Warm Fresh Bread

Yep, that's butter.

Ok, I know I tend to flip from one thing to another, pretty often.  But nearly everyday, I'm in the kitchen.  Nearly everyday, I'm watching (or listening to) a cooking show.

I've been wanting to tackle making my own bread, completely from scratch.  I've collected recipes on websites and blogs, looked to the pioneer woman for advice.  I have a bit of a bread fear.  I've tackled homemade pasta, pretty successfully, and many other chemistry-based baking, but never bread.

So, I decided to take the first step.  I saw this Krusteaz bread mix in Publix, with the optional Artisan Bread recipe, and I had to get it.  Today, I took the leap! And it was so ridiculously easy, I'm ashamed to even say it was any work at all... mostly babysitting the dough. 

Here it is:

I got the Krusteaz Country White Bread Mix (it comes with the yeast)

I checked out the directions for the Artisan Bread Directions, and it just looked too easy.  It was.

In a large bowl, I added the yeast packet to the mix.

Add 1 1/4 cup Room Temp water (75-85°F)

Mix well by hand with a spoon, it should be sticky and moist.

Now, find something to do for 2 hours.  Like paint something cool, read a magazine, watch TV, do laundry.

Make sure you cover the bowl, and set it in a warm, dry place while you're doing your thing.

It should double in size.  With about 4 tsp of flour sprinkled on the dough, carefully transfer to a pan, cookie sheet or dutch oven.

Now it's time to do something else for about 40 min.  Just let the dough rest uncovered. Heat oven to 450°

20 minutes in the oven, and you get THIS!  Don't burn yourself trying to eat it right out of the oven. NOM NOM.