Here’s A Super Simple Recipe For Bread Since Everyone Seems to Have Forgotten You Can Make It Yourself
All over social media, I am seeing parents stressing out. One of the reasons is because their stores are sold out of everything, including bread.
Well, I can help you out! Bread is SUPER simple to make at home and tastes a million times better than that stuff you buy at the store anyhow.
Need some feel-good vibes in your house? Bake some bread! The smell alone will perk you up and make your mouth water.
Having the internet, you have the world at your fingertips. You can learn how to do anything! So instead of stressing, look at workarounds. In this case, making your own bread.
Bonus? The kids can help! They will have fun and learn an important skill at the same time. We’ve always done things like this, so it is the norm for our home.
When I was at the grocery store trying to get my normal groceries, I was shocked. Everything was gone.
But you know what wasn’t gone? Ingredients to make things from scratch. Yes, just like grandma used to do.
It’s time to up those homemaker skills! It’s actually kind of therapeutic to make bread. You only need a few things to make a loaf of basic bread.
You will need yeast. You can buy this in bulk, a jar, or even little foil individual package. I recommend that beginners get a 4oz jar. Yeast is alive and will die, so it needs to be used. Store it in your refrigerator.
You will also need bread flour, water, sugar (feeds the yeast and is necessary), salt, shortening, and of course the yeast. 6 ingredients! You can get fancy with add-ins later!
Basic White Bread Ingredients:
- Bread Flour
- Water
- Sugar
- Salt
- Shortening
- Yeast
How to Make Basic White Bread:
Ingredients
- 7 ½ Cups Bread Flour
- 2 ½ Cups Water
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Shortening
- 2 Packets of Yeast or 2 tablespoons if you bought a jar or bulk
Instructions
- You’ll need to mix 2 1/2 cups of water with 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 2 tablespoons of shortening.
- Then you will need to dissolve either 2 of the envelopes of yeast (or 2 tablespoons if you bought a jar or bulk) in 1/4 cup of lukewarm water.
- After the yeast is dissolved, pour it into the first mixture then stir to mix well.
- Now you will want to mix in 7 to 7 1/2 cups of bread flour. Mix it with a spoon at first and then with your hands.
- Once you have it mixed pretty well, you will take your bread dough and place it on a floured board and let it rest. I let it rest for about 10 minutes.
- After the rest period, you will knead your bread dough. You’ll do this until the dough is elastic feeling and smooth. This usually takes about another 10 min. Let your kids help!
- Once that is finished, I take a little shortening and grease the outside of the kneaded bread dough and put it in a large bowl.
- I cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and set it in a warmer place to rise until it has doubled in size. This can take 1 1/2- 2 hours. But you’re staying home anyhow so you have all day.
- Once your bread has risen, you will need to punch it down. Basically folding it over again and again until you get a firm ball of dough.
- Now? Now you place it back in that big bowl and cover and let it rise again until the size has doubled. Another 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
- So now you take your bread dough and divide it into two equal pieces. Let it rest on your floured board for about 10 minutes, then shape it into loaves.
- Take your sweet little loaves and place them into lightly greased loaf pans. Let it rise in the pans until it is just above the top edge of your pans.
- Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees. You can tell that the bread is done when it is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped.
- Turn it out of the pans on to a wire rack to cool.
- Cut and serve!
