If I’ve learned anything in the last week it’s that 1) burns are painful 2) I have an affinity for touching the toaster, the toaster oven and the oven when they’re hot and 3) baking bread is an ALL day affair.
We’ll skip the burn talk and stick with the bread…
You’ll notice my photos go from natural daylight to artificial daylight throughout this post. I broke out my Kitchenaid Mixer at 1 PM and didn’t pull the bread out of the oven until 6 PM. Baking bread is time consuming but so incredibly rewarding. Sinking your teeth in freshly baked bread that you yourself slaved over is unlike any other feeling.
I’m still learning the ins and outs of bread baking so every step is an exciting mini experiment/lesson. I don’t own a bread baking book so I had to Google my way through the entire process. I learned a few helpful tips along the way.
Are you supposed to stir active dry yeast?
First, stir ~1 tsp sugar into the warm water (100-110*F) until fully dissolved. Then sprinkle in the yeast and stir gently with a spoon.
How do you know when yeast is ready?
When it has expanded and is foamy.
How do you knead dough with a stand mixer?
Kneading dough in a mixer is a little different than kneading by hand. After reading this helpful ehow.com article, I realized I did not knead my challah dough properly…or maybe at all (!!).
How do you punch down bread dough?
After the first rise, punch the center of the dough with your first. Push the sides in and form a ball. It felt weird at first, punching down the dough that I waited for SO long to rise, but some (all?) loaves need two rises for better texture and flavor.
These questions were BASIC but I really needed to know the answers!
***
On Tuesday, I made a Rustic Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Bread with Walnuts and Raisins following this recipe. I halved the recipe to make one loaf and had to use 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour because I ran out of whole wheat pastry flour. For the sweet potato, I used half puree from a can and half freshly mashed sweet potato.
I put the bowl in the oven and covered it with a damp towel to let the dough rise while I went for a run. To warm up the oven, I turned it on for ~2 min. until it reached 103*F and then shut it off.
Much to my delight, the dough doubled in size! I was overjoyed.
Then…
I punched it
I formed it into a loaf
I let it rise a 2nd time while taking a shower (I have to distract myself while waiting for dough to rise so my impatience doesn’t kill me).
After 40 min. in the oven at 400*F, out came fresh, doughy, aromatic bread.
Baking bread really makes your kitchen smell incredible. By the time it comes out the oven, your stomach is yearning for a slice…or 3.
My parents and I finished all but 2 slices of this loaf within minutes (something tells me they don’t regret getting me a Kitchenaid Mixer for Christmas!). The sweet potato made gave the bread a slight hint of sweetness. However, it was the sprinkle of rosemary that really brought the bread to whole new level.
I’m hooked on bread baking…
Tell me…the title of a good bread baking book!
{ 36 comments… read them below or add one }
I need a Kitchenaid Mixer sooooooo bad. That bread looks delicious!
I absolutely love Peter Reinhart’s book The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. It’s a bit pricey, but it explains EVERYTHING you could ever want to know about bread in an easy-to-understand way (I have a short attention span). I made about half a dozen of his recipes last winter, some more than once, and I really need to dig it out again. I’d love to do a “Julie and Julia” project with this book. All the pictures make me drool!
The King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking book is pretty cool. No lovely color photos, but lots of info- like a bread baking bible! Or you can get a bunch (all?) of the recipes from their website.
Yeah, depending on what type of bread you’re making, it can take FOREVER. The first I ever tried had to rise overnight. Lately I’ve been sticking to the ones that just take a couple of hours. I’m hoping to try hamburger buns/rolls next.
Your sweet potato bread looks like biscotti! Mmm…I’ll bet it would be tasty with some tea/coffee.
yum!!! making this tonight!
This is super helpful. You answered so many of my questions!
We stole my in-laws breadmaker just so we could make fresh bread at home – without a lot of work. There is nothing better then homemade bread.
I rarely have the time to spend all day making bread but it is something I would like to tackle someday!
DANG this looks incredible- literally salivating over my keys at the mo..
This looks amazing! Congratulations, it looks like it was totally worth it.
Hope the phone interview went well! That bread looks amazing!
