Bread is the love of many people’s lives as it saves their busy and tight-scheduled days. Besides being healthy, it is delicious, and it is among the few food items from which you can prepare different recipes within several minutes. However, have you ever considered how bread is prepared in factories and if you can then, would you like to taste your home-baked bread? Well, if yes, below are the easy steps to start your bread-baking journey at home.
1. First things first, gather the essential ingredients
Along with a large bowl, loaf pan, some cooking spray, and measuring spoons and cups, you’ll also need the basic ingredients to start with your home-baked bread journey including
- a cup of warm water
- 2 teaspoons of yeast
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- a cup of whole wheat flour
- a tablespoon of oil
- a tablespoon of white sugar or honey
- and a cup of all-purpose flour
2. Start feeding the yeast
Making the yeast happy is important, so feed it. Just add two teaspoons of yeast into a large bowl with a cup of warm water and mix with one tablespoon of honey and oil until everything dissolve together properly. Now, add a teaspoon of salt with a cup of whole wheat flour and yes, mix well. Then, cover the bowl with a wrap or towel and let it rest for at least half an hour.
3. Adding the flour
After feeding the yeast for 30 minutes, now, add a cup of all purpose flour and mix it well and look at the consistency which shouldn’t be overly wet. If it’s still wet, add some more flour.
4. The kneading process!
Moving on sprinkle some flour on the work surface and put some on your hands too. Then, place the dough on the surface and sprinkle a little flour onto it as well for the kneading. As a next step, knead the dough for at least eight minutes continuously. If kneading is going smoothly the dough will absorb the entire flour from the surface and your hands and all things will look cleaner.
5. Wait for the first rise
For the first rise, take a bowl and sprinkle a little flour on the bottom. Place the kneaded dough inside it and sprinkle a little flour over it as well. Further, cover the bowl again with a towel or saran wrap. Let it rsie for 30-45 minutes.
6. Smack it down with a punch
Take the dough out of the bowl after the first rise and smack it down well with your fully-powered punch.
7. The second rise and preheating the oven
Now, take a loaf pan, spray a little of cooking spray inside it and then put the dough flatly inside it, so it can take shape of loaf. Now, again leave it for the second rise and wait until it covers the edges of the entire pan. On the other hand, preheat your oven to 350 F while the other process is going on.
8. Bake and let it cool!
Further, place the loaf on the middle rack of the oven and let it bake for 30-40 minutes. Th more you bake, the more you become clearer about the time span of baking part. Then, pop out the loaf pan out of the oven and leave it to cool down. However, you can try it warm as well.
9. It’s ready – either store or eat!
After your bread is ready, you can cover it in a plastic wrap and store it in freezer or you can eat it after cooling it down.