Baking a good loaf of bread is a wonderful skill that can save you some serious cash. I go through 1/2 lb of yeast and 25 lbs worth of flour every week to feed the 7 of us that are currently in residence,of course this still varies with the older girls coming and going. Here’s a basic bread recipe that I use to make bread, hot dog and hamburger buns, pizza crust, etc.
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
In a very large bowl add:
1 quart hot water
Stir or whisk in enough flour to make a soft goopy mix like thick soup.
Add:
4 teaspoons of salt
4 tablespoons of oil
4 tablespoons of sugar, honey or other sweetener
4 tablespoons of yeast (buy it by the pound to save money)
Continue to whisk all ingredients together until well blended. Then switch to a heavy-duty spoon. Keep stirring and add flour until the mixture forms a ball and it’s thick enough to turn out onto a floured table top. Knead in flour until it’s no longer sticky and has a nice elastic feel. At this point you can let it rise or form into the desired shapes.
Makes 4 pizza crusts, or
two pizza pans covered with hot dog or hamburger buns, or
2-4 loaves of bread depending on the size of your pans, or
1 9×12 pan of rolls with a little extra for 1 loaf of bread, or
3 nice loaves of french bread.
I bake almost everything including bread at 350 degrees. Small loaves take 25-30 minutes and large loaves take about 40 minutes.
For the French bread I bake it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Make sure the oven is preheated.
Hope this works well for you. Enjoy!
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