How To Make Homemade Bread...My First Tutorial!

So, I really have to give some credit to all the ladies who post tutorials on their blogs.  I never realized just how time consuming it is to pause in the middle of doing something in order to take a picture.  At any rate, it's finished, and I think in the future I may employ a child to help with the photography...then again, I may never get that shot I need.

Let's Get Started!

Today I made King Arthur's Classic Sandwich Bread, which I believe is my favorite bread recipe I've tried. You will need:

3 cups flour (I use 2 cups All Purpose, 1 cup Whole Wheat)
1/2 cup milk
1/2-2/3 cup hot water
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons sugar (I normally use honey, but tried today's bread with brown sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 packet active dry yeast, dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water

Alright, I make my bread in my Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook attachment.  I realize not everybody has the luxury of owning one of these marvelous machines, but it doesn't matter because you don't HAVE to have one.  They just make life a lot easier.  My pictures were taken in my mixer bowl, but you CAN use and sturdy spoon and regular old mixing bowl and get the same results!

So, first I dissolve my yeast in the tablespoon of warm water.  According to the instructions on the King Arthur website you just dump everything in, but I've been baking for too long and always do all the wet ingredients first, followed by the dry ingredients ;-)

Next, I add my 2 tablespoons of brown sugar.  This is what feeds your yeast!

Then I turn my mixer on for a minute while I measure my milk and water. I like to use HOT water and then add cold milk so I get a nice lukewarm mixture and don't kill my yeast.  Imagine my surprise when I read on this recipe that you are actually supposed to do that!

And now my yeast and sugar are fairly combined...

So it's time to pour in my lukewarm milk/water mixture.  Then I add my melted butter (I can't find the picture...I don't know what happened!) and mix just until it all comes together nicely, then I add my first cup of flour which is the Whole Wheat flour along with my salt.  I started using one cup of whole wheat because it seems to hold my bread together a little better.

And after that's mixed in it looks something like....

I want to point out the little bubbles on the surface...those are from gases that yeast releases as it's munching away on that sugar we put in there. Next I add one of the cups of All Purpose flour.

I know, it doesn't look appetizing, and at this point it smells sort of like beer!  Chin up, it's going to be GREAT! Time for that last cup of flour! 

See how sticky that looks?  No Bueno! So I add 2 tablespoons of flour in and when I turn the mixer back on I hear "thud, th-thud, thud, th-thud" which means it's ready to be dumped onto a well floured surface for you to knead.  I didn't get a picture before I dumped it because my husband called and...yeah, just blame it on him!

And please make sure your hands are floured...bread dough is IMPOSSIBLE to get off of your hands if they are the tiniest bit moist!

Now start to knead.  How do you knead?  Well, if you are fairly calm you can pretend you are a cat and the dough is your master's lap...or if you're mad you can beat the ever-loving life out of the dough.  I've found that kneading bread can work miracles on your body if you're stressed :-)

Nice and smooth bread dough! Now, LIGHTLY oil another bowl, or wash the one you were using and LIGHTLY oil it (I used 2 drops of olive oil in my bowl)

And place your bread in there.  Put it in a nice warm area to rise...when I say warm I mean a place that isn't drafty or in your refrigerator and definitely not in your oven. 

I usually set mine on the stove, because it seems like a good place and it's out of the way. Mind you the stove is not ON! Then cover it with a towel and let it rise for an hour.  YES I said an hour, I didn't say homemade bread was built in a day! Er, baked in an hour :-D

After an hour is should be significantly larger than it was when you set it to rise.

So, NOW, you are going to dump it back onto that floured surface and knead again.  Try to get it oblong and shape it sort of like a loaf.

Then tuck the ends under (I don't know WHY, it's just how I do it!)

Then it goes into a lightly oiled loaf pan...Unless you have Oneida Commerical Bakeware...then you never have to oil it because it's AMAZING! 

And you guessed it! Cover it up with a towel and let it rise for another hour.  Then you will get this...

I think this will be the last time I use sugar...with the honey it usually rises up OVER the top of the pan.  This will do though! Next, we bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  You know it's done when you thump the tops and it sounds hollow inside (even though it's not).  And you have DONE it! You've make HOMEMADE BREAD! 

Turn it out of the pan as soon as possible after you remove it from the oven so it doesn't keep cooking.  Let it cool COMPLETELY before you slice it.  

I promise you will feel more accomplished, your house will smell better AND you will save money.  I'm about to be saving a LOT more money since I just discovered yesterday that I can get 25 lbs of Flour from Sam's for $8 and 2 lbs of Yeast for $6....I can't even tell you how many loaves of bread THAT will make.

This is my first tutorial and ALL feedback is GREATLY appreciated. 

Until Next Time, 

Fossykins OUT