Homemade Bread #2

I am still experimenting with bread and this is what I made today...

~ 1 and 1/2 cups of warm water (Water should be hotter than lukewarm, but not so hot that it is steaming.  Basically, you should be able to put your finger in it for a 10 count.  I prefer to heat the water up in a small sauce pan, pour it in a measuring cup and add cold water until I get to the right temp.)
~ 1 and 1/2 tsp. of yeast
~ 1 and 1/2 tsp. of sugar
~ 1 and 1/2 tsp. of kosher salt
~ 3 and 1/4 cups of all purpose flour

Pour the water and the sugar in your mixing bowl and whisk briefly until the sugar is dissolved.  Then, add the yeast, whisk very briefly and let sit for 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, put the flour and salt in another bowl and lightly mix together with a fork.  Once the yeast, water, and sugar mixture is thick and round in the center, add in the flour/salt mixture.  If the yeast doesn't look like this, toss it and start again.  (I ended up doing this today.)  Good description here though I think hotter water works better than what is described in the link (based on the directions on the yeast packet).

Combine using the dough hook on the mixer.  Once combined the dough should be tacky, but not sticky.  If it is too sticky, add a bit more flour (one tablespoon at a time, not a lot).  Today when I made this bread, I ended up adding two more tablespoons of flour to get the right consistency.  Remove the dough from the mixing bowl, shape into a loose ball, and put in a glass bowl that has been oiled.  Cover the glass bowl with plastic wrap and a clean kitchen towel and put in a warm place.  I put mine on my stove top and turned my oven on to warm (about 170 degrees).  Let is rise for 1/5 to 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

Once doubled, take the dough out and place on a floured surface.  Split in half and shape into smaller balls.  Fold under repeatedly until you get to a desired shape.  Place onto an oiled cookie sheet and let rise for another 1 hour.  Cut a few slashes across the top and bake in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes.

My two loaves... definitely going to make a sandwich or two out of these this week :)

Before baking

After baking

A little lumpy, but oh so good!

Enjoy!