It's a shame bread puns are always so crumby. Ok, I'll stop. Maybe?
Today is all about baking bread. If your family is anything like mine, you eat a lot of bread. When I inventoried our consumption, we had toast, bagels, and sandwiches on the menu daily. So I knew this was a perfect place to start switching out for a less-processed alternative.
I was concerned because my kids are accustomed to super soft squishy, often thin, and bland bread. Converting them to what I had pictured in my mind of what homemade bread looked like would be a challenge. (Picture: highly grainy dark brown bread)
So how did I embark upon this adventure? I took to Pinterest, of course! You don't have to look far because, oh yeah, everyone became bread bakers during the pandemic. But they were making sourdough, and I wanted regular, ole, wheat bread.
Once I found a recipe that looked easy enough that even I could do, I pulled my ingredients out - flour, water, yeast, and salt - and got cracking.
The first step in bread making is a process called proofing the yeast. So let's break this down. When I first heard this term, I thought that even this poor yeast packet must prove itself in this cruel world. Sigh. Proofing is when the yeast mixes with warm water and comes alive with bubbles that explode when they reach the yeasty surface.
You might ask how warm to make the water. The recipe I use calls for 1 1/4 cups of water that I microwave for 40 seconds. After it's heated, I stick a meat thermometer to ensure it reaches anywhere between 100 to 110 degrees. The yeast starts munching on the warm water and begins to bubble.
Meanwhile, I opened my new bag of flour and scooped out two and a half cups, and slowly mixed it into the yeast/water mixture. I added salt and mixed it away with a spoon. I don't yet have a Kitchen-Aid mixer as I'm still early in this journey and not ready to invest much money or countertop space (unless a Kitchen-Aid rep reads this and would like to send me one). Until then, the wooden spoon did the job just fine. I turned and turned the mixture until it started pulling away from the mixing bowl's sides, and the dough began to form. It was super sticky, and I needed to shape it into a ball, so I needed to add lots of flour.
After it rises, I take the dough out and shape it into a nice round loaf. I've found that this is my favorite part - turning the loaf and shaping it into a ball repeatedly. It looks like it might turn out to be the shape of bread. I kinda felt like a baker at this point. And I didn't hate it.
I let it sit for another 30 mins before dropping it in the parchment-lined Dutch oven to bake. Thirty-eight minutes later, when I took it out, I was amazed to find what looked like bread! It actually looked like bread! The bottom was a tad burned, but it was still bread - at least on the outside. I let it cool for a short bit and then sliced into it. The crust cracked and was soft and bready on the inside! Holy crap. Freaking out. Bread.
Now to see if it tasted like bread. I bit into it, crusty crust and warm, soft inside, and hot damn, it tasted like bread too. I was on cloud nine and ready to conquer anything.
The next test was the family. Much to my surprise, they all ate it and liked it - or at least didn't spit it out like Youngest is prone to do (rude)! In fact, Oldest prefers it to any of the bread she's ever eaten. Imagine that - food with the most natural and fewest ingredients was the best tasting!
I knew I was onto a good thing. However, despite it being an easy process, it wasn't super fast. I'm hoping that I'll get quicker as I make more loaves because we went through that loaf in less than 24 hours.
Unexpected Benefits
First, I eat the bread all the time. For breakfast: toast it with put brie and honey. For lunch: spread hummus, sliced tomato, cucumber, and avocado.
But here's the biggest thing I notice - I'm not hungry between meals. Because what I'm eating is fresher, whole and nutritious, I'm satisfied longer and actually enjoy the food more, making sitting down and eating an experience and not simply a function of the day.
Another surprise: I wanted to share it with others! I gave a loaf to a friend, and surprisingly, I wasn't terribly nervous giving it to her. While I hoped it wasn't total trash, I was excited to give it to her, offering myself grace in case it was garbage, focusing on the joy of the simple act of sharing. So soon into this, I see my perception of food shifting and how it can truly connect us. I'm excited to do more of it.
I received this text after I shared bread with my friend. It turns out it wasn't half bad, and that felt pretty good :-)
Drop a comment about your first bread-making experience! Or do you have a fond memory of how food has connected you to others? Share in the comments!
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