I grew up in the Mormon Church. I was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints until I left it in my thirties. One thing we never lacked for were activities. Back then we were probably more focused on homemaking skills. Things like contests to see who could stuff a pillow in a case the fastest, classes on how to make cream puffs, etc., were fairly common. And of course, we had to learn church teachings and extend the value of service.
One of the ways we could gauge how well we were doing was through various challenges where, if we did well, we would earn these little awards to put on a thing called a bandelo. I still have mine but most of the items fell off because they were only glued on. In the back is the green bandelo I would have had if all my doodads hadn't fallen off.
Anyway, we learned to bake bread. Lordy, did we learn to bake bread! And it was considered a great thing to make good bread, too. Many years later I would meet up with another "sister" who was into baking bread and we would get together every week and bake bread for our families. It was kind of fun.
So here's the recipe for Mormon Bread. The bread I learned to bake in the Mormon Church.
- 4 eggs
- 1/2 c. shortening
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 3 tbsp. yeast
- 1 qt. warm water
- 10-12 c. flour
- Mix all ingredients well.
- Cover and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Place on a floured surface and knead well for 7 minutes.
- Shape into rolls or loaves and bake in a 350-degree oven for 30 minutes.
Yield: 3 large loaves or 16 large cinnamon rolls.
If you want to turn them into cinnamon rolls, just use some very soft unsalted butter (1/2 cup should do) and mix it with cinnamon and sugar (around 1 cup total) and smear it on dough rolled out in a rectangular shape.