Beautiful Classic Farmhouse Bread... Just Like Grandma's!

First off... Happy World Bread Day!

Secondly, I've been making my own bread for nearly a year now.  Simply, it's just so much tastier than store bought bread and when you make it yourself, you know exactly what you put in it.  We went to the store looking for an Italian loaf and every single "bakery" bread had high fructose corn syrup in it.  It's quite sad.  But not really, because home made bread is quite simple.  And this recipe is great! So easy to make on a Sunday while watching football.  It's super fluffy and I can't wait to have a piece tomorrow morning.  Really delicious. 

I wish more people would make their own bread like the old days.  I remember going to my grandma's as a kid and there would always be homemade bread around, or bread rising in the sunbeam, or bread baking in the oven.  Yum... 

Amish White Bread

Makes 2 Loaves

Ingredients:

2 Cups of warm water (110 degrees F)

3 tablespoons organic white sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons of active dry yeast

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

1/4 cup olive oil

6 cups of organic all purpose flour (or bread flour)

Directions:

In a large bowl, dissolve the sugar in warm water, and then stir in yeast. Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 10 minutes.

Mix oil into the yeast. Mix salt into flour and mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes, and divide in half. Shape into loaves, and place into two well oiled 9x5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30 minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes. Cool on racks. 

Note: If making in a KitchenAid mixer, dissolve sugar in water, add yeast and proof.  Mix in oil.  Put dough hook on and add flour one cup at a time, mixing on low speed.  (Another note: I add the salt to about the 3rd cup of flour.  Salt can kill yeast so its important to mix it in with the flour).  After flour is incorporated, turn speed to medium for about 5-6 minutes.  This will kneed the bread.  Turn onto a lightly floured surface.  Then follow the next steps in the directions.