Pizza night is a weekly occurrence at my house and something that my family always looks forward to. Beyond the excitement of pizza, because hello, PIZZA…it’s the process of making the pies together that makes it extra special. I’ve been letting my son get involved in helping me make the dough and prep the ingredients since he was about two and he takes such pride in helping me roll out the dough and top the pizzas with all of his favorite toppings. It’s a simple but sweet family tradition that we will continue for years and years to come. Homemade pizza dough is actually quite easy and I have a recipe that I have been using for years that I am finally sharing with you after many requests from all of you! My easy pizza dough will have you feeling like you are at your favorite pizza shop right in your own home any night of the week.
This bread has me daydreaming of being somewhere in Europe drinking fine wines and eating delicious breads and cheeses like its my job. Of course I've actually never been to Europe (yet), but when I take a bite of this fluffy, airy, crusty top bread, I am transported to a little café on a cobblestone street sitting outside watching beautiful people walk by. This no-knead artisan loaf is that good.
The first time I tried this bread, I thought there was absolutely no way it was going to come out good because there was little prep work, only four ingredients, and I just couldn't grasp how it was going to turn out. Well let me tell ya....it turned out really good.
So good that instead of being this fabulous European woman, the realistic version of me was in workout clothes tearing off a piece of the bread right out of the oven and slathering butter on it standing right there in my kitchen, barefoot, with the dogs staring at me. I think they were judging me.
I have made it a couple times now, and every time it comes out perfect. There are little to no skills required to make this bread, so you have to try it for yourself!
The smell of baking bread throughout the house is something that I will never tire of. It is comfort, it is home, it is mouth watering, and I have decided, completely worth the effort to make. There is something so rewarding about eating bread that your hands and your hands alone made.
I am no bread making master yet, but I did figure out this whole wheat recipe that is a great basic recipe and isn't too hard to make. I have big bread making dreams now that I have a little more understanding of how this homemade bread thing works. I'm hooked.
I told you last week this was either going to be a problem or the best thing I've done in the kitchen in a long time...well it's kind of both. I have this irresistible urge to slather honey butter on the first slice right out of the oven...so usually I do, which I guess could be considered a problem. But what's a girl to do when it's warm and calling for a honey butter bath?
What have I gotten myself into? I'm officially addicted to homemade bread and I haven't even perfected it yet...so that means this is either going to be a problem or it's going to be the best thing I've done in the kitchen in a long time! My second week of adventures in bread making has come and gone, and I'm hooked guys!
This week I went full on wheat mode with a new recipe. Last week the recipe I used called for half regular all-purpose flour and half whole wheat flour. This week the recipe was 100% whole wheat and has lots of other yummy ingredients that are good for you too! Which made me happy, because the overall goal of me making my own bread was so I that I would know what ingredients were in my bread and that it would be healthy for me too.
This week my "what an idiot" moment was when I realized that the reason my second rise wasn't rising fully was simply because I was dividing the dough into two when really I only had enough dough for one large bread pan. Um hello...so after I realized that I made another batch and it rose just perfectly....or would have but then I forgot to brush the top with milk and sprinkle with oats, so I frantically pulled it out of the oven and added the missed step only to realize that me taking it back out of the oven made the loaf collapse a little...waaa.
I've admitted to you before that I am not a baker. And when I say that, I don't mean that I can't bake or don't enjoy it....because believe me I get hit by the baking bug every so often and I'm not half bad. But with baking it's the whole everything has to be measured perfectly and if I mess up there is no way to fix it thing that I don't like. It's way too much pressure for my liking, mostly because with cooking I am a perfectionist and with baking there is a fear of it not coming out just as the recipe says.
However, there is a but here. I do love homemade pizza crusts, and I am determined to start making homemade bread of all varieties. The main reason for this is that I want to know what ingredients are in my bread, it's all very rustic and quite therapeutic.
There is something about the kneading that I really like. I feel like I am channeling all of the great women who made bread with no fancy equipment, but just with love to feed their families. They did it out of necessity, but really they had it right all along. That is what I'm going for, I'm putting my baking fears aside, my fears of not having something come out perfect and I'm going to teach myself to bake bread.
