Monkey boy loves Wonder Bread. I won’t buy it for him of course, but really, who can blame him? It’s soft and delicious up to the very last piece. As I’ve grown more conscious about what my family puts in their mouths, I’ve started to wonder (ha, no pun intended!) if I’m failing him? On one hand, I’m supposed to make sure he gets his whole grains, but on the other hand, whole grains occasionally taste like you’re chewing paste. So what’s a mother to do?
I decided to compare the two. Did you know that Wonder Bread has 1/2 gram of sugar per slice, while whole grain has, on average, 2 grams per slice? Apparently, in order to make whole grain palatable, they have to add more sugar. I know, I know! 1/2 gram and 2 grams is nothing, but let me throw this at you: Wonder Bread also has more protein and fiber and less calories per serving. Even NPR weighed in on the battle, citing that it has been chemically proven that white bread releases better smells, making it more desirable. This is not at all what I was expecting to find.
{Monkey Boy & The Girl in front of La Boulangerie ~ Paris, 2006}
Now, before we get all crazy, I am not saying we should all switch to Wonder Bread. After comparing nutrition labels, I moved onto the ingredients list. I can’t even pronounce half the stuff in Wonder Bread (or the whole grains ones for that matter). The whole thing left me thinking: when did bread get so complicated? Didn’t it used to have, like, 5 ingredients in it?
So, after all of this, I’m on a mission. I am going to learn how to make my own bread. I know it’s an art form, so I’m not expecting to open a La Boulangerie, or Panera store right out of the gates, but I ordered up Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Every Day
How about you, are you a store-bought or homemade bread family? Is homemade better/worth it? I read that it costs roughly $.47 to make a loaf–what do you think, is that accurate? Is this going to save me money in the long run? And most importantly, do any of you have a recipe that might fool Monkey Boy?
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Lisa says
Ever give this a read? I checked it out from our library…
http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/
I struggle with the time involvement vs. cost and, of course, picky kids. Usually the store wins. lol! Good luck Mavis!
Janice says
Just started making our bread recently Have a sour dough starter and the bread was awesome and even white bread in the bread machine beats store bought
Lisa Adele says
We make mostly all homemade bread. Yes it saves money. Also it usually tastes better- still haven’t perfected hamburger/hotdog buns but almost everything else I’ve got down. This is not a link to my blog, but this bread recipe is a VERY good and easy one for white bread: http://stewartship.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/homemade-bread
madam chow says
King Arthur Flour has a blog with a highly rated hamburger bun recipe. Haven’t tried it yet butit is on my list!
GlitterMamma says
I’ve never made bread but I have been thinking about it. I’m just intimidated.
Lynn says
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is an AWESOME cook book. Check it out. I love making all kinds of breads.
Laurel says
I just made bread using his recipes today. I made the dough up three days ago. I love this simple recipe. I used the rest of the dough for a pizza crust. YUMMMOO!
elaine says
since i enjoy your blog so much i am going to give you my top secret bread recipe!! i use a bread machine on dough cycle. put ingredients in the bread machine in order listed, then hit dough, than doodle around the house until it beeps.
at that point take out the dough. you can either divide it into two small loaves (what i do) or make one large loaf. grease loaf pan, put in dough and let rise 30 min. i sort of roll out the dough with my fingers to get the air bubbles out and then roll it up into a loaf, pinch and seal, then plop in the pan.
bake at 375 for 25 min. when it comes out of the pan if you rub a stick of butter over it and then cover it with a linen cloth your bread will have a nice soft crust, just like store bought bread!! i have tried a billion recipes in search for the perfect homemade bread. this is it!!
honey wheat bread
3/4 c. hot water
1/2 c. cottage cheese
1/4 c. honey
2 T. butter/melted
tip: to make things even easier i dump the above 4 in a glass cup and stick it in the microwave until the butter is melted. then i dump it in the bread machine. if the butter is melted the water is usually the right temp.
1 egg/beaten
3 c. white flour
3/4 c.whole wheat flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. yeast (i use bread machine yeast)
Kathy says
I’ve made bread for years, without a bread machine. Call me old fashioned, but I actually enjoy kneading the bread dough like my mom, Grandmother and Great Grandmother did. I have a fantastic honey oatmeal bread recipe I got from an Amish friend of mine that is simple and delicious to boot. No egg no sugar yeast bread. My picky eaters all like it! Let me know if you want; I’d post here but have to find it first (lost in my kitchen that is littered with recipes)
Evonne says
Kathy – I would LOVE to hae your recipe!
