1 c. milk
1/2 lb. butter
2 cakes yeast
1/4 c. warm water
1 c. sugar
4 eggs
6 c. flour
3/4-1 c. raisins (seedless)

Scald milk. When hot add butter and let it melt. Cool; add yeast which has been softened in the warm water. Add sugar, eggs, flour; mix well. Add raisins. No kneading is necessary. Cover dough and let rise in a warm place a few hours. Put dough into 2 buttered and floured 1-lb. coffee cans (use the cans as pans.) Let rise again until double in bulk before baking. If desired let dough rise above top of can in mushroom shape, or place a wax paper extension above top of can to form tall cylinders. Bake at 400° for 45 minutes. Slice in circles to serve.

2 pkgs. dry granular yeast
1 t. sugar
1/2 c. lukewarm milk
7 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. sugar
2 t. salt
1 t. lemon zest
2 eggs + 1 egg white, slightly beaten
5 T. unsalted margarine, melted
1 1/2 c. lukewarm milk
1 egg yolk + 1 t. water

In a small bowl mix yeast with sugar and milk; stir to dissolve. Leave in warm place for 10-12 minutes to activate yeast. In a large mixing bowl, put flour, sugar and salt; add lemon zest. Make a well; add eggs, margarine, milk and yeast mixture. First use a wooden spoon for working liquids into flour. Knead by hand or with kneading hook (in an electric mixer) until dough is smooth and elastic. (By hand it will take from 10-14 minutes.) If dough is too sticky, add up to 3 tablespoons flour. Grease bowl turning dough around. Cover with plastic wrap and towel. Let rise in warm place (70-80°) for 1 hour or until it doubles in bulk. Place dough on lightly floured board. Knead for 1 minute. Cut dough into 21 (30) pieces. Take 1 piece of dough, cut into 3 pieces. Roll each piece to 8" long strands and braid the three strands (like braiding a child's hair). Holding one end of the braided piece flat on the board, twist the rest into a circle and tuck the other end in. Repeat the procedure with the rest of the dough. Grease 2 large baking pans or cookie sheets. Place braided brioches on them. Return to warm place and let them rise for 30-45 minutes. Beat egg yolk with water, and with a pastry brush paint brioches on sides and tops. (If 1 egg yolk is not enough, add another to mixture). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375° (or until golden).

This recipe freezes well. Reheat before serving at 300° for 8-12 minutes.
Yield: 21 3-oz. (or 30 2-oz.) brioches

5 c. flour
1 cake yeast
1 c. warm water
2 T. sugar
2 t. salt
3 T. shortening
2 eggs, beaten
poppy seeds (optional)

Place flour in a large bowl. Dissolve crumbled yeast in water and add sugar.
Make a well in the flour and add the salt and shortening. When yeast begins to rise on top of water and looks bubbly and soft, pour mixture into the well in the flour. Add beaten eggs to well and mix batter from center outward until thoroughly blended. When stiff, knead with hands in the bowl. If necessary, more water can be added at this point to absorb the flour. Cover bowl with a towel and let rise a couple of hours until double in bulk. Then punch dough down by kneading again. Let rise a second time, approximately 1 hour. Cut off pieces of dough and roll with hands on a lightly floured board, until you have a strip 10-12" long and 1/2-3/4" in diameter. Join edges of strip to make a large ring. Repeat until dough is used up. This should make approximately 2 dozen bagels. Heat oven to 400° and grease the wire racks. Place 3 rings at a time into rapidly boiling water for 1-2 minutes. Sprinkle with poppy seeds, if desired, as bagels rise to surface of water. Remove bagels from water, (they should be stiff enough to lift out with a fork.) Place on racks in oven as quickly as possible to avoid excess rising. Bake for 15-20 minutes until first side is golden brown. Reduce oven to 350° and turn bagels; bake 10-15 minutes longer until second side is brown.

This recipe makes a soft "egg" type bagel. It is not as hard and dense as the typical "water" type bagel.

