Oatmeal Raisin Buns

1 Tbls yeast
1 Tbl sugar
1/2 cup lukewarm water

12 oz unbleached white flour
6 oz whole wheat flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbls sugar

1 1/4 cup milk
2 oz butter
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup oatmeal
2-4 Tbls sugar

extra water to get dough just right

Put the yeast and sugar into a small bowl, add the lukewarm water, and let sit for about 10 minutes to gat all bubbly. If it doesn't bubble up, you need new yeast.

In a Kitchenaid bowl put the flours and salt and sugar.
In a saucepan put the milk, butter, oatmeal, and raisins and put over medium heat until it starts to bubble just a bit. Turn off the heat and let it sit for about 10 minutes, stirring to make sure the butter melts. Pour into the flour bowl and give it a good stir with a wooden spoon. Then add the yeast mixture. Put about 1/2 cup of lukewarm water into the yeast bowl to be used for adding to the dough to get it just the right consistency.

Put the Kitchenaid bowl into the mixer. Put in the dough hook, and start mixing. Add water or flour as needed, to get the mixture to be well mix and moist, but not gooey and sticking to the bowl. Just sticking a little bit to the bowl. Mix it for maybe five minutes. Then put a big handful of flour onto the bread board (or counter, if you don't have a big bread board). Spread the flour around somewhat and dump the dough onto the flour. Knead for just a bit, to get the dough into a nice ball. rinse out the Kitchenaid bowl and the put the ball of dough into the bowl, cover with a damp towel and let sit for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Turn the dough out onto the bread board, knead just a little bit, then cut the dough into about 16 pieces. Form each piece of dough into a ball, and place the balls of dough onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Cover with the damp towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 370 degrees, and bake the rolls for about 15 minutes. Now since all ovens are different, keep an eye on the rolls. They want to be golden brown, not dark brown. They will be nice and soft because of the milk and butter. Let cool for about 5 to 10 minutes before eating.

Sweet Dough

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This is used for sweet rolls and tea rings and bolotchki and what ever else I might come up with that wants a sweet dough. I prefer to make the dough, form the bread product desired and then leave it all night to raise. No raising prior to forming the pastry. It really works. You can leave it for at least ten hours if you like.

1 tablespoon yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 pound of flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 stick of butter
1 egg
3/4 cup warm milk

Proof the yeast with the tablespoon of sugar and lukewarm water for about 10 minutes. In the meantime put the rest of the ingredients in a bowl and give them a bit of a stir and lest rest a bit. When the yeast has bubbled up add to the rest of the ingredients and mix with the kitchenaid mixer for about five minutes. If the dough is too soupy gradually add some more flour. If the dough is too stiff, gradually add some more milk. If mixing this by hand I hope you know what you are doing because it's going to be very sticky. That's the nature of sweet dough. The dough should even be somewhat sticky when you are done kneading, but not to worry. Put a big handful of flour onto a board, spread it around and dump the dough onto the flour. Knead for just long enough to have a dough you can handle. If you like, you can leave this to raise for about two hours before forming the pastries. But if you have till the next day don't bother.

You can put whatever you want into this dough. The exact proportions are not that important. It just needs to look like bread dough when you're done. But the one pound of flour is fairly important if you are wanting to use this for a recipe that calls for a batch of sweet dough.