Sydelle says
My mom made three loaves of Honey-Oatmeal bread everyday except Sunday. No eggs, no sugar. Easy to make, and you can reduce the flour and make amazing pull apart rolls.
You Can Call Me Jane says
I’d love this recipe, too. Please post it!:-)
sharon says
would love to try this recipe.
thanks
Kathy says
Ladies, even after injuring myself this afternoon, I found the oatmeal bread recipe!
1 cup boiling water
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 pkg. (1.4 oz.0 active dry yeast
1/3 c warm water
1/4 c honey ( I use Ohio local raw filtered wildflower honey )
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tsp. salt
3-3 1/2 c flour
*melted butter and additional oats
In large bowl, combine boiling water and oats; let stand until warm (110-115 degrees). In small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water then add to oat mixture. Add honey, butter, salt and 2 cups flour, beat until smooth. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto floured surface and kneed until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down then shape into a loaf, placing in greased 8×4 in. loaf pan. Brush with melted butter and sprinkly with oats. Cover and let rise again until double, about 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees F 50-55 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 loaf.
like I said, my picky eaters really like this, so I keep yeast to make it at least twice a month. Enjoy!
Emily says
I’ve been making our bread for over a year now and I can’t imagine going back to store bought. There is no comparison when it comes to flavor and I know exactly what I’m putting in it. No it doesn’t last as long as store bought but maybe that’s a good thing. I get creeped out by a loaf of bread that can sit for weeks on end and never go bad.
Jen says
I used to make my own bread (no bread maker) when there were more people in the house. Now it’s just me, and I don’t eat a lot of bread. However, no question that you should do this. It’s so much better than store bought. And for those of you that are intimidated? I was stunned the first time I did it. Because I was convinced it wouldn’t turn out…and it did.
Tali says
Home made bread is the BOMB! I have been making it for years: white bread (flour, sugar, yeast, water – all pronounceable)……I also make rolls, baguettes etc.
Sophie says
I’ve gone back and forth. My husband and son love the bread I make and it is a recipe that can convert from white to whole wheat depending on what you want. I bake it in the oven, not a bread maker. I personally like it as well, but still want to find a bread that is comparable in taste to Oroweat Country Buttermilk Bread. This is my favorite white bread and to me it is the ultimate bread for toast, pb and j, grilled cheese, etc. Until I find a recipe to compare to it, I will keep buying it for myself and supplementing for the family with the homemade.
I did however buy a perforated French Bread pan awhile back with good intentions and have not used it once. I will be searching for that today……
I have heard that the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day is a great book as well. I have watched countless videos on YouTube that give great advice and instructions on bread making. You should start a new series on bread making! It would awesome to learn along with you.
Since I am at home on modified bedrest, I am inspired to look into this again since I actually have time! Thanks!
Lisa says
*sigh* I was once an artisan bread baker. I used Rose Levy Beranbaum’s book The Bread Bible for the longest time. I’ve made some fantastic breads from that book. Then I got Peter Reinhart’s Bread Baker’s Apprentice and American Pie about 3 weeks before I was diagnosed with Celiac’s. I miss bread oh so very much.
Sydelle says
My dad was diagnosed with Celiac’s, and my mom now makes bread with gluten free flour. He loves it. They even take it to restaurants to go with his meals.
Keely says
There are tons of GF bread recipes! The Gluten Free Girl, Cooking for Isaiah, The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread and Gluten Free Goddess all have excellent bread recipes.
Lisa says
Yes, but when you were once a true bread baker there is not gluten free bread in the world that compares with a bubbly crust and a chewy crumb.
Cindi Myers says
I make bread to accompany soups and for toast — but my husband packs a lunch every day and I’ve yet to find a good homemade bread for sandwiches. The few I’ve tried are either too dense, fall apart to easily, go stale too quickly or can’t be sliced thinly. Plus, we eat more of the homemade bread, so I stick with either Orowheat Oatnut or Safeway Nuts & Seeds for sandwiches.
J says
Get ahold of some “Whole wheat white flour.” You can get it at trader joes. It is SOOOO good for baking, pancakes, breads, etc (you may need to add a tad of gluten if you want your bread to rise like a white loaf would). It has a very fine, soft texture–in my mind, the best of both worlds.
leslie says
“whole wheat white flour”, for those curious about the oxymoron, is spring white wheat which is ideal for baking. It has more gluten in it, which is what makes the dough stretchy. I buy my spring white wheat from Montana Wheat in buckets. You can buy most your regular at places like Walmart, Mann Mills, etc in bags. This wheat is usually hard red wheat. It makes a denser bread.