9 c. lukewarm water
1 1/2 T. dry yeast
4 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (preferably a coarse variety)
9 c. rye flour
3 T. salt
3 T. dark molasses
4 1/2 c. white flour

Put water into a large roasting pan; the dough rises a lot. Add yeast and stir until dissolved. Add the whole wheat flour and half of the rye flour. Stir well, cover and leave on the counter for about 15 hours (a bit more or less will not hurt.) Next, add salt and molasses and mix well; add the remainder of the flour. This gets stiff and must be mixed in very well. Let it sit about 4 hours. This will rise a great deal, forming a loose sticky sponge. Flour a pastry cloth very well with white flour, leaving some excess of flour on it. Prepare 6 bread pans, using a spray or grease well. Pre-heat oven to 425°. Scoop up enough dough to half fill a bread pan and put on floured cloth, turning to coat with the flour so it can be worked. (The stickiness will be contained once it is coated with flour.) Knead enough to form into a nice loaf and put in pan. Continue with the rest of the pans. When they are all done, wet your hand, and with it, wet the tops of the loaves and press into the corners of the pans a bit. Let sit 10 minutes, then bake 1 1/4 hours. Take out of pans and put on racks to cool. Loaves freeze very well. Recipe can easily be halved.

When I growing up in a little Upper Peninsula town, there was only a small Jewish community and none of the conveniences which families now have for keeping kosher. Our meat came 250 miles by train from Milwaukee and Jewish rye bread was only an occasional treat, when my father made a rare trip to Chicago. Most of the Jewish families made all their own bread to make sure no dairy products were in the bread. Besides, it was much better than the local store-bought variety. My mother made brown bread and white bread, plus bagels,
onion rolls and even kaiser rolls every week, but the brown bread is right at home in the new "natural foods" environment of today. Yield: 6 loaves

2 c. boiling water
1/2 c. sugar
1 T. salt
1/3 c. oil (or pareve margarine)
2 T. dry yeast (2 pkgs.)
1 t. sugar
1/3 c. warm water
3 eggs
8 c. flour
1 egg, beaten
poppy seeds (or sesame seeds)

In a large bowl combine: boiling water, sugar, salt, oil (first 4 ingredients). In a 2 cup measure, combine dry yeast, sugar and warm water (slightly warmer than a baby's bottle). Let this mixture bubble up (this is called "proofing".) In a glass or cup, break eggs, individually, checking for blood spots. Transfer one at a time to small bowl; beat slightly. Add eggs and yeast to cooled mixture in large bowl. Beat in 4 cups flour (I usually use bread flour, but all-purpose flour is satisfactory) using a wooden spoon. Beat in 3 additional cups flour; finally knead in approximately 1 cup more flour. (Yes, total is about 8 cups!) If you use a big enough bowl, you can knead in the bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until double in size, at least 3 hours; best if left overnight. "Punch down" and knead. Braid into loaves. Place on greased baking sheet and let rise 1 -1 1/2 hours for challah. Brush tops with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy or sesame seeds, if desired. Bake in 350° oven for about 35 minutes, until nicely browned. Cool on rack.

This is a lifesaver for an employed woman who desires a traditional Shabbat with homemade challot. Mix and refrigerate on Wednesday after work, form, rise and bake on Thursday. Enjoy for Shabbat dinner. Yield: This makes 3 challot, two dozen rolls or 48 hamantashen.

