foolproof yeast bread

20 April 2009



If anyone is a fool at making yeast bread, it is me! I have never had luck making real bread. My brother, Michael is the bread maker of our family. His is my favorite~I love it. I've tried his recipe and mine tastes nothing like his. I think he adds secret ingredients.

I've tried lots and lots of other recipes and they just don't look good or taste good and take too much time. But, then I came across this one from my alma mater, Utah State (Go Aggies!!) from the extension office and the name intrigued me. I tried it this fall and it turned out awesome! I've been experimenting with adding wheat flour and like it with half wheat/half white. If you're making it for the first time, I would stick with the white flour and then experiment down the road.




My favorite thing about this recipe? It's easy and fast and you probably have the ingredients on hand. You mix it up, let your mixer knead it for you, and then put it in the pans and let it rise. None of this proofing the yeast, letting it rise, punch it down, let it rise again nonsense.

 Definitely my kind of recipe. You can have 4 loaves of bread whipped out for your family in no time and feel like Holly Homemaker all at once. It is absolutely divine with the honey butter recipe from Our Best Bites.

Enjoy~I hope it works for you! I shared some videos of making it on my Instagram stories. If you only want 2 loaves you can click here for half the recipe

** Click here for printable recipe **

or

** Click here for half recipe **



 No Fail Yeast Bread 


Source: adapted from Becky Low, Utah State University Extension


Cooks do not make homemade bread as they did a few years ago. Today, that treat may seem impossible for the novice cook - but not with this recipe. It is easy, quick to fix, and takes much less time than traditional homemade bread. Recipe makes 4 loaves.


5 cups warm water (I use my tap water as hot as it will go)

3 tablespoon active dry yeast

1 cup honey or 3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup oil

1-1/2 tablespoon salt

11-12 cups all-purpose flour or bread flour



This recipe is easiest if a large mixer is used. If a mixer is unavailable, dough may be kneaded by hand.



By hand: Combine water, yeast, sugar (or honey), oil, salt, and mix together with wire whisk in large bowl. Begin adding flour 1 cup at a time and mix with large wooden spoon until it's too big to stir. Turn dough out on floured surface and continue adding flour 1 cup at a time and knead it in until soft and smooth. Knead for 8-10 minutes by hand. 



Using Mixer: Combine water, yeast, sugar (or honey), oil, salt,  and mix together using dough hook attachment. Stir in enough flour to make a dough that pulls away from the sides of the mixer but is still sticky to the touch









Knead for 8 - 10 minutes in your mixer or by hand. Flour hands and remove from mixer. Place dough onto floured surface and knead until soft and not sticky.





Divide dough into 4 parts. Shape each part into a loaf and place into greased loaf pans. Cover and allow to rise until dough is 1 inch above pans.



* another note from Melissa on this one: I heat my oven to 170 degrees and then I put my dough in the pans in there to let it rise in a warm, protected spot (away from my kids!) It rises more quickly for me this way as well. (usually just about 30 minutes!) When they have risen I keep them in the oven and just switch the temperature to 350 and bake.






Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Turn out of pans to cool.





NOTE: A nice variation is to make sweet rolls. Take 1 or 2 of the pieces of bread dough divided to make a loaf. Roll each portion of dough out into a 14 x 8-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface. Brush with 1-2 tablespoons softened butter, then sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Roll up dough. Cut into 1-inch slices and place on greased baking pan. Allow to rise until double in bulk. Bake as above. And of course you've got to top them with some frosting!

** Click here for printable recipe ** 

OR

** Click here for half recipe **


Want some more recipes? Here are some favorites:

 

21 comments

  1. What a great recipe for Tasty Tuesday! I might have to give this a try. I'm actually afraid of making bread. Something to do with fish not even wanting to eat mine...or something like that. Let's just say I have bread making issues! LOL

    The thought of your honey butter recipe makes me happy!

    ~Kim

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  2. i just may have to try this recipe. the bread looks delicious. :)

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  3. I am going to try it. I don't feel comfortable making bread, but this recipe sounds promising!

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  4. girl, I am trying this today! Thanks for sharing

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  5. I have rarely had bread come out right! This looks good. Maybe I'll try again. :)

    ~Susan

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  6. Thanks for sharing this recipe! I can't make bread to save my life. I think I'll try this. My family will go into shock. ;-)

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  7. I love homemade bread and will have to try this out...thanks for sharing!

    So sorry about the mishap with your sink...for what it is worth...love those knobs!

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  8. This looks AMAZING, I am going to try this... BTW what is dough enhancer?? I have never heard of it??? Thanks for sharing!

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  9. That is the recipe I use when I make bread! It works like a charm. Alos another little tid bit for you, it works really well with actual bread flour. You can get a big bag at Costco (probably Sam's too) for pretty cheap. Something about the gluten makes it better. I'm not sure excactly because it is something to do with science and that just goes in one ear and out the other and causes me to get a massive headache! But it does make your bread even better than before. And this is a good recipe to begin with! LOL!

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  10. I'm so glad you are a testimonial to the fact that homemade yeast bread is possible. It scares people but when you find a good one...it's so worth it. One of these days I am going to do a video to walk people through it, and I'll make sure I link up to this.
    And you should show the pic twice...it's beautiful! :)
    Thanks for linking up to Tasty tuesday. Tomorrow..yard sale post? You know I am there. :)

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  11. Go Aggies!! Thanks for the recipe - I am excited to try it.

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  12. that looks delish! We make bread machine bread, but that's about it. I'll have to see if my daughter wants to try this out.

    So sorry about your sink. So like something that would happen to me.

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  13. Yummy! Thanks for sharing the recipe, I've been wanting to find a good go-to bread recipe!

    Have you ever tried halving this recipe? Does it work?

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  14. i cannot wait to have time to make this. i've always wanted to make bread, but been very apprehensive about it. i think i could manage this recipe! thanks so much for posting.

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  15. I love to make bread which is why I too have a bosch. I will never knead again! This recipe looks pretty simple, what kind of yeast do you use?

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  16. Well, I've never been able to make bread, but, for you, I'll try. :)
    Sounds like a great recipe.

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  17. I made this last night and it turned out perfect! I actually halfed the recipe and put it into 3 small loaf pans and it was great! My only problem was that I took them out of the oven for just a second when they were just about done rising and they fell a little. They weren't to bad and they still tasted wonderful. Thank you for this one.

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  18. melissa*320 sycamore1/8/14, 8:21 AM

    Usually you have to find it at a specialty kitchen store, but you don't have to use it.
    Bread flour is great!
    Warm so that you can put your hand in it and feel warm, but not so hot that you have to take it right out.
    Good luck :)

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  19. I've never heard of bread enhancer...would it be in the baking aisle with yeast/flour/sugar?
    What if I have bread flour and not all-purpose flour in the house...can I use that instead?
    What temperature is the "warm water"? I don't want to kill the yeast with it being too warm, yet I don't want it to be too cold.
    I've never had much success with bread - that's my sister...I have a "fear of yeast"! But I'll try this recipe because I'd love to be able to make bread at home.

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  20. What kind of yeast....thats the part about bread making that makes me nervous. Fast acting, rapid rise, etc. never know what to get at the grcery store.

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  21. Andrea Egbert1/8/14, 5:42 PM

    Just saw this on pinterest. Do you use the dough enhancer? I don't have any but want to try this bread. Should I get some? Yours looks perfect! 

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