Easy Peasent Bread

There is just something about making fresh bread from scratch that gives you that ultimate Suzie Homemaker feel. I love that feeling. I suggest wearing an apron too... that really takes it up a notch.

I have a bread machine that I stole borrowed from my Grandma. It was never used before and it has been really fun to experiment with different bread machine breads and doughs. I especially love making pizza dough in the bread machine. The only downside is that I don't love the way it looks so I don't like having it out on my counter all the time. So, every time I want to make bread I have to go down to the basement and drag up the machine... It's enough some evenings to pretend we are going low-carb.

I had been reading a lot about Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day and have been very intrigued  But, I don't have a big container with a lid so I hadn't given their method a try yet. When I came across THIS recipe on Pinterest I was intrigued and excited. The title suggested there were only 5 ingredients and it was the easiest bread you will ever make. I was SOLD!

And then we tasted it. Oh my goodness. It really is so easy and so amazingly delicious. My kiddos help me mix it up in the late afternoon and we have amazing hot bread with dinner. I am not going to go into instructions here because Alexandra's Kitchen does such an amazing job and gives some really great tips. But, I thought I would share a few of my pics of the process...

Sugar, flour (I used a combo of all purpose flour and whole wheat pastry flour and was very happy with the consistency), yeast, kosher salt, and water. I also used honey instead of sugar on one batch and that was delicious too!

I have to interject here and say that proofing yeast used to scare me. I am not sure why. But, it really is easy peasy. The recipe offers this tip and it works like a charm... to get your water the perfect temp for your yeast add 1/2 cup boiling water to 1 1/2 cups cold water and voila...

Mix it all up. I don't mix completely, just get it all combined.

My kitchen is pretty cold, especially in the winter. So, to get the bread to rise I like to heat up my oven and then turn it off and then put in my bowl of dough with a damp warm towel over it.

BUTTER up your Pyrex bowls!

Ahhhh.... perfection.

If I can do it anyone can.

Linking up today at Raising Homemakers!