How to Bake Bread for the First Time

Several years ago, I became interested in baking my own bread. There were two main reasons for this interest. The first was the rising cost of groceries - a loaf of bread sells for a dollar or more at most grocery stores, and quite frankly, tastes awful. The second was nutrition - if I bake my own bread, I control the ingredients. I also have the power to make a variety of loaves as they are needed. Out of a double batch of dough, I might make one loaf, two dozen sesame rolls, and a number of breadsticks or cinnamon buns.

This is a very simple bread recipe that I've developed over a few years of baking. It's extremely flexible. Feel free to adjust the ingredients to your tastes.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups milk (or, make powdered milk extra strong for added nutrition)
- 1/2 cup warm water (a little warmer than you are, but NOT hot!)
- 1 package dry yeast (or if you buy yeast in bulk, use 2 1/2 teaspoons)
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 tablespoons butter OR oil (I use olive oil often)
- 2-4 tablespoons ground flax seed (optional)
- 2-3 tablespoons active sweetener (something that will work w/yeast: sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup)
- 6-7 cups flour

Let me say something about flour here. You can make bread with any 59-cent bag of white flour. It will work, and even produce a palatable loaf. However, it is far more nutritious and delicious to use quality flours in your home-baked breads. I use the following in this recipe:

-- 2 cups bread flour (specially made for bread-baking. This helps the gluten develop)
-- 2-3 cups unbleached white flour (it's just better for you, plus it makes a nicer-looking loaf in my opinion!)
-- 2 cups whole wheat flour

Now, if you want to make your bread with all white flour, or all whole wheat, or even all bread flour... go right ahead. Do note that if you are going to do all whole-wheat, your kneading and rising times will increase. Knead for an extra five minutes, and rise for at least another 15.

You can also mix in small amounts of specialty flours, such as rice, soy, amaranth, garbanzo, or urid (a bean flour that is quite good)). I often add two tablespoons of sweet rice flour to this recipe, as it makes the loaves softer. If you do this, start with 1/2 a cup in the recipe, and experiment. Be sure to decrease your wheat-flour proportionately. Most of these flours do not develop gluten, and so they will affect the rising of your bread and lightness of the loaf dramatically if you use too much!

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Assemble your ingredients, a large spoon (wooden is best) and two large mixing bowls (glass is best). Lightly grease one of them (cooking spray is fine, so is olive oil smeared with a towel). You'll need smooth kitchen towels (the flour-sack style works well) - one for each loaf you plan to make. Lastly, you'll need something to bake your bread in or on. I prefer glass loaf pans for actual loaves, and stoneware for everything else. (by stoneware, I mean one of those flat round stones marketed for pizza-making)

2. Heat the milk, salt, and butter in a pan on the stove or a glass pyrex in the microwave. You do NOT want it to be hot; room-temperature or just above is best.

3. Some people like to "proof" their yeast. You do not have to do this if you use freshly purchased yeast. If you want to do so, put the half-cup of warm water in the mixing bowl, add your sugar and stir well, then sprinkle the yeast over it. Stir again, and cover with the towel. Leave it in a warm place for 5-10 minutes. The yeast should bubble up. If it does, proceed. If it doesn't, you might have bad yeast. You might also have used water that was too warm, so it's worth trying again.

Like I said - I don't bother with this step. I just dump the warm water, sugar, and yeast in the bowl, and immediately add the other ingredients.

4. To the yeast mixture in the bowl, add the ground flax seed and 3 cups of flour (if you're using any alternative flours, add those at the beginning too). Begin to stir, and then add your milk/salt/butter mixture. Keep stirring. At this point you should have a dough that looks sort of like blonde brownie mix in consistency, but with the gluten starting to develop, it should feel somewhat stretchier.

5. Add additional flour, stirring after each cup, until you reach the six-cup mark. At some point, it's going to become too hard to stir - this is where you start kneading, in the bowl. Keep doing this until you've got a fairly workable mass. Yes - it's supposed to be sticky still. Your hands will be covered in blobs of dough and look awful.

