Yeast Bread

Bread is incredibly intimidating to me--not the eating of bread, of course, but the baking of bread. I confessed my fear of yeast in my post about beer bread. Yet, despite my love of being able to store-buy all the bread I want, I wanted this blog to be about trying new things and cooking things I love for the people that I love. Tony's food love has always been bread. (I'm pretty sure that if Tony had to choose between me and bread, I would need to be afraid.) So it only seems like a natural progression that I should begin making bread.

There are two things about making my own bread that I always found intimidating. First, the yeast. The process of not killing the yeast seems like a delicate balance. The water should be warm, but not too warm. It should bloom, but not too much. It just seems like such a tenuous stasis to maintain. Second, the kneading. Over-kneading can cause the bread to be tough and inedible. It just seems to me as though there are so many ways to screw it up.

Somehow, I came to the conclusion that making Tony feel special by making him fresh bread was more important than letting my fear keep me from trying something new. Love makes you do crazy things--like experimenting with yeast. I should confess that I still did this a little bit of the lazy way. I decided that since I have the serious, professional series KitchenAid, that I might as well use that to my advantage. I found a bread recipe that allowed me to use my mixer without really requiring me to do any kneading. You can find the recipe that I used here.

I was actually a little bit surprised at how hands-off this recipe really was. It was just a matter of making sure that I stayed on track with my time. I used the KitchenAid as recommended in the recipe and watched diligently for the ten minute mark to make sure that I wasn't  going to be over-kneading. The recipe mentions that you may need to add some extra flour, and sure enough, I did. I probably added about a quarter of a cup, and that was just the perfect amount.

This recipe called for a double rising process. So it rose initially, and then it was punched down, separated into two loaves, and rose again. Then, I baked it.

I was a little bit nervous because the rising processes didn't seem to create as much of a rise for me as it did for the blogger that I got this recipe from. I suppose I just figured that the worst that could happen was that I screwed it up, and that was pretty much what I was expecting from making bread anyways. The good news is that I proved myself wrong and ended up making some really delicious bread!

The bread ended up being a really moist and spongy bread. It was a little bit sweet since it's made with honey and coconut oil. It was easy to cut, and though it looks dark brown on the outside, it did not develop a crunchy crust. It was heavenly with a little bit of butter, and Tony and I ate it with dinner. Tony actually said that it's one of the top three breads he's ever eaten, which is high praise from the King of Carbs.

This experience really changed my mind about making bread at home. It turned out really wonderfully, and it wasn't a difficult recipe to follow. I'm not saying that I'm going to embark on a three day croissant-making endeavor or anything, but I'm not afraid to use yeast anymore. Tony has expressed an interest in making baguettes, and I think I'm finally ready to try that with him.