Easy Bread Recipe

The baker was closed for two weeks, and my family was in a panic.  It had been a long time since we had purchased store-bought bread, and there was no place to buy fresh bread.  I decided to make it myself.  The family was so in love with the bread, that it has become a staple in my house. I make it at least once a week. This recipe makes 3 small loaves of bread or two large loaves.

6 cups flour (or 2 cups whole wheat, 4 cups white)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
1/3 cup olive oil
2 2/3 cup warm water (may replace one cup of water with 1 cup warm milk)

In a large bowl put the flour, sugar, yeast and salt. Whisk together until ingredients are well mixed.  Make a well in the middle. Add oil and water.  Mix either by hand or with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients form into a lump of dough.

Place the dough on a well-floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes, only adding enough flour to keep the dough from being sticky.  Do NOT put too much flour in the dough, especially if you are using whole wheat flour.  Let sit for about 5-10 minutes. Knead again for another 5 minutes.  Return dough to the bowl, cover with a damp cloth in a warm dry area and let rise until doubled.  It takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Preheat oven to 350F Separate the dough into 2 or 3 balls and shape into a loaf. Put loaves on a cookie sheet with parchment paper (or well-greased and floured). Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.  Place in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. Bread is done when there is a light brown surface.  Take out of oven and place on a cooling rack or cool flat surface.

I usually put the extra loaves in separate bread bags and freeze them as soon as they have cooled down. This is usually enough bread for our family for a week.

Optional:  Brush melted butter on top of the bread before baking.