6. When you are able to transfer the dough out of the bowl, move it to a lightly floured work surface such as a table or counter. Having a good height for kneading is important - if you're too short, stand on a phone book or other safe stool. Begin to knead by folding the dough toward you and pushing down with some force. Fold it again, turn it a little, and push again. You want to try to develop a rhythm, because you need to do this for ten minutes. (it helps to put on some good music first, have a glass of water nearby, and set your kitchen timer!) If it's your first time doing it, it can feel like forever! However, it's a great way to work out frustrations. Even better, it's a great time to pray!

About three minutes into the process, take a break and go wash your hands. I sometimes put a light coating of olive oil on them before I start again.

The dough will start to feel "alive" under your hands. It's hard to describe this, but you'll know that something is different from when you started! It will be smooth, feel elastic, and sometimes it will form blisters. If you poke it with your finger, it will spring back. At this point, stop kneading and move on to the next step!

7. Form the dough into a ball, and place in your greased mixing bowl. Turn it over once so that it's got oil on the top, too. Cover with a towel, and put in a warm place. If it's a warm day, your kitchen counter may be sufficient! If it's cool, rainy, or your house is drafty, try this trick: While you are making the dough, turn your oven on to "warm". When you stop at the three-minute mark to wash your hands, turn it off. Put your bowl of dough in the oven. Depending on how warm it still is, you might need to leave the door slightly open for the first fifteen minutes or so.

You'll want to let your dough rise for anywhere between 1 to 2 hours. This time depends on several things - the type of flour you used, and temperature. If it's too cold, the yeast will grow slowly. If it's too hot, some of the yeast will die and not help make the bread rise. Between 75-85 degrees farenheight is ideal for this process. You can tell that it's ready if it's doubled in bulk and if it's lost its "spring" - this time, if you poke it with your finger, the indentation will remain.

8. When the dough is ready, you need to "punch it down". I've seen people actually take their dough and whack it! There may not be harm in that, but I have read from a number of sources that pressing it gently to deflate it will produce a finer loaf. After you've done this, remove it from the bowl and knead again for 2-3 minutes (again - longer if you're baking with all whole wheat). Cut the dough in half, cover with a towel, and leave it for five minutes.

9. If you are making loaves, spray the pans lightly with cooking spray or grease with oil. If you're cooking on stoneware, you may or may not need to grease it depending on how much you've used your stone (older stones become "nonstick" if cared for properly).

10. To make loaves - flatten one of the balls of dough and shape into a rough rectangle; roll up longways. Fold the ends underneath and press to the bottom to seal them. Place in the loaf pan with the seam side down. You can brush the loaf with a little melted butter, if you like. Repeat with the other loaf.

To make sesame rolls - This recipe makes about two dozen rolls, so each ball of dough should be divided into 12 pieces. Take each piece and roll on your table to make a "snake" about six inches long. Join the two ends, making a circle. Dip into a beaten egg and then roll the top in sesame seeds. They look vaguely like an unshaped bagel when they've risen, and are delicious!

11. Let your loaves rise again, in a warm place and lightly covered with a towel. This usually takes a little less time than the first rising - 45 minutes for white, 1 hour and 15 minutes for whole wheat. Again, you test by poking the loaf (lightly this time), if a dent remains, it's ready.

12. Bake your bread loaves 40-50 minutes at 400 degrees on the lower rack of your oven. Be sure that air can circulate around each pan. Some people like to put a tray of water beneath them, as the steam will produce a wonderful crust. To test if they are ready, tap the top of the loaf. It will have a distinct hollow sound. Remove from the oven and upend the pan into your hand (use a clean hot mitt to protect yourself!) Let cool on a wire rack. If you've made the sesame rolls, bake them on your stoneware for 20 minutes and remove to a wire rack. You should bake them for ten minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350. You'll know they're done if they're very lightly browned and very light. Bake them an extra two or three minutes if you like crispy bread. If you're not sure if they're done, break one open to see (and eat it, of course! I "check for doneness" every time I bake these, just because I can't wait to eat them!

For best slicing, bread should cool 3 hours and you should use a serrated blade. However, if you've had people around during this process, they are surely standing at the door of your kitchen, wide-eyed and drooling! Go ahead - tear into the loaf and enjoy the hot bread (be careful - it can be quite hot at the center of the loaf. Don't burn your fingers!). Enjoy your bread with butter and a cup of hot coffee, and let one of those smiling people clean up the kitchen for you!