making bread

I made bread for the first time by myself in quite sometime. I got a recipe from my friend Hannah last night for making soft wheat sandwich bread and I really wanted to try it out-but I wound up googling a recipe and decided to try that one out first.

It was such an easy recipe and I was able to use our brand spanking new Cuisinart Blender that we got at Bed Bath and Beyond just the other day. It has a dough attachment that kneads your dough for you. It worked beautifully and I just loved watching it knead the dough. It is quite fun to watch :)

I only made one loaf because I wanted to make sure I didn't waste my ingredients one a recipe that stunk.

While I baked the bread I worked on chopping up several red bell peppers that a farmer gave to us, as well as all of our celery and froze it. I just love being able to pull whatever veggies I have cut up and froze out of the freezer and dumping them into a soup. Super convenient.

Yay! The bread actually looks like a loaf of bread! :)

The finished product.
It isn't completely whole wheat because I am still learning what ingredients I need or don't really need to use when I come across recipes that have different things that you have to use for when you make an all wheat loaf.
I will post both variations of the recipe that I used.
(I also read, that if you put lemon juice in with your dough, that it helps keep your bread soft/sandwich like...is that true?)

Enjoy :)

Yield: 

1 loaf

Ingredients: 

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 (active dry yeast will work also; get more info on active vs. instant active dry yeast here!)

Instructions: 

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. [more info on loaf pan sizes] Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! (Easier-slicing tips here!) Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

This recipe also makes very delicious 100% whole wheat bread. The bread in this picture was made with Prairie Gold hard white wheat. Follow the recipe as written above, adding these dough conditioning ingredients to this recipe for better texture and softness:

• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (replace 3 tablespoons of the flour called for in the recipe with this)

• 1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (we use granules of lecithin, and add it to the water at the beginning)

• a pinch of citric acid (use sparingly!!)

• a sprinkling of ginger

You could also purchase pre-mixed dough conditioners, which contain some of these ingredients but are more costly. We found our citric acid, soy lecithin, and wheat gluten at a bulk foods store. A little goes a long way!