I’m starting something new on the blog this week…5 Ingredient Fridays. And it all kicks off with this recipe!
One of the things that I absolutely love about living here in the Southwest is the abundance of local restaurants, bakeries, and wineries. There is a cute little mom and pop bread store that is literally only 15 minutes away from our house. They make the best homemade bread that I have ever tasted! Every time we are out that way, we always stop in to purchase a loaf or two of whatever flavor they have in stock that day.
I have wanted to try my hand at baking homemade bread for years. I have always shied away from it due to how time consuming it seemed to be. Not only that, yeast and I don’t seem to get along.
Well, I’m proud to say that I have found a recipe that is not only easy to make, but also tastes wonderful! It is my goal to learn how to make certain types of bread without the aide of a bread machine. I believe I have accomplished making this flavor!
You can literally smell the honey baking in the bread when this is in the oven. It will make your house smell like a bakery! We toasted our slices the next day and the flavor was even better!
Yeast tip I learned from this recipe: If the temperature of the water is to hot or to cold, the yeast will not survive. To figure out the right temperature (without using a thermometer) place the boiled water into a glass bowl and wait a few minutes for it to cool down. If you can place your hands around the bowl for 5 seconds without them hurting from getting hot, then that’s when you should mix the water. Also, make sure your yeast has not expired and has been stored properly in the fridge after each use. It will not cooperate if not fresh or stored properly.
Everyone in this house loved this bread and Husband Man commented that it may actually give our favorite bread store a run for their money. Even though I highly doubt that would happen, this recipe really is one to place in your favorite files. When I have more time, I may jazz it up a little with some oats or maybe some cinnamon/sugar 😉
Try it out today and prepare to wow your family!
Homemade Honey Bread
(makes two 9 inch loaves)
Ingredients:
2 cups warm water
2/3 cups honey
1 and 3/4 tablespoons active dry yeast
1 and 1/2 tsp. salt
6 cups bread flour
Directions:
1. Place 2 cups of water in a saucepan on high heat. Once it starts to boil, turn heat off and pour water into a glass bowl. Let it cool. If you can place your hands around the glass bowl without them hurting from the heat, then it is ready for step 2.
2. With a wire whisk, inde the bowl, whisk the 2/3 cups of honey into the water until the honey dissolves. Whisk in the yeast. Place a towel over the glass bowl and let it sit for 15 minutes. The yeast should look frothy.
3. Pour the yeast into a stand mixer and whisk in the salt.
4. Whisk in the first 3 cups of bread flour. Then with a wooden spoon or spatula, mix in the next 3 cups.
5. Knead the dough for 5 minutes using a dough hook. If you don’t have a dough hook, knead it with your hands for the same amount of time. Make sure to coat your hands with flour to make the kneading easier.
6. Place the kneaded dough inside a greased bowl. I coated ours with olive oil. Place a towel on top of the bowl and let it sit for an hour.
7. Punch dough down with your fist and knead it a little more, for about 2 minutes.
8. Spray two 9 inch loaf pans with baking spray. Separate the dough into two equal parts and place inside each loaf pan. Turn oven on to 175 degrees. then turn it off, and place the loaf pans inside.
9. Let the bread rise for another hour while inside the oven.
10. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Bake loaves for 30-35 minutes or until light brown all around.
11. Eat immediately or slice into pieces, wrap the sliced loaf inside aluminum foil, and place in a plastic gallon back. Store in the freezer for 2 months.
Recipe Source: Tweaked from the blog, Loving Marshall. Original recipe here.
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~~louise~~ says
November 14, 2014 at 1:36 pmHi Libby,
As a lurker for quite a while now, I just had to take a minute to thank you for sharing this recipe. I too have shied away from baking bread for so long. I call my timid avoidance, yeastaphobia, lol…
Unlike you, I don't have near by bakeries here in rural Pennyslvania. I've been "dying" to bake bread and with this post, I feel like perhaps I can! I do have tons of honey so it's a good start. I'd love to try some of the local honey:)
Thank you so much for sharing, Libby…
libby says
December 13, 2014 at 3:44 pmYou are welcome for sharing 😉 I LOVE that name…yeastaphobia! Thank you for stopping by 😉
Melissa @ My Recent Favorite Books says
November 15, 2014 at 4:22 pmThis sounds delicious! I have never tried making home made bread, but you make it sound easy! Pinned to my Bread board.
libby says
December 13, 2014 at 3:42 pmThis recipe was pretty darn easy…I have to admit 🙂 Thank you for the pin 😉