Favorite Foods Friday

One of the things I enjoy doing for my family is baking bread. I try to make all our bread at home, which right now is a manageable two loaves a week. (Don't worry we do go through seasons where I can't keep up and we buy bread from the store; like when we moved, and when I had gestational diabetes with Mari). But for the past few months I've gotten back on track. I have had several people ask me for my recipe through facebook, so I thought I would share it here. At the end I'll share some of my tips to streamline the process. I usually spend less than five minutes getting everything together.

  

Whole Wheat Bread

1 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp oil
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 cup bread flour

2 cups whole wheat flour (I actually like using a whole white wheat)

2 tsp yeast

I use my bread machine on the dough cycle to mix and raise the dough. You should put the ingredients in your pan in the order recommended by your machine - the order above is what I do. Start the dough cycle and check on your dough at least once to make sure it doesn't need more water or more flour. My dough cycle lasts 1 1/2 hours so at the end of that time I turn out my dough onto a lightly flour dusted surface. I roll it out into a rectangle the width of the bread pan, then roll it up, seal the edges, and put in a greased loaf pan. Cover with a towel and let rise 45 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on a wire rack.

It takes about three hours to get a fresh loaf a bread and most of that time, I'm doing something else. Here are a few tips...

I keep two jars of premeasured flour in my pantry to just dump in. When they are empty I refill them when I measure the flour for the next loaf of bread. If you use quart jars like I do, a canning funnel makes filling them really easy.

I also keep a quart jar of yeast in the refrigerator. One of the least expensive ways to buy yeast is in bulk from a store like Sam's. Two 1 lb bags cost about the same as one small jar at the grocery store. The only thing you need to remember is that 2 1/4 tsps = one yeast packet.

Check your dough! Weather can cause your bread dough to be too sticky or too dry. Check every time to make sure you are getting a soft (slightly sticky) dough. Dry bread dough will not rise very well.

When the bread is done, I run an offset spatula (you can see it in the bread picture above) around the edge of the pan before dumping the loaf out.

My favorite whole white wheat flour is made by Eagle Mills.

And if you think you want to start making bread at home and you want a bread machine, don't go out and buy a new one until you know if you'll use it regularly. There are so many unused bread machines out there, try garage sales, second hand stores or just ask around, chances are you'll find one and it may even be free!