To kick off the “Back to Basics” week here at An Oregon Cottage, we’re going to be making bread. Why bread? Shouldn’t we start with something simpler?
My answer is this: bread is the staff of life. There’s something so elemental about baking bread to serve your family that it is…well, for lack of another word, basic. The ingredients are simple and usually few. Most of the time it takes to make is just waiting. And the result? When you bite into bread you have made for the first time, you will feel like you can do anything!
A perfect springboard for the rest of the week, I say.
That being said, I know that the thought of making bread scares many people and I feel your pain. I used to be scared, too. I’ve also read a lot of recipes that involve more time, effort, and know-how than I ever want to put in the kitchen.
Remember our cottage mentality motto: simple, frugal, and fun. So the following bread recipes have to adhere to these three principles or they don’t make the cut.
Start with:
Basic Baking Powder Biscuits for a quick bread to go with soups and stews or to serve as a base for breakfast sausage-and-egg sandwiches, or ham or turkey “slider” sandwiches for lunches. This recipe for amazing whole wheat flaky biscuits is hands-down my favorite.
Bottom line: Control of ingredients at a cost of less than a dollar for the whole batch.
Dip your toes into the world of yeast with:
Updated Easy Artisan Bread made in an enameled cast iron dutch oven to replicate that famous artisan-type crust. This is hands-down the easiest yeast recipe I’ve ever made and it turns out wonderful every time with no kneading and hardly any hands-on time. Your family and friends will think you are a bread maker extraordinaire when you serve them this. Shhh…I’ll keep your secret.
Bottom line: feeling of super-hero power with the first bite at a cost of less than .50 versus $4 to $5 bought at a store.
Finally, make the soft sandwich bread you thought you never could with:
An Oregon Cottage’s Easy Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread– A Tutorial. This is it guys, when you make this you need never buy a loaf of bread from the store again (if you choose not to…). What a feeling! If someone had told me a few years ago that I wouldn’t be buying bread I would’ve laughed at them (with visions of some of my previous “leaden” loaf attempts running through my head…). And it’s doable. Really. So make it your goal to try it and see if you like it.
Bottom line: Ma Ingalls feeding her family at a cost of about .60 cents a loaf.
Using these two recipes will make you into a bread maker for sure!
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Rachel says
Hi – I rediscovered your blog again tonight and love it! Great tips for a family starting to cut out processed/store bought foods and get back to the basics! Just made the ranch dressing tonight and it tastes wonderful. We were starting to get grossed out by the chemicals and ‘who knows what’ is in so many store bought foods. On another note, I see many recipes calling for whole wheat ‘pastry’ flour. I just bought organic whole wheat flour. Do I mix some white flour in with it to make it more pastry-like? I would love your opinion on this before I attempt your bread recipes.
thanks so much!
Elephant's Eye says
I linked back to you from this post
[email protected] An Oregon Cottage says
Missie- Whoo-hoo! Success- now on to pitas. 😉
Missie says
Jami, I made your biscuit recipe tonight to go along with my cowboy meatloaf. They were a hit! I used 2c whole wheat pastry flour and 1c unbleached all purpose flour. My husband said that these biscuits were “better than any you could go buy in a restaurant!” High praise indeed, my friend. Thanks for posting the recipes and how-tos to go along with them. That helps immensely!
Now off to try your pita bread later in the week!
Gail @ Faithfulness Farm says
Great post and great series! I’ll be looking forward to more posts!
Blessings!
Gail
Smockity Frocks says
Those look WONDERFUL! Thank you for linking to my Tutorial Tuesday!
ana @ iMadeItSo says
i like how you shared this in baby steps! i’ve heard good things about the artisan bread method… but never tried it.
Kristin says
About 3 months ago I decided that If I was going to start making our daily bread then I better quit buying it! And you know what? My family is in bread heaven now! I don’t know why I waited so long! It’s the best and it’s true what they say…”Practice makes perfect!” I hope others will be inspired to make it too!
Lexa says
Jami- Well, you just might have given me the push to try making my own bread. Thanks so much for the great information.
shopannies says
thanks for your tutorial
Aagaard Farms says
Awesome! Thanks for sharing all the great info! I think your biscuit recipe is very similar to my Grandmother’s, which I make all the time – so easy and so good!
Mary W says
I found you relatively recently when you had a guest post over at $5 dinners. Looking through your site initially what I enjoyed most were your basic recipes (catsup, mayo, salad dressing, etc). I’m really looking forward to this week.
Olga says
Making bread at home does save money. I make mine in a bread machine. But I’m kind of getting bored with it, so I was thinking that I should try baking bread in the oven. The buscits look and sound great. This is something I should try (I’ve never made them before).
I really like the idea of Back to Basics Week! And like Sarah, I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
[email protected] An Oregon Cottage says
Cheryl- Me, too! Took me the longest time to figure that out…
Sarah- love the tip, I’m going to try it as my family is always trying to saw away at a frozen loaf. 🙂
Olga- I hope you try them, glad you are on board for the week!
Mary- so glad you are finding things that are helpful to you!
Lexa- I hope so!!
Minerva- Yeah- I just made the pitas last week too.
Kristen- Good for you- you’re so right. 🙂
StrivingSimply says
Those look so good! Do you know of any resource that will explain what you’ve done wrong to your bread? Mine is consistently crummy (literally), and we like soft, chewy bread.
Minerva's Garden says
This is a wonderful post–thank you! I make most of our bread, and I have to say that your 100% whole wheat dinner rolls as well as the homemade pita bread are excellent and I put them in my regular rotation of recipes. I can’t wait to try the above recipes as well!
Rachel says
Delicious!
I love your step by step with pictures! So helpful for someone who might never have made homemade biscuits!
Sarah says
When I saw the topic for today, I wanted to share this helpful tip. (even though the post is a lot about biscuits.)
I make my own sandwich bread using the bread machine dough cycle and then bake it in the oven. I like the shape of the loaf from a pan better than the bread machine.
But the tip is I have found it easier to cut thinner slices (and please the hubby) by cutting the loaf the next day. Then I wrap in foil put in the freezer – we wouldn’t be close to consuming the whole loaf by the time it went bad if just left out. We take out one or two slices and defrost or fully toast in the toaster.
I’m looking forward to the rest of the series.
Cheryl B. says
I am obviously overworking my biscuit dough, and I was raised on biscuits my mother made! Will try the food processor. I am usually too lazy to get it out, but that would definitely be worth it!