Cheap and easy homemade bread

I love homemade bread - there’s nothing like the smell, taste or texture of fresh, homemade bread.

I recently found an easy bread recipes that I really, really like. And even better, my whole family really, really likes it too.

Basic French Bread (this recipe came from a friend and most of her tips are included - my pointers are in italics):

Combine in bowl:
2 cups warm water
2 teaspoons yeast (or 4 if you’re in a hurry)
2 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons sugar (white, brown, or honey)

Optional ingredients:
3 Tablespoons oil (optional–makes a softer-textured bread)
1/4 cup wheat germ or bran (optional–adds nutrition, especially if you’re using all white flour)
1 egg (optional–adds nutrition and keeping quality)

4-5 cups flour (all-purpose, bread, and/or up to 1/2 whole wheat)

Mix in enough flour to make a stiff dough; knead until smooth and elastic. Put in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and leave in a warm place 1-2 hours until doubled. Gently deflate. At this point you can either let it rise again or shape into loaves.

The friend who gave this recipe to me said she likes to oil a cookie sheet, sprinkle it lightly with yellow cornmeal, and put the loaves on that.

I usually knead it, separate it into two halves, spread each half out into a rough square shape, then roll each one up and put each into an oiled loaf pan (with the seam down).  Let rise until nearly double and preheat the oven to 375 or 400 (hotter for narrower loaves - I usually cook at 375). My friend suggested “If you like a shiny crust, beat an egg with 1 T water and brush over the loaf. Make artistic slashes on the top and pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes (in loaf pans, I usually bake for 25 minutes).

Bread is done when it’s a deep golden brown and sounds hollow when you flip the loaf over and tap the bottom.

I like to let it cool enough that I can handle the bread but it’s still warm then rub the top with a little butter (save the wrappers from butter/margarine quarters - pop them into a freezer bags and grab one whenever you need to grease something with margarine or butter) to keep the top crust soft and flavorful. Then I pop it out of the loaf pans, put the loaves into plastic zipper bags - don’t close the bag, but let it sit until the bread cools. The condensation created from the cooling bread inside the bag helps keep the bread nice and soft - unless you prefer it crusty. After it’s cooled, wrap up each loaf in plastic wrap or another bag for storage. Slice after it’s cool. If you make two loaves you can eat one and freeze the other - delicious!