Bake Your Own Bread

There is nothing like the aroma or taste of fresh baked bread; and what more glorious joy than to know it was lovingly made by you!

Bread making is not nearly as difficult as you might think. The ingredients are simple. Making the dough only takes about 20 minutes, and the rest of the work is done by the yeast. Once the bread has risen and is placed in the oven, the whole house will fill with the wonderful aroma.

Homemade bread is healthier than store bought bread. Bread bought at the store is full of preservatives. Preservatives are not natural and they are not good for your body. Read the labels, even breads that are made with whole grains still list preservatives and other ingredients like high fructose corn syrup.


Homemade bread, without the preservatives will spoil fast. Most recipes yield two loaves, so put one loaf in the freezer, while you use the other loaf. When you are down to only a few pieces of bread put the frozen loaf on the counter before you go to bed that evening. It will be thawed and ready to use when you wake up in the morning.

Making your bread at home is cheaper than store purchased bread. While you can buy healthy, all-natural bread in a store, it is often much more expensive than the cost to make it yourself. Homemade bread recipes call for a few simple ingredients. Usually yeast, water, milk, flour, sugar, butter or oil and salt are all the ingredients required. Yeast is the most expensive part of bread making. Two packages of dry yeast are required for most two-loaf recipes. I try to stock up if I see a sale, but generally $3.00 worth of yeast will make six loaves of bread. All the other ingredients are used in small quantities and are things that the average person stocks in their kitchen already.

Homemade bread tastes better than store-bought breads. Healthy store bought breads are often very grainy tasting. Homemade bread made with 100% whole wheat flour is softer in texture than most purchased whole grain breads. Also, many cheaper breads that claim to be made with whole wheat flour actually only contain a small percentage. In some cases they have added coloring to give the appearance of whole wheat bread. These breads are made to have the texture of white bread, but they usually lack the nutritional quality of whole wheat breads.

Homemade bread is easy to make. The hardest part is making sure the liquids in the recipe are warm enough to activate the yeast, but not so hot that they kill the yeast. If it’s so hot that you can’t put your finger in it, it is too hot for the yeast. If it barely feels warm, then it’s not warm enough.

Kneading bread dough can be a great stress reducer. But, there are bread recipes that don’t require it.

Try this recipe for No Knead Bread.

Bread is a great addition to a meal. For me, bread is a staple, a comfort food. It is filling and can stretch your meal, therefore cutting down your overall food cost.

Be sure to check the bulk bins at your local natural or whole foods grocer. We have a Sprouts in our area and they sell everything in bulk!

Here is a great 4 loaf recipe I use.

Homemade Bread 4-Loaf Recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups lukewarm water
2/3 cups dry milk powder
1/4 cup honey
2 packets yeast (or 4 teaspoons dry yeast)
1 tablespoon salt
1/3 cup melted butter
12 cups wheat flour

Preparation:
Mix water, dry milk and honey in a very large bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top of mixture. Allow the yeast to dissolve some, which will take a few minutes. When it starts to get bubbly, add salt, butter and flour.

Mix with a spoon until it gets stiff and then begin to knead with your hands. Knead the dough for a full ten minutes. Do not skip this step, and it does require some muscle so be sure you are up to the task or have enlisted some strong arms!

After your done kneading, put your dough into a bowl and coat lightly with vegetable with oil. Flip it around so all sides are covered, and then place a cover over it and set it in a warm place to rise for at least an hour.

When time is up, punch down the dough to release the air that has built up inside. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, and shape into 4 well-greased loaf pans. Cover again, and let rise again until they are roughly double in size.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes.