DOUGH!: Shapes and Flovours, the basics

It's gonna be kind of a short one today but I think it's a fun one and I really hope everyone can get their creative juices flowing because I would LOVE to see what kind of things you can make.

We're bring dough back again and making it fancy while keeping it relatively simple still. I'm going to lay the foundation work for a few other things I have up my sleeve that build off the idea of different shapes and flavours. So if you haven't already read the DOUGH post go check it out! I'll place the Short and Gritty here for those of you that have a handle on the recipe but need a little refresher:

The Short and Gritty:

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp Salt

2 1/2 tsp Yeast
1 1/2 tsp Sugar

2 tbsp Oil
1 cup Warm water

Directions:

1. Mix first two ingredients.
2a. If you're using active cry yeast include the next two ingredients.
2b. If you're using traditional yeast mix last four ingredients together and let sit for 10 minutes.
3. Add wet to dry, mix in the bowl until it comes together into a ball.
4. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes adding small amounts of flour when it becomes too sticky.
5. Place in greased loaf pan and cover with a clean tea towel. Allow to rise for 40 minutes and then begin preheating your oven to 350.
6. The dough should double in size by the time you put your loaf in the oven. About 10 to 20 minutes after you begin your preheat.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown. the loaf should sound hollow when knocked on.
8. Remove to a cooling rack and it is ready for eating.


So what kind of shapes and flavours can we use to make our bread a little more special? The most basic things are buns and herbs. Once I got the hang of making my own bread and stopped buying any form the store i decided to branch out and make most of my bread items at home too. So hamburgers buns, hot dog buns, dinner rolls... I stopped buying those too! The actual fancy part of all of this is being able to add flavours to your bread. the easiest, and honestly the best, way to do this is with dried herbs. Most people have these laying around the house already so it's super easy to walk over to your spice rack and grab something. And this can be ANYTHING.

Before I jump into my favourites lets talk about how to actually do this.

If your going to be flavouring you'll want to add your dried herbs in before you add your wet ingredients. I have tried it both ways and I found that trying to knead them in after is difficult and you end up with clumps of herb. I'm going to be honest with you, I almost never measure my herbs. I kind of just sprinkle until my soul says stop, but I measured while making my bread last night. I did 1 1/2 tsp of dill and I probably could have gone with a little bit more. So, my suggestion in between 1 and 2 tsp per batch of dough.

Next we want to talk about shapes. After you've kneaded your dough you'll want to roll it into a sausage shape and use a pastry cutter or non serrated knife to cut it into equal sized portions. For things like sandwich buns, hamburger buns and hot dog buns I find 6 to be a good yield and dinner rolls around 10 or 12 for one batch of dough. For regular buns roll them into balls or sausages depending on what shape you are going for. But also try out other things! you can shape your dough into anything (triangles and hearts would be fun to play round with) just remember to exaggerate the shape because it's going to expand as it proofs.

Everything else is the same from here except that you'll be baking them on a cookie sheet instead of in a loaf pan. So, lightly oil your pan and place your buns; they will need room to proof so keep that in mind but if they end up touching at the end thats okay they will easily separate after cooking. Let proof for the same amount of time, until the about doubles in size. Then bake for 20 minutes at 360. Just like with your regular sandwich loaf you can brush with oil, butter or egg wash and you can choose to score them or not.

**witchy tip** sigils and scoring are great friends. If you wan to add a little extra magic to your bread scoring your favourite sigil into it is a great way to do it.

I have a fancy tool on my wish list right now so I'm hoping to get it soon and do a whole bunch of scoring to really show you guys what it can look like. Follow me on Instagram for those pictures!


What you've all been waiting for, my favourite herbs and herb mixes to use in my breads.

Rosemary- My absolute go-to. I don't know why but something about rosemary bread just feels right. Sometimes I'll sprinkle a little kosher or sea salt on top of my wash, MMM.
**witchy tip** the all purpose herb, can be substituted in for ay other correspondence.
**witchy tip** home blessing (especially against thieves), faithfulness, exorcism and purification, memory, stop gossip.


Oregano- I'll often throw in oregano when I'm making pizza dough. Sometimes I add a little black pepper and/or garlic powder too. It just adds even more of that Italian flavour.

**witchy tip** happiness, tranquility, luck, health, protection and letting go of a loved one. It can also be used in spells to deepen existing love.


Dill- This one I used for the first time this week and it was amazing! I'll definitely be doing this again for you guys so stay tuned for this specific recipe. It's cheesy!
**witchy tip** Love, money drawing, protection, mental and emotional balance, good luck, dispel jealousy and bad dreams.


Cinnamon or Chai Mix (You can even use that Pumpkin Spice we talked about at the beginning of the month)- this bread is the bomb for breakfast especially French toast. And you can do it one of 2 ways, you can make it like the cinnamon rolls but don't cut it and use a loaf pan or you can mix it in like any other herb or spice.
**witchy tip** healing, home protection, love and lust, money drawing, spirituality, success and speeding up your magick


Okay, that's all for today. I can't wait to see the creations you come up with! Show me over on Facebook or Instagram links in the sidebar!