I have yet to make bread with my Kitchen Aid. I guess that’ll be my next Project Wifey Wife recipe! hehe
Thanks for the tips! I love seeing the dough rise and punching the heck out of it (I’ve made pizza dough before). Its the little things right?
Hey Allie!
I caught the bread baking bug a few years ago and it hasn’t slowed down. I like to bake with whole grains for my everyday sandwich bread and The Laurel’s Kitchen Bread Book has been perfect. I first found it at the library (great place to start – to find your baking style!) and loved it so much I ordered it from Amazon. I second what some others said above – Peter Rinehart is great and KAF is awesome. I read the KAF blog, too.
I just made these: http://whiteonricecouple.com/recipes/garlic-knots/. OH MY GOSH, make them now! AMAZING. Especially if you’re a garlic lover like me
I want to bake bread just so I can punch it now! Haha. I seriously want to become your neighbor so I can smell the bread being baked and drool-semi creepy sounding! Hope ther interview went well!
The Bread Bible by Rode Levy Beranbaum. All the recipes i have made from there have been excellent. Have fun!
Also your sweet potato bread looks amazing.
Thanks for those tips! I was really unsure about some things when making bread for the first time, but it ended up alright. I can’t wait to try it again.
I just got Peter Reinhart’s Artisan Breads Everyday for Christmas — I’m a bit intimidated but can’t wait to dive in!
http://www.amazon.com/River-Cottage-Bread-Handbook/dp/158008186X
The River Cottage Bread Handbook is one I can absolutely recommend. Not sure if you are familiar with the River Cottage over in America, but this book is so useful. It has 2 sections, one which tells you EVERYTHING about baking bread so you can make your own recipes and just do it by yourself, and the second section has some specific recipes you can follow for all kinds of different breads.
I’d agree with you on how rewarding bread baking is! Especially if you knead it by hand, then it really feels like you’ve achieved something, mostly because hand kneading uses soooo much effort.
i haven’t baked bread in some time, but i have baked pretzels and this weekend im going to try a lower fat whole wheat version!
I’ve NEVER baked bread!! Yeast kind of scares me. But bread is seriously one of my favorite foods, so clearly I need to get over that fear…this looks so good!
Your bread looks professional, go you!
What fun! That bread looks delish. I wish I knew a good bread book, but I don’t
to be honest, bread making scares me, lol
You are a braver girl than I will ever be. Yeast scares me so much! This bread looks awesome!
I get all my bread baking tips offline as well. Nothing wrong with that! Your bread looks incredibly delicious. The only thing bad about waiting so long for bread is it’s gone in a matter of minutes!
I haven’t used my mixer to make bread yet. The kitchenaid cookbook actually has some bread recipes in there!
I love the sweet potato bread idea!!!
I have Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor and find that it is a wonderful resource. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of his books though.
That’s what I was going to recommend! Not badly priced on Amazon and it has tons of great reviews http://amzn.com/1580082688
Yum! Sweet potato? Bread? CAN I HAZ?!
Yum! That loaf looks amazing. I want to start making bread now
I don’t have a Kitchen Aid, I knead my bread dough in our bread machines and it always comes out great! I love punching down the dough and watching it deflate! Haha, too much fun!
I seriously have an addiction to baking bread, now. I just made some yesterday and want to make more!
I’ve never actually prepped my yeast, but my bread always comes out really great!
I really need to try that sweet potato bread, looks awesome!
Making bread and dough is one of my favorite things in the kitchen
Gotta try sweet potato bread!
Thanks for posting the lil tips you learned from Google. Gotta say..the internet really knows it’s stuff.
I got “Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day” by Hertzberg and Francois for Christmas–it’s supposed to be fabulous, haven’t gotten around to making anything yet, but I’ve loved reading through it and learning easier techniques for making bread a daily item in the kitchen
That looks absolutely AMAZING! I feel like a cheater with my bread machine!
Sweet potato bread sounds delish!
I LOVE fresh bread right of the oven. That is one of my weaknesses
Haha this post is almost identical to the chapter on yeast breads from my textbook last semester. You know your stuff:)
Your bread looks phenomenal! Nice work! I’m just starting to get into the bread baking thing.
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