Homemade Bread

Heat water up to body temperature (usually 15 seconds in the microwave works) and add the honey or sugar. Sprinkle the yeast on top, wait 5 minutes for it to come alive, then add the flour. Stir - it should be pretty wet - and then let this sit for an hour someplace warm.

While that is resting mix together:

• ⅓ cup avocado oil (you can also use melted butter or olive oil)
• ¼ cup honey or sugar or even maple syrup - anything sweet to add to the flavor
• 1 teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
• I also add other fun things to this like raisins/cinnamon, or 1 minute oatmeal (makes the bread chewy) or flaxseeds (healthy!) - just a ¼ cup of anything like this

Add these ingredients to the flour/yeast mixture and stir until well mixed.

Then start adding additional flour about a ½ cup at a time until a ball forms, then turn the ball out on a flour covered surface and start kneading (if you don’t know how to knead bread this might help - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJiucv88flM)

The dough should be of a consistency of your ear lobe if you pinch it which usually takes about 15-20 minutes.

Let the dough rent in a warm place for 45-60 minutes until it doubles in size. This stretches out the gluten so it rises well. Punch it down to stop the rising because you don’t want the gluten strands to break. Then knead it again for 10-15 minutes.

Put the bread in a bread pan that has been oiled and let it rest again for 20-30 minutes. Then preheat the over for 400 degrees F and put the bread in! It usually takes about 30-40 minutes to cook - the best way to tell if it is done is to use a thermometer and make sure the center reaches 190 degrees. You can also thump it and if it sounds hollow you are probably good.

Take the bread out of the pan and let it cool on a wire rack for a few minutes which will make it easier to slice. Then dig in!