Homemade Bread

At Thanksgiving, Jon and I really wanted some good homemade bread. Certainly, we are able to buy bread in Tanzania, but it is always just white bread and not great for a Thanksgiving dinner. So, the day before everyone came over to our home to celebrate Thanksgiving, we made bread. It turned out great and I want to share the recipe with you.

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups flours
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 1/8 cup room temperature water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Method:

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water and let it sit for about ten minutes. It is ready when the yeast water has become foamy.
2. In a large bowl, combine the yeast water, milk, sugar, salt, and oil. Add 1.5 cups of flour and start stirring until well blended.
3. Stir in additional 1.5 cups of flour. The dough will become stiff and sticky.
4. Knead the dough for about ten minutes. To decrease the stickiness, during kneading, dust the top of it with about 2 tablespoons flour.When the dough becomes sticky again, add another 2 tablespoons flour. You may need to use more flour than the recipe calls for. If your hands become covered with sticky dough, use flour to remove it into your dough ball.
5. Knead your dough into a ball and brush the top with 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil. Place into a large bowl and cover with a wet towel. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 60-90 minutes. After about 60-75 minutes, your ball should have doubled in size.
6. After 90 minutes, remove the dough from it’s rising place and back onto your work space. Punch in the risen dough. You are trying to remove all of the air out of the dough with your hands.
7. Knead again for 5 minutes.
8. Place it into a greased bread pan. Put a wet towel over the bread again and place it back in a warm spot to rise again. Allow to rise again for 60-90 minutes. Again, the dough will double in size.
9. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. and bake the bread for 45 minutes. It is finished when the loaf has a golden brown color. You can also test it by tapping on the crust. If it is ready, the bread sounds hollow.
10. Allow the bread to cool before removing from pan.

Notes: You can add spices or vegetables to this dough. This picture you see above has onions and garlic added into the dough. Simply add to the dough when you knead for the first time. Some options include: minced onion, garlic, dill weed, rosemary, basil, roasted sesame seeds, poppy seeds, cinnamon, raisins, etc.