After graduating college, my husband, Matt and I have taken smaller steps towards a more nutritious diet, gone are the late nights of meatlover's pizza and Jimmy John's with extra mayo and cheese. Each week I plan to write about our adventures in healthy(er) eating and the little changes we have made toward a healthier lifestyle. I don't want my readers to think I'm writing a diet column, because mama likes the brownies, I'm just trying to move away from processed unpronouncable ingredients toward wholesome and natural foods.
One of the baby steps that I have taken in this direction is to make our own bread. Although store bought bread is calorically equal to or less than what I make, the ingredients are far more basic and the process is very enjoyable. Plus, it's super tasty.
Making your first loaf of bread is intimidating, however, with a stand mixer, the process is practically fool proof. I use Betty Crocker's Classic White Bread recipe* which requires all of six ingredients, most of which you probably have in your cabinets now. The recipe is self explanatory, however, after making it 20 times, there are a few adjustments I have made. Before I mix anything, I preheat the oven to it's lowest setting; on mine it's 170º. As soon as it's preheated, I shut it off and now I have the perfect warm spot to let my bread rise. To get the water to a warm temprature, I microwave it for 1 minute and 30 seconds, then let it sit in the microwave, until the recipe calls for it. Also, instead of kneading for 10 minutes by hand, I pop the dough hook on my Kitchen Aid and let it do the work. I clean up the mess I've made during this time and then place it in the oven to rise. I also omit the butter brushing step. I did it the first time and haven't since and never missed it or noticed a difference. The recipe also makes two loaves. We slice one of the loaves and throw it in a big ziploc in the freezer, and we keep the other out and cut slices as we need them. Two loaves usually last us a little over two weeks.
When I first started making our bread every loaf would come out a little differently. Sometimes it would fall apart when I cut it, sometimes half of it would be huge and the other half tiny, and sometimes it was doughy in the middle. Even now, each loaf is never perfect, but it is always truly delicious and I feel good knowing where every ingredient came from.
I hope someday to make the switch to wheat bread, as I know that white flour is essentially empty calories, but baby steps people.
*Betty Crocker Classic White Bread
Prep: 35 min. Rise: 1 hr 50 min Bake: 30 min
2 loaves, 16 slices each
6 to 7 cups all-purpose* or bread flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons shortening
2 1/4 cups very warm water (120ºF to 130ºF)
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, if desired
1. In large bowl, stir 3 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, shortening and yeast until well mixed. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle.
2. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 40-60 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
3. Grease bottoms and sides of two 8x4-inch or 9x5-inch loaf pans with shortening or cooking spray.
4. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into 18x9-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Pinch each end of roll to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 35-50 minutes or until dough has doubled in size.
5. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pan will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 425ºF.
6. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool.
