Best Ever Bread Recipe

Living on a tight budget one of the best way to save money and still feed your family healthy nutritious foods, is to make it from scratch yourself. Now I love to bake but one of my biggest fears has always been baking bread. I had tried in the past with some not so great results, but recently I was inspired by one of my favorite Blogs Joybileefarm to try again.  I participated in their "30 days of Scratch Cooking" challenge on facebook and that inspired me to break out my old cookbooks and get to baking. One of the best tips I can give anyone new to baking bread is to use bread flour not all-purpose flour and if it doesn't turn out right the first time don't give up! Remember learning to bake bread is an art form and for some "like me" may take some trail and error before you get it right.
So why bread flour? Well, bread flour has a higher protein content in it than all-purpose which helps the bread to rise higher and have that lofty chewiness we associate with bread. All-purpose flour though great for cakes and cookies is not the best choice for bread. Take it from some one who has been there and done that your bread will be heavy like a rock!! Just ask my hubby as he was afraid to try my latest bread venture for that very reason! He has tasted my failures and was leery to try my latest attempt at baking bread, that was till he tasted it and now he is hooked!!! He is very happy to have "real bread" as he calls it instead of  "garbage bread" what he now calls the bread we used to buy at store. In fact I can't seem to keep it in the house for very long before it is time to bake another batch; good thing this recipe makes 3 loaves or I would be baking bread daily! I found this recipe written on a piece of paper in one of my old cook books I got from my mom before she passed away, I am not sure where it came from or from whom but it is one of the best white bread recipes I have found; it is a little work, but so worth it. I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine does.

Ingredients 

8 cups of bread flour (plus 5T for dusting)
1/2 cup white sugar
3 cups of warm water
3 teaspoons of salt
6 tablespoons of vegetable oil
3 tablespoons of active dry yeast

In a large bowl add your yeast and warm water then add your sugar and salt mix till dissolved then add your 4 tablespoons of oil and 4 cups of your flour making sure to mix well, then set aside and let rise till double in size. After the mixture has doubled add the other 4 cups of flour incorporating it well into the mixture and start kneading till the dough is smooth; dusting lightly as you go with the extra flour to help with the kneading. Next place 1 tablespoon of oil in another large bowl to grease the bowl; add the dough into the bowl turning it several times to make sure it is thoroughly coated so it wont stick to the bowl then cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise till doubled in size. Once done rising remove the cloth and punch down the dough, then allow it to rest for about 5 min. Take the remaining oil and grease three 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in bread pans. Divide the dough in three equal pieces and shape into loaves, place them into the pans and let time rise till double in size. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, once the bread is done rising place in the oven and bake for 40 to 45 min till nice and golden brown.  Bread should have a hollow sound when you tap on it to show it is done. Next turn it out of the baking pans and allow to cool on a baking rack.

The first loaf never gets to cool in our house as everyone here loves it fresh from the oven slathered in butter or homemade preserves. Now that I have gotten over my fear of baking bread I plan to venture out and try my hand at some artisan favorites. I will have to let you know how that turns out.