Bread

I thought I had made the perfect loaf of bread once upon a time.  But really, I hadn't.  This is so amazing I'm going to have to write about it on my food blog as well!

Yesterday, after being woken up at 7 AM by Nick and Tristan, I decided to bake some bread.  We were out anyways, and I thought it would be fun.  I also decided I was going to make it by the book, do exactly what the recipe said to see how it turned out.

This meant letting the yeast and sugar foam for 10 minutes, kneading the dough for 10 minutes, letting the dough rise for an hour (actually timed it), punching it down and letting it rise for another 45 minutes, and then baking it.

And you know what?  It actually worked.  I ended up with a perfectly light and fluffy textured loaf of delicious white bread.  Like it actually felt like real bread, I was so shocked.  Nick said I should try making pumpernickle next, so we'll see how that goes.  But I blended up a piece of my delicious bread with butter and honey, and oh man, it was superb!  Usually homemade bread in the blended just tastes like straight up yeast to me, but this bread was just yummy.

It was a country white loaf recipe ( I don't remember the website though!), and here it is if you want to try it.

1 cup warm water
5 tsp dry active yeast
1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil
2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt
6 1/2-7 cups all purpose flour

Dissolve yeast and sugar in water, let set for 10 minutes until frothy.  Beat eggs with oil, mix into yeast water.  Add salt and flour, adding flour one cup at a time until incorporated.  Dough will be slightly sticky (I use a mixer with a dough hook up until this point).  Turn onto floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until smooth and elastic.  Grease and let rise covered one hour until doubled.  Punch down dough and form into desired loafs or rolls.  Cover and let rise additional 45 minutes.  Bake for 10-15 or so minutes at 350, until crust is golden brown.  Let cool enough to cut, butter, and enjoy!