Aunt Hazel Bread (a.k.a. Kuchen)

This is a delicious bread that my Aunt Hazel always made for family dinners & breakfast for special occassions like Easter and Thanksgiving morning. You can leave the dough plain and make into dinner rolls or regular bread. You can also roll the dough out and spread it with butter, cinnamon, sugar, etc., roll it up, and bake it as loaves or cut into rolls. Either way it's delicious. Don't skip the nutmeg. It seems weird, but it gives the bread a certain je ne sais quoi.

As with my other recipes, let me know if you make the bread and what you think of it.

- TM

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Aunt Hazel Bread

2 c. milk
6 T. butter
1/2 c. + 1 t. sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. nutmeg
7 1/2-8 c. flour
2 pkgs. yeast
2 eggs

Scald milk.  Add butter, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, and nutmeg

Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water with 1 teaspoon sugar.  Stir 4 cups flour into milk mixture.  Add yeast, eggs, and vanilla; beat well.  Add enough extra flour to make non-sticky dough.  Let rise to double bulk (about 1 hour).  Gently fold to remove air; let rise second time.

Remove from bowl and knead on a floured surface until not sticky.

For rolls:

Preheat oven to 375.  Form dough into rolls and put into appropriately sized pan.  Bake until light brown, about 25 minutes.

For bread:

Preheat oven to 350.  Form dough into loaves and put into loaf pans.  Bake until light brown and hollow-sounding when tapped on the bottom.

For cinnamon bread:

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll dough into slightly less than 1/2-inch thickness.  Spread with softened butter.  Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Raisins, dates, or nuts are optional.  Roll like a jelly roll.  Place in loaf pans.  Bake until light brown, about 30 minutes.