The smell of homemade bread wafting throughout the house simply amazing. Making bread isn’t that hard, it just takes a little time as the needs to be kneaded properly and then time to rise.
Homemade Bread
Freshly made bread for lunch is a favourite of our kids. Even better, when it is smoothed in homemade strawberry jam or lemon curd!
To make this bread, you will need a few ingredients, many that you will already have on hand:
- milk
- water
- sugar
- active dry yeast
- ground ginger
- salt
- butter
- white bread flour
Overall, this recipe isn’t that hard to make, though it is a little time consuming as you will need to wait for the dough to rise a couple of times.
First, warm the milk till it is lukewater and the water as well. Then add the milk, water, sugar, yeast and ginger together, stirring until dissolved gently with a stand blender. Then let the mixture sit until it becomes foamy.
Then, whisk in 1 cup of the bread flour until just combined.
Add the salt and butter and mix well.
Attach the bread hook to the stand mixer and slowly mix through the rest of the flour.
Once, the dough has become a ball, continue to mix for another five minutes.
Remove the dough, placing it in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with a clean dish towel and allow to rise until it doubles in size.
When it has doubled in size, remove the towel and punch the dough down. Remove from bowl to a lightly floured surface.
Knead by hand for several minutes, to remove the air bubbles. Divide the dough in half.
Shape the loaves and place in greased pans. Cover and then let rise until about 1 ½ inches above the rim when looking at the centre of the loaf.
Bake on the centre rack in the oven at 180˚C for approximately 30 minutes.
To check if done, lightly tap on the top of the loaf. It should sound hollow when done.
Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let sit on a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Enjoy with your favourite sandwich fillings or as toast for breakfast!
Homemade Bread
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups milk
- 3/4 cup water
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 2 TBSP active dry yeast
- 1/8 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 TBSP butter, melted
- 5 1/4 cups white bread flour
- 2 TBSP butter, extra - for brushing the top
Instructions
- Warm the milk till it is lukewarm.
- Warm the water till it is lukewarm as well.
- Using a stand mixer, lightly stir the warm milk, warm water, sugar, yeast and ginger until all dissolved. Allow to sit until the liquid becomes foamy (about 10 minutes.)
- Whisk in 1 cup of flour by hand until combined.
- Add the salt and butter and mix well.
- Attach a bread hook to the stand mixer and add the rest of the flour, one cup at a time until a dough ball forms,
- Continue to mix with the dough hook for about 5 minutes.
- Remove the dough ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or clean dish towel and allow to rise until double the size.
- When doubled in size, punch the dough down and remove to a lightly floured surface.
- Knead by hand for several minutes to remove air bubbles.
- Divide dough in half and shape into two loaves.
- Place in greased pans, cover and let rise until about 1 1/2 inches above the rim when looking at centre of loaf.
- Bake on the centre rack in oven at 180˚C for approximately 30 minutes.
- To check to see if it is done, lightly tapping on the top of a loaf. It will sound hollow when it is done.
- Cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, then remove from pan and let sit on a wire rack and cool completely before slicing.
Notes
- You can substitute buttermilk for the regular milk.
- The ginger can be omitted, though it does help with the rising of the dough
- Substituting potato water (water which you have boiled potatoes for mashed potatoes) for the water will also aid in the rising of the dough
- For a soft crust, brush with the extra melted butter on the tops of the bread after removing from the oven, then cover with a clean dish towel until cooled.
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