Making bread at home is a great way to increase the nutritional content of your diet. Although it can be a bit time consuming, homemade bread has no preservatives, is less expensive than store bought, and has greater dietary bang for your buck. The best part is the wonderful smell of the bread baking in your oven.
Store bought bread is mass-produced and the manufacturers use the cheapest ingredients at the expense of texture, flavor, and nutrition. Ingredients such as high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and processed white flour create the tasteless loaves available in the grocery stores. Emulsifiers, preservatives, and other chemicals allow manufacturers' bread to have a shelf life'. Why not try making your own bread that is full of flavor and is actually good for you?
Before you begin your bread making adventure, make sure you have the following equipment:
Two large mixing bowls make sure they are not cold. You can pour hot water in, and then dump it out to warm them up. One should be dried and coated with a thin coat of butter or vegetable oil spray.
Large cutting board or surface to knead the dough on.
One sturdy wooden spoon to stir the dough.
Measuring cups and spoons.
9" x 5" bread pan. You will want to either spray with non-stick vegetable spray or sprinkle corn meal on the bottom.
Hand or flour sack towel to cover the bread dough as it rises.
It is much easier to understand the nutritional value of food when you can pronounce the ingredients. For homemade bread, you can follow this recipe.
cup milk
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoons butter, melted
1 package active dry yeast
2 to 3 cups unbleached flour
Nonstick cooking spray for the bowl and bread pan
Dissolve the yeast following the directions on the package and add it to one of your warmed bowls. Add the butter, milk, sugar, and salt to the water and yeast mixture. Mix until well blended. Take your sturdy spoon and start adding the flour, cup at a time until it is all combined. It will be very sticky at first but as you add more flour, it will become more firm.
Pour out onto a flour-dusted board and knead until smooth. This usually takes about ten minutes what a great upper body workout! You may need to add a little more flour if it sticks to your hands or the board.
Place the kneaded dough into the greased bowl, cover with the flour sack towel, and allow it to rise in a warm place for an hour. Do not disturb the dough during this time or it may fall.
Once the dough has risen, it should have doubled in size. Punch it down and lay out on the floured cutting board in a rectangle shape. It should be about the length of the bread pan you are going to use. Roll the flattened dough into a tube and tuck the ends underneath. Place in the prepared bread pan. Cover the pan with the flour sack towel and allow to rise another hour.
Bake the bread at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Allow to cool completely before you try to cut it or it will squash down and not cut correctly.
For those who like an even healthier bread to make, try this whole-wheat recipe.
1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (see additional notes for a 100% whole wheat version)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast
Corn meal
In one of the large bowls, combine the first six ingredients. Add the flour and yeast and stir until all is mixed. Pour out onto a flour-dusted board and knead until smooth. Place the kneaded dough into the greased bowl, cover with the flour sack towel, and allow it to rise in a warm place for an hour. Follow the same procedure as with the white bread.
Once you are ready to bake this loaf, the oven should be 350 degrees, and the bread allowed to bake for 30-35 minutes. Again, allow the bread to cool before you attempt to cut it.
If you decide you would like softer bread, you can add a few extra ingredients. These include:
3 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten take out three tablespoons of flour.
-teaspoon soy lecithin
A pinch of citric acid
A pinch of ground ginger
These ingredients will minimally increase the cost of the loaf, but do give it a nice texture. Go ahead and give homemade bread a test bake - you will happy that you did.