SC - OOP -- Happy Happy! Joy Joy!

[Decker, Terry D.]

> For starters, I didn't have any of the various fruits or things to use for
> filling, and I didn't make enough of the filling I ended up using
> (basswood
> honey from that honey seller at Pennsic, peanut butter, two tablespoons
> cinammon, one tablespoon ginger, one half tablespoon pepper).  I should
> have
> made about twice as much.
> 
At least 1 cup of filling per 2 lbs of dough.  One reason to use fruit is it
provides more bulk for the cost.  

After you flatten out the dough, coat what will be the inside of the rolls
with melted butter.  It makes the final product richer and helps hold
spices, sugar, etc. on the dough.

> In part because I didn't add enough yeast originally and the dough wasn't
> rising, so I prepped two more packets of yeast and it rose too much,
> giving me
> more dough than I knew what to do with.  Because I was on the phone they
> also
> cooked it a bit longer than ought to have so the outsides were very much
> like
> crisp buns rather than soft rolls.
> 
> Is yeast dough always really sticky?  Even with floured hands I had
> trouble
> getting it off my hands.
> 
One package of yeast should be enough to rise 4 pound of dough.  Depending
on a number of variables it may take longer to rise, or it might not rise
the way you want it to.  Doubling the yeast boosts the rise, but it may
produce an uneven product.  The rise can be slowed by placing the bread pans
in a cool water bath or in the refrigerator.

Bread dough tends to build a crust.  Put your rolls in a plastic bag for a
day or so.  The crust should soften unless you've baked the rolls dry..

To soften the crust when baking, brush melted butter on the top after it
comes out of the oven.

Once a simple bread dough balls, it should not be very sticky.  If it is,
add a little more flour.  Enriched doughes can be sticky.  If you add eggs,
butter and sugar (or other sweetner) to enrich the dough, you often produce
a softer, stickier dough.  Adding too much flour to an enriched dough can
inhibit the rise and make a heavy bread.  Without the recipe, it is
difficult to determine whether the dough should be sticky or not. 

> Does anyone have any ideas what I could have done that my sticky buns
> ended up
> being bread?
> 
Recipe and a precise description of where you varied from it, please.

> My last mistake was trying to warm them up, so they'd be nice and toasty
> when
> my guest showed up.  I put them in the oven at about 100 degrees.  End
> result -
> they became hard and crunchy on the outside and stiff and crunchy on the
> inside.  Very similar to stale bread.
> 
> How does one warm up bread products without toasting them?
> 
Anytime you heat a bread product, you are going to remove moisture.  The
longer they are in the oven, the drier they will become.  For rolls and
similar sized breads at room temperature, pop them in a 200 - 300 F oven for
about 3-5 minutes.  I tend to butter cinnamon rolls and other sweet breads
and leave them in only long enough to melt the butter.

Bear