The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

....HOMEMADE sliced bread. That's right folks, since my last victory with yeast, I've decided to keep on truckin'. This week I've made homemade white bread. Mmmmm, yummy, toasted, with strawberry jelly. Or with lettuce, turkey, tomato - even better!

Homemade bread is easier than you think. It's not labor intensive, really. Just a lot of waiting around while the dough takes 40 minute to 1 hour naps.While it dozes, you can run to the store for strawberry jam or turkey, do a word search puzzle or watch your husband beat the next level of the Batman video game.

I used my stand mixer with a dough hook, however, a regular electric mixer will work just fine for the first part of this. I split the directions for below for both stand mixers and hand mixers.

Here's what you need:
6 cups Bread Flour (regular flour is fine too)
1 pkg active dry yeast
2 1/2 cups whole milk (or buttermilk)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tsp salt

Here's what to do with this stuff:
In a large bowl, stir together 2 1/2 cups of flour and dry yeast, set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, sugar, salt and butter and heat until warm or butter is just about melted all the way. Do NOT boil.

Add milk mixture to flour/yeast mixture and using an electric mixer, beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl while mixing.

Continue beating on high for 3 minutes. The dough will be very, very sticky.

Told you it was sticky, it ate my spatula!

Now for the split directions:
Stand mixer with dough hook - add the rest of flour to mixture in batches on low to medium speed.
Electric hand mixer - set mixer aside and use a wooden spoon to add the rest of the flour to dough.

Stand mixer with dough hook - keep dough in bowl and "knead" the dough with the mixer on high for 6-8 minutes, making sure to stop every so often to scrape the sides of the very sticky, elastic dough. Add a few tablespoons of flour as needed to keep dough from sticking.
By hand - dump dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead dough for 6-8 minutes

After kneading, the dough should be smooth and very elastic. Roll the dough into a ball and placed in a lightly greased bowl. (I just did the ol' dab of oil on a napkin trick and greased it that way.)




Cover the bowl with lots and lots of clean dishtowels, tableclothes, etc and place in a warm spot in your kitchen. Allow dough to take a nap for about 1 to 2 hours until it doubles in size.

Aside: my Nonna (grandmother in Italian) always uses clean wool blankets to cover the pizza or bread dough she makes. She also keeps it in a huge, black, steel basin where it's allowed to rise to great, new heights! Every time I see that blue and red checkered blanket out, I know it's time for Nonna's pizza. 

Punch dough down after it rises and dump it onto a slightly floured surface. Divide dough in half, cover, and let rest for another 10 minutes. 

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease two loaf pans. After the dough's catnap, shape each half into a loaf, making sure to pinch and tuck away the edges. With a sharp knife, cut a slit into the top of each loaf.

Cover the loaves again and allow them to nap for another 30-40 minutes or until they've doubled in size, after all they've had a very busy day of tucking, and rolling, and rising, and punching! 

Place the pans in the oven for 40 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when you tap the sides of the pan.

Remove from the oven and immediately remove the bread from pan. Cool on a wire rack and bust out some strawberry jam or butter and enjoy! 

 
Love that crevice! 

Evil, angry loaf!

 







What a glorious loaf!