Simple Bread

Once you start making your own bread, you'll realize that the bland, chemical filled "bread" at the store is really just not cutting it. Sure, it's quick in a pinch, but it's just not the same as a good, soft, flavorful homemade loaf of bread. It is really not hard to make bread. It's sort of like doing laundry in that it takes a while, but most of the time you aren't really doing anything. Once you get a basic recipe down you can start switching up sweeteners, fat, types of flour, etc. Here is a basic, easy recipe I use on a regular basis.

• 3/4 Tbsp yeast
• 1/8 cup white sugar
• 1 cup warm soy milk (I usually warm it in the microwave for about 45 seconds)
  
• 1/8 cup melted shortening
• 2 t salt
• 2-3 cups flour
• 1 Tbsp vital wheat gluten

1. In a bowl, mix the yeast and sugar. Stir in the warm soy milk. Let this rest for 5-10 minutes.
2. In a different bowl, mix the salt, 2 cups of flour, and gluten.
3. After the milk/sugar/yeast mixture gets foamy, mix in the melted shortening.
4. Add the dry ingredients. At this point you can add more flour if it is too sticky.
5. Kneed the dough for about 5 minutes until it becomes "elasticy". Place the dough in a greased bowl for 45 minutes- 1 hour or until the dough had doubled in size.
6. Punch the dough down and form into a loaf shape. Place in a greased bread pan, cut a slit down the middle, and let rise for another half hour.
7. Bake at 35o for about 30 minutes.