Ellen says
Thanks for this tip!
Heather says
I make all of my families bread products and my kids love homemade wheat bread. I have calculated my costs of making bread at .45 per loaf. I recently switched to grinding my wheat (handcrank style) just before making the bread, and the bread tastes delicious even with 100% whole wheat.
We still do white bread for certain items like rolls and tortillas just because I like them that way, but since they have a max of 5 ingredients I feel okay about eating them still.
leslie says
I am so sorry you are hand grinding your wheat. Invest in a grinder. Ktec has a great one for under $200. This will last you a life time. Remember to put your wheat in the fridge or freezer for storage. It’s preferred to grind a couple days before use, and then use that ground flour within a month.
Laurel says
I use a sour dough starter that is simple to get going and then the day I want to make before I want to make bread, I sit the starter out, feed it and then in the evening I add the dough ingredients. In the morning, there is minimal work to get it in the pan. It is light and “moist” and doesn’t go bad for a long time. My husband loves a moist bread and this one fits the bill. I’d be happy to share the starter recipe if you want it.
Susie says
Laurel, I’d love to have your starter recipe. My last one went “bad” and I’ve been nervous about trying again. Thanks!
Laurel says
Ingredients for Sour Dough Starter with Potato Flakes
3 Tablespoons instant mashed potato flakes
3 Tablespoons white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
Directions
Combine instant potatoes, sugar, water, and yeast in a glass quart jar with a lid on top but no ring. Let the starter sit on a counter for 5 days, stirring daily with a wooden spoon.
On the morning of the fifth day, feed the starter with 3 tablespoons instant potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1 cup warm water. That evening, take out 1 cup of the starter to use in a sourdough recipe. Refrigerate the remaining starter.
In the evening, in a large bowl, add to the 1 cup of starter, 1/2 cup oil, 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tbsp salt (I go with a little less), and mix well. Then add 1 1/2 cups warm water and 6 cups of bread flour/combination of white and wheat works too. It will be lumpy and not formed, that is okay. Rub a little oil on top. Cover loosely and let it sit on counter for overnight.
In the morning, flour your work surface, dump the dough out and with some flour on top of dough, knead it a little (it is so soft and amazing) and break it off into three even chunks, shape it for your bread pan and put in a greased bread pan. It makes two larger loaves plus a mini or three average sized loaves. Cover and allow to rise 4-5 hours and then bake for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven. It is wonderful! I make and freeze extra loaves. Three minutes in microwave and you have fresh bread all over again.
Every three days, you can get the starter out of the fridge, feed it and allow to sit on the counter till evening then pull you 1 cup of starter for your dough and put the rest back in the fridge. Do feed at least once every five days, feed the starter 3 tablespoons instant potatoes, 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 cup water. If you are not going to make bread, discard one cup of the starter or give it to a friend and return the jar to fridge.
Deb Miller says
I have been making bread off and on since I was 17. I use a bread machine as well as the old fashioned way.
With the recent development concerning wheat, I am moving away from the wheat bread and wheat products as it is a contributing factor to “belly” fat. I also read several articles that supported this as well. One of the Mother Earth News Mags had an article about the ingredient list that stated if the item has 5 or more ingredients that you don’t know what they are, it would be best to not consume it. The additives along with the GMO of wheat are not healthy for us.
I have taken a stand for my family and removed the processed crap from our pantry.
There is a blog that has a lot of good recipes for all kinds of mixes and sauces that we find at the grocery store that we can make at home and make them a bit healthier. Budget101 has all kinds of goodies for those of us that are trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle and stay on a strict budget!
I love your blog Mavis keep it up!
Kristin says
I don’t think it’s cheaper than the cheapest, junkiest bread you can buy. 🙂 But if you compare it to Dave’s Killer Bread or the like…you’re making a killing making it at home! And it’s so much better, there’s no comparison. I use this recipe for our regular sandwhich bread: http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2008/01/kitchen-tip-tuesday-homemade-bread.html It’s so delicious. She has a version for a bread machine also. I just throw it in the mixer the night before, cover it and then in the morning I add the other ingredients and go from there. I’ve also started making some no-knead bread in my dutch oven. So far I’ve only had success with white flour, but I know lots of people who do whole wheat. That’s next on my list…to make a really good whole wheat artisan bread. Peter’s book is great. He has an awesome pizza crust recipe online too.
