How do I bake bread from scratch?

Answer 1

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Homemade Bread
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups water, warmed
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour

1. In a large bowl, mix the yeast with the warm water and stir in sugar until dissolved.
2. Add the salt and the flour, one cup at a time.
3. Knead bread for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Place bread in a large bowl sprayed with olive oil spray and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth and place in(inactive/not hot) oven to rise for one hour, or until dough has doubled in size. (If the kids really can't wait, 45 minutes works too!)
5. Punch down the bread and let the kids shape it, or put it into two loaf pans. I recommend brushing with an egg mixed with a tablespoon of water because it makes the bread taste better and makes it golden and crispy on the outside. Let the dough rise for another half hour (you can skimp on this to 20 minutes again if you have to!). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with margarine mixed with honey (about 2-3 tablespoons, to taste) and brown sugar (ditto, but packed). To store this bread, wrap very tightly in several layers of foil, or put in a large Ziploc bag and seal. But, it's best warm and served the same day -- however putting chunks in the microwave for 10 seconds if it's a day old helps, too. (Forgive me for my run-on sentences -- I am educated!).
6. P.S. Even for a health nut like I usually am, using whole-wheat flour exclusively in this recipe gives it a bad reputation.

Source(s):

http://www.recipezaar.com/135485

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Answer 2

YEAST!

Answer 3

It depends what kind of bread you want, but generally you have:
Sugar and salt
Flour
Milk/water
Yeast

Answer 4

You need flour,yeast and a pinch of salt.the powdered yeast you buy in the supermarkets best .mix together with luke warm water,knead like mad for 10 mins,leave to rise,knead again.Pop in tin,leave to rise ,bake in oven gas8 25 to 35 mins.bread should sound hollow if you give it a tap on bottom,that means its cooked.

Answer 5

Bread making is a straight forward business which requires patience.

Ingredients = one bag of strong bread flour, 1 packet of baking yeast, sugar.

Buy Allison's Bread flour - this has instructions for bread making on the packet.

If you prefer to make bread the Irish way, try soda bread. Use strong bread flour and baking soda.

With bread making it's the kneading of the dough after the first rise which is very important. This is called 'knocking back'. Leave the dough to rise a second time then put in a hot oven. Depends what sort of loaf you want to make but usually about half hour to 40 mins.

The easiest loaf to make is without a tin, a simple round, with a slight hump.

If you have want to speed up the business of making bread, the way forward is to buy a bread maker. This will make bread overnight and have it ready for you to eat at breakfast.

Follow the instructions which you'll find in the booklet which comes with the bread maker = £80 average price.

How do I know when a loaf is ready. When it has been removed from the oven, wearing oven gloves [red hot], tap the bottom of the loaf, if it gives a hollow sound, it's done if not, back into the oven for a few mins more.

How do I make stale bread like fresh again? Wipe the outside of the day old bread with a damp cloth, but into a hot oven for about 15 mins. This crisps up the crust again.

Yum!

Answer 6

grow some wheat...

Answer 7

Most answerers have mentioned yeast as a key ingredient.
This is certainly true.
Be prepared to stay home for several hours as usually bread and other things (yeast cakes and pastries) need to rise twice.
You can do other things while the dough is rising (you don't have to watch it, lol) but you don't want to make bread on a day when you need to run lots of errands.It will help your budget if you can buy the yeast in bulk at one of the stores like BJ or Cosco. The little packets at the regular supermarket are actually kind of pricey. Oh, the yeast is kind of stinky, but that's the way it's supposed to be! Make sure it gets frothy after adding the water; that way you know it's capable of growing the dough.
You can find lots of bread recipes online, for instance,
Allrecipes.com
and there are many bread books in the library.
If you haven't done much baking, you might want to start
with what is called a quick bread. No yeast in these, and most are closer to cake than bread, but this could be a nice thing to make as well. Have fun!

Answer 8

This recipe uses HOVIS FAST ACTION BREAD YEAST and therefore only needs to rise once, is very easy and tastes fantastic! The recipe can be found on the back of the yeast packet too.

Ingredients to make 1 large loaf -

500g Hovis strong White bread flour (or 250g Allisons wholemeal or granary flour and 250g strong white bread flour)

25g butter or marg

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

1x7g sachet of fast acting bread yeast

300 ml / 10 fl oz warm water (mix half boiling hot with half cold)

2 teaspoons sugar (optional)

Method
1) In a large bowl, mix together the flour (sugar) and salt, rub in the butter or marg then stir in the yeast.

2) Stir in the water and mix into a soft dough by hand.

3) Turn out onto a floured board and knead for 10 mins by hand

4) Shape the dough and place into a 2 1b loaf tim or on a baking tray. Cover with a clean, damp tea towel (this stops the dough from drying out) and leave in a warm place until doubled in size (1 1/2 to 2 hours)

5) Uncover and bake in an oven preheated to temp Gas Mark 8 or 450 Farenheit) for 30 to 35 mins.

6) take the loaf out of the tin and cool on a rack

Then butter a slice and enjoy...Mmmm enough to make my mouth water!!