As Emily VenDerWerff notes in her piece on baking bread, something about the current global crisis we all find ourselves in is getting people into baking bread in their own houses. This is a trend that clearly extends beyond a simple utilitarian desire for affordable sustenance. There is something about the process of baking bread for yourself that makes sense in a world that has seemingly ceased to make any sense at all.
It’s difficult to describe, but there certainly is something innately comforting in fresh, homemade bread. It may remind some of us of a family member, a father or mother or grandparent, who had a penchant for baking during our childhood. Or maybe a close friend got into baking at one point, and fresh bread reminds us of their company. Or maybe it’s just the tactile comfort of getting in touch with the physical world around us and making something with our hands.
The coronavirus pandemic has also brought about a phenomenon which most of us in America had only ever heard about second-hand, from history books and the like: food shortages. Now to be fair, most of these shortages of eggs, bread, milk, meat, etc. in grocery stores across the country were the result of panic buying rather than an actual disruption to the supply chain. Still, it was a new experience for many to want to buy a stable food product and have it persistently unavailable for a time.
Baking one’s own bread represents taking one’s sustenance, and by extension one’s fate, into one’s own hands. It is a response to crisis on both a physical and an emotional level. Perhaps this has led you to start baking, or maybe the reasons are far more innocuous; you may just like bread and finally have the time to make it. Regardless of how you got here, enough talk — let’s bake!
The Basics
While those fancy artisanal loaves you see all over Instagram may look enticing, we recommend you use a bread recipe for beginners when starting out. Once you have the fundamentals down pat, you can expand to the more challenging and temperamental recipes.
Just like a good homemade bread, we’re going to assume everyone is starting from scratch. Let’s go through some of the absolute basics of bread as well as a bread recipe for beginners just to make sure everyone is on the same page.
The Components of Bread
Bread has three basic components, without which, there can be no bread. You probably know what they are.
Flour
Whether you’re envisioning an amateur or commercial baker, you’re most likely picturing them with a light dusting of flower all over their hands and apron. Flour is the central ingredient to any loaf of bread — and any cake, for that matter (obviously this does not include treats like ice cream cake). The difference between flour for breads and flour for cakes is the amount of gluten present. As The Spruce Eats explains, a higher gluten content denotes what is known as “hard” flour, and is better for making bread. If you want to bake a cake, you’ll need to use a “soft” flower with a lower overall gluten content. All-purpose flour uses a combination of the two.
Water
Without water, there also can be no bread. Water allows for the activation of the yeast, starting the process that gives the dough its volume and provides bread with the structure we know and love. The water adheres to all the ingredients, uncoiling the gluten molecules in the flour and turning the powder that flour starts as into a cohesive, pliable dough.
Yeast
Yeast is a living microorganism. It is a unicellular fungus that feeds on the sugars and and starches present in your dough. Its byproducts include carbon dioxide, alcohol, and organic acids. The latter two are important as flavor-enhancers, but it’s the first byproduct, CO2, that is most important to the baking process. It’s the release of this gas as yeast metabolizes the starches in the flour that causes bread to rise.
What You’ll Need
If you’re just getting into baking bread, you’re going to want an easy bread recipe for beginners. First, you’ll need some equipment.
A Mixing Bowl
You’re need a bowl you can use to whisk together all of your ingredients. You also need a bowl to hold the dough as it rises, though of course you can always use the mixing bowl; just make sure you wash off anything that remains in the bowl after mixing together your dough, and oil it so that the dough doesn’t stick.
A Dough Scraper
The dough scraper, also known as the bench knife or bench scraper, is considered by many bakers to be an absolutely essential tool. If you’re just starting to bake and you’re not sure if you will continue with the activity regularly, then it may not make sense to buy one right away. Instead, wait until you’re sure that baking is a hobby that you plan to stick with long-term. Fortunately, however, they are not usually expensive!
As Food 52 explains in one of their blog posts, bench scrapers are incredibly useful implements. They can function as a straight edge for making sure your lines are precise, they can be used like a knife to cut your dough, they sometimes have markings for taking measurements, they can be used like a spatula to scoop up whatever you’re making, and of course, they can scrape. Whether you have dried dough, batter, icing, or any other food stuck to your counter, you can be sure that your bench scraper will come in handy for removing it.
A Loaf Pan
A loaf pan helps you get your bread in that perfect loaf shape we see on grocery store shelves. This takes the pressure off you to shape your dough perfectly — a task that is particularly difficult for the novice baking following a bread recipe for beginners who is not used to manipulating finicky dough.