I think it’s really too bad people are intimidated by making bread. It’s really not that hard.
Julie says
I paid $5 for a bread machine at a yard sale. It took a while to find a bread recipe my whole family liked, but I’ve been making my own bread for almost a year. Using bread flour made a big difference. I make regular bread about twice a week. Some weeks I also make pizza dough or bagels. (Today I’m trying English muffins for the first time.)
My 7-year-old brings the bread part of his sandwich back in his lunchbox if I use store-bought bread.
BethAnne says
I bake a lot. I would encourage you to make bread, even if you have to try lots of recipes before you find the one you like best. After all the bread will still be delicious as it is homemade.
Julie, I never use bread flour because I add vital wheat gluten to my unbleached all purpose, or whole wheat or rye flours when I mix the dough. I add 2 T to 6 cups white flour, more if using whole grains. Bread flour is just higher in gluten. Then I don’t have to have another
flour sitting around.
You Can Call Me Jane says
Our kids think white bread looks funny because they’ve grown up on whole wheat! We make (mostly) whole wheat oatmeal rolls (recipe on our blog), but they can be made into loaves as well. We eat these with soup. I love the idea of making all our bread, but there are not enough hours in my day. So, we buy 100% whole wheat and hope that all our other home-grown/made food makes up for any weird ingredients:-).
IDWoods says
I also love Artisan Bread in 5 minutes a day as well as Healthy Bread in 5 minutes a day. I make MOST of our bread right now. AB in 5 allows me to do that even though I have a full time job & 2 busy teens!
Pia Watzig says
We are a strictly homebaked bread family here and love it. I can’t go back to store bought stuff unless we are in dire needs. I bake an oatmeal loaf with 50/50 whole to white flour and my husband is on a huge artisan bread kick. He just read Flour, Water, Yeast, Salt by Ken Forkish from Ken’s Artisan Bakery in Portland. I’ve read many, many bread making books both for fun and in culinary school and nothing has been as great as this book. My hubby is purely novice and is rocking out amazing boules and perfect breads. I highly recommend it!!
A note on the benefit of homemade bread: much much cheaper, much much tastier and you and your kids learn something from it. Also, you tend to appreciate every little bit of it more than store bought and no dough conditioners (um, I read somewhere that companies use beaver anal gland secretions to make breads more shelf stable – can you say NASTY???!!!)
Good luck Mavis!! And please if you need help ask!
Gayle Taylor says
I use “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” by Jeff Hertzberg, MD and Zoe Francois. So easy and so delicious. I can’t go to a family get-together without getting calls begging me to bring some loaves.
Angie Smith says
I’m fortunate that there are companies here in Utah that make real bread: wheat, water, honey, salt & yeast. If I didn’t have access to these, I’d make my own because the other storebought “whole grain” stuff scares me a little bit. Haha! With my recent budget reduction, I may start making my own anyhow, but we don’t have freezer space & it takes us a long time to eat a loaf of bread. Maybe I need to make my own & serve French toast more often. 😉
Angie Smith says
I grew up with my mom making homemade bread, and I learned how from her with no bread machine – just making bread. 🙂 We have a grain grinder to make our own flour, and I use it regularly to make quicker things like muffins, biscuits, cookies, etc. I love having it & having those things homemade!
BethAnne says
What brand grinder do you have? I am interested in getting one.
Angie Smith says
It’s one my parents have had around a long time – it may be 20 or 30 years old. It just says “Mill & Mix – Brigham City, Ut.” Sorry I don’t have a more current recommendation.
madam chow says
Nutrimill is a popular electric brand. Country Living is a very well built hand crank model that shouldnlasta lifetime.
BethAnne says
Have you used the hand crank one? Is it possible to hand grind
a decent amount of flour in a reasonable time?
Stacey says
I grew up on homemade white bread. I didn’t appreciate it until I had my own family. After spending some years buying cheap bread at the local bread store, I started making my own. It was better for us, more filling, and actually cheaper! I made 4 loaves at a time, and when they were cool I sliced them and froze the bread in 1/2 loaf packages. We could thaw 1/2 loaf at a time, or just use a butter knife to separate a slice at a time. I would make bread again after we ate up what I had made, usually once every week to week and a half. I don’t bake bread often now because the kids are grown and gone, and my husband and I rarely eat bread, preferring tortillas most of the time. I would definitely encourage you to try it out. Once you’ve mastered regular bread, any other type of bread will be easy, and you can adapt what you make to what your family likes.
