by Anna Grootveld

Created on: May 01, 2008

I grew up with a wonderful and talented mother who baked all our bread from scratch, and she taught me at a young age how to do it. Now I am carrying on the tradition, baking all my family's bread from scratch as well. Over the years, I've come up with a few tips and tricks for rising fool-proof bread, or anything that rises with yeast.

1. When the recipe says to start the yeast with warm water, I use the hottest water I can get from the tap, and I add some brown sugar to the yeast and warm water, which really activates the yeast and gets it all worked up. White sugar works too, but I prefer brown because I like the flavor of brown sugar better than white.

2. Kneading the dough well is very important to the texture of your bread. Yes, it takes some time and elbow grease, but it is well worth it in the end. Knead the full length of time recommended in the recipe. Don't skimp. When you knead, lightly flour a clean, dry surface and put your dough down on it. Using the heels of your hands, push down and then fold over and push down again. Turn the dough ninety degrees and fold over and push down again. Continue, dusting with flour any time the dough gets sticky, the recommended length of time.

3. When I raise my dough, I heat the oven up to about 200 degrees and then turn it off and put my dough in a greased bowl (the dough should fill about half the bowl - put dough in bowl and then turn over so top is coated and won't dry out) covered with a clean dish towel and stick it in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour. The heat will help it raise perfectly.

4. When my bread comes out of the oven, while it is still quite hot, I brush the tops of the loaves with butter to keep the crusts soft. My mom only does this on sweet breads, but I find that it really enhances the flavor and texture of my regular bread as well, particularly my oatmeal bread and my whole wheat bread.

5. I always find that I get much better, richer flavor from my bread when I use either honey or brown sugar rather than white sugar. If you have a recipe you like that calls for white sugar, you can try substituting brown sugar. I also get richer flavor with some whole wheat flour. Again, even if the recipe you like calls for only white flour, you can experiment with substituting a cup or so with whole wheat to enhance the flavor and the nutritional value of your bread.

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