Homemade Bread. (and you can to)

I am NEVER EVER buying regular bread from the store AGAIN. NEVER. This bread is so effing delicious and simple to make you'll die that you didn't spend your adult life making your own bread before this. 

Ingredients:

All Purpose White Flour

Canola Oil (or another light kind of oil)

Quick Rise Yeast 

White sugar

Salt

Materials:

A loaf pan (preferably smaller than the standard size, but no matter if you can't find one.  Your loaf will just be a lil bit funny shaped but still TASTY.)

Parchment Paper

Bread.

1 tsp. sugar


1/4 cup warm water


2 1/4 tsp quick-rising yeast



2 1/2 cups white flour


3 tbsp. sugar


1 tsp. salt

2 tbsp oil


3/4 cups warm water


1. Half an hour before beginning bread, turn on the oven light.  Lay parchment paper in your loaf pan. Make sure the windows in your house are closed around the kitchen; keep them closed until your loaf is safe in the oven. 

2. After half an hour has gone by with the oven light on, in a small-medium sized bowl mix the 1 tsp. sugar and 1/4 cup warm water together until the sugar has dissolved.  Then, sprinkle the yeast over top, and swirl the bowl to incorporate it.  DO NOT STIR THE YEAST IN.   These are the bowls I use, the small for the yeast, the larger for the flour.

3. Set the bowl on top of the element that lets the warm air out of the oven.  Set the timer for 7 minutes for the yeast to rise.  Often in the winter it takes twice as long, 14 minutes.  Take it off the element whenever it seems doubled in size. 

4. While the yeast is rising, fluff together 2 1/4 cups flour, 3 tbsp sugar, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl for 15 seconds with your fingers. 


5. When the yeast is done rising mix 2 tbsp. oil with 3/4 cups warm water.

6. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture.  Add the oil and water mixture to the yeast all at once. Pour it all immediately into the well of flour and whisk it with a fork tout de suite!

7. Once it has started to combine into a ball, sprinkle your cutting board with some of the remaining 1/4 cup of flour.

8. Plunk your dough on the cutting board and knead the dough for 5-7 minutes, until it rolls well and doesn't feel sticky. 

9. Shape the dough roughly into the shape of a loaf and put it in your prepared pan.  

10. Put it in the oven with the light on for 35-40 minutes. This is about what it should look like once risen but not baked:

11. Take the loaf out and set it on top of the oven while the over preheats to 350F degrees.  Once the oven is hot, put the loaf back in for about half an hour.

12. Take out and ENJOY. 

Twelve steps might seem like a lot, but I promise you there is so little effort involved in this you'll just die.  It tastes incredible after buying cheap bread from the grocery store I honestly believe you'll never go back. The whole process takes a little under an hour and a half, but there's a lot of downtime while things rise and bake so it feels like next to no effort.  

This is how it looks when it's done: 

And this is how you'll feel:

Even though Rosie went to work for the first time in history that women were really allowed ... and you will be returning to the kitchen (as Rosie did in the 50's when the he-men came back), to bake DELICIOUS HOMEMADE BREAD.  Whatever, it's 2012 I'm sure Rosie would understand that now, we do what we want.  And we want to bake bread.  Happy Baking!