My Bread Recipe...

I get so many requests for my bread recipe!! It is Dave's Mom's recipe that goes way back for me! I was not married for very long before Dave ask me to please learn how to make bread because he was used to homemade bread and his moms was known to be the best! It was a lot of work at first to do this all by hand and the job was a real chore but after many years of making this I can now mix up bread in no time and I don't even think it would feel right not to do it by hand...:)

 I know I posted the recipe on here before but when people ask for it I never know which month or where to find it on here so I'll post under "Bread Recipe" so I can better find it in the future...:)

Homemade Bread...
Dissolve together... 1 cup warm water, 1 tsp. sugar, 3 Tbs. yeast

In a large bowl... 6 cups warm water
                            1 cup sugar
                            1/2 cup oil
                            3 Tbs. salt
                            3 Tbs. black strap molasses
                            2 cups wheat flour
                            6 cups Occident bread flour
I mix this with a beater real good then I add the dissolved yeast mixture and beat that in lightly.
I then add 8 cups Occident flour and mix it with a wooden spoon. Add four more cups Occident and then mix with hands... I sometimes work it longer then others, depends on what mood I'm in... I think the more it gets worked the better the bread turns out but I have rushed many batches and they turn out fine to...:)

I let it rise in my oven with the oven set at the lowest possible warming setting for about 45 minutes before working it again, if it's to sticky at this point I add a bit more flour until it feels easy to work with. I put a light table cloth and a piece of plastic on top as it rises...(Dave's moms trick) Rise for another 45 minutes to an hour then put it in pans. I never measure but Dave's mom says about 1 1/4 lb. goes into each bread pan. I get eight loaves every time and then freeze them. Once they are in the pans I again rise (covered with table cloth and plastic) on oven rack (far enough apart so as they rise they won't stick together) Rise about 1 hour or until risen up past the pans a little. Bake 350' for about twenty minutes or until golden brown. Brush with butter while warm. My kids always want a warm slice right out of the oven and most time I let them...:)

I can so do without this bread and I find it funny that I would rather buy bread or rolls from the Wegman's bakery then have this bread... I like the hard dry crusty breads dipped in olive oil and Dave likes my bread and that's pretty much it... We make a joke out of bread around here...:)

I am working on healthier flour and the last time I used half the amount of flour in a healthier type and we didn't even know the difference. I also often add ground flax and wheat germ and we like it the same but when I make it for others I do not add these things because it looks more grainy.

I make bread about every two weeks and rarely buy any at all but I still do not feel like this is a very healthy bread... Better then store bought but still I want to keep tweaking it and when I get a really good healthy bread we like as we do this yummy recipe I'll post it on here with the details... Until then I'll keep searching for that perfect recipe...:) I do not appreciate when bread crumbles after a few days and putting it in the toaster makes a mess. This recipe stays moist and soft longer and this is why I still always go back to this recipe...

Hope you enjoy it. It's work at first and it can make a mess when you are new at it because of the big batch but stick to it and each batch will go better...:)

Have a great week...