Basic bread and cinnamon rolls

With lots of help from Clara, we made cinnamon rolls before the staff meeting Tuesday! No pictures...they all got eaten too fast to document their beauty. Same with the whole wheat bread I baked yesterday. I took it to FemCo's holiday potluck/carol sing and it was devoured!

Basic whole wheat bread
Adapted from Clara's original recipe and Made From Scratch by Jenna Wogenrich.

Ingredients
•2 C warm water
•2 1/4 t (or one packet) active dry yeast
•1 T sugar
•1 T oil
•1 t salt
•3-4 C whole wheat flour
•1-2 C white flour
•1/2 cup oats (optional)
•1-2 T melted butter

Directions
For the dough. Pour warm water into a mixing bowl. Pour in the yeast and stir gently until the water is murky. Then add the sugar and wait a few minutes to let the yeast activate. Add 1-2 cups of flour (either type, or one cup of each), and the oil and salt, and mix well. Then add the rest of the flour, and the oats if you are using them, one cup at a time until your dough is only slightly sticky.
To knead... On a floured counter top and with floured hands, push down the dough with your fists. Fold the dough towards you and push it down again. Don't be afraid to really work it! Continue kneading and folding until you can stretch the dough without tearing it.
Letting the dough rise. You can just put the dough back in the mixing bowl for this step. Give the dough a light coat of vegetable oil by pouring a little onto the top of the dough, then spreading and coating it with your hands. Make sure you cover it completely so it won't stick to the bowl. Then cover the mixing bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a slightly damp cloth. Let rise for at least an hour.
Deflating and shaping the dough. When the dough has doubled in size, come back to it and punch it down a couple of times to release the gas and air bubbles that have built up inside the dough. Now is a great time to shape the dough. You can use a greased loaf pan or cookie sheet. Get creative! You can make a braided loaf, rolls, or just a simple long loaf. Once you have shaped the loaves and placed them in your pans, over once again with a damp cloth. Now, let the dough rise a second time, for at least half an hour, or until doubled in size again.
Baking the bread. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Uncover and bake for 30-35 minutes, until slightly browned on top. I brushed my loaf with melted butter before baking, which adds great flavor to the bread. You could also brush with fresh garlic and melted butter, or a different flavoring agent of your choice!

For cinnamon rolls: prepare the dough as stated above. When it is time to shape the dough, divide in half and roll each half out into a nice, long rectangle. Cover each rectangle with small chunks of butter (about 1/2 cup was enough for half of the dough) and a mixture of 3/4 C brown sugar and 1 T cinnamon. Roll lengthwise, and cut into 1 or 2 inch rounds. Place into a greased 8x8 baking pan. Sprinkle top with more brown sugar and cinnamon, mixed. Bake for 30 minutes at 350˚F.

Enjoy!