Homemade Bread

One of the most common things people say to me when they hear that I make all of the breads for our home every week is, “But why? Buying it is so cheap?” But, thanks to my friends at King Arthur, I can tell them that, in fact, they’re wrong.

No, you see, making your own bread IS actually less expensive, even if you factor in the added expense of using quality ingredients. When you are making your own bread, you really should use the best you have available to you.

For example, a loaf of my basic white bread costs about .08 cents per ounce! A loaf of comparable store-bought bread would cost me nearly .32 cents for the same ounce. And, mind you, with my bread I have the added benefit of my bread:

• Being free of preservatives
• Being free of corn syrup, high fructose or otherwise
• Being free of artificial dyes and flavors (you’d be surprised!0
• And surely tasting much, much better

This recipe is disarmingly easy to make. I always recommend this recipe for yeast bread beginners because it is not only a simple recipe, it has a lot of flavor. So many white breads lack flavor, which leaves bakers uninspired. But this recipe is excellent. As a butter-aholic, I can attest that I even like this bread without any butter. This homemade bread recipe is wonderful for toast, grilled cheese, French toast, garlic bread, or plain as plain can be.

White Bread 101 (from the KAF Baker’s Companion, adapted by me)

• 3 cups KAF Unbleached AP Flour
• 2 tsp instant yeast
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• 3 Tablespoons sugar
• 4 Tablespoons butter, softened to room temp
• 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk
• 1/4 cup mashed potato flakes
• 1 1/8 cups lukewarm water

1. In the water, dissolve the instant yeast and 1 T of the sugar. Stir, cover, set aside. Turn on the oven light.
2. In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, and add the yeast mixture last. Dough will be a little shaggy, but work until the vast majority of the dough has come together into a ball.
3. Turn out on counter, including any pieces of dough left in the bowl, and mix with hands until the dough has mixed. Continue to knead about 6-8 minutes, until the dough is smooth and supple.
4. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover well with plastic wrap and put into the oven to rise for about one hour. Dough will be puffy, but may not have doubled in bulk.
5. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased surface and shape into an 8-inch log. Place in a lightly greased loaf pan (8.5″ x 4.5″) and return to the oven to rise.

The second rise takes about an hour, or should go until the loaf of bread is about one inch past the rim of the pan.

When that has completed, remove the bread from the oven, and preheat to 350 degrees. Bake bread for 35-40 minutes, tenting with foil if the crust browns too quickly. If using the recommended digital, instant-read digital thermometer method, the temperature of the loaf should be about 190 degrees.

Remove the bread from the pan and allow it to cool completely on a cooling rack. If you prefer a soft crust, brush it with butter about 15 minutes into the cooling process.

Baking Tip: When slicing homemade loaves of bread, always start cutting your slices from the center, not the end. When you have finished slicing the bread, you can butt the two open ends up against one another in the plastic storage bag. This helps prevent drying out of the sliced area.