Tag: Bread

Another Day, Another Loaf of Bread
Recipes

Another Day, Another Loaf of Bread

Sarah

As I opened up a pantry door yesterday, I realized I was opening the last 1-pound bag of yeast I had bought before the pandemic years. It sunk in just how much bread I bake. In 2020, as the news was ramping up about issues in China, I panic-bought a lot of yeast on a prepper run to the restaurant supply store on the mainland. Which, wasn’t a a bad thing. Within weeks you couldn’t find yeast anywhere to buy. But I had it hidden away, and I got to work (for the record, I did share yeast with others, just quietly).

In theory, a one-pound bag should contain 44 Tablespoons, or 132 teaspoons, of yeast, so on average, I use 2 teaspoons worth per loaf I make, which is 66 loaves. Sounds like a lot at first. Then, realize that you bake bread 5-6 times a week. And suddenly, that isn’t so much yeast. That is just over 2 months’ worth of bread-making. A one-pound bag of active dry yeast on Amazon is in the $9’ish range. I usually pick it up at a restaurant supply store for around $8.49, where I can also buy flour in 25 to 50-pound bags to really save money.

I have often thought that one of the best things I can do is bake bread for our family. A loaf of bread at a grocery store costs $3 to $10. I won’t buy the $3 loaves. They are stale and made of low-grade ingredients. But to buy $6 a loaf of bread every two days? It’s not worth the money; the bread rarely tastes fresh. It’s already days old when you buy it, and bread shouldn’t stay “fresh” for another week. That isn’t normal. It’s food science.

Cost Break Down:

As I mentioned, a one-pound bag of yeast costs $8.49, and each loaf using 2 teaspoons costs 13 cents to make. 13 cents!

I buy all-purpose flour in 25-pound bags for $15.99, or 63 cents a pound. On average, my daily bread machine recipe uses around 18.5 ounces of flour, so I can produce 21-22 loaves per 25-pound bag. I spend about $1.20 on flour per loaf.

Less than $1.35 per loaf. For me, that is worth it. Of course, any other ingredients raise the price, but sea salt is minimal. Water is essentially free for us. Only if I add oil or butter does it go up in price. But again, not by much as we try to always buy in bulk.

It saves me money. It is always fresh. It has no preservatives.

As I opened that final bag, I knew it had been money well spent. Yeast stays good as long as it is sealed and stored in good condition. Once opened, I keep the jar in the refrigerator. For the long term, I seal and freeze, using a mason jar to keep it airtight.

Today, the loaves are different. It was a rainy day, so why not do work with my hands? Last night I did the prep for them loaves before bed.

I tried out a new recipe I had seen. While it was great bread and easy to make, I wouldn’t call it “artisan bread” as it was labeled. Instead, call it no-knead or overnight bread. The loaves are soft and tasty. Just a few minutes of work, and the rest is hands-off time.

No-Knead Bread

Ingredients:

  • 510 grams of all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 2¼ tsp dry active yeast (1 packet)
  • 1¼ cups water (120°)
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Add most of the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast into a mixing bowl.

Stir in the water and oil and mix with a wooden spoon until a dough forms. Add the remaining flour, stirring well, until the flour is beaten in and the dough pulls away from the bowl’s side. The dough should be shaggy-looking but not overly sticky. If needed, work a little more flour in.

Cover tightly with plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator overnight (but no longer than 24 hours).

Lightly oil a large baking sheet. Place on a heating pad set to medium or high (depending on how cold your home is).

Flour your hands, and divide the dough in half.

Gently stretch the dough in your hands, making a ball by wrapping it to the bottom. Gently pinch the bottom to seal.

Place each ball on the baking sheet about 5″ apart.

Lightly oil a piece of plastic wrap and cover loosely.

Let rise for 1½ hours.

Near the end, preheat the oven to 375°.

Boil a kettle full of water. Place an 8″x 8″ glass baking pan on the lower rack of the oven and fill it ¾ of the way with hot water.

