Monday, January 3, 2011

Homemade White Bread


Okay... I did it!  I've committed myself to making our own bread.  No more grocery store bread.  This wasn't on my goals list from last Thursday's post, but I've personally committed to adding this on there.  And I'm excited.  Because I actually made a fantastic loaf of bread.  And yes, I'm still excited.

Now that I got that off my chest... how was everyone's weekend?  Ours was pretty laid back, just ringing in the New Year with some good friends and some great food.  It's amazing that the older I get, the more I want peace and quiet for big days like New Year's Eve.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love a rip-roaring good party, but not as much as I did say, 3 years ago.  I just don't have it in me anymore.  My life revolves around other things now, and it just always amazes me how true that is.  I've grown up.  And it makes me sad.  But it makes me happy at the same time, because well... I'm growing up.  Does that make sense?

Oh, by the way, Pear-Caramel Ice Cream won the poll by a landslide on Friday so look forward to that sometime either this week or next. (I can't really be definite on when because I've got a few night shifts this week, so the week will be hectic - but I've got a 3 day weekend, so I'm sure there will be plenty of time then!)

Anyway, I was just so excited that I made this loaf of bread that I had to share it with you guys!

Ingredients:


Adapted from Pass the Sushi's Recipe

1/2 cup milk
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 & 1/2 cups lukewarm water
5 & 1/2 cups flour


In a small saucepan, heat milk, sugar, salt, and butter under low heat.  Stir until sugar is completely dissolved and butter has melted.  Take off heat and let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast with warm water.  Add milk mix­ture and 4 & 1/2 cups of the flour. Mix with wooden spoon until a sticky dough starts to form.

Add remain­ing flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a ball of dough starts to form, and it is less sticky.  On a floured work surface,  knead the dough for about 2 min­utes longer, or until dough is smooth and elas­tic.

Grease a large, clean bowl with olive oil and add dough, turn­ing to grease top.  Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a slightly damp towel and let rise in warm place, free from draft, about 1 hour or until dou­bled in size.

Punch dough down and divide in half. On a lightly floured sur­face, roll each half into a rec­tan­gle approx­i­mately 9″ x 14″. A rolling pin will smooth the dough and remove any gas bub­bles.  Starting at the shorter end, roll the dough and pinch to seal the seam.  Place the dough seems sides down, in a greased bread loaf pan.  You could do this with both halves if you want, but I used my other dough half to make clover dinner rolls - just roll the dough into 36 even balls and place 3 at a time in a greased muffin tray.  Cover and let rise again for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.

Preheat oven to 400 F.


Bake bread for about 25-30 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and crisp on the outside.  Remove from pans immediately after taking out of oven and let cool on a wire rack. 



We enjoyed the rolls with our turkey dinner (yes, I decided that I wanted to experience cooking a turkey this weekend, so I roasted one on a lazy Sunday afternoon - details to come!)  But this bread would definitely be great just on it's own with a pat of butter or jam.  Enjoy guys!


Have you ever made your own bread? 

24 comments:

  1. Yay! This was my resolution last year and I will never buy another loaf of storebought bread again! Homemade just tastes too good. Looks delicious!

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  2. All this bread on the blogosphere is slowly but surely inspiring me to get over my fear of working with yeast... one of these days! And I'm so glad the pear-caramel won, though any of those recipes would be interesting!

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  3. Nothing beats home made bread; you won't be sorry. The kneading. the rising the smell of it baking makes everything nicer. Haven't had time to do this in a while.

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  4. Lol, I was like "ooh homemade bread!!" when I clicked on this and was totally shocked to see Pass the Sushi on here :D Thanks! Your bread looks awesome (the rolls are so cute). Im sad because we weren't able to finish the entire two loafs, but I will be making tons more homemade bread in the future because of this one.

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  5. I remember the first day I made my own bread. I was as proud as if I climbed the mount Everest. Yeast can be a source of great disappointment. I am glad your loaf was a success.

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  6. I hear you...it's learning to appreciate different things, eh? Congratulations on the bread!

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  7. Nothing can compare to homemade bread! A splendid loaf!!

    US Masala

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  8. I've made bread with my sorority sisters once. Yours definitely rivals it for professionalism here
    Katherine

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  9. Love this home made loaf. i love to make them as much as possible.

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  10. Nicely done! I love the smell of fresh baked bread. I think the smell is better than any expensive perfume. Someone should bottle it LOL. I do sometimes bake my own, but not often as it takes all day for all the rising and stuff.
    *kisses* HH

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  11. Yeah, I am totally boring these days. New Year's Eve is just another day. Hopefully next year I will celbrate more as I am trying to make a bigger deal out of big events. But not a big party, just a cool party with close friends.

    Your bread looks absolutely gorgeous!! I bet your house smelled amazing. Homemade is always wonderful! I hope you're able to stick to your goal!

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  12. It looks sooooo good - fresh baked bread and butter = match made in heaven :-)

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  13. My parents have a breadmaker, and I've never made bread before! Yours looks great!

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  14. Happy 2011, Peggy. love homemade bread...I'm still trying to learn how to do it without the breadmaker...

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  15. Mmm so simple! I love homemade bread! I'd like to get a breadmaker to fiddle with some gluten free recipes!

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  16. Wow it looks delicious. Making basic things from scratch always makes me feel so accomplished like, White Bread, Chicken Noodle Soup, etc... I think it's a great idea to challenge yourself to make white bread instead of buying it.

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  17. Perfect and lovely loaf! I love to bake my own instead of buying from the store. It's satisfying and you can customize as per your preference..

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  18. The smell of this lovely bread... across the globe to my house....tempting picture.

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  19. good one peggy ! i have the same goal and i have still not managed to make any forays in to it; am prompted in to doing something about it after seeing ur post !!

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  20. Love home baked breads and yours has come out very well!

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  21. Homemade bread is awesome and yours looks delicious!

    Happy New Year!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  22. isn't it amazing when that first loaf is a success... it's just so inspiring and tastes the best... well done x

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  23. A roasted turkey and rolls sounds so good right now. It looks like your first loaf/bread of the New Year was a true success! Thank you for sharing. I'm excited to see that pear concoction!

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  24. Fresh bread is the BEST!

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