First Try at Breadmaking

I've been bitten by the domestic bug today and have been cleaning and organizing like a mad woman.  But that wasn't enough....oh, noooooo!  I also decided to cook up the final two pumpkins from last fall AND try my hand at making some white bread rather than running to the store.

Since I'm a little lazy, I decided to try out something I saw over at The Iowa Housewife on making bread in your food processor.  I've got a breadmaker also, so I guess I could have done that, but the food processor was closer.  I told you I'm lazy.

I borrowed one of her recipes for simple white bread, but she's shared all kinds of recipes for cheese bread, herbed garlic rolls (yum!), buttermilk and other yummy breads. Here's the recipe I used for the white bread:

Simple White Bread ala Food Processor

Ingredients
(makes 1 loaf, or 16 slices)

2 teaspoons instant yeast (1 package)
1/2 tablespoon  sugar
3 cups bread flour -- 13 1/2 - 15 ounces
2 tablespoons butter (or shortening, lard or salad oil)
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup whole milk  (or water)

Directions

1. Combine all dry ingredients into processor bowl.  Use steel blade.
2. Mix about 5 seconds, until combined.
3. Heat liquids to 120-130°.  For me, this was about 50 minutes in the microwave and I used a candy tester to make sure the temprerature was right.
4. With food processor running, pour liquid through the feed tube in a steady stream as fast as the flour absorbs it.  Continue processing until dough cleans the side of the work bowl, about 45 seconds, then let the machine run to complete kneading, about 60 seconds.  Dough will be fully kneaded.
5. Let rise in covered work bowl, about 20 minutes.  I transferred the dough to a bowl and then covered it with a dish towel.
6. Punch the dough down.  Shape into a loaf and place in a greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2" loaf pan.
7. Let dough rise in pan, covered with oiled or sprayed plastic wrap or waxed paper until center is 1" above rim of pan.  You want to be careful here that you don't strangle the rising dough with the cover.  I just placed it in my oven with the light on and covered it with a dish towel.
8. Preheat oven to 375° while the dough is rising in the pan.  Bake in the center of the preheated oven until loaf is well-browned and sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 35 minutes. 
9. Brush the top of the slightly cooled loaf with butter for a soft crust.

Sue estimates the cost of making this at about $1.20 per loaf or 8¢ per slice (with milk) and $1.01 or 7¢ per slice(with water and no milk).  Since I scored some organic milk for just $1.25 per gallon on Friday and we already had the Red Mill organic bread flour on hand, my cost was much less than her estimates, and certainly less than what you could buy processed bread for in the store

I thought this was really simple to make and I can't wait to try some of her other recipes.  And I guess I can cross this off our list of goals for this month.

Got any tips for a newbie breadmaker or have you found other innovative ways to make bread?  Or have you made anything really tasty lately?  I'd love to hear about it.

I'm linking up to the Ol' Saturday Homesteading Trading Post and the Made From Scratch Blog Hop.  Check them out and find out what other folks are up to!