Behold, Lo Gung's favorite bread. It is sweet and dense and soft and homemade. I usually make anywhere from 1-3 loves a week, and it's been that way since last fall. This bread is, in a word, YUM. (If you've forgotten the recipe, here it is: 1 cup warm water, 1 tsp. sugar, 1 1/2 tsp. yeast, 1 tsp. salt, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup honey, 3 1/2 cups flour.)
After making this bread a few dozen times, I've learned some valuable tips:
Use as little flour as you can get away with - reserve the last 1/2 cup and add as needed. (Remember, I do all my mixing in a Bosch - a countertop mixer). This gives a lighter bread and speeds up the rising a LOT. (From 3 hours to one hour in my chilly kitchen)
Add more yeast if you're pressed for time, up to double. This will speed up the rising as well.
Always allow adequate time for kneading. This also gets rid of a lot of the sticky factor, so you can use less flour!
If you're really domestic, raise the dough next to a crock pot for double duty, covered in a damp towel - chili and bread for dinner!
Always oil the bowl, and turn the dough to coat, for the first rise. The oil helps keep the dough from drying out because a dry dough is a dough that won't rise!
I hope this helps! Homemade bread is NOT tough. Give it a shot and let me know how it turns out! Now pop over to We are THAT Family for more great tips!
Your bread is awesome!!! Do you happen to have a recipe for wheat bread? Or could I use wheat flour instead of white?
ReplyDeleteawesome tips! i'll have to try them.
ReplyDeleteWow! Those are some GREAT tips, thank you! I will try them on my bread and let you know :)
ReplyDeleteYum! I make all of our bread too. We are fans of the carbohydrates:)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny--I've been meaning to make bread for the last few days. I'll try this recipe. Of course, if I've procrastinated this long, it still might not happen for awhile...
ReplyDeleteI love homemade bread! And ironically I just made some this week after not making it for over a year. Funny coincidence.
ReplyDeletesee I TOLD myrnie that you didn't use crisco! mmm yummy. I want bread now.
ReplyDeleteLooks good. Can I use wheat flour? I love to grind my own wheat to use (plus it uses up some of our food storage).
ReplyDeleteMy WFMW post is about packing checklists.
YUM! I haven't made bread in a while and I might have to give that recipe a shot!!
ReplyDeleteOk, I'm so going to try your recipe! I love new bread recipes. What do you bake it at and for how long? And I'm also curious about using wheat flour...any suggestions? Usually it's less wheat flour to regular flour right? Thanks!
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