Although I am not by any means a baker, there's something about winter that just makes me want to pull hot, crusty loaves of fresh-baked bread out of the oven! Although wheat (especially bread) does cause some digestive issues for me, so I don't eat it a lot, I have done some experimenting over the years with homemade breads.
I grew up eating homemade fresh-baked whole wheat bread almost every day. My dad would rise at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to grind wheat berries into flour, then mix and knead the dough, set it to rise, knead it again, let it rise again, and so forth. Most mornings I would wake to the smell of fresh bread baking, or the sight of my dad kneading dough at the kitchen window. So homemade bread is "baked" into me in some ways, I guess! Maybe that's why store-bought breads (even the "fresh baked" kind) just don't really do it for me...
Anyway, over the years, I've tried making numerous variations of homemade bread - made in a breadmaker, using homemade sourdough, various combinations of whole wheat, white, and bread flour, and so on.
There is some sort of myth out there that making bread is difficult or complicated, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because of the kneading? (Which is actually very easy, and also kind of fun!) Or the time required? (Which is mostly just time spent waiting for the dough to rise - which you can spend doing whatever you want.) Anyway, the truth is bread is actually one of the easiest things to make. All you need is flour, water, salt, and some type of yeast (techniques may vary depending on whether you're using purchased dry yeast, or a sourdough starter), some time, and an oven to bake it in!
If you're not into kneading dough, or just don't have that much time to fuss with your bread, I would suggest trying the super easy recipe below. It's incredibly simple, and makes absolutely delicious homemade artisan-style bread with just 5 minutes of work! (Okay maybe 10 - max.)
I grew up eating homemade fresh-baked whole wheat bread almost every day. My dad would rise at the ungodly hour of 4:30am to grind wheat berries into flour, then mix and knead the dough, set it to rise, knead it again, let it rise again, and so forth. Most mornings I would wake to the smell of fresh bread baking, or the sight of my dad kneading dough at the kitchen window. So homemade bread is "baked" into me in some ways, I guess! Maybe that's why store-bought breads (even the "fresh baked" kind) just don't really do it for me...
Anyway, over the years, I've tried making numerous variations of homemade bread - made in a breadmaker, using homemade sourdough, various combinations of whole wheat, white, and bread flour, and so on.
There is some sort of myth out there that making bread is difficult or complicated, and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because of the kneading? (Which is actually very easy, and also kind of fun!) Or the time required? (Which is mostly just time spent waiting for the dough to rise - which you can spend doing whatever you want.) Anyway, the truth is bread is actually one of the easiest things to make. All you need is flour, water, salt, and some type of yeast (techniques may vary depending on whether you're using purchased dry yeast, or a sourdough starter), some time, and an oven to bake it in!
If you're not into kneading dough, or just don't have that much time to fuss with your bread, I would suggest trying the super easy recipe below. It's incredibly simple, and makes absolutely delicious homemade artisan-style bread with just 5 minutes of work! (Okay maybe 10 - max.)
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