Home Baked Bread

Do you love bread?

My favorite is tomato, onion, and basil bread, made into a veggie sandwich with a little pesto, hummus, and lots of feta cheese, thin sliced cucumbers, lettuce, onion and tomatoes. So, yummy!

The best bread is homemade. You just can’t get that same spongy goodness from the store. Maybe a good bakery, but they aren’t easy to find any more.

So, let’s be brave and turn our kitchen into a bakery. Your family will love it!

First, bread baking takes practice. I’ve been making bread for about fifteen years, and I’ve had my fair share of flat loaves. Don’t get discouraged if your first try doesn’t work. Grind it in your food processor and you have some tasty bread crumbs or stuffing mix for Thanksgiving.

I grind my own wheat.

The difference in the flavor is incredible. Now-a-days manufacturers take out all the good stuff in wheat and replace it with “fortified” stuff. But that’s a whole other blog post. For now, let’s just make bread.

Basic Wheat Bread

• 2 cups warm water (about 100 degrees) (you may need a little more water. If you do, add a tablespoon at a time until the dough looks moist and sticky but pulls from the sides of the bowl.)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt or whatever salt you use in your home.
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup honey
• 5 – 6 cups whole wheat flour (for a lighter bread use ½ bread flour and ½ whole wheat)
• 1 Tablespoon rapid rise yeast (you don’t need to “proof” rapid rise – but you can if you want.)
• ¼ cup powdered milk (optional but will make a nice tender dough)

Instructions

Stir in yeast to water in a small bowl and set aside to allow yeast to activate. (If you choose to proof your yeast.)

Mix the rest of ingredients in a bowl except for flour.

When all ingredients are mixed, carefully spoon flour in and yeast/water mixture on top and mix thoroughly.

Allow bread to rest and rise for about 1 to 2 hours, or until the dough springs back when you stick your finger about a quarter inch in.

 

After bread has risen, punch bread down and knead dough about 2 minutes.  Cut the dough in half and shape to form 2 loaves.

Allow bread to rest for another hour. 

Cook bread at 350 degrees for 30 - 35 minutes.

 

One of my favorite bread baking secrets – when you remove the bread from the oven after baking, wrap them in a towel and let them cool. This will give you a warm chewy crust.

I use my bread machine set on the “dough” setting to make beautiful dough every time.

Now that you have a good base, you can add all kinds of yummy things to this basic recipe. For example - double the honey, add a tablespoon or two of cinnamon, and a cup of raisins for cinnamon raisin bread.

The best after Thanksgiving sandwich is made by adding a tablespoon each of sage, salt, thyme, and onion powder to the basic recipe. The options are endless.

Happy Thanksgiving and may all your loaves be fluffy this holiday season.