Thursday, May 5, 2011

My Homemade Bread Recipe

There is nothing better then homemade bread...except maybe homemade bread still warm from the oven with an ample amount of REAL butter slathered all over it...but you get the idea.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup of warm water (100-110 degrees)
2 pkgs. or rapid rise yeast
1 1/2 cups warm milk (100-110 degrees)
2 Tab. honey
1 Tab. sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 tsp. of salt
5-7 cups of bread flour (I've used all purpose and it worked fine).

Prepare your baking pans by spraying them with cooking spray and placing them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  Set aside.

Wisk yeast and water together and let stand for 2-3 minutes.  Briskly wisk in milk, honey, sugar, butter and salt and blend well.  Add 3-4 cups of flour and mix to form a soft mass.  If using a kitchen aid (which I do), attach dough hook and knead on lowest speed  adding more flour to form a soft, bouncy dough.  When your dough looks good, spray with non stick cooking spray and turn over once (thats so it doesn't stick).  I leave mine right in my Kitchen-Aid bowl.  Cover and let rise until almost doubled.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and punch down.  Divide dough in half and shape into loaves.  Place in prepared pans.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray and cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Let rise until almost doubled and very puffy. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. brush bread with butter, or for a more rustic look, brush lightly with butter and give a sprinkling of flour.  Place bread pans (on your cookie sheet) in the oven and immediately reduce temperature to 350 degrees.  Bake until nicely browned, 40-45 minutes.  Let loaves cool in pan about 10 minutes before turning out onto wire rack to cool.

Now...enjoy a slice with REAL butter:)



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