My Mother's Homemade Bread Recipe: The Best Homemade Bread Ever
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The Decadent Aroma of Bread Baking in Your Oven!
When I was growing up, my mom baked homemade bread (9 loaves) every two weeks. It seems like the whole neighborhood would show up just as it was coming out of the oven!
The History of Bread Baking
In progress...
The Top Five Reasons My Mother's Homemade Bread Recipe is the Best!
- The Aroma!
Oh, the aroma when the bread is nearly finished baking! It just fills the whole house! We used to laugh because friends who lived a mile away would show up just as my mother's homemade bread was leaving the oven. - The Taste!
The flavor of my mother's homemade bread is beyond description. I only know that when you bite into it, fresh from the oven (top with real butter, homemade jelly or peanut butter), you will definitely be hooked! - The Texture!
Although made using white flour - bread flour - the texture has a coarseness that you will not feel when eating white bread made in a commercial bakery. - Pleasing To the Eye!
Homemade loaves of bread - no two looking exactly alike - adds so much to the experience and enjoyment. No, don't keep that loaf of homemade bread whole! Slice off the heel, take a bite, share with friends... - Memories of My Mother
Sadly, mom died on Christmas Eve 2003. But her legacy of being the BEST homemade bread baker (and actually, her other food was famously delicious!) lives on.
My Mother's Homemade Bread - From Scratch
Here's the Recipe
3 cups milk - scalded
1 cup cold water
1 package dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons sugar
6 cups flour
cooking oil
6 cups flour
Step One: Scald Your Milk
To scald milk, place 3 cups milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk to where it just begins to boil. The milk will bubble up and making a "skin" on top of the milk. You can remove the "skin" or keep it in the mix - it's not harmful.
Let the scalded milk cool down to room temperature. Adding 1 cup of cold water will hasten this process.
Step Two: Prepare the Yeast
Stir one package of active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar into one cup of warm (not hot) water. The warm water and sugar activates the yeast.
Mom always said that sugar "feeds" the yeast. Water too hot will kill the yeast. The water should be warm to the touch. After a few minutes, the yeast will appear to "grow" on top of the water. (You can stir it down before adding to the cooled scalded milk.)
Step Three: Begin Mixing the Ingredients Together
After you see the yeast "growing" on top of the warm water, add it to the COOLED (but not cold) scalded milk mixture.
Important Enough for a Second Reminder: You must let the scalded milk cool down to a warm temperature. Adding the yeast mixture when it's still too hot will kill the yeast!
Pour the cooled scalded milk into a rather large mixing bowl. I use a large roasting pan.
To the liquid mixture, add 4 teaspoons of sugar and 4 teaspoons of salt, and six cups of bread flour. Mix well. At this point you can use your hand mixer, a mixer with a bread hook attachment or just a large mixing spoon. It's still liquid enough to mix through easily.
Your dough should be a sticky, flour mixture.
Mom says to "dump" some cooking oil in. When I pressed her for a measurement, she estimated "about 1/2 cup."
Step Four: The Fun Part - Kneading
Or the real work depending how you view it ...
Adding one cup at a time and mixing well, add 6 additional cups of bread flour to the batter. The batter will now change into a bread dough.
You will need to use your hands to knead the dough and mix it so that the flour blends well together.
To give yourself space and to mix the dough well, sprinkle some flour on your work surface (i.e. table). You may have to add additional flour (a little at a time) - the dough needs to have a smooth consistency without being sticky. Also, if the dough is sticking to your fingers, sprinkle some flour on them and work it in your fingers. The stickiness will dry off and you can "peel" the dough from your fingers. Work the flaky dough from your fingers into your bread dough.
By the way, kneading is great for bread. It is said the more you handle it, the better it will turn out.
So...
Knead, knead, knead - until smooth and well mixed. Work any "flaking" dough particles into the mix and knead until smooth.
Step 5: Time To Let Your Dough Rise
Shape your rather large dough ball into a ball. Place the ball into a bowl, brush a little cooking oil on top, cover with a towel and place into a warm (not hot) place to rise.
This will take a few hours. My mom used to complete this part of the bread-making process on a Friday night and let the dough rise overnight. On Saturday morning, she would continue with the remainder of the process.
Step 6: Punch It Down - Let It Rise Again!
After your bread dough has doubled in size, sprinkle some flour on your work-space (i.e. table) and pour the dough out onto the floured surface. My mom always said, "It's time to punch the bread down!"
It will be slightly sticky, so have your flour handy because you will want to gradually add a little flour when kneading (again!) to to take the stickiness away and make your dough smooth and dry (but not flaky). It should NOT be sticking to your fingers!
After "punching down" the dough and kneading, shape your dough into a ball.
Take a sharp knife and cut into three equal portions. Use your hands to shape each portion into a loaf.
Lightly grease 3 bread pans and place each loaf into a pan. Place your bread pans in a warm (not hot) place to rise a second time - usually only one hour.
The loaves should rise to 3/4 (not doubled) the size of the loaf. If you let the loaf rise too high, the bread will come out with air pockets.*
Step Seven: Bake Your Bread
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (a slow oven). Place your loaves into the oven and bake for one hour.
After one hour, remove loaves from your oven. Remove your wonderful home-baked bread from the pan (just tip the pan over - it will fall out). Brush a little butter on top. Place a towel over and let cool slightly. Cooling your bread will make it easier to slice.
