Oct 25

Oct 25 Homemade Country White Bread

In an effort to reduce the amount of additives, preservatives, etc. my family eats (and the cost that goes along with that convenience) I've decided for the next month I will substitute our store bought sandwich loaves for homemade ones. My mother has been telling me for years that making your own bread is super easy. (My inner voice is mocking me right now..."Listen to your mother!" ) Turns out, she was right. Not uncommon. I hadn't originally planned on posting this since I am basically just following the bread machine recipe booklet. After multiple requests for the "recipe", I decided to share it here. When I worked at Williams-Sonoma, we made fresh bread every night for the olive oil and vinegar tasting bar. I knew it was simple, but we used a mix and just added water, butter and the yeast packet. In hindsight, that mix was probably just bread flour and sugar. What did I know? I added more butter and salt because I felt the booklet recipe was a little bland. I can't fully explain my giddiness when that bakery smell fills the house for hours and I open the lid to see that perfect, domed crust! Ahhh...bread.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons room temperature unsalted butter
2/3 cup skim or low fat milk
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups bread flour
3/4 teaspoon dry active yeast

Directions:

Put the butter and milk in the machine first, then layer in the dry ingredients, making sure the yeast is the last item. Make a small well in the middle to keep it from getting wet and activating too early. Then close the lid and start the cycle based on the included machine instructions. Four hours later, you'll have something to feel really happy about serving to your family! I am looking forward to trying the whole wheat and rye breads next!