Homemade Bread
4 cups flour ( white or wheat)
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 packets of yeast
1 Tablespoon of either honey or white sugar ( honey is better, it actually helps activate the yeast where sugar helps kill it! but honey can be expensive so white sugar will work if you have no honey!)
Put yeast in a bowl with sugar or honey and add warm water stirring enough to dissolve yeast. Let rest 5 minutes. Add the flour and mix in well, if too dry add a little more water. Turn out on well floured surface and knead about 10 minutes. Divide into two balls and shape into loaves. Place in greased bread pans, turning over to coat in grease, cover with greased aluminum foil and place in warm area. Let rise until double ( an hour or two)
Place in oven at 400 degrees and bake 30 to 35 minutes. Last 10 minutes spread butter over top and finish baking. ( I use a fork with a tab of butter and smear over top as it melts.
Just found your site, and I think we have a lot of ways to compare what we do! Thanks for the many cool posts!
ReplyDeleteHere are some further ways to save money on baking bread. Bulk yeast is MUCH less expensive than packs of yeast, at least where I live. I halve the amount of yeast you use, with little ill-effect. You don't need to use aluminum foil -- a damp cloth works just as well. (Aluminum is really energy-intensive to produce, so cutting down on aluminum foil helps to save the planet). And I've found that making 3 loaves at a time works well for me -- only one round of heating up the oven, and bread is a cheap after-school snack for my own very hungry boys.