I always could not wait for the bread to cool completely - so I would have a slice of "slightly" cooled bread, add butter and savor the moment!
To slice, I use a long knife especially designed for cutting homemade bread. If your bread is still warm - or has air pockets, turning your homemade bread on it's side and slicing it usually will prevent it from breaking apart. Warm bread is SO tender, so use your knife gently.
After completely cooled, store your homemade bread in a zip lock bag - or reuse clean bread bags. You can also freeze your homemade bread - just double your bags and place in the freezer.
Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
*If your dough gets away from you and it has risen beyond the recommended height, remove the dough-loaf from the bread pan, knead it down again, shape into a loaf and place back in the pan - to rise (another hour). Remember - bread dough loves to be handled!
1 cup cold water
1 package dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 teaspoons salt
4 teaspoons sugar
6 cups flour
cooking oil
6 cups flour
Step One: Scald Your Milk
To scald milk, place 3 cups milk in a saucepan. Heat the milk to where it just begins to boil. The milk will bubble up and making a "skin" on top of the milk. You can remove the "skin" or keep it in the mix - it's not harmful.
Let the scalded milk cool down to room temperature. Adding 1 cup of cold water will hasten this process.
Step Two: Prepare the Yeast
Stir one package of active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon of sugar into one cup of warm (not hot) water. The warm water and sugar activates the yeast.
Mom always said that sugar "feeds" the yeast. Water too hot will kill the yeast. The water should be warm to the touch. After a few minutes, the yeast will appear to "grow" on top of the water. (You can stir it down before adding to the cooled scalded milk.)
Step Three: Begin Mixing the Ingredients Together
After you see the yeast "growing" on top of the warm water, add it to the COOLED (but not cold) scalded milk mixture.
Important Enough for a Second Reminder: You must let the scalded milk cool down to a warm temperature. Adding the yeast mixture when it's still too hot will kill the yeast!
Pour the cooled scalded milk into a rather large mixing bowl. I use a large roasting pan.
To the liquid mixture, add 4 teaspoons of sugar and 4 teaspoons of salt, and six cups of bread flour. Mix well. At this point you can use your hand mixer, a mixer with a bread hook attachment or just a large mixing spoon. It's still liquid enough to mix through easily.
Your dough should be a sticky, flour mixture.
Mom says to "dump" some cooking oil in. When I pressed her for a measurement, she estimated "about 1/2 cup."
Step Four: The Fun Part - Kneading
Or the real work depending how you view it ...
Adding one cup at a time and mixing well, add 6 additional cups of bread flour to the batter. The batter will now change into a bread dough.
You will need to use your hands to knead the dough and mix it so that the flour blends well together.
To give yourself space and to mix the dough well, sprinkle some flour on your work surface (i.e. table). You may have to add additional flour (a little at a time) - the dough needs to have a smooth consistency without being sticky. Also, if the dough is sticking to your fingers, sprinkle some flour on them and work it in your fingers. The stickiness will dry off and you can "peel" the dough from your fingers. Work the flaky dough from your fingers into your bread dough.
By the way, kneading is great for bread. It is said the more you handle it, the better it will turn out.
So...
Knead, knead, knead - until smooth and well mixed. Work any "flaking" dough particles into the mix and knead until smooth.
Step 5: Time To Let Your Dough Rise
Shape your rather large dough ball into a ball. Place the ball into a bowl, brush a little cooking oil on top, cover with a towel and place into a warm (not hot) place to rise.
This will take a few hours. My mom used to complete this part of the bread-making process on a Friday night and let the dough rise overnight. On Saturday morning, she would continue with the remainder of the process.
Step 6: Punch It Down - Let It Rise Again!
After your bread dough has doubled in size, sprinkle some flour on your work-space (i.e. table) and pour the dough out onto the floured surface. My mom always said, "It's time to punch the bread down!"
It will be slightly sticky, so have your flour handy because you will want to gradually add a little flour when kneading (again!) to to take the stickiness away and make your dough smooth and dry (but not flaky). It should NOT be sticking to your fingers!
After "punching down" the dough and kneading, shape your dough into a ball.
Take a sharp knife and cut into three equal portions. Use your hands to shape each portion into a loaf.
Lightly grease 3 bread pans and place each loaf into a pan. Place your bread pans in a warm (not hot) place to rise a second time - usually only one hour.
The loaves should rise to 3/4 (not doubled) the size of the loaf. If you let the loaf rise too high, the bread will come out with air pockets.*
Step Seven: Bake Your Bread
Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (a slow oven). Place your loaves into the oven and bake for one hour.
After one hour, remove loaves from your oven. Remove your wonderful home-baked bread from the pan (just tip the pan over - it will fall out). Brush a little butter on top. Place a towel over and let cool slightly. Cooling your bread will make it easier to slice.
I always could not wait for the bread to cool completely - so I would have a slice of "slightly" cooled bread, add butter and savor the moment!
To slice, I use a long knife especially designed for cutting homemade bread. If your bread is still warm - or has air pockets, turning your homemade bread on it's side and slicing it usually will prevent it from breaking apart. Warm bread is SO tender, so use your knife gently.
After completely cooled, store your homemade bread in a zip lock bag - or reuse clean bread bags. You can also freeze your homemade bread - just double your bags and place in the freezer.
Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!
*If your dough gets away from you and it has risen beyond the recommended height, remove the dough-loaf from the bread pan, knead it down again, shape into a loaf and place back in the pan - to rise (another hour). Remember - bread dough loves to be handled!
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