Bread Baking Day!

I don't know about you.... but I like to combine my efforts, so that I can feel good about my time spent.  This is why I like to use my favorite bread recipe, and make regular loaves of bread, French loaves, and buns all at the same time.  

Yes, they come from the same recipe, but they truly seem to have their own individual taste!  Sometimes, I will put the dough in the freezer and use it as a pizza crust or breadsticks, too!  (For breadsticks, roll out the dough, spread melted butter over the top, then sprinkle with garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and Italian seasoning. Cut in strips with a pizza cutter and bake 'til golden brown.) It is always a plus to have already made dough in the freezer when you are looking for a quick meal.

When I make bread for our family, I triple the batch, so keep that in mind when you see the pictures.  The recipe below is for a single batch, which will make 4 regular size bread loaves. (If you want to do buns or breadsticks, just change it accordingly.) Thanks to my daughter, Tricia, I have a nice large stainless steel bowl that I can use for the triple batch.

You will need:

4 1/2 Cups warm water

2 pkgs. (4 1/2 tsp.) yeast

6 TBLS. sugar

2 TBLS. salt

14-15 cups white flour (or 1/2 white-1/2 wheat flour)
4 TBLS. butter, melted

1. Pour yeast over warm water with sugar.

2. Add a little of the flour, then pour the salt into the mixture and stir.

3. Gradually add the remaining flour until you get a rough dough. Turn out on floured surface and start to knead.
(Be careful not to add too much flour. You want the dough to still be pliable.)

4. Knead using the heel of your hand.

5. After kneading for about 5 minutes...form a nice ball.

6. Pour oil in your bowl and spread it around.

7. Lay the dough in the bowl then turn it over to coat the dough lightly with oil.

8. Cover with a clean, damp towel.

9. Make sure the towel is loose for the expansion when it rises.

10. Let rise in a warm place for about an hour or until doubled.

11. Once doubled, make a fist and punch dough down.

12. Grease your pans with oil.

13. Divide dough for what you'll be making.

14. Cut into sections. (Remember that I did a big batch, so you may not need to divide it this much.)

15. Divide the sections.

16. Start to form each section into loaves. You can also make buns

at this time if you choose to. (Make them about 1/2 the size you want them because they will rise.)

17. Put into pans.  (Today I made regular loaves, long French loaves and a round loaf.)

Let rise until doubled again.

18. After they've risen, bake for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown and when you tap it, it sounds hollow. (Keep in mind that the time will vary depending on the sizes of what you made.)

19. Remove from the oven and brush the butter on top of each baked loaf.

Here is my little guy with the completed loaves! 

Now, to get a knife and some butter!  Yum! 

Warm bread always puts a smile on your loved ones faces!