A Good Day For Bread

Hi all!  Well, we're still in the frozen north it seems.  It's -18 degrees Celcius in Saskatchewan today, feels like -29 with windchill.... joy.  To my West Coast friends whose tulips and crocuses are peeking out of the ground, I'm happy for you.  Really!  But as I look out my kitchen window, all I see is SNOW!  Great day for baking bread.  In the past, I've rarely baked my own bread.  Honestly found it to be messy and a little bit of a hassle.  I know Anne's posted a great bread recipe early on in our blogging adventure so take a peek back at that post as well.  Here is another one for you that I found to work SO well and it's so easy.  The first day I baked bread, it was just out of the oven as my son came home from school.  He ate half a loaf of warm bread by himself.  Yay for me!  The recipe on a website called Mother Earth News and it's yummy.  I've tweaked it a little for my family's taste as originially it was an all white bread.  I hope you enjoy it!

Basic Loaf
1/2 cup milk
1 tbsp. sugar
1 tbsp. butter
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 tbsp. active dry yeast
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour (I used 1 1/2 cups white flour, 1 cup Robin Hood Multi Grain flour

In 1-cup glass measuring cup, heat milk, sugar, salt and butter (I do this in 15 second intervals) in microwave, until butter is melted. (It can also be done on the stove.) It should reach at least 120 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer, or feel nice and warm on your hand, but not hot.

Dissolve yeast in another cup with the warm water. Let stand for 5-10 minutes, until frothy (this is called “proofing your yeast”).

In large bowl, mix yeast mixture with milk mixture. Using a strong arm, beat in about 2 cups of the flour. I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. The mixture should be smooth, then stir in enough of the remaining flour to make a medium stiff dough.

Turn dough out onto a floured board, and knead, using an “up-and-over” technique with the balls of your palms. Knead until dough has a silky, velvety feel. Additional flour may be needed if dough remains sticky. This usually takes about five minutes, but could take up to 10 minutes. Again I just left the dough in my stand mixer and kneaded until the dough pulled away from the sides and wasn't sticky any more. 
 
Place finished dough in a greased bowl, turn to grease all sides. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a draft free place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled.  I spray the dough side of the plastic wrap with Pam to keep it from sticking.
 
When risen, punch dough down using your fingers or fist, but no need to get too violent, knead lightly, then let rest for a few minutes. This will help to relax the dough.
 
Shape dough into roughly a rectangle, with the length being almost as long as your pan. Roll up, like a jelly roll, and place in 8-by-4 loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel and let rise for about one hour. It should be doubled again.

Bake in a preheated 400 oven for 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown. Using a knife handle, gently rap the loaf. It will sound hollow if it is done. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Makes one loaf.  I used my convection oven at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes and they turned out perfectly.

Note: This dough can also be formed into many shapes and rolls, and can be easily doubled if desired to make two loaves. That way, if you somehow don’t eat the second loaf, it can be frozen. If this miracle does happen and the loaf makes it to the freezer, just take it out and leave on the counter for one to two hours to defrost. 

www.motherearthnews.com (I do not necessarily subscribe to the views on the website, just liked their bread recipe!!)

I hope you try it and have a few loaves in the freezer to pull out for those busy weeks where bread making is the last thing on the list of things to do. 

Have a great day!

Laura