Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Mmm... Fresh Baked Bread!


Among some of the things that I accomplished today (the list is not very long to begin with),
I decided to make bread!
I love making bread and there is one recipe in particular that I make all the time.
It was given to me by my mom's friend, Suzi,
and it is the best and easiest recipe...
It is kind of like a challah bread,
and very open to adding whatever you may like!
Sometimes I add fennel and cardamon like a nisu bread...
Very tasty!

Ingredients:
4 tbsp. butter
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup milk
2 1/2 cup flour
2 tbsp yeast
4 tbsp sugar or honey
2 tsp salt

1.
Heat the butter on low until it has melted and then add the milk (and water if needed) and heat to about body temp.
2.
In a bowl combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
3.
Add the butter, water and milk into the mixture and beat until it smooths out some.
Keep adding flour bit by bit until you have a ball of dough.

4.
Kneed the dough a good handful of times to get it worked and ready to form.
5.
Lightly flour a baking tray or bread stone.
Cut the ball of dough in to 3 equal sections.
Roll each seaction between your hands into long tubes (about the length of the pan) and lay them next to eachother.
With the 2 outside tubes, make and x in the middle and over the middle tube.
Then starting from the middle, braid out each side and tuck in the ends a little...
It should look like this:

I meant to take better pictures of this process, but I got excited and then it was already braided...
Oops, sorry!
6.
Once you have braided the dough, cover it and let it sit in a warm place to rise for 1/2 hour.
Meanwhile, preheat the stove to 375 degrees.
7.
When the dough has risen, you can either put it in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes,


or,
you can first add an egg glaze to make it that much prettier!
All you have to do is break one egg into a bowl, add a splash of milk,

whisk and then brush over the top of the loaf before it goes into the oven.

Doing this will give it a beautiful golden brown to the top!

When the bread is finished baking, let it cool a bit before you cut into it...

Yeah, thats what they always say, but I never do!
I can usually wait about 1 to 2 minutes (Andy can't usually even wait that long) and then the loaf is sliced up and loaded with butter...
We are BIG butter people...
"Its better with butter!!!"
Enjoy!
...BrittanButterfly...

11 comments:

  1. I hope this is in the mail on its way to me :) It looks super yummy!
    PS Have you gotten your pin yet?

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh YUM!!! i want some :) bread and cheese... i could live off it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why did you have to show that bread? WHYYYYY????? I love bread, but I haven't baked any in a while because I actually hate baking...I just love eating!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh gosh fresh bread is amazing, i love the smell that it fills the house with.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I LOVE BREAD!!!!!!

    @Cole- I haven't been to the post box today, actually I haven't left the house at all, not even for a walk... It might be down there, I'll check tomorrow. I can't wait!

    @Danielle- sorry, I had to post some sort of accomplishment today, I was feeling very much like I haven't gotten much done lately... I love eatting bread too, this one is nice because it is very quick to make!
    :)

    And what's even better, Andy made amazing pizza tonight and a surprise cupcake dessert!!! WOO-HOO! I love cupcakes! I ate 2, I'm a little piglet!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That bread looks amazing!
    I might give the recipe a try closer to winter (I generally dont make or eat bread during the summer months) and more like bread-eating-weather. :)
    ~S.

    ReplyDelete
  7. thanks for commenting on my blog :)
    and this is totally on my bucket list! i'll follow your lead thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  8. oh I love it too, but it doesn't love me I am gluten free. your bread looks awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Good for you Cat! I think I would like to be sugar free, but I am totally addicted. I go through phases where I eat a lot and then eat none or hardly any... I know its bad for me, but it is just so good! Its hard to stop.

    ReplyDelete
  10. looks so good to me..what a beautiful loaf of bread...there is just something about bread baking in the oven that makes a hosue so cozy....

    i can smell it from here....

    glad to see you're in the drawing..thanks for stopping by, my friend

    kary
    xxx
    p.s it is better with butter :-)

    ReplyDelete
  11. OH my GOSH! that looks so amazing!

    ReplyDelete