Baking your own homemade bread is a skill that is not only fun and even therapeutic for some people, but it is also a great way to save money and show love to your family. What better way to say “I Love You!” than the smell of fresh bread permeating the house? The only problem is the time commitment that is required to put the ingredients together, form the dough, let the dough rise, shape the loaves, rise again, and then bake. It could be a good 3 hours before the whole process is done.
The bread machine is a great answer to this problem. You just put all your ingredients into the machine, press start, and off you go. In three hours you will have a lovely loaf of bread. If the recipe allows, you can even set the bread machine to have the bread baked and ready for you when you get home from work, school, or errands. The only problem with bread machines is that they create odd shaped loaves that prove to be difficult in creating loaves of sandwich bread. How can one have delicious homemade bread always on hand and it be the perfect loaf shape that is ideal for sandwiches and toast?
The solution is in Freezing your own Bread Dough.
Here is how you can do yourself.
1. Find your favorite bread recipe such as a Amish White Bread or Honey Wheat Bread.
2. Mix all your ingredients until you form a round dough.
3. Knead the dough until it is ready for the first rising.
4. Don’t start the first rising and split the dough into two parts.
5. Shape the two parts into loaves.
6. Put the shaped loaves into well-greased bread pans.
7. Cover the bread pans well with plastic wrap and place in the freezer.
8. Allow the dough to freeze until it is stiff enough that you can handle it without it losing its shape.
9. Remove the loaves from the pans, wrap individually with plastic wrap, place in a gallon sized freezer bag, and return immediately to the freezer.
10. The dough is good for 3 months.
When you are ready for a fresh loaf of delicious bread here is what you do next.
1. Before you leave for work or you start your errands, pull one loaf of frozen dough from the freezer and place in a well-greased bread pan.
2. Cover the pan with plastic wrap that you sprayed with cooking spray (spray side down) to prevent the dough from drying out.
3. Leave the dough out in a warm place to thaw and rise at the same time.
4. Once the dough has risen thoroughly place the pan into the oven and bake according to the recipe.
Freezing your own bread dough is a great way to have homemade bread all the time and not have to commit a lot of time into it. Just set aside a day once a week or even once a month to make all the dough you need, freeze it, and bake it as needed. Enjoy!
