Simple Yeast Bread

Homemade bread can be simple to make!  I adapted this recipe from Elizabeth Yetter's super easy bread for beginners.  This simple yeast bread recipe has few ingredients and only needs about an hour and half proofing time and 45 minutes of baking time.  It also smelled so good while baking!  I think the smell was driving my dogs,  Buddy and Ellie, crazy!  They were waiting for me to slice it when it was ready.  I had a piece with some butter and it was delicious!

Simple Yeast Bread 

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

¾ cup warm water (about 110 degrees F)

2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast

1 teaspoon salt

1 ½ tablespoon sugar

1 tablespoon vegetable shortening

½ cup milk (I used 2%, also best at room temperature.)

3 cups all-purpose flour

 

Directions

In a bowl, add warm water and stir in yeast to dissolve in the water.  Stir in salt, sugar, shortening, and milk to the yeast mixture.

 

Pour into the bowl of a stand mixer.  (You could also mix yeast mixture in stand mixer with paddle attachment.)

 

Add in flour ½ cup at a time while using the dough hook.  Mix until dough comes together and comes off the sides of the mixing bowl.

Turn dough onto a floured surface.  Knead until the dough is soft and smooth, and no longer sticky to the touch.

 

Place dough in a greased bowl (I used olive oil but you can use butter too).  Cover and let rise for 1 hour.

 

Punch down dough and turn onto a floured surface.  Knead dough.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Lightly grease a bread pan.

Form dough into a loaf and place into pan.  Cover and let rise for 30 minutes.

 

Score dough by cutting 3 slashes across the top.   Bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown.

 

Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes.  Turn bread out onto a cooling rack.

 

Cool completely before slicing.

 

Note:  Freeze by slicing and placing in a freezer bag.  Take slices out and defrost as needed.

Ellie was watching me from the dining room while I was baking.  I am sure Buddy was sleeping on the couch instead :)

Pizza Dough

TGIF!  I love not working on Fridays since it gives me more time to actually cook.  I have never tried to make homemade pizza before but I was motivated after I saw a simple recipe for homemade pizza dough. I adapted the pizza dough recipe from Money Saving Mom.  What is great is that you can freeze this pizza dough to use later, so I recommend doubling or tripling the recipe.  I actually doubled the recipe to make homemade pizza pockets!  I will post the recipe to those soon, which I also adapted from Money Saving Mom.   I had no idea how easy it was to make homemade pizza dough, so I hope you try it if you haven't before.  Happy Friday!

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon active dry yeast (I used Red Star yeast from Costco.)

1 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F.)

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons oil (olive or vegetable)

2 ½ cups flour 

cornmeal (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl, add yeast and warm water. (I  warmed the water in the microwaved for about 45 seconds.)  Use a whisk to dissolve the yeast in the water. 

Next add in the remaining ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.

 

Knead dough on a floured surface for about 5 minutes.

 

Roll out dough and press down onto a greased pizza pan or stone.  (I actually just flipped a baking sheet over and used the underside to bake the pizza.)  You can also dust your baking pan with some cornmeal to add texture to your pizza crust.

 

Add your favorite toppings! I spooned the tomato sauce and added sliced golden beets and fresh mozzarella cheese. (I love beets and I will post how I cook beets soon too!)

Baked for about 15 minutes until edges of crust are lightly browned.

 

You can also double or triple this pizza dough and freeze the extras if you don’t need it.  Just defrost in the fridge in the morning and it should be ready for dinnertime.