Bring Back Homemade Bread

Homemade bread is wonderful on so many fronts. It’s an inexpensive way to eat healthier and a perfect way to start a journey of back-to-basic living.

Baking your own bread is easy and rewarding, especially once you get into the habit of regular bread making. Choose a day a week and make four or five loaves. Once they’ve cooled, slice all the loaves with an electric knife and place them in bread bags. Homemade bread freezes well. When one loaf starts to dwindle down, start thawing the next.

If you’re thinking of replacing all of your store-bought bread consumption with homemade, add a loaf or two to your weekly count. Your family is sure to want a few slices warm and fresh out of the oven. And a piece of bread with butter and jam may be the new favorite dessert in your house.

Because your homemade bread contains no added preservatives, its shelf life will be shorter than a store-bought loaf. If you’re baking bread in bulk, freeze the loaves you won’t be eating right away.　

Why You Should be Baking Your Own Bread

• Homemade bread tastes better than store-bought or even bakery bread.
   
• It costs less than $1 to make a loaf of homemade bread, cheaper than the equivalent in a store.
   
• Your bread won’t contain any preservatives, additives, emulsifiers, chemicals, or artificial sweeteners.
   
• You can reuse old bread bags to store your homemade bread, so you’ll be doing your part to reduce packaging and waste.
   
• The heel, the crust, the entire loaf is as good as the rest, so not a crumb will be wasted or thrown away.
   
• Kneading bread dough is a form of meditation, powerful Zen and just plain fun for many of us!
   
• The smell of bread baking in the oven . . . who can resist?

Best Homemade White Bread

• 5-6 cups Pillsbury’s Best Bread Flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 packages active dry yeast
• 2 cups water
• ¼ cup oil

Grease two 9x5-inch loaf pans. Lightly spoon flour into measuring cup; level off. In a large bowl combine 2 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. Blend well. In a small saucepan, heat water and oil until it’s 120-130 degrees on a thermometer. Add warm liquid to flour mixture. Using a hand mixer, blend at low speed until moistened. Beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Stir in an additional 2½ to 3 cups flour until dough pulls cleanly away from sides of the bowl.

On a floured surface, knead in ½-1 cup flour until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place (preferably 80-85 degrees) until light and doubled in size, about 1-1½ hours.

Punch down dough several times to remove air bubbles. Divide the dough in half and shape into two balls. Allow to rest on the counter, covered, with inverted bowl on top for about 15 minutes. Shape into 2 loaves by rolling dough into two 7x14-inch rectangles. Starting with the shorter side, roll up and pinch edges firmly to seal. Place seam-side-down in prepared pans. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until dough rises and the tops of the loaves are about 1 inch above pan edges, about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake 45-55 minutes or until loaves sound hollow when lightly tapped. Remove from pans immediately. Cool on wire racks. Brush the tops with melted butter, if desired.　

Easy Homemade Wheat Bread

• 2 tablespoons dry active yeast
• 2 cups lukewarm water
• ¼ cup honey
• ¾ cup oil
• 2 large eggs
• 6 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons salt

Dissolve yeast in water and honey for about 5 minutes. Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and knead until it loosens from the sides of the bowl. Place dough in a large greased bowl, cover with a dishtowel and set in a warm place (80-85 degrees, preferably) to let it rise until double in size. Remove dough, divide in half and shape into two loaves. Place in two greased loaf pans, cover and let rise again. Bake in a 375-degree oven until golden brown.　

Best Bread Machine Bread

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 3 cups bread flour
• 3 tablespoons dry milk
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• 2¼ teaspoons regular active dry yeast

Put ingredients into bread machine pan in the order listed above. Select the regular cycle. When finished, remove bread from pan and cool on a wire rack.