There was a time when I never would have considered making my own bread. There was also a time where I didn't even care what was in my bread. I did always buy wheat bread but I just assumed because it was wheat it was healthy, I never even bothered to look at the label. Well that all changed two years ago. I was no longer blissfully ignorant about what was in our food and started reading labels. Most bread has ingredients labels almost as long as the bag, with things like high fructose corn syrup and potassium bromate. When we first starting trying to eat more whole foods I would buy expensive bread with minimal ingredients and then we lucked out and found a brand with minimal ingredients and a decent price (3 for $5). We bought that bread for over a year but when we moved north I could only find the bread at one store for $2.50 a loaf. That is when I decided to try my hand at making my own bread. I try lots of recipes that the kids wouldn't eat. I wish I could say my kids didn't have specific tastes but they do, and Bug loves bread. Finally, I found a recipe that the kids enjoyed. I have been using the same recipe for months now and it just keeps getting better, especially now that I have a kitchen aid mixer to do the hard work. It took a bit of experimenting to get the recipe perfect. I found the original recipe Here.
Homemade Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 2 1/2 hours
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 cups flour (I use 3 cups organic bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. This is the combination that we like best but I have tried all different combinations and the bread still tastes good)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil or applesauce
1. Mix water and yeast in bowl of stand mixer (if you don't have a stand mixer just mix in bowl), let stand for 10 minutes until bubbly.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Kneed for 10 minutes (this is where the kitchen aid makes a huge different) until the dough is no longer sticky.
3. Form dough into a bowl and oil it. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Punch down dough and form into a bread pan. Cover and let rise another hour.
5. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes. I use our toaster oven and it comes out perfect.
6. Cool out of the pan on a cooling rack. Do not slice until completely cooled.
Homemade Bread
Prep time: 20 minutes
Rise Time: 2 1/2 hours
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes
Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
4 cups flour (I use 3 cups organic bread flour and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. This is the combination that we like best but I have tried all different combinations and the bread still tastes good)
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil or applesauce
1. Mix water and yeast in bowl of stand mixer (if you don't have a stand mixer just mix in bowl), let stand for 10 minutes until bubbly.
2. Add remaining ingredients. Kneed for 10 minutes (this is where the kitchen aid makes a huge different) until the dough is no longer sticky.
3. Form dough into a bowl and oil it. Cover and let rise for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Punch down dough and form into a bread pan. Cover and let rise another hour.
5. Bake at 400° for 25-30 minutes. I use our toaster oven and it comes out perfect.
6. Cool out of the pan on a cooling rack. Do not slice until completely cooled.