Home made bread.

Making home made bread is very very simple. Here is the Basic recipe I use, I add things to it depending on what I want the bread for. The recipe is from the cookbook that came with my Kitchenaid. There are tons of bread recipes available in any cookbook but this one is Fool Proof and quick to make, you do not need to proof the yeast in this recipe.



~Recipe~
6 to 7 Cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 packages active dry yeast
1/4 cup softened butter
2 cups very warm water 120-130 degrees

Place 5 1/2 cups flour, sugar, salt, yeast and butter in mixing bowl. Attach dough hook and bowl to mixer. (if you do not have a kitchenaid and/or dough hook use a whick or wooden spoon to get the ingredients meshed together) turn to speed 2 for about 20 seconds. Gradually add the warm water and mix about 1 1/2 minutes longer.
Continuing on speed 2, add remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. and mix unil dough clings to sides of bowl. (I use all 7 cups of flour and a little over 2 cups of water. I like my dough really moist but still a solid mass. your dough is ready to go when it feels almost like playdough. Stays in a ball and is moist but not dry. If you do not have a kitchenaid and are doing this by hand, knead the dough for about 10 minutes, add enough water to make it a mass of all of the ingredients then dip your hands in the water to moisten the dough and continue kneading it.) Allow the dough to rest in the bowl for 20 minutes cover with a towel or plastic wrap. (it will rise during this 20 minutes)
divide dough into 2 halves and shape into loaf and place in greased loaf pan cover with plastic wrap or a towel and allow to rise at room temp for 1-2 hours or in the fridge over night. Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes or until you can knock on it and it sounds hollow.

~To make Cinnamon sugar bread roll out into a rectangle like shape (long but not wider then your bread pan) Sprinkle Cinnamon and Sugar and roll up like a Jelly roll. (you can also add raisins if you want!) spray your loaf pan and place the bread roll in it. spray the bread with the nonstick spray (if you are using baking spray) Otherwise melt some butter and brush it on top. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with more cinnamon and Sugar.   Allow to rise at room temp for about 45 minutes or in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until you knock on it and it sounds hollow.
**Note**  Yeast feeds off of Sugar so this bread will rise very fast so keep an eye on it to decide when it is ready to bake.

Easy dinner idea with Home Made Bread!

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches and Tomato soup!
Slice your homemade bread into slices (you can do this when it is still warm if you do not want to wait for it to cool, I rarely wait) Spread with butter and add cheese and grill to perfection. Your slices will not come our perfect, do not worry about that. I personally like the rustic taste and look to making these with fresh out of the oven home made bread. They are the perfect mix of Crunchy, melt in your mouth goodness :D
Enjoy!!!!!!!!

**Note** you can also add Salt and Pepper to your loaf of bread before baking, sprinkle a tad bit of sugar with the salt just to keep the yeast alive and feeding the salt will dehydrate the yeast so to speak so you want sugar for the yeast to eat. You can add it straight into the dough or sprinkle the top with Salt and Pepper before baking. Spray some nonstick baking spray so that the Salt and Pepper have something to adhere to.