I'm not even going to try to be humble here, because I am really proud of myself for this one.
I hadn't used yeast again since making crescent rolls a while back and wanted to get more familiar with using it. I didn't need more crescent rolls quite yet, so I went looking through my Baker's Illustrated book, put on my big girl panties and went shopping for ingredients.
That's right, I'd be making "American Sandwich Bread."
I don't have the recipe at the moment (let me know if you'd like it), but it was super easy. The book's goal was to have a loaf done in less than two hours including baking time. It took me a little bit longer, but it was my first time and I bet my time will go down as I get more experience.
The recipe was much easier than I expected it to be. Call me ignorant, but I wasn't even sure you could make bread at home without a bread maker. Boy was I wrong! Baker's Illustrated strongly discouraged bread makers saying the crust is, at best, mediocre from them.
Also, my book recommended using a stand mixer, which was also a plus for me. They discouraged hand kneading saying that people tend to add too much flour when they do.
In essence, I through everything together, kneaded it, let it rise, put it in the pan, let it rise and cooked it. The yeast was much better to work with now that I have a handy thermometer and boy could I tell the difference!
It. Was. DELICIOUS.
We happened to have some people over the night I did it, so everyone tried it and loved it.
So far, we've used it for grilled cheeses and cinnamon toast (which I'll be blogging about soon) and it was absolutely fantastic both times. It can also be frozen for a few months, which is always a plus.
I hadn't used yeast again since making crescent rolls a while back and wanted to get more familiar with using it. I didn't need more crescent rolls quite yet, so I went looking through my Baker's Illustrated book, put on my big girl panties and went shopping for ingredients.
That's right, I'd be making "American Sandwich Bread."
I don't have the recipe at the moment (let me know if you'd like it), but it was super easy. The book's goal was to have a loaf done in less than two hours including baking time. It took me a little bit longer, but it was my first time and I bet my time will go down as I get more experience.
The recipe was much easier than I expected it to be. Call me ignorant, but I wasn't even sure you could make bread at home without a bread maker. Boy was I wrong! Baker's Illustrated strongly discouraged bread makers saying the crust is, at best, mediocre from them.
Also, my book recommended using a stand mixer, which was also a plus for me. They discouraged hand kneading saying that people tend to add too much flour when they do.
In essence, I through everything together, kneaded it, let it rise, put it in the pan, let it rise and cooked it. The yeast was much better to work with now that I have a handy thermometer and boy could I tell the difference!
It. Was. DELICIOUS.We happened to have some people over the night I did it, so everyone tried it and loved it.So far, we've used it for grilled cheeses and cinnamon toast (which I'll be blogging about soon) and it was absolutely fantastic both times. It can also be frozen for a few months, which is always a plus.
Brave girl! Looks delish!
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