I’ve been on a bread baking journey on and off for the past year. On and off because when I make “bad bread,” I get discouraged and give up. Well, since bread prices have gone up along with the unnecessary ingredients in it, I’ve decided to fully commit to baking and have completely fallen in love with the process.
The first thing I wanted to make sure I knew how to bake was basic sandwich bread. Being that my kids love sandwiches, toast, and a slice of bread with their dinner, this was a staple I wanted to confidently get down. And thankfully, we have!
INGREDIENTS
- 3 cups of unbleached organic all purpose or wheat flour (sifted)
- 1 TBSP salt
- 1 TBSP turbinado sugar (you can use whatever sugar you like, I’ve had the best outcomes with this type and enjoy it more)
- 1 1/2 TSP bread yeast
- Approx. 2 – 2 1/2 cups of water (ideally you’ll want to this to be anywhere between 117-120 degrees Fahrenheit)
RECIPE
This recipe is super simple and hardly takes any time at all to make! Heres what you do:
- Sift the flour. Sifting the flour will break up any lumps and creates a light and airy texture to the bread. Highly recommend doing when baking!
- Combine and stir the rest of the dry ingredients (salt, sugar, and yeast) TIP: Always remember to refrigerate your yeast. This is something I didn’t know or realize was on the label of our yeast. For months I’d ask myself why the yeast was no longer working…now we know!
- Now you’ll want to add your water. To help get an accurate measurement I’ll place a meat thermometer under the faucet and leave it on that setting once I reach anywhere between 117-120 degrees F. Add 2 – 2 1/2 cups of water to your dry ingredients.
You want to make sure you don’t have any dry flour leftover in your bowl- but you also don’t want the dough to be TOO wet. Think of it more like a sticky, thicker pancakey batter consistency. - Stir the dough until the dry and wet ingredients are completely combined. Cover with a dish towel on your counter for 1-2 hours to allow the dough to rise.
- Once the dough has risen, give it a little drizzle of olive oil and carefully fold over the dough with a fork or spoon. Then transfer the dough into whatever baking pan or dish you plan to bake it in. I find it helpful to use parchment paper in my dish when baking the bread.
- Bake your bread at 375F for about 40-45 minutes.
& that’s it! It’s so simple. We can bake good quality bread that our family will love AND that will save us money. It’s a win win. I find it most productive to make the dough first thing in the morning, give it those couple hours to rise, transfer it, another hour to rise, and we’re able to bake it in time for lunch or the kids’ afternoon snack.
Let me know if you give this recipe a try in the comments or be sure to follow along on Instagram @honestlymommin
Talk soon.
Kath
