Preston, my wonderful boyfriend, suggested I make some homemade bread from Anissa's Kitchen. I was very scared to try homemade bread without my mom here but it turned out amazing!! This recipe is very easy to follow and I would recommend starting with this if you haven't made bread before. I managed to make everything accordingly without a stand up mixer. It didn't take me a long time and I never felt lost or frustrated. So give it a try!
To say the least, it turned out delicious. Actually, it was so tasty that we almost ate a whole loaf the first night. I tried her variation of cinnamon sugar bread: make sure you roll it out well. I didn't so the cinnamon sugar wasn't distributed very evenly at all. Otherwise, the cinnamon sugar bread was just as good.
White Bread
4 cups warm (105-115o F) water
2 Tbls active dry yeast
1 Tbls salt
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup honey or 2/3 cup sugar
10-12 cups all-purpose or bread flour
1. Pour the water into a very large mixing bowl or the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer. Add the yeast, salt, oil, honey, and 5 cups flour, and mix to combine. Gradually mix in an additional 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time, until the dough is smooth. (Add still more flour, ¼ cup at a time, if necessary.)
2. Knead by hand on a lightly floured surface, or with the dough hook on low for 12 minutes. Cover with a dish towel and let the dough rise until doubled in bulk, 30 to 45 minutes. Generously grease three 9 x 5-inch loaf pans and set aside.
3. Punch down the dough, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead briefly to remove any air bubbles. Divide the dough in thirds, knead each section a few times, and shape into a loaf. Place the dough into the prepared pans. Cover with a dish towel and let rise 30 to 45 minutes. The dough is ready to bake when you press down slightly with your finger and the indentation remains.
4. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degree3s. Bake the loaves for 30 minutes. Immediately remove from the pans and cool on a wire rack. To freeze loaves, place in resealable plastic freezer bags and store up to two months in the freezer.
Variation: To make cinnamon bread, roll out each section and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar as desired. Sprinkle ½ teaspoon of water over the dough and roll lengthwise. Place in a greased bread pan. Let rise and bake as above.
