Is there anything better than fresh bread?

To me, it shows my family I love them enough to make something they ALL appreciate.  The fall is a great time to make a few loaves while the kids are at school to have with soup for dinner.  The more I’ve made bread, the easier it gets. Here are a few of my tips for better bread making:

Be sure to check out my first breadmaking post << that one has my full recipe and my basic tips!

Tips For Making Better Bread

1.  Grab your ingredients while it’s mixing.  My recipe calls for mixing the flour, yeast, gluten and water together for a few minutes before I add the other stuff.  To save time, and also make sure I don’t forget something I put them all next to me on the counter so I can add them when it’s time (I am the queen of forgetting to add an ingredient while I’m talking on the phone).

**Btw, don’t miss my comparison Bosch Universal Vs Kitchenaid Vs Nutrimill Artiste post.

2.  To make quick loaves I roll the top into the bottom to make a smooth top. I know a lot of people roll it out and then roll it up cinnamon-roll style but this is much easier and it works just fine.

3.  Smooth down the tops of the loaves so you’re not left with REALLY tall bread in the middle, and really tiny bread on the side.  Leads to less fighting over the deliciousness you made. 🙂  Also, if you’re making sandwiches, it’s hard to have a REALLY tall area — they don’t always fit into sandwich bags for school lunch. Don’t worry, the bumps from my knuckles bakes out.

4.  Use a plastic knife and slide it between the bread and the edge of the pan to loosen it all before turning it out.  You don’t want to lose any chunks of bread by it sticking to the sides of the pain (breaks in the crust will also make your bread dry out faster). I just have some baby knives that we used when my kids were little (although, why kids need knives I’ll never know).

5.  I make 4 loaves at a time.  I keep one out, and freeze the others.  I don’t slice it until we eat it.  I think that helps it stay more fresh.

And… {drumroll please} the delicious finished product.  You can se the loaf I didn’t flatten in the background mounding up.  It’s not a catstrophic failure, but this way cooks more evenly and makes better sandwiches.

Grab my favorite bread recipe here, and I’ll send you some more of my favorite baking tips too!

Send me the bread recipe

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