I’ve seen a lot of people asking for bread recipes lately.  I think with everyone being stuck at home they are having more time to bake and are wanting to try something new.  And if you can make your own bread at home that means you don’t have to go to the store!

 

I’ve been making my own bread for years.  I have a system in place so that I can have 3 loaves of fresh-baked bread ready in 2 hours.  Don’t worry it’s only about a half-hour of active time.  The rest is just waiting for the bread to rise and bake.

 

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This bread recipe is great because it is very versatile.  You can make it with whole wheat flour and have a very hearty bread, you can make it with all white flour which makes a sturdy and very yummy bread which is great for cinnamon toast, or sandwiches.  You can also use half and half with the whole wheat and the white flour and have a very yummy in-between type of bread.  Feel free to experiment with different amounts of each to find what you like best!

 

 

Ingredients:

3 cups warm water (90-100) degrees *

1/3 cup sugar or honey

2 tsp salt

2/3 cup vegetable oil

3 cups flour †

2 tbs instant yeast

 

Optional:

2-3 Tbs of vital wheat gluten

1000 mg vitamin C tablet (crushed)

1 cup dry milk

 

3-7 cups flour ‡

 

Directions

Combine warm water, sweetener, salt and oil in a large mixing bowl.  Add the first 3 cups of flour and mix thoroughly.  Add the yeast and optional ingredients and mix again.  Add the rest of the flour ½ cup at a time until the dough clings to the mixer’s hooks (or begins to pull away from the sides of the bowl.  The dough should be tacky, but not sticky to the touch.)  When sufficient flour has been incorporated into the dough, knead the dough until the gluten has developed and the dough is smooth.   In a mixer, this can take 5-10 minutes or by hand 20-25 minutes.

 

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Spread a thin layer of flour on the countertop and empty dough onto the counter.  Separate and form the dough into loaves.  Place each loaf in a pan sprayed with cooking spray.  Allow loaves to rise in a warm place until they have doubled in size and slowly rebound when poked.  For me, this takes about an hour.

 

Preheat oven to 350° and bake loaves for 30-35 minutes.  Cool before slicing.

 

*When I was learning to make bread, I was told that this should be about the temperature you like for a warm shower (that way you don’t need to actually measure the temperature).  This will help the yeast to rise.

 

† Use whole wheat flour first if you’re doing half-and-half.  Otherwise, just use 3 cups of the type of flour you’re planning on using.

 

‡Use white flour for the half-and-half recipe.  Otherwise, just use the same type of flour as before.

 

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Tips:

 

• Because this bread doesn’t contain any preservatives it will go bad quickly. Freeze what you don’t plan on using in 2 or 3 days.
• If you grind your own whole wheat you can add a vitamin C tablet to the wheat berries when grinding.
• If you don’t have instant yeast, active dry yeast can be used, but you will need to let the dough rise twice (once before forming into loaves and once in the loaf pans.)
• The amount of flour to incorporate depends on a number of factors, so learn to depend on what the dough should look like rather than a set amount of flour.
• My favorite way to help the dough rise is to set them on top of the dishwasher while it is running. This will make it just a little bit warm, however, you can let it rise in any warm place.  Even a slightly warm oven.  Preheat the oven to 100° and then turn it off before placing the loaves inside.

Let me know how you like this recipe and send me a picture of it if you decide to make it!  he***@************************ve.host

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