Fresh Bread

I love bread. It is so so delicious! And dare I mention the aroma that fills my home or the way warm bread hot off the press just melts in my mouth? Time to enjoy some homemade bread for just pennies compared to buying it in the store.

I don't think Todd believed I would stick with this when I first started because he came home with storebought bread. Poor guy didn't want to run out of bread. As I shoved the bread in the freezer, I tried to muster a few polite words and explained we could keep it as backup just in case I didn't get more bread made before we ran out. In a couple days I noticed another storebought loaf of bread in the bread drawer. What the heck?! Does hubby not like my bread?! After I calmed down a bit, I asked about it again. I was not going to bust my chops to bake homemade bread if he was going to keep buying bread. I would rather bust his chops. I think after two months he has finally come to terms with the fact that I am not going to stop baking bread.

Getting started was the hardest part because I wanted to find the easiest, fastest way to make homemade bread. And I was really intimidated because I didn't know much about bread. There are a lot of great options I considered, all of which have links below...just in case I change my mind in the future about what works for me.

I finally decided on making bread as I go, because I found an amazing recipe! It's so stinkin easy and actually faster than using the bread machine. What could possibly be better than easy and fast? Well, let me tell you: DELICIOUS! I read a comment that helped me modify the recipe for use with my Kitchen Aid Mixer. Of course one could easily modify it back to traditional kneading if they want to, but I have great results with much less mess! Here is my version, which also includes less sugar so it's perfect for daily bread use. If you want the original version, click here.

Amish White Bread
2 C warm water (110º F)
¼ C white sugar
1 ½ Tablespoons active dry yeast
1 ½ teaspoons salt
¼ C vegetable oil
6 C flour

1. Rinse large Kitchen Aid bowl with hot water (so the warm water in recipe doesn’t cool too quickly). In bowl dissolve the sugar in the warm water, then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam (5-10 min.)

2. Mix salt & oil into yeast. Using dough hook, mix in one cup of flour at a time. Let dough hook knead for 5 minutes. Take out and put a little oil in bowl; turn dough to coat. Cover with plastic saran wrap and a towel. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk; about 1 hour.

3. Punch dough down. Knead on a lightly floured surface for a couple minutes and cut in half. Shape into loaves and place in two well greased bread pans. Cover as above and let rise 30 minutes or until dough reaches top of pans or 1 inch above. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.


The Great Bread Adventure
Getting started was quite intimidating, but thanks to the internet I learned A LOT about bread!

I learned how to see if my yeast was any good.
I have a lot of expired yeast. Apparently getting married, moving, and having a baby doesn't leave much time for baking. But here's the cool thing...the recipe above actually proofs your yeast at the begining of the recipe so you can skip this link and not waste any of your yeast! (My yeast that expired in 2009 is still good, by the way. I kept it in the fridge but have now put some in the freezer to preserve life.)

I learned more than I ever wanted to know about yeast.
For instance, it's a fungus! Learning what hamburger really was turned three of my siblings-in-law into vegetarians. I wonder if they would stop eating bread, too. That was really the only disturbing fact, and now I've shared it with you - sorry! So go ahead, click on the link above if you're interested in yeast. Personally, I eat hamburger and bread. I know, I'm gross.

I learned I can use my bread machine for dough and then bake the bread in the oven.  I really prefer bread baked in the oven much more than in the bread machine! It all comes down to the crust; too thick, crispy and tough in the bread machine.

I learned I can use my KitchenAid mixer for dough!
Please don't laugh. I know I am soooo underutilizing my KitchenAid; it would probably make people crazy to know that until now I had only used it for mixing.  You have no idea how ecstatic I am about this - honestly, the mess of kneading dough played a big part in keeping me from making bread. Hence, the idea to use the bread machine for the dough, but now I don't have to get out that clunky thing every time I want bread!

I learned about freezing bread dough.
I thought about making a bunch of dough at one time and freezing it. This is great for saving on the mess, but it really doesn't save much time when you consider it has to unfreeze and rise which takes about eight hours. I actually recently tried this just to see how the bread turns out. I was NOT impresesd, as it greatly affected the quality of my bread. It almost seemed to separate - lots of air pockets when I normally don't have any. Odd.

Found a visual (yes, there are pictures!) guide to shaping bread dough for rolls and other goodies. Apparently once you have a dough recipe you like, you can shape it however you want to get different baked breads. Now that I have the dough, there's no stopping me! Except for maybe three things. You know, the short little cuties running around my house shoving freshly baked bread in their mouths.