Tammy's Recipes

An easy, basic homemade bread

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
3 cups flour*
1 tablespoon dry yeast

1. Dissolve sugar in water, then stir in yeast. Allow to stand until yeast forms a creamy foam (about 15 minutes). Put into bread machine pan and add oil. Swish around to mix them together.

2. Add flour on top, and salt on top of the flour. Set machine to dough setting and start.**

3. When dough is made and has risen the first time (the bread machine should beep to tell you when the dough setting is complete), take it out of the bread machine pan and work it lightly in your hands to get the air bubbles out (I don't put it on a floured board for this but you can if you like).

4. Form into a loaf and put in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place about 30-45 minutes, until almost doubled in size.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, or until done. If loaf is browning too quickly, cover top loosely with foil. When bread is finished, take it out of the oven and allow it to set for 5 minutes. Remove from pan, place on wire rack, and cover until loaf is cool.

This recipe was submitted by reader Amy D.

She writes, "My husband and daughter both love this bread, and so do I.  I found a bread machine at a thrift shop for $4 so I adapted the recipe to use in the machine.  We don't like the loaves it makes but using the dough setting really makes the homemade bread easy, and baking in a regular loaf pan makes it look like you worked really hard on it!  If you don't tell your secret of the bread machine, people can't tell!!"

*Photo shows this recipe made with 1/3 whole wheat flour and 2/3 all-purpose white flour. Feel free to vary the proportions according to your taste, if you prefer darker, whole-grain bread!

**If you don't have a bread machine, just combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl and stir. Add flour and yeast all at once, and stir until thick. Knead with hands for 6-8 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary, to make a smooth elastic dough.

Cover, place dough in a warm location, and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes. Continue with step 3 from the directions above!

This bread is very easy to make, and produces a nice, even-textured homemade loaf. I used 1/3 whole wheat flour in the loaf you see in the photo above. This is an excellent basic bread recipe! My rating: 9/10.