Introduction to Baking: Easy Homemade Bread

The art of breadmaking! Making bread is an ancient practice, and one that I feel is being far too overlooked by a lot of people today! In my opinion, it is a skill that everyone should learn how to do! A lot of the bread we find in stores today is filled with so many things that we probably wouldn’t even expect, such as preservatives to extend its shelf life, to high fructose corn syrup! Baking your own bread for your household is typically healthier, cheaper, and is also just a great way to destress and make an aspect of your life more meaningful. Below is my personal bread recipe that I find to be the best. I think you’ll find that making bread is actually very easy!

( Notes: Recipe makes one loaf of bread)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup warm water ( About 105 degrees farenheit)
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3/4 tbls active dry yeast
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbls olive oil
• About 3 cups flour (add more or less as needed)

Instructions:

• In a bowl add your water, sugar , and then yeast. Stir this together, and then let sit until it begins to look foamy. This takes about 5 minutes
• Add your oil, and salt. Then add your flour , one cup at a time , mixing as you are adding. You want the texture of the dough to be ready for kneading so add flour until its not sticky.
• Knead the dough about 25 times. Then cover the bowl with a damp cloth, and allow to rise for an hour. By this time the dough should have doubled in size.

• Punch down your dough and then shape it into your desired loaf shape. Place in your baking pan , and allow to rise again for another 20 minutes. If you’d like to score your bread, this is the time to do it.
• Bake at 350 degrees Farenheit for 30-40 minutes, until it has a beautiful golden brown crust.
• Allow to cool , and if desired , brush with butter.

Troubleshooting:

• Reasons for bread not turnng out

1. Not allowing the yeast the time to proof before adding the salt and oil.
2. The water being too hot.
3. Not kneading the dough enough or kneading it too much.

Best way to store your homemade bread:

Homemade bread is different than store bread in that it doesn’t have different preservatives and unnecessary ingredients. This is great for our health, but also means we need to know how to store it properly, as it won’t stay good just sitting on the shelf like its counterpart. In the case you don’t have a breadbox, I find the best way is to wrap in aluminum foil, and then wrap it in a towel.