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SOFT BUTTERMILK ROLLS

At the end of the second rising period, shut off the machine and remove the dough. Place it on a wet countertop and gently flatten to about an inch. Cut into roll-size pieces (somewhere between a golf ball and a tennis ball, but more toward golf) and round each piece into a smooth ball. Use water rather than flour on the table and on your hands to keep dough from sticking. Fit shaped rolls not-quite-touching into a buttered baking pan, and set in a draft-free place to rise until at least double. Meantime, preheat oven to 400°F. When rolls are ready, put in the oven; turn the thermostat down to 325°. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes, depending on how big they are. Brush with butter.

If you’d like to make seedy rolls—much beloved at our place—toast sesame seeds lightly and mix with the other seeds listed, or use others of your choice. After shaping, spray with water, then coat each roll with seeds. Proceed as above, but no need to brush with butter after baking.

Spelt Bread

TWO-POUND LOAF

1 ¼ cups soymilk

⅓ cup maple syrup

3 tablespoons oil

3 ¾ cups spelt flour

⅓ cup gluten

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons yeast

1 ½-POUND LOAF

1 cup soymilk

¼ cup maple syrup

2 tablespoons oil

2 ¾ cups spelt flour

¼ cup gluten

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

DELICIOUS VARIATION

Use water instead of soymilk. Add ¼ cup whole flaxseeds. A tasty, crunchy loaf that makes fine timed loaves.

Delightful flavor, a light, soft, cakey texture, and thin, crisp crust make this bread special. There are so many kinds of soymilk that minor adjustments will be necessary in some cases, but please do not omit or reduce the oil. Soy binds gluten; without the oil the bread won’t rise.

Scald the soymilk (heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the pan), and allow to cool to 100°F. Put ingredients in machine, select whole wheat and light crust, and begin. After a few minutes of kneading, check the dough. Add a little more flour, or a little more soymilk (or water), if needed to make a firm, soft dough ball.

When bread is done, turn it out onto a soft towel.

USING ALTERNATIVE WHEAT FLOURS FOR BREAD

SPELT is a type of wheat that’s more digestible for some people. Use it in whole wheat recipes, with some care.

1. Spelt flours vary in how much gluten protein they contain. When you buy spelt for making bread, check the nutrition label to be sure the protein content is at least 5 grams per ¼-cup serving.

2. If you don’t want to use gluten, and your machine is programmable, shorten the kneading time to 15 minutes. With its low gluten content, spelt dough weakens with normal kneading times, and the loaf is likely to collapse.

3. Spelt flour has less bran as well as less gluten. These two absorb the most liquid, so when adapting whole wheat recipes to spelt, expect to add less liquid—and vice versa.

KAMUT, another variety of wheat, has high protein but not high gluten protein. In our experience, it makes a dense but pretty, sunny-colored bread using the same measurements as normal wheat flour. Kamut seems to us quite similar to durum wheat.

Cottage Loaves

1 ½-POUND BASIC LOAF

1 ½ cups cottage cheese

2 tablespoons honey

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tablespoons butter or oil

3 cups whole wheat flour

1 ½ teaspoons salt

1 ½ teaspoons yeast

1 small onion, slivered (about ¾ cup)

2 tablespoons dillweed

1 cup cubed Parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)

½ cup pitted, cut-up olives

SWIRL MIXTURE

1 teaspoon cinnamon

⅓ cup sugar

This high-rising, high-protein loaf accommodates “extras” with grace, because the eggs and cottage cheese mellow the flavor of the whole wheat. The plain version keeps well and makes excellent toast.

Warm cottage cheese is this recipe’s main liquid. The dough will seem dry at first when mixing but becomes normal after some kneading—resist the temptation to add water!

COTTAGE DILL LOAF

Sauté the onions in the recipe’s butter (or oil).