homemade bread

In case you didn't notice, this loaf is half eaten. I'm telling you, I'm an addict.

I absolutely love homemade bread. Love, love, love. I will eat entire loaves by myself. Sometimes in the same sitting. My grandma loves to make it, especially for me, and that's probably where I learned to love it so much. I lived with my grandparents for a month or so before Jeremy and I got married, and my grandma made sure there was always homemade bread for me. 

Man, it made me love her so much more than I already did. 

 
So as a wedding present, my grandma gave me bread pans and a bag of flour. I don't know what she was thinking. She needs to just always live close enough to me to give me fresh bread! (Which she did. Especially when Berlin was born.) But finally, I decided to pull the plastic off of the pans and learn to make bread. Turns out, not as difficult as I thought. Though it took some experimenting. My first try resulted in burned outsides and uncooked insides. I called my grandma. She gave me some suggestions, and I tried again. It looked perfect, but I was incredibly wary of the insides. I sliced it open, and it seemed just fine inside too.  So I got brave and made a loaf for a friend, and warned her, "I'm still figuring out how to do this. As you cut closer to the middle, watch out. You may get a mouthful of dough." She laughed at me. And told me the next day that the whole loaf was amazing. 
 
Thank you, Grandma, for helping me get it right!

• 3/4 cup warm water 
• 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp) 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1-1/2 tbsp sugar 
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, roughly

1. Put the yeast and sugar in a bowl. Add the water, and let it set for about 10 minutes.
 
I've found that the key to working with yeast and getting it to rise properly is letting it react first. The yeast needs to eat something as it reacts, which is why you add sugar. So you mix the yeast and the sugar together, then add the water. Scorching water will kill the yeast, so if you turn on your hot water and fill your measuring cup right as the water starts to turn hot, it’s perfect.
 
2. Add salt, shortening, and milk. Then add the first two cups of flour.

3. Add more flour a tablespoon or so at a time until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl. Then put the dough on a floured surface and knead, adding more flour as needed until the dough is soft and smooth (not sticky. If it’s still sticky, add more flour).

The amount of flour you need to make bread can vary, even if you’ve made it before in the same place during the same season of the year. So many factors affect bread, like the weather, room temperature, etc., so don’t get set on the same amount of flour. Don’t be afraid to add more or use less- go by the texture of the dough. If it’s smooth, you’re done. You don’t need any more flour. If it’s still sticky, keep adding, even if you’ve already used the 3 cups. That’s why it says, “Roughly.”

4. Put dough ball in a clean, greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour (or until dough has doubled in size).

Sometimes a warm place is hard to find. If it won’t double your gas/electricity bill, let your oven start preheating to 350 and let your bread sit near it (not on top of the oven. It will start to cook parts of your dough. No good.), and then you can always guarantee good warmth. And, if it’s a cold day, your kitchen will be the place to be!

5. Punch dough down, and then move dough to a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes (until bread fills up the pan).

If you let your bread rise a little longer than these times, it won’t hurt your bread. I’ve left it for an hour and a half instead of 30 min (I didn’t leave my oven on) and it was fine. Some people like to make the dough the night before and leave it overnight (it does get huge though, so make sure you don’t cover it with a plate or your plate will end up on the ground. In my case, broken.) so they can have fresh bread in the morning. Whatever works for you. Experiment, see what works best.
I also have only used DARK bread pans. Sometimes, you need to vary your cooking time if you use glass pans, and as far as I know, it takes longer with a glass pan, roughly 45 minutes total. Make sure you watch the bread during the last 15 minutes.

6. Score the top of the bread- make 3 slashes across the top.

7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let it cool in a clean dish towel (this also keeps it warm for longer). Try not to eat the whole loaf by yourself.