble” for about 10 minutes, so afterwards, I started with the flour mixture.

In a separate bowl, I poured what I thought was an appropriate amount of flour and mixed it with the salt. I took another bowl and whisked an egg and some butter together. At this point, the ten minutes were up and I mixed together the flour mixture with the yeast (and the egg and the butter). You are supposed to “knead” the dough at this point, but I don’t think I did a very job of it. (side note: a mixer is a rather valuable item at this point). After “kneading” the dough, I placed it on an oiled bowl and let it sit with a sheet of paper towel on top. Then I let it sit until it “doubled” in size.

After about 15-20 minutes, I attempted to play with the dough. BAD MOVE. I thought it’d be fun to roll it around and maybe even spin it on my pinky like I’ve seen it done so many times in the movies/at the restaurants/at the visible kitchen at Papa John’s, but the dough was strangely (or not strangely?) very, very, sticky. It was so sticky that I couldn’t get it off my fingers. Of course, being the germaphobe that I am, my hands were very clean, so I simply peeled off as much as I could and then washed whatever was left off. I tried to mix in some more flour in an attempt to make it less sticky and more dough-like, but it remained sticky. At this point, I decided to move on and simply wrapped the dough around hot dogs and added some green onions and shredded mozzarella cheese. I placed these in the oven and let it bake for approximately 20 minutes.

As for the end product, it didn’t look all that bad. In fact, it sort of looked like one of those hot dog buns you can buy at the bakery, except sloppier and a bit more golden. It tasted alright, too though I think next time I’ll need to practice making the dough more dough-like. Success! (or half a success)

If you’d like the quick-and-easy instructions, here they are: 

1. In a small bowl mix the water, yeast and sugar together and let it sit for about 10 minutes until it starts bubbling.
2. In another larger bowl, mix the flour with the salt.
3. In a small bowl melt the butter and add the egg and whisk it well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the flour, including the yeast mixture and mix. You can use your mixer here, but I just kneaded the dough by hand. Add more flour as needed, I used 2 cups of flour, but if you need more, just add some more. Place the dough in an oiled bowl.
5. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rest until it doubles in size.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F degrees.
7. Cut the dough into 6 equal pieces and shape each piece into a ball. Roll out each piece into a small rectangle and place a hot dog in the middle of the dough, then just wrap the dough around the hot dog, covering it well.
8. Cut each covered hot dog, into 1/2 inch pieces, cut the hot dog all the way through, but stop as you reach the dough. Take each piece and roll it out and shape it into a flower as in the picture below.
9. Repeat with remaining hot dogs. Place rolls on a baking lined with parchment paper or a silpat. Brush each roll with egg wash and top with cheddar cheese, parsley and green onions.
10. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

(You can find the original link by clicking onto the picture)

Enjoy!