A Scale and a Thermometer
As you’ll find in the recipe below, bread should generally reach a specific temperature in order for you to know it’s done. By checking with a thermometer, you’ll find yourself getting more consistent results.
While cooking often feels like more of an art than a science, baking requires quite a bit more precision. By weighing your ingredients with a kitchen scale, you can be sure that you make things right every time.
Basic Bread Recipe for Beginners
You can make a basic loaf of bread with nothing but the following ingredients:
- Flour
- Granulated sugar
- Active dry yeast or instant yeast
- Canola oil, vegetable oil, or olive oil
- Salt
- Warm water
And that’s it! You can make a great loaf of bread with nothing but these cheap ingredients that you probably have in your cupboard already. Just follow these simple steps:
Activate the yeast
In a mixing bowl, combine the yeast with warm — not hot — water and 1 tablespoon of sugar, then mix everything together and wait five minutes. Make sure not to use hot water or you can end up killing some of the yeast and then your bread will not rise properly. Try to aim for just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make the dough
Once the yeast has been activated, add the flour, salt, oil, and remaining sugar to the bowl and mix well. An electric mixer is recommended to save you a significant amount of time and effort.
Then, knead the dough for about ten minutes to encourage the production of gluten. This will give the bread its desired structure and texture.
Let the dough rise
Oil a bowl, place the dough inside, and cover it with saran wrap. Place it in a warm space to speed up the activity of the yeast. As they generate carbon dioxide, your dough will start to rise. If your dough has a good amount of moisture in it then it should rise in a bit under an hour.
Shape the dough and do a second rise
Punch the dough to rid it of any pockets of air that have formed during the rising process. Roll the dough into an oblong shape, then place it back in an oiled bowl in a warm place for its second rise. The second rise should be done after about half an hour.
Bake your bread!
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and put your bread in. Bake it for about 30-35 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 200 degrees. You’ll know your bread is done when it develops a golden brown crust and has a hollow sound when you tap on it.
Possible Next Steps
You may find that what started as making a bread recipe for beginners eventually ignites a passion for baking you never knew was there. What do you do then? There are a number of exciting ways you can take this hobby to the next level:
Start a Baking Blog
A blog can be the perfect platform for new bakers for a whole host of reasons. For one, it provides a central location for you to track your progress. The early posts will show where you started, when perhaps you could scarcely cook a frozen pizza without burning it. What a delight to see how far you’ve come!
If you post high quality content to your blog very consistently over an extended period of time, you can start to build organic traffic and actually develop a significant following. Over time, blogs with a large audience can actually become quite profitable. While you should start a blog because you enjoy it and not just for the money, gaining an extra source of income is certainly a nice perk. According to a survey by a href=” https://problogger.com/can-you-really-make-money-blogging-7-things-i-know-about-making-money-from-blogging/”>Pro Blogger, about one in ten blogs generates between $1,000 and $10,000 of revenue per month.
If you don’t know the first thing about web design, don’t stress. There are countless companies out there that can make you a custom built website at a rate you can afford. Consider it a worthy investment in a hobby that will bring you joy, just like buying the ingredients for your bread. Who knows — eventually, your site could end up paying dividends.
Make Merchandise Your Fellow Bakers Will Love
As mentioned above, the popularity of baking is rising like warm yeast in this period of coronavirus lockdown. As more and more people find that baking is an important part of their lives, they’re going to want a way to express their new passion to the world. Thanks to the magic of screen printing, you can be the one to bring shirts, sweaters, and more that celebrate baking to the world. There are plenty of companies out there that make custom printing your design idea a breeze.
Use Your Skills To Help the Elderly
As we said, the wonders of baking may have been brought to you by a grandparent or other loved one. Now, you can repay the favor by bringing your creations to the ones you love who may be aging in place and are too old to bake. Not only does this provide them with delicious food they’ll love, it also shows that you’re thinking of them. Just make sure you take the proper pandemic safety precautions when making and delivering your creation.
If you’re in a state that has legalized marijuana, you may choose to visit a cannabis dispensary to add some medicinal properties to the bread you’re baking for the elderly loved ones in your life. When ingested responsibly, the herb can be very helpful for promoting relaxation and pain relief. Just make sure to consult with a medical professional who works with your loved one to ensure that this is an appropriate medicinal for their use.
Whatever your impetus for getting into baking, you’re embarking on this journey in good company. Countless people all over the world are making their own delicious breads at home, so you’ll have plenty of people to talk to about it. There is also no shortage of resources available online if you find yourself needing some extra guidance once you move on from a simple bread recipe for beginners. There are some delicious and creative recipes out there, so don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.
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