I eat bread. I love bread. There, I said it!
In the healthy living world, those words are dared uttered. They will likely get me ousted from the healthy living community and my peers of real food bloggers.
But you know what? It’s true. My world is happier with bread in my life. I’ve done the gluten free thing. I’ve done the paleo thing. I’ve tried it. I didn’t see a significant difference in my health or my children’s health, and boy did we miss bread.
I am much less rigorous in my eating than when I started this journey several years ago. I found it too stressful to be so strict on myself and my family, living in fear of food. I found it difficult to come up with meal ideas that my entire family would enjoy. I found it hard to balance my budget without some grains to fill in the gaps. I found it to be too strict on my children when they just really wanted a good ol’ peanut butter and jelly sandwich on soft bread for lunch.
I have since found a much less stressful place in my life. One where I still enjoy making homemade food and eating “clean food” in my home, but one that doesn’t get hung up on some homemade white bread every once in a while or eating out with friends a couple of times a month.
The weird thing is that when I was being so strict on my family, my kids’ eczema was flared and my candida was at an all time high. The more I restricted from our diets, the more I had to continue to restrict from our diets, because it seemed like the symptoms would shift, worsen, or go away and come back. Our experience in our family has been as we broadened our food choices including beans and legumes, grains, dairy, clean animal products, lots of produce, and unrefined sugars, our overall health improved.
Now, do not hear me wrong. This is OUR experience, and is certainly not the same for everyone. Not everyone does well with grains, dairy, legumes, animal products, starchy vegetables, cruciferous vegetables, fruit, sugars, or fill in the blank. I know this to be true, but for me and my family, we will eat bread and enjoy.
In case you want to try your hand at some tasty homemade white bread as well, you’re in the right place. Yes, I still make my soaked whole wheat bread, and it is delicious as well. Sometimes though, I just want some white bread. Sometimes I don’t feel like soaking my bread overnight. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I wake up and want bread by lunchtime. This is that bread. And in case you were wondering, it makes a fantastic sandwich and french toast. Yum!
Party on bread lovers. And for you non-bread lovers, don’t worry I still love you too. We can still be friends and I’ll still have lots of yummy gluten free and grain free goodies on here for you as well.
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/3 cup sucanat, coconut sugar, or organic cane sugar
- 1-1/2 T. active dry yeast
- 1-3/4 tsp. sea salt
- 1/4 cup melted butter (olive oil may work as well)
- 6 cups bread flour or about 5-1/2 cup all purpose flour
- In a large bowl, stir together warm water and sugar to dissolve.
- Stir in yeast and let sit a few minutes until foamy.
- Add butter and salt and stir.
- Gradually work in flour, about a cup at a time. (I used my stand mixer and dough hook for this one, but you can also do it with your hands.)
- Knead for several minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. It will feel like a good soft playdough.
- Put in a oiled bowl, cover, and let sit for an hour to rise.
- After first rise, cut in half, shape loaves, and put into greased loaf pans.
- Cover and let rise another hour.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until golden brown.
- Remove from loaf pans and let cool completely. Place a towel on top to soften the crust on top.
- Makes 2 loaves.
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