Best Homemade Bread! Psst, it's super easy!

Being married to a chef is hard. And by hard, I mean I have to cook all the time. Cheffing is not a 9-5 gig. Most nights I cook dinner. I used to hate cooking. HAAAATE. Thanks to Pinterest and good friends' recipes, I've gotten to where I don't mind it, I crank up my Spotify (side note: Best 10 bucks I spend a month), sing my heart out and cook my tail off. Little C is my adventurous eater. He'll taste anything. His only absolute no is asparagus. The boy eats brussels sprouts like a starving man so I don't complain. Big P? Every meat he eats is called "chicken" because otherwise he would starve himself. He likes his meat white and his chili spicy enough he needs chap stick afterward. These boys...

In all this cooking, I never had any desire to bake bread. Why? I can buy it at the store for relatively cheap. But then I went and visited my best friend Alisha one spring, she made homemade bread. It was amazing. If you are ever in the part of Texas where the grass attacks you, stop by and try some. After I returned home, I started researching my brains out on the hunt for the perfect sandwich bread. I found this recipe on Pinterest and I have made this so many time. The boys LOVE it. They actually ask me to bake it and the cooler weather has me thinking it might be time to make some.

This is an excellent beginner bread making recipe. I'm sure you can do it in a bread machine but oh my, kneading and punching dough makes me a way better mom. 

Rosebud's Butter Topped White Bread:

Fresh out of the oven!

Ingredients:

4 and 1/2 teaspoons dry active yeast (or the equivalent of two packets)
3/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature and cut into pieces
2 and 2/3 cup additional warm water
9-10 cups all-purpose flour (I used half unbleached and half whole wheat flours)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, for brushing the tops of the loaves
Additional butter/cooking spray, for greasing your rising bowl and loaf pans

Instructions
1. In the bowl of your standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, dissolve the yeast in 3/4 cup of warm water, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the sugar, salt, butter, additional 2 and 2/3 cup warm water, and mix gently to combine.
3.  Slowly add 5 cups of the flour, mixing on low speed until smooth.
4. With the mixer on its lowest speed , slowly add the remaining flour until the dough is smooth.
5. Switch to your dough hook attachment and knead the dough for 10 minutes. ***Now, if you have a smaller mixer, I would recommend kneading the dough in two portions so as not to burn your motor out-this is a lot of dough.  Alternatively, like my grandmother used to do, you can knead all of the dough by hand.
6.  While the dough is kneading, lightly grease a large bowl with butter or cooking spray, as well as two loaf pans (I used 9″).
7.  Once the dough is ready, place the dough in the greased bowl and turn over to completely coat the dough with butter/cooking spray.  Cover, and set in a warm place to rise for 1 hour.
8. After an hour, punch down the dough (yes!) and divide it into two portions.
9. Working with one portion at a time, roll (with a rolling pin) the dough out into roughly 12″ x 12″ squares, making sure that the thickness of the dough is uniform throughout.
10.  Slowly and tightly roll up each square, sealing the edges firmly.
11.  Tuck the ends of the roll tightly under the bread and place into your prepared loaf pans.  Repeat with the second loaf.  Cover the loaves, set in a warm place, and let rise until doubled, about another hour.
12.  Place one rack on the lowest position in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

OMGosh yummy!

13. Bake the loaves for 15 minutes, then cover each loaf with aluminum foil to prevent the tops from browning too much.
14.  Once covered with foil, bake for an additional 15 minutes.
15. Remove the loaves from the oven, place on a wire rack to cool, and lightly brush the loaves with the melted butter.