Bake Your Own Bread!
Yes... Really, You CAN with this foolproof recipe!

freshly baked bread cooling on the countertop

Now you can easily bake your own bread—and save money—just like my friend Roy over in the UK!

He loved to cook and bake... I decided it was high time to try my hand (again) at bread making.

I had a go when I was a kid, and they turned out like loaves of bricks.

That put me off ever baking bread for 30 years!

But about 15 years ago, I bought a bread-making machine and used it four times. That made each loaf of bread work out to cost $37.50! :-)

So, by making your own bread with no fancy appliances, you'll certainly save money, plus get an arm workout!




Bake Your Own Bread And Save $$$

Bake your own bread and save money—you don't have to rely on the grocery stores' high-priced breads. Mom and I figured it cost me around $1 per loaf, and about 10 cents each per bun! WOW!

My husband did some research and came across this fantastic bread recipe over at Fleischmann's Yeast. Check out the recipe link, below.

Bake Your Own Bread—The Easy Way!

Beginner Bread recipe baked, sliced, and ready to eat

It is quite easy to bake your own bread, by the way.

I could have made it much easier on myself if I had not been doing two loads of laundry and making up my husband's lunch bag at the same time, though!

My mom and I could not wait for the bread to cool down completely.

Excitedly, we grabbed the bread knife and cut the first slice... or two, or three!

Looks Like Real Beautiful Bread!

Beginner Bread recipe ready for baking

We were BOTH extremely impressed with the bread recipe and my efforts!

It looked like professional bakers had made it! ;-)  

By the way, I split the bread dough into three parts, two equally sized dough balls for the loaves, and the third dough ball (a bit smaller) was enough to make four medium-sized buns, as shown in the photo.

Score the bread tops after the first proofing when the loaves are shaped and in the tins. Put about four or five slits on a 45-degree angle on the loaf tops, and I did a cross on the buns!

The photo above shows how the slits in the bread opened up while in the second proofing (before they went into the oven for baking).

I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do or the right time to do it, but I got lucky and it worked beautifully!

My bread was in the oven for exactly 25 minutes at 400°F and I took one loaf out, shook it loose, turned it out, and tapped it on the bottom.

My buddy in the UK says the bread, when tapped, needs to sound hollow. It did sound hollow, so out of the oven they came!

Brush Loaves with Melted Butter!

Buttered bread, and sliced home-baked bread

Mom had the brilliant idea of brushing melted butter on the tops of the loaves as soon as they came out of the oven.

That simple brushing of butter completely transformed the bread's coloring! It also made the bread crust soft, for those of you who may not like a hard bread crust.

Use A Thermometer...

For testing the temperature of the water, I used my trusty digital prong Acu-Rite meat thermometer that I use for sticking in the breast meat of the Thanksgiving and Christmas turkeys... it worked fine!

Regarding proofing the bread (letting it rise), I used the thermometer I just mentioned.

Bread dough rising in a bowlCreated with Midjourney

I set the oven to its lowest setting (mine was 150°F and then I cranked the door open to let in cooler air, and closed it when it dropped to 85°F). This is the temperature I used to proof the bread.

All I did was drape an old clean (slightly dampened) dish towel over the bread tins. I realized that at 85°F, the towel would not set on fire so I felt OK using the oven!

I was able to close the oven door for both proofings so there were no drafts, and the temperature stayed at 85°F—just right!

I am thrilled, and I've baked this bread many times since posting this.

UPDATE: I have baked this bread several times since, and each time yields impressive bread! BUT—and there's always a BUT!—it never hangs around the house long enough to savor for more than a day or two! :-) ... but what a fantastic way to save money!




20 Taste-Tested Easy Recipes
(there are 26, actually!)

Easy Meals to Make with Dehydrated Food
Recipe eBook

20 Taste-Tested Easy Recipes = 75+ pg eBook

20 Taste-Tested Easy Recipes Containing Dehydrated Food

Buy Now orange button

or choose our
Paperback
HERE
.


20 Taste-Tested
Easy Recipes

(there are 26, actually!)

Easy Meals to Make
with Dehydrated Food
Recipe eBook

20 Taste-Tested Easy Recipes = 75+ pg eBook

20 Taste-Tested Easy Recipes Containing Dehydrated Food
Buy Now orange button

or choose our
Paperback HERE.

More Good Stuff to Read!


Susan Gast, owner of Easy Food Dehydrating plus ePubTechReviews.com, and SusanGast.com

Susan Gast began Easy Food Dehydrating in December 2010.

Read Susan's story of what sparked her interest in all things related to "food dehydrating."

She is featured on the Mother Earth News blog, and on Solo Build It! (SBI!) who hosts this site. Read her first SBI! interview and her second SBI! interview.

Since 1980, Susan's involvement in publishing - in one form or another - led her to create ePubTechReviews which reviews a variety of products related to the publishing industry - if you're at all interested in AI and self-publishing. The website is also hosted by Solo Build It!

Susan also runs her namesake site SusanGast.com on Solo Build It! that showcases the books she has written since 2012.

Do you want to send Susan a quick message? Visit her contact page here. She'd love to hear from you!