What’s better than the aroma of freshly baked bread on a cool Fall or Winters Day? One of my favorite things is the smell of freshly baked bread. It always takes me back to days gone by… I can almost feel the warmth of my Great Grammy’s old wood stove.
Bread is not a difficult thing to make. It just takes a little practice. When making homemade bread, you should plan to set aside at least 4 hours of your day to dedicate to this task. It will be well worth the effort!
Directions:
Yield: One 8″ pan (4-6 servings)
- Put three cups of flour, shortening, sugar and yeast in large mixing bowl. Blend together with wooden spoon.
- Add water and another cup of flour. Blend together.
- Add another 1/2 cup of flour and the salt. Blend together.
- Dump contents of bowl onto counter and continue to blend by hand and knead the dough adding flour as required to prevent sticking.
- Knead dough for 8 – 10 minutes or until you have a nice smooth ball that is no longer sticky.
- Place in large bowl greased with shortening and cover with a clean towel. Place in a warm, draft free area to rise until double in size (approx. one and a half hours).
- Punch down and shape into loaves. Place in greased 8″ loaf pans, cover with clean towel and allow to rise in warm, draft free area for another hour, until double in size.
- Remove towel and place in preheated 400°F oven, center rack, for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and pans. Brush crust lightly with butter or margarine and cool on wire racks.
ENJOY!!!
Ingredients:
- 5 to 6 1/2 cups – All Purpose Flour
- 1 and 1/2 tbsp of Fleischmann’s Instant Quick Rise Yeast
- 1/4 cup of Shortening (Room Temperature)
- 1/4 cup of Sugar or Honey
- 1 tsp of Salt
- 2 cups of Hot Water (100°F)
Hi Lali,
Sound slike your yeast is really doing it’s job! I would try cutting your yeast down to 1 Tablespoon and see how that works for you. When I use the stand mixer, I usually knead with the dough hook for ten minutes at speed 2 as well.
I will perform the window pane test if I am in doubt about whether or not it has been kneade enough.
You are doing a great job. bread just takes a little practice. there are so many factors at play.
Keep up the great work and thanks so much for writing!
Candra 🙂
Hi Candra,
I tried skipping the first rise and the results were definitely better. Could you help me with the following to improve my bread:
1. I use instant yeast. Should I be using less yeast than what you have in your recipe?
2. My risen dough is not as smooth as yours and has bubbles and flops slightly over the pan. It doesn’t seem to rise straight up if you know what I mean!
3. I use a stand mixer to knead the dough. I knead for about 10 minutes on speed 2. How do I know if I haven’t over-kneaded the dough. Is there anything as over-kneading?
Love to have your expert opinion on these.
Lali
That’s great Lali!
Let me know how you make out 🙂
Hi Candra,
I do use instant yeast. Will try out skipping the first rise. Thanks.
Lali
Hi Lali,
If you use the instant, quick rise yeast, you can skip the first rise. Just cover the dough and let it rest 20 minutes, shape into loaves, rise until double and bake @ 400F for 30 minutes.
Also, wholegrain breads are a bit heavier than the regular white bread. They have a different texture as well and may not rise quite as high.
I hope this helps!
thanks so much for writing 🙂
Candra
Hi Candra,
I tried the whole wheat bread last evening. The taste was delicious, but it did not rise and fluff as the white bread did. I used only half the amount of all purpose flour as the dough did not require more than that. The first rise was perfect, but after shaping it into loaves it didn’t rise as much. Wonder what the problem was. Am planning to try it out again with less wholewheat and more all purpose.
What do you think?
Lali