Sakura says
We were never a wonder bread family, but whole wheat was also yucky. Now that I’m more conscience about the number of carbs my husbands eats we’ve switched to Sara Lee 45 calorie a slice whole wheat bread for sandwiches. I live in Utah and we have lots of wonderful local bakeries, but since bread isn’t something we eat very much of I’m just trying to find one that won’t give my DH’s blood sugar too big of a jolt.
I’ve just recently purchased the Healthy bread in 5 minutes book, and I have to say after watching the video I’m surprised how easy it can be. You still need to have some time for rising and such, but the ingreadients are simple and so is the recipe.
Angie Smith says
I’m discovering that all starches and most sugars give me problems with my blood sugar staying elevated & not responding as well to insulin, although I can eat fruit & the insulin will work. There is really only one bread I still really like when I decide to use bread (very rarely now): it is the Food For Life brand “7 Sprouted Grains” bread. It is lower in carbs than most breads – because it is sprouted first, I guess. The texture is a bit crunchy/chunky, but it is delicious! I don’t know where you are in Utah, but I buy it at Real Foods Market, and I’m guessing it might be available at Good Earth & Whole Foods, too.
Penelope says
Homemade.
I am making 12 sandwich loaves today, along with flatbread for dinner and a couple batches of cinnamon rolls. I’m giving some of those away to family tonight for an event. I also made a 6X batch of cranberry/orange bread (well muffins) this a.m. I don’t usually get this much baking done on a Saturday, but I need to get it done. My older kids are helping some.
I have about 5 or 6 recipes I use depending on what I am making. I do have a Bosch that I picked up last year so it makes it a lot easier to get it done.
One recipe is oatmeal bread, it uses far too much brown sugar, but man is that stuff tasty. I also love the no knead recipe and have done a couple variations on it. Really love that stuff.
As for kids. They keep telling me they love it homemade, so we’ll keep on doing it.
The stuff we used to buy from the store was really close to homemade, we were lucky to have that sold at our store… but their prices almost doubled and it costs me about $.35/sandwich loaf to make it. Can’t compare that to the $1.69.
Madam Chow says
The Artisan Bread in Five minutes a day book, and others like it, are good but rely on huge amounts of yeast. Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice is excellent, as is Jeffrey Hamelman’s Bread, one of the best books out there. I took a class at King Arthur Flour’s school in Vermont with him, and it was fantastic.
Which brings me to flour – it really does matter what kind f flour you use. Costco flour tends to be not as good for bread baking as other brands, in my opinion.
Penelope says
I think I agree about the Costco flour. I’ve got their bread flour, but I think I like Sam’s bread flour better.
Don’t be afraid to play around with yeast amounts. I cut the yeast in half for one of my recipes and it ended up much better and my raise time wasn’t very much more at all. Freshness of yeast is much more important.
Madam Chow says
Oh,a nd for a great blog on bread baking, check out wildyeastblog.com.
Jules says
I would love to be able to just use homemade bread. But we go through a loaf a day. Seriously. So I know how to make it, I like making it, but i can’t keep up – so we go to the Oroweat Outlet weekly and freeze the loaves.
Ann T. says
I have enjoyed making homemade bread for years now. Homemade bread fresh out of the oven is the best, but bread coming out of a bread machine is second best. I do buy store bread at times, but homemade is way better and healthier for you. As you know, different breads for different meals. The hard one for you is going to be the daily sandwich bread that your son will like. Have fun and don’t give up, you will find the right recipe for your family as time goes by. One can take any basic white bread recipe and make it better by using potato water (always save your water that you boiled potatoes in) in place of the plain water. And ALWAYS add in some wheat flour with the white flour, even if it is just a half a cup at a time. My family likes whole wheat breads that still has some white flour in it. Have fun and even if you don’t make bread all the time your family will enjoy all the breads you test out on them.
madam chow says
I agree – potato water makes great bread!
bobbie says
You will never go back to store bought bread! I recommend getting a bread machine for everyday bread, it saves a lot of time, especially if youre a busy gardner. This is the recipe i throw in my breadmaker. I never worry about proofing yeast- AINT NOBODY GOT TIME FOR THAT! ha! 🙂
3 cups flour (i use half bread flour half whole wheat)
1 cup hot tap water
1/4 cup olive oil
1 TBS sugar)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp yeast (buy the one pound bads at sams- super cheap!!!!)