2 c. lukewarm water
1/2 oz. dry yeast (2 pkgs.)
2 T. sugar
1 1/2-2 c. rye flour (or more if necessary)
(Do not use stone ground flour, the texture is too coarse.)
1 T. salt
4 c. white flour
3 T. caraway seeds

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup water; add remaining water, sugar, salt, white flour and caraway seed. Stir for 1-2 minutes with a heavy spoon until creamy. Cover with a damp cloth and let stand 3-4 hours in a warm place. (Sponge will be very sticky.) Stir in enough rye flour to make a firm dough and knead about 5 minutes. Put in lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled (about 50 minutes). Punch down and knead for 3 minutes, adding enough rye flour to make a firm dough which will hold its shape. Divide in 2; shape into 2 loaves. Put loaves on baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise uncovered in a warm place until less than doubled (about 50 minutes). Heat oven to 425°; put a shallow pan of hot water on lowest rack. Brush loaves with salt water (1 teaspoon salt dissolved in 1/4 cup water), and if you like, slash each loaf 3 or 4 times diagonally. After 20 minutes, remove pan of water from oven and brush again with salt water. Continue baking until done (50 minutes to 1 hour). Remove bread to racks to cool; brush again with salt water.

If you like kimmel rye, when you shape the loaves, knead into each loaf
1 teaspoon of kimmel. Yield: 2 loaves

1 c. milk, warmed
1 pkg. yeast
1 egg, beaten
4 T. butter
3/4 t. salt
4 c. flour
1 t. honey

Mix half of milk with yeast and let rise; add other half of milk to beaten egg. Combine all ingredients and knead well. Let rise till double in bulk. Shape into loaf and let rise again. Grease 9 x 5" pan. Bake at 400° for 35 minutes.

1/2 c. warm water 2 pkgs. dry yeast (or fresh yeast) 1/2 c. oil 2 T. sugar 1 T. salt 1 1/2 c. boiling water 3 eggs, 1 yolk reserved 7 c. flour, or more Dissolve yeast in warm water. Mix oil, salt, sugar and boiling water in large bowl; cool to lukewarm. Beat eggs into yeast, then add to other mixture. Add 4 cups flour and beat well with a wooden spoon or dough hook of electric mixer. Stir in enough additional flour to make a firm dough that cleans the bowl. Knead until smooth and elastic. Put in oiled large bowl and turn to grease the top of the dough. Cover tightly with a sheet of plastic wrap and let rise 1 hour, until doubled. Punch down and divide into 3 parts. Divide each part into 4, taking 1 section for top and dividing it by 3, so for each bread there are 3 pieces to braid for bottom and 3 small pieces to braid for top. Roll each piece into a snake and braid them together. Put large braid on bottom; place smaller on top. Pinch sides to adhere 2 braids. Grease a baking pan. Place challah on pan, brush with egg yolk and 1 tablespoon water. Sprinkle with sesame or poppy seeds. Set aside for 35 minutes to double. Bake in 375° oven for approximately 30 minutes (or 15 minutes at 425°), then 15 minutes at 350°.

Two cups of bread sponge, 1 pt. of milk, salt to the taste, 1 cup of butter, or butter and fresh lard, 1 cup of sugar, thoroughly worked, not quite as stiff as bread dough, and until it will not adhere to the fingers. Set it in a warm place, and when light, spread it, about 1 inch thick, on tins, and let it rise again. When very light, pinch holes at equal distances, cover with moist brown sugar, and lay small pieces of butter on, so that it will melt with the sugar into the holes, sprinkle with cinnamon, and bake in a rather quick oven for from 15 to 20 minutes.

One and 1/2 pts. of milk, full 1/2 pound of butter, 1 cupful sugar,
3/4 lb. raisins, 1/2 lb. currants, 3 ozs. citron, 2 ozs. almonds after they are blanched and cut fine, 2 1/2 to 3 lbs. flour, 1 teaspoonful salt and 1/2 cake of compressed yeast. Set a sponge over night with 1 pt. milk, about 1 lb. flour, and the yeast dissolved in water. In the morning add the butter and sugar, rubbed in flour, the salt and 1 pt. of warm milk. Knead until the dough no longer sticks to the hand, adding flour gradually; lastly put in the fruit mixed with a little flour. The dough should be as stiff as bread dough. Let it rise again, and when light, divide into small loaves which roll out about an inch thick, lap over and put on flat pans to rise again. When light bake in a well-heated oven about 1/2 hour.