Back to the Basics with Bread

The greener grass on the other side of the fence is not always as green! I went back to the basics on making homemade bread that would last longer than a day before turning hard.




For the past couple of months, I have been trying to find the P-E-R-F-E-C-T sandwich bread recipe. With the rising cost of food in this neck of the woods, bread was on the list to be removed from my shopping list. Store bought bread in general for our family includes loaf bread and hamburger and hotdog buns and I was spending $15.00 every two weeks on bread. Gut wrenching, I know!

Anytime, I mention making homemade bread, experienced bread bakers always suggest King Arthur Flour's website. There are literally over 700 recipes just for bread listed on their website. I have tried several of the recipes over the past few weeks and just could not get over how fast they hardened. Reading over the reviews for each recipe, I could not find anything to help me out.

So...

Something hit me while reading one night last week, I have several recipes that I used when I was first learning to bake bread and loved them. After using them for awhile, I began thinking I needed a better recipe. So I veered away from them and began looking for greener grass on the other side of the fence. After gazing at those greener pastures, I gave up baking bread because I was just not happy with the product.

Last Thursday, I baked a loaf of THIS bread with a couple of modifications. Would you believe the last 1/4 portion of the loaf is still soft? It's 7:30 on Sunday evening and that bread is still soft like store bought bread? This time last week, I was waiting on a loaf of bread to proof so my husband would have soft bread for his lunch on Monday morning. Tonight, I'm writing this blog post telling you that "the greener grass on the other side of the fence" is not always as green!

Back to the basics! I have quickly learned going back to the basics for our bread is just what I needed to do along with a few modifications.  The original recipe called for sugar and oil, this time I used honey and butter.

Basic Homemade Bread


2 cups warm water
2 TBSP honey
1 ½ TBSP active dry yeast
1 ½ tsp salt
¼ cup butter
6 cups flour

In mixing bowl add water, honey and yeast; let proof 5 minutes. Next add flour, butter (soften the butter until it is a thick consistency, not a liquid) and salt. Turn on mixer and mix until a ball forms and then turn up on medium and knead between  5- 8 minutes. Remove the dough hook and cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise until dough has doubled, about an hour.

Remove dough and form into two loaves and let rest for about 5 minutes. Place in  greased loaf pans and cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees when the dough has about 15 minutes left in the second rising.

Place the pans in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.  If your bread turns really brown towards the end of the baking process, make an aluminum foil tent and place over the bread to keep from becoming too dark. Cool on a cooling rack and cool completely before storing to keep the bread from molding.

*** This is an easy recipe to cut in half to make only one loaf.***

I know many people look down on white bread and that's okay. My husband usually goes along with me when it comes to healthy eating, but he'd rather give up bacon than his white bread. :)  As long as he is happy, I am happy!

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

An easy to make whole wheat pizza dough. Turn pizza night into a fun night by allowing the kids to make this dough in the mixer and then do the kneading.





This is a super tasting pizza dough. I was given a fifty pound bag of whole wheat. So I needed to come up with something to help use up the flour. I love the texture that this crust has, it's really easy to spread in the pan and it turns out perfectly.

Homemade pizza dough is amazing! Homemade Whole Wheat Pizza dough is out of this world!





Whole Wheat Pizza Dough



1 teaspoon white sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.

Stir the olive oil and salt into the yeast mixture, then mix in both flours until dough starts to come together. Knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.

When the dough is doubled, divide into 2 pieces for 2 thin crust, or leave whole to make one thick crust.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees . Roll a ball of dough with a rolling pin. Place in an oiled pan and stretch until it has reached the desired size. Bake for about 10 minutes. Then top with favorite pizza toppings. Bake for another 10-15 minutes or until crust is brown and cheese is golden.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Making pizza dough at home is not as hard as you think. If you have a mixer with a dough hook, it’s extremely easy. If not, with a little bit of time and effort you too can make pizza dough by hand.




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When I was growing up, I remember that Saturday evening meant homemade tacos and pizza. We made the Chef Boyardee pizza kits. I thought this was wonderful.

It was not until I was in high school and taking Home Ec classes that I had tasted a homemade pizza dough. I could not believe the difference in the tastes. It was a whole wheat pizza dough and I was amazed. I got to make it a couple of times for my family after that. But it never really stuck. I guess once you are used to using something, it’s hard to change to something else.

Well, now that I am married and have my own family, we enjoy homemade pizzas with a homemade dough. Making it is something that we all enjoy.

While I make my dough using my Bosch Mixer, if you don't have a mixer, you can still make yummy homemade pizza dough. Once you mix up everything, all it will take is a bout 10 minutes of kneading. THIS is a great video to watch.

Homemade Pizza Dough


2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

In large bowl (mixing bowl on stand), add brown sugar, yeast and water, let this sit for about 10 minutes. Add salt and oil to the yeast mixture. Slowly add flour. Turn on mixer ( using dough hook)and continue adding flour until all mixed. Turn the mixer up to #2 and continue kneading for about 10 minutes. Check to make sure the dough is not too sticky.

When the dough is smooth, cover with a towel and let sit for about an hour, until it doubles in size. Punch down and form a ball. Let this rest for a couple of minutes on floured board.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough until it's large enough to place in pan. Then continue with stretching the dough to fit the pan.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake dough for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with your favorite pizza toppings. Bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese is golden and crust is brown.

Peach Muffins

I fell in love with Peach Muffins, while having dinner at a local restaurant about 3 years ago. I have to be honest… I loved them so much, that I bought some of their batter.


When I ran out of batter, I was a little disappointed. That is when I began to look around for a recipe. I tried several but there was just something about each one that I did not care for, so I began combining the recipes to try and come up with something that I liked.

No, there is no milk or water added to this recipe. If you are using canned fruit, be sure to drain very well or you will end up with a wet sticky muffin. If you still don't believe you won't need any milk and you are using fresh fruit, use a splash to keep from driving yourself crazy over the fact.

Peach Muffins

2-1/4 cups self-rising flour
2-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 cup oil
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-1/2 cups white sugar
1-1/2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Lightly grease a 12 muffin cup pan.

In a large bowl, mix the flour and cinnamon. Toss the peaches with 1/4 cup of flour and cinnamon mixture. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.

Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.