I love homemade bread. With a passion I love it. I think there is nothing better than a yummy slice of toasted homemade bread with a little butter and jelly spread on it for breakfast.
But bread alludes me. I've always been terrified of making it, and when I did it was a much bigger chore (and disaster!) than I had signed myself up for.
I think in 2012 I made bread once. It literally was that exhausting that I never made it again.
However, I remember watching my mom make bread all the time growing up and it looked so simple.
Turns out that the mixer I have isn't conducive to making and kneading bread without kneading the last several cups of flour in by hand.
Cue the disaster area.
For years I have pined over a Bosch Universal mixer, but never bit the bullet on getting one because I already had a perfectly nice mixer in my cupboard. After I had Blake I had mentioned something to my mom about wanting one. My friends all had one and just raved about what they were able to make with it. Would you believe me when I told you it can also shred chicken in less than 10 seconds? I'm telling you, I was so intrigued by this machine! So, this Christmas my mom surprised me with one.
You have no idea how excited I was!
Ryan, on the other hand, was confused as to why I needed another kitchen appliance, even though I told him this wasn't just any old appliance. This was a Bosch, which meant I could mix and knead bread dough all in one without getting my hands dirty.
He claimed I wouldn't make more than one batch of bread in that thing.
I took that as a challenge.
Since then I have made at least 5 batches, roughly about 1 each week that I've had it. I'm still working on perfecting it, and I have a few more items to iron out with it, but I love that it has kept me from buying bread at the store.
Best of all, I've been making my mom's recipe that she got from my grandmother. It's the same bread recipe I grew up watching her make. My girls love it, too, so I thought I'd document it here for myself, them, and anyone else whose in search of a yummy and super easy bread recipe!
Oh and PS, that shredding chicken in the mixer thing is amazing!
5 cups hot water (from tap)
1 stick of butter (cut up)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/4 cup honey
Stir the above until butter melts. Add 4 cups of white flour. Mix well. Add 2 rounded Tbls. yeast, 4 tsp. of salt, and remaining flour (white or wheat) one cup at a time (approximately 4-8 cups) until dough pulls away from sides of the bowl. Mix for 10 minutes (timed).
While dough is kneading, preheat oven to 200 degrees. Spread 2 Tbls. of vegetable oil on clean counter. Pull dough out of mixing bowl and divide into thirds. Form each third into a rectagle, roll up and pich seam together. Place seam-side down in a well greased bread pan. Put all three bread pans in the oven, make sure they are not touching and turn oven off. Let rise in warm oven for 20 minutes. When the timer goes off turn oven on, with bread still in it, to 350 degrees and cook bread for 25-30 minutes.
