Homemade Bread

At last! I think I've found a home-made bread recipe I like.

I tried the artisan bread recipe for our bread during the month of July. We ate it, but I wasn't impressed. It was very crusty and dense. So we moved on.

I decided store bought whole-wheat bread is much better for PB&J sandwiches. I've found some from Costco that is a good deal. But, what about when I want some bread or rolls to go with dinner?

Well, since then, I have made this all-purpose bread dough recipe several times. I've made it for hamburger buns, dinner rolls, and for dinner bread (to make cheesy, garlic toast out of it). Yesterday, I made it into a plain loaf of white bread to use in my new casserole that I was trying called Baked Chicken Sandwich (recipe to come).

I do not have a breadmaker and I don't like to knead bread. I think that is where I always screwed it up before. But, I've successfully made this recipe completely in my mixer, using a dough hook.

Here's what I do...
(original recipe courtesy of Recipezaar)

Ingredients:

1 and 1/4 cups skim milk
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I actually like white flour best in this recipe!)
2 teaspoons yeast

Directions:

1. Warm milk slightly, just past tepid. (Err on the side of too cool, rather than too hot.)
2. Add oil.
3. Add yeast. Wait a few minutes for the yeast to soak.
4. Add sugar and salt. Mix well.
5. Add flour.
6. Turn on mixer and let it blend the ingredients.
7. After a few minutes, scrape the sides of the bowl to make sure well blended, and then let the mixer go a few more minutes.
8. When dough is elastic, remove from bowl.
9. I preheat my oven to 100°F and turn off.
10. Dust hands and dough lightly with flour (just enough to make unsticky enough to handle).
11. Form a loaf and place on pizza stone.
12. Cover with a clean cloth and let rise in the oven for 45 to 60 minutes or until doubled in size. Remove from oven.
13. Preheat oven to 400°F and when you put the dough in the oven, reduce temperature immediately to 375° and bake 15 to 20 minutes, until top is browned.
14. Slice using an electric knife for best results.

Enjoy!