I remember spending most of my childhood in the kitchen with my grandmother. She would teach me how to bake and then how to wash dishes. She would get a chair from the bar and I would stand in it next to her. I remember all her baked goods and loved every minute of it. I miss her dearly and she is deeply missed.

I have been making my own bread off and on for years. I remember back in 2013 when I went on a huge health kick wanting to make all my own food. I spent many hours and days perfecting the perfect bread recipe. My kids and husband thought I was crazy. Making your own bread is so much tastier and also no preservatives so healthier. It’s a win, win all around.

Since the pandemic started I have not always been able to find bread on the store shelves. It is even hard to find supplies to make your own bread. I have been lucky in finding a few things of flour here and there. I had yeast already before things went crazy. I have taken oats and ground them up in my food processor to create flour for baking when I can’t find flour.

Bread and Rolls

My favorite part about this recipe is that I use it for EVERYTHING. I use it for dinner rolls, I use it for cinnamon rolls and of course a loaf of bread. I use my bread machine to knead the bread, makes it even easier to make. I just set it on the knead setting and then take it out and rise in the oven, then bake. Find my roll recipe HERE.

Baking Tips

So there are a few important aspects in bread baking that if you are new might not know. In order for your yeast to activate, you need your milk to be WARM, not hot. I pour my milk into a glass measuring cup and heat for about 1 minute to warm. Another things to know is that your wet ingredients go FIRST. That is with anything you are baking. I layer my mixing bowl and place the warm milk, butter, egg first. Then I add flour and make a little hole in the center for the yeast. Then add salt and sugar, then knead together.

The settings for rolls and bread will vary.

For rolls I bake at 375 on a baking sheet about 1 inch apart for 12-14 minutes.

For bread I bake on 325 for 25-30 minutes in a glass baking dish.