[oodlesofnoodles]

BY HAND!!!

AND, it tastes freaking a-mazing. I'm so proud of myself.

I asked Saef how she used to bake her bread and she directed me to this recipe and it came out beautifully!!!!

It took forever though. I can't believe how much work a good loaf of bread is.... Lots of waiting around for it to rise, and then I kept poking it to see if it rose enough. I made a mistake when I started though and I added too much buttermilk, and didn't discover my mistake until I started kneading it and it was way too sticky. So I started dumping flour until it seemed right, which I guess is how you do it lol.

Here's a pic. It's squished because I'm an idiot and tried to bake it in the toaster oven because the oven's broken at my house. It burned on top a little and I rushed it over to my boyfriend's grandma's house and finished it there. Despite how weird looking it is, it's REALLY GOOD. It's super moist and stays together very well, and it's nice and dense but not TOO dense. I could make a sandwich with it. It' pretty low cal too if I make the slices moderately thin.



If I can bake bread anyone can. Seriously. Yay.

[Jennifer 3FC]

Congratulations! It looks like you did a great job. I haven't baked bread in years. I'm better not having any of it around me. Especially if it's warm!

[NiteNicole]

It's beautiful!

Someone turned me on to the no knead bread recipes and I'm a huge fan!

[GreenTeaYum]

Oh man, bread is hard. I enjoy baking- but I hate bread. I can't ever get the consistency right either.

Nice job though- that is a tasty-looking loaf.

[saef]

YAYYYYYY!!!!

You got a really nice shape there, where it seems to have risen over the edge of the pan. Also the top looks nice & crusty.

And I can tell it's whole grain by that dense crumb. This is bread that I find very satisfying to eat a slice of. It's really substantial. There's chewing involved. And lots of flavors to think through. It's not like eating air. You know you're eating real food.

Next time, if it seems to be getting dark fast, take it out, put a piece of tinfoil over it & then put it back in & let it keep baking.

My other trick is not to let the bread dictate my schedule. I let it rise while I'm at the gym. Or during a trip to the store. It's okay to leave it alone in the house. (No one will call Bread Protective Services & rat you out.) You don't always need to time it exactly, either. A little over is fine. I have been interrupted sometimes in bread-making & have put the bowl in the fridge for a while, to slow down the rise or delay it.

The other skill you may need to learn is defending your loaf from other people once it gets out of the oven & sits there cooling. The smell turns otherwise rational people into crazed, bread-craving zombies. I have to warn them, "If you cut it when it's still really warm, you will squash it flat." I hate squashed bread.

[mandalinn82]

Spit take at Bread Protective Services! They'd be all over me, my doughs get left all over the place.

If you find you like making bread, you can make roll shapes, half-bake them, freeze them on a sheet tray, and take them out as needed. I have to do this, because freshly baked bread is pretty much my nemesis, and I can only manage it in controlled amounts. But having a bag of ready-to-finish-baking bread rolls in my freezer means homemade bread any time.

[losermom]

I love homemade bread! But I'm a cheater and make it in a breadmaker. Mandalinn, I understand the lure of homemade bread. I have to limit myself to 1 slice a day.