Homemade bread recipe

So, this is the first homemade bread recipe that I've tried. I've been making it for several months now, and I really love it! For a long time, the idea of making bread sounded like an enormous task, but now that I've done it, it really doesn't seem like a big deal at all! I find this recipe to be pretty quick and simple, as far as bread making goes.

There's nothing quite like homemade bread fresh out of the oven...especially for a carb fanatic like myself! I love this with soups, for toast in the morning, and I bet it would make yummy french toast too (although I'm pretty terrible at making french toast for some reason, so I haven't tried that yet!).

This recipe makes 4 loaves of bread...enough to share! I often walk over to my neighbors house with a warm loaf of bread to share some of the love!

Do you want to make some of your own? Original recipe from here.

5 cups hot water
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil (plus more for your countertop)
2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons yeast (I used Fleischmann's Rapid Rise highly active yeast)
11 cups bread flour

Pour the 5 cups of hot water into a large bowl. Add in the sugar, oil and salt. Whisk for 30 seconds.

Add 1 1/2 cups bread flour. Whisk 30 seconds. Add 1 tablespoon of yeast and whisk for 10 seconds. Add in 2 more tablespoons of yeast and whisk. (I don't know if the exact timing really makes a difference, but I follow the original recipe just in case!).

Add 10 more cups of bread flour. Take your rings off!!! Mix with hands until the flour is well incorporated. Your dough will look a bit shaggy at this point.

Cover the bowl with a dishtowel and let it rise for 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes, pour some oil onto your countertop and put the dough on it. Separate dough into 4 equal parts. Roll each of them out into a long rectangle, then fold a few times over to make a loaf.

Place loafs in pans, and put them in a non-preheated oven of 200 degrees for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, and without opening the oven, turn it up to 325 degrees. Bake for another 30-35 minutes. Loaves are done when tops are golden.

Here are more pictures to help you see what the bread will look like as you make it:

While mixing

After mixing

Rising

After rising

After oiling counter and separating the dough

This is the shape you want to roll it out in. I love this rolling pin for bread dough! You can refrigerate it beforehand so your dough doesn't stick to it! I usually forget that step, but I put a little oil on it and that works too!

Yummmm!

Let me know if you plan on trying this recipe, or if you have other homemade bread recipes to share, I'd love to see them!