Soft Homemade Bread, Worth Every Rise 🤎
There’s just something about baking bread from scratch that slows the day down in the best way. Simple ingredients, a little patience, and your kitchen smells like home 🥖✨ This loaf is soft, lightly sweet, and perfect for everyday meals.
Ingredients
• 1½ cups warm water (about 110°F)
• 2¼ tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 4 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp cold butter, cubed
Instructions
1. In a measuring cup, mix warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.
2. Add half of the flour to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix until combined.
3. Add the remaining flour and mix for about 3 minutes, until the dough no longer sticks to the sides.
4. Sprinkle salt over the dough and mix for another 3 minutes.
5. Gradually add the cubed butter, mixing until fully incorporated (about 5 minutes).
6. Transfer dough to a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for 1 hour.
7. Turn dough out and divide into 5 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a rectangle, then roll into a loaf, tucking the ends in halfway through.
8. Place loaves on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover, and let rise for another 30 minutes.
9. Fill a baking pan halfway with hot water and place it on the bottom rack of the oven.
10. Bake bread on the top rack at 375°F for 25 minutes, until golden.
Fresh bread, a warm kitchen, and no rush to be anywhere else 🤍 This one’s a keeper.
Baking homemade bread not only fills your home with a delightful aroma but also offers a fulfilling experience that connects you with traditional cooking practices. Starting with basic ingredients like flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt, and butter allows you to create fresh, soft bread that is perfect for sandwiches, toasts, or simply enjoyed warm with butter. One tip I've found essential is the temperature of the water used to activate the yeast. About 110°F feels just right to encourage yeast activation without killing the live cultures. Waiting for the yeast mixture to become foamy is a good sign that fermentation has started. This patience helps develop the bread's light texture and subtle sweetness. Incorporating cold butter gradually during mixing results in a tender crumb and richer flavor, resembling the soft texture found in hoagie rolls, which are excellent for versatile sandwiches. Rolling the dough into rectangles and then into loaves creates evenly shaped breads that bake uniformly. A baking pan filled with hot water creates steam in the oven, essential for a beautiful golden crust while keeping the inside moist and fluffy. I make sure to place this pan on the lowest rack while baking the bread on the upper rack, balancing heat and moisture perfectly. If you enjoy experimenting, you might try adding herbs or cheese into some loaves before baking for variation. This homemade bread recipe is flexible and forgiving for beginners and experienced bakers alike. The joy of enjoying soft, homemade bread with no rush truly makes it worth every rise and fold.