Throw it all in the bread machine and walk away. Well, turning it on helps… goodll luck mavis! Love love love your blog!
Maile says
Our family has moved to naturally fermented (sourdough starter) Sourdough Bread that has three ingredients: flour, salt, water. So delicious toasted with butter. yummmm.
Andrea D says
i just started experimenting with sourdough. i have the starter & mostly just make pancakes although i did try english muffins and a chocolate cake. would you share your bread recipe?
cj says
l love to make breads and try new recipients. I really like the fast and easy bread recipe s in “The homemade pantry”. I have found that the longer you let the dough rise (especially in the cold weather here) the lighter the loaf is. Our theory is that if you have to have white bread at least you know what is in it when make it at home.
Buy your yeast at Costco. The price is the best and it last forever if stored properly.
Lorri F says
I grew up on homemade bread…. store bought was never an option. When I moved out on my own I bought bread up until recently…. I found a breadmaker at goodwill for $6.99! I don’t care for the way it comes out (more that it’s a PAIN to get out) so I toss everything in the BM and set it to dough cyle. 2 hours later I toss it in my bread pan, pop it in the oven and in 30 minutes we have pipping hot bread. My kids LOVE IT! I love the way my house smells and it was EASY! Plus I know and can pronouce everything that is in my bread!
Amber says
I make my own bread and after discovering this no knead recipe that takes 5-6 hours, I’ve completely abandoned my bread machine and only use the Dutch oven for baking now. You can swap in up to 50% whole wheat too.
http://www.thekitchn.com/noknead-bread-i-35556
Chelsea says
Hi Mavis, here is my fool-proof, amazing, easy white amish bread recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/amish-white-bread/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=amish%20bread&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page
I split the sugar and the salt in half, and I dont have a bread machine so i just use my stand mixer. Another tip is to heat your oven to about 100 degrees (not hotter) and let the breead rise in there. When I first started making bread it never rose all the way here in the cold pacific northwest, but it rises perfectly in the warm oven!
Kerry says
Due to some medical issues, I’ve decided that I need to start making all my food from scratch. It can be a pain and time consuming. But I love making bread. I found a honey oat recipe that is super easy and sooooo good.
http://pinterest.com/pin/87960998943829880/
I used dry active instead of rapid rise. I just dissolved the yeast in the milk mixture instead of adding it to the flour.
Kerry says
Also I found this information from Fleischmann’s about how the different yeast work very helpful. http://www.breadworld.com/RR_vs_ADY.aspx
michelle g-b says
We buy ww sliced sandwich bread for every day use… the Country Oven brand from Freddy’s is everyone’s favorite bread around here. Homemade bread is for special dinners or just because mom felt like making bread. It’s almost always 100% white flour & some version of artisinal/french-ish. King Arthur unbleached white bread flour is the best!!! It’s difficult to duplicate the soft/spongy texture of the bread you find in the store– they use some kind of additive– nothing bad, just something you can’t really use in a home kitchen, I think.
That pic of the kids is priceless!!!
Andrea D says
i love homemade bread. there is something about kneading by hand that is comforting. Maybe i just find it a good way to release some of my mom-of-5 stress 🙂 unfortunately i don’t make it as often as i would like. but we don’t eat a lot of sandwiches, so we don’t need much. but when i do make it, my hubby polishes it off in no time- still warm from the oven.
i don’t use any fancy recipe. if you are looking for good white bread recipe, the basic white bread in the fanny farmer baking book does the trick.
for the best homemade hamburger/hotdog rolls, go to mamajj’s blog and look up her light as air hamburger buns recipe.
MaryW says
Mavis,
America’s Test Kitchen has a recipe for a whole wheat sandwich bread. It’s still available to print without paying for it. You could look into that if you are so inclined.
Mavis says
Sweet! Thanks Mary.
Jeanie says
I make my own bread. I usually make the dough in the bread machine and then do the final proof and bake in my oven. I have yet to read through all the comments but if you are planning on making your own baguette…invest in baguette pans. My better finished product. Also Peter Reinhart has a bread class you can take on Craftsy.
Chrism says
There are so may ways to get whole grains without eating bread. Brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, granola, cereals, barley, and corn is even a whole grain.
I used to make the 5 minute artisan bread recipe, and got busy last year and stopped making bread. I used half whole wheat flour and half unbleached all-purpose flour. So nice to pull some out on the weekends and make cinnamon swirl bread too. I have been trying to cut back on the grocery budget this year too. I think I’ll make a batch tonight.