Warm, fresh bread

Here it is! This is what I promised last night. A simple bread recipe that can be made in a Kitchen Aid Mixer or my hand in a bowl. So while I am suppose to be paying attention to my General Psychology Class, I am going to instead be posting this amazing recipe. It is awesome because this makes one loaf of bread unlike many other bread recipes that make somewhere 7 and a billion loaves of bread. I only want one loaf of bread for me and my sweet Mister. First I will give you the recipe and then some ideas that you can do with it other than just plain old bread. Although that is yummy.

Simple Bread

Ingredients

2 1/2 - 3 cups of flour (for your first batch, I recommend using plain white flour)
1 packet of yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)
1 Tablespoon of granulated white sugar
1 Teaspoon table salt
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons Oil

Directions

1) In your bowl, mix together 2 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, and salt. Make sure this is well mixed together or the bread turns out funky
2) Add in water and oil and allow to mix. Scrape the sides of the bowl to ensure all of the flour is mixed in. Your dough will still be very wet.
3) This is the hard part. Every batch is different it seems. Add in flour slowly until the dough no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. Do not add in too much flour or the bread will be very dense and gross
4) Put the dough in a well greased bowl and cover with saran wrap. Let rise in a warm place until the dough has at least doubled in size. I let the dough rise until it is almost touching the cling wrap.
5) My favorite part. Punch down the dough. Try not to mess with the dough too much.
6) Roll the dough into a log and tuck under the ends. Place it into a greased bread pan and let it rise again. If you don't let it rise long enough it has issues and is dense. It won't rise up completely like store bought bread. I have tried different methods and cannot seem to get it to work. Maybe more yeast...
7) Bake in a 350° oven for 25-30 minutes. grease the loaf before baking it to increase the browning.
8) Let cool for a few minutes (it will still be warm, I promise) before cutting into it.

So now that we have this awesome recipe, what else can we do with it? Roll out the dough and cover in a spread. What kind of spread? Cinnamon, sugar, and butter makes for amazing toast or cinnamon rolls. Need a glaze for it? Mix together 2-4 Tablespoons with half a cup of powdered sugar. Add in a 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla for flavor   Just roll it up and bake it! There is also garlic bread that you can make with it too. Yum! Let me know what you make with this in the comments below!