Take off the plastic wrap, use a serrated knife, and gently slash a tic-tac-toe design on the top of each loaf.

Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Remove and transfer to a cooling rack immediately.

Makes 2 loaves.

~Sarah

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls
Recipes

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

Sarah

Do you want soft dinner rolls with only a few minutes of hands-on time? This dinner roll recipe will quickly make them, and the only real work is shaping the dough into balls.

The recipe is designed to work in a Zojirushi bread machine; if using a different brand, follow its directions. The Zojirushi prewarms the ingredients; for other machines, you will want the water to be 110-120°.

Bread Machine Dinner Rolls

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup water
  • 2 Tbsp softened unsalted butter, sliced up
  • 1 egg, room temperaturee
  • ¼ cup granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 400 grams all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp bread machine/rapid-rise/quick-rise yeast

Directions:

Add ingredients in the order listed to the bread machine pan.

Set for dough cycle (our machine takes 1 hr 50 minutes). As it starts to knead, check on it to see how the dough looks; it should be smooth and elastic. If it looks too wet, add in a bit more flour.

Lightly flour a work surface. Remove dough from the pan and let rest, covered with plastic wrap, for 10 minutes.

Lightly oil a large-rimmed baking sheet.

Using a bench scraper, divide the dough into 14 sections. Gently shape each piece into a ball and set it on the baking pan.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes. In cooler houses, using a prewarmed heating pad set on medium will ensure a good rise.

Preheat oven to 375° in the last 10 minutes of rise.

Place rolls in the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden on top.

Let cool on a rack.

Makes about 14 rolls.

Note:

While I didn’t do it, you can brush the tops with melted butter immediately after taking them out of the oven for a softer roll. One Tablespoon is plenty.

~Sarah

Daily White Bread
Recipes

Daily White Bread

Sarah

This recipe reminds me of my childhood, baking bread with my Mom. She often made bread from scratch when we were young before life got complicated. All by hand, no stand mixer as a helper. She had me to help knead.

It’s not a complicated recipe. It uses regular ingredients. And it is fast. No, having to let it sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator; this is a recipe where you can be rewarded with warm bread in under 3 hours, most of that being hands-off. It’s a soft loaf, a fine crumb. Moist. The perfect bread for soft butter spread on it.

The recipe makes two loaves: one for eating and one for slicing up and freezing, for days when you don’t have the energy to bake a loaf but still want homemade bread.

Daily White Bread

Ingredients:

  • 720 grams of all-purpose flour + more for kneading
  • 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 4½ tsp dry active yeast (2 packages)
  • 2 cups warm water (120°)
  • ¼ cup olive or avocado oil
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Add 240 grams of flour, sugar, salt, and yeast in a stand mixer bowl.

Add in the water and oil, and let mix on low, then on medium for 3 minutes.

Put the dough hook on and add 360 grams of flour. Beat it in until smooth.

Lightly flour a work surface. Scrape out the dough and knead by hand for 5 minutes, adding more flour as needed. The dough should be smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large mixing bowl. Add the dough and flip it over to coat. Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap.

Let rise in a warm place for an hour or until it doubles. In cooler homes or in winter, placing the bowl on a heating pad helps with the rise.

Lightly oil 2 9″x5″ bread pans.

Gently punch down the dough and divide it into two halves.

Lightly flour a work surface and roll each half into a 16″x8″ rectangle. Roll dough up tightly, on the 8″ side. Press the ends with your thumbs after each turn and picnh gently the bottom seam of the loaf.

Place each loaf into a prepared pan.

Cover with lightly oiled plastic wrap, and let rise for 30 to 35 minutes or until the dough is about an inch above the pan edge.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375°.

Bake bread for 40 to 50 minutes, golden brown. (Ours took 50 minutes)

Knock bread out onto a cooling rack; brush melted butter on top of loaves.

Let cool for an hour before slicing.

Bread can be sliced and then frozen for having bread on hand.

Makes 2 loaves.

