Moist Italian Sweet Bread Recipes

MOIST ITALIAN SWEET BREAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan, combine the first four ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted. Remove from the heat; cool to 110° to 115°., In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter mixture, eggs, extracts, nuts and cherries and 4 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down; divide into thirds. Shape each portion into an oval loaf; place in three greased and floured 8x4-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. , Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if top browns too quickly. Remove from pan to wire racks to cool. , In a small bowl, beat icing ingredients until smooth; drizzle over cooled loaves.

SWEET AND GOLDEN EASTER BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, butter and salt; mix well. Add eggs, extract and 2 cups flour; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; sprinkle with raisins and knead in. Divide in half. Divide each portion into thirds. Shape each into a 14-in. rope. Place three ropes on a greased baking sheet, and braid; pinch ends to seal and tuck under. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes., Whisk egg white and water; brush over braids. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

BEST BASIC SWEET BREAD

Steps:

• In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, sugar and butter. Heat until slightly warm to the touch then remove from heat and stir in the yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, stir together the flour and salt. Mix in the eggs, oil and the yeast mixture. Mix until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and continue to knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Grease a large bowl with 1 tablespoon of oil. Place the dough into the bowl and turn once to coat. Cover and let stand in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.
• Use remaining oil to grease a cookie sheet or 9x13 inch pan. For plain rolls, punch down dough and divide into 12 equal pieces. Roll the pieces into balls and place them into the greased pan side by side. Let dough rise for 20 to 25 minutes, or until almost double. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until rolls are golden brown.

MOIST, SWEET VEGAN CORNBREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray a 9x5-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Beat 1/2 cup soy milk, sugar, vegetable shortening, salt, and vanilla extract together in a large bowl until well blended.
• Mix flour, cornmeal, and baking powder together in a bowl. Stir flour mixture into sugar mixture, alternating with the remaining 1 cup soy milk. Beat until well blended. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 30 to 35 minutes.

SUPER MOIST ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine beef, bread crumbs, cheese, eggs, garlic, pepper, salt, and wine. Mix well.
• Shape mixture into 1-1/2" or 2" meatballs.
• In a large pot, bring sauce to a boil. Add meatballs one at a time, and simmer over medium-low heat for 40-45 minutes.
• Serve over pasta, or on hoagie buns for meatball subs.

CORNBREAD (SWEET & MOIST)

Steps:

• Preheat your oven to 425°F.
• First, add all of the dry ingredients together and mix - this will help keep the distribution of ingredients even. Use the cornmeal, flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• Then, add the remaining ingredients in any order and mix. Use the eggs, milk, creamed corn, shortening, and honey.
• Using a mixer or a whisk, combine all of the ingredients until well mixed. Note: These mix easily so using a whisk and some elbow grease does the job just fine.
• Add the mixture to a "prepared" baking dish. You can prepare any baking dish by coating it with cooking spray or - as I like to do - use a paper towel to collect some Crisco and simply rub the dish until it's coated.
• Bake at 425°F for about 40-45 minutes. To see if the corn bread is ready, insert a table knife into the center and pull it out. If it's dry, you're dish is done. If it's still got some wet batter on it - let it cook for another 5 minutes - checking in intervals. Be careful not to overcook. You want the top of the corn bread to be delicately browned, but not so browned that you now have a hardened crust, so just keep an eye on it during the last leg of baking.
• Now -- to use the butter!
• Immediately after you remove the corn bread from the oven, drag as much as 2 tbsp of butter over the top slowly, allowing it to melt as you brush the top of the corn bread. The 2 tbsp (especially if you're using slices of butter from a stick of butter) should be enough to adequately coat the entire loaf. This is an important step. You might think it's just for flavor, but the butter actually softens the top of the corn bread and keeps the texture from becoming too firm or stale. As the butter melts and seeps down into the body of the corn bread, it adds further moisture to the dish, without turning the corn bread into a soft mush like it sometimes can if you slap a spoonful onto an open slice.
• Let the corn bread sit for about 2-4 minutes, allowing the butter to do its job. Then serve!