Tasty Bread or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Yeast
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For what feels like the past several months, I have been trying and continually failing to bake bread. Finally, I found a recipe from yeasty extraordinaire Fleischmann’s under the “Christ, you really can’t bake bread? We can hold your hand through this, but it may interfere with kneading” category.
The loaves were in the oven a bit too long, but that only led to well-developed crustiness. Oh, and: They were absolutely delicious. I’m never buying bread again, if I can help it.
Here is the recipe, courtesy of Fleischmann’s yeast.
Über Scrumptious Beginner’s White Bread
Place in a large warm bowl:
Sprinkle in and stir:
Let sit 5 to 10 minutes, until foamy on top. Add:
Mix well using the medium speed of an electric mixer, scraping bowl occasionally (I just did this part by hand). Stir in to make a soft dough:
Knead on lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic, about 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with greased plastic wrap (greased side facing dough) and let rise in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in size, about 45 to 60 minutes.
Punch dough down. Divide dough in half. Roll each half to 12 x 7-inch rectangle. Beginning at short end of each rectangle, roll up tightly as for jelly roll. Pinch seams and ends to seal. Place, seam sides down, in greased loaf pans. Cover in same manner and let rise in warm, draft free place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
Score each loaf twice (I used a fish knife plus this video tutorial). In a separate bowl, lightly beat together:
Brush over loaves and let sit for 5 minutes. If desired, sprinkle with:
Bake at 400°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until done. Remove from pans; cool on wire rack. Enjoy.
* To make whole wheat bread, substitute 2 cups of whole wheat flour for part of the all-purpose flour.
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How does this bread compare to store bought bread, as far as fluffiness and stuff (or a brand)? (I know it\’s got to be waaay better.) I really want to try and make this, but I have a very picky boy and I don\’t want to be eating it by myself
It’s denser than the generic Publix white bread or Wonderbread, but you can let it rise longer during the final rising (about 20 minutes longer) to accommodate for that and make it more fluffy. I usually use whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, so it tends to be coarser and more filling. Unfortunately, baking is much more complex and precise than it seems, so you will probably not make perfect bread immediately. There were six attempted loaves that were consumed by the garbage can before I made something humans could eat. It will take patience and practice to create the perfect bread, but this recipe is a good start, provided you have a thermometer.
What sort of brand or type of bread does he like? It just so happens that I checked out several baking books from the library and I’d love to give some of the recipes a try. Then I can pass on the info to you.
I am trying to make this recipe now! We’ll see how it comes out.
This is my first try at making bread ever, so I haven’t set my hopes too high. He likes Sunbeam brand bread…it’s pretty soft and fluffy, so I’ll try letting it rise longer like you said. Thanks!