Homemade bread..

Nothing beats homemade yumminess. I've recently started baking homemade bread on a regular basis. I'm not sure it's actually saving us any money, since the kids eat MORE bread now :) But I enjoy it. I love the smell of fresh bread in the house, too.

Here's how I make my bread, using the rolls recipe I've been baking for several years already.

Recipe:

3 1/2 C warm water

1 C honey or sugar

1 C oil

4-6 TBSP yeast

Mix in Kitchenaid or by hand and let rest for 10 mins or so.

It may look like this...

Must be happy..it's smiling! (creepy!)

Add:

3 eggs

1 TBSP salt

9-10 C flour (I used 2 cups whole wheat and the rest as all-purpose flour)

When I reach about 7 cups it becomes too much for my Kitchenaid, and I have to dump it on the counter to knead the rest of the flour in by hand. This is when a Bosch mixer, or an Electrolux would be handy. But they're soo pricey....

I divide the dough into my four new bread pans, which are sprayed lightly with oil.

and let rise about an hour...

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I remove them from the pans immediately to cool on a wire rack.

They didn't rise as much this time..either from the whole wheat I added, or when I bumped the oven on accident..it may have made them fall a bit. Still yummy!

*tip...a friend mentioned not allowing the bread to rise too much, which may be why mine fell. So allow it to rise to just above the edge of the pan, and it will rise to the correct height while baking. :)