~Sarah

Baking Bread : Swiss Sensation Loaf
Recipes

Baking Bread : Swiss Sensation Loaf

Sarah

Vintage recipes are always “interesting” to try out. The biggest is the little information you get from the tiny recipe card companies published long ago. This was brought to you by SARAN WRAP (must be in all capitals, right?). As always, I muddled my way through the recipe, using my years of baking skills to judge how I should proceed.

I did find it on other sites, so the recipe has been bandied about over the years.

Swiss Sensation Loaf

Thoughts On The Recipe:

I used a stand mixer to make the dough with a metal paddle (not a dough hook), but I added the last cup of flour by hand for the best results. Make sure the butter is soft, or it won’t beat in well.

I feel that this bread would have baked even better had I heated a cast iron skillet in the oven, dropped it in parchment paper, and then the dough for baking. While it was very tasty and turned out well, the crust was soft, far softer than I prefer. I feel this was due to some steaming in the glass pie pan called for.  This being a vintage recipe, people hadn’t refound how great cast iron was for baking in.

Swiss Sensation Loaf

Ingredients:

  • 2¼ tsp (1 packet) active dry yeast
  • ¼ cup warm water (110°)
  • ¼ cup milk, scalded and cooled (see in directions below)
  • 1½ tsp granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ cup unsalted butter (1 stick), sliced
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2¾ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Swiss cheese, diced

Directions:

Heat the milk in a microwave, in a glass measuring cup, for about a minute, keeping an eye on it. It should be hot but not boiling.

Add in the butter slices and let it cool down.

Meanwhile, put the paddle attachment on a stand mixer and add the yeast, water, and sugar to the bowl. Add the milk and butter mixture and salt. Start the mixer on low, let it mix a bit, then add the eggs. Beat in gently.

Add half the flour and work it in, then let it beat for 10 minutes on medium speed.

Using a wooden spoon or a dough hook, add the remaining flour. Depending on the humidity, it may need a bit more flour.

Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm area for 2 hours. In our home, we use a heating pad on medium.

Punch down the dough, cover, and refrigerate overnight.

Punch down the dough and place it on a lightly floured work surface. Form a flat ball. Knead in the cheese until fully mixed in, adding more flour if the dough is sticky.

Form a round ball and place it in an oiled or buttered 8″ glass pie pan.

Cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place until double, about 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375°. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden.

Let cool for a few minutes, then pop out using a thin metal spatula; let cool on a rack before slicing.

~Sarah

Bread Machine Tomato Basil Bread
Recipes

Bread Machine Tomato Basil Bread

Sarah

A savory big loaf of bread is perfect for pairing with warming soups. We paired the tomato basil bread with beef tips and mushrooms cooked in an InstaPot. It was great on a cool Spring evening.

The boys said the flavor of this bread reminded them of spaghetti sauce. I think it’d also be great with Parmesan cheese mixed in at first kneading.

Bread Machine Tomato Basil Bread

Bread Machine Tomato Basil Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1½ cups tomato juice*
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 510 grams of all-purpose or bread flour
  • 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp dry milk
  • 1½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 Tbsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • 2 tsp dry active yeast

Directions:

Add ingredients in the order listed in the bread machine. Set for a Basic/White 2-pound loaf.

We use a Zojirushi bread machine, which heats the ingredients. If using other brands of bread machines, follow the temperature recommendations for the liquid.

Once baked, remove promptly and knock out; let cool on a rack.

Store in a bread bag once cooled.

Makes one 2-pound loaf bread.

Notes:

*Finding tomato juice outside of the section in stores for making Bloody Mary drinks is not easy these days. You could also use V-8 or similar flavored tomato juice. Instead, I used what I had on hand: 6-ounce cans of tomato paste. In a 4-cup measuring cup, stir together one can of tomato paste and four cans of water. Measure out the juice as needed. It’s considerably cheaper than buying canned tomato juice! Use any leftovers in a soup or rice recipe for no waste.

You can also use flavored tomato paste, with herbs added, for more flavor.

Bread Machine Tomato Basil Bread

~Sarah