Tara's Daily Bread

This is my favorite daily bread recipe. I make this bread about once a week, and Skye and I use it for everything: toast, sandwiches, croutons, etc. I like to add flax seeds and chia seeds, but you can omit these or use any other types of seeds that you like!

Approximately 3 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk (I use soy)
2/3 cup hot water (it should be just hot enough that it's difficult to keep your hand in the water, but not hot enough to burn you)
4 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 packet active dry yeast dissolved in 1 tablespoon warm water OR 2 teaspoons instant yeast

2 tablespoons of ground flax seed

2 tablespoons of whole flax seed

2 tablespoons of chia seeds

Mix together the sugar and hot water in a large bowl. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir it in. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes so that it starts to foam on top. Add the melted butter (or vegetable oil) and milk. Stir. Add the seeds and salt and stir. Finally, add the flour, half a cup at a time, until you can no longer incorporate any more flour into the dough (you may not need the full three cups).

Once all of the ingredients are mixed, sprinkle flour onto a smooth surface and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. The end result should be a smooth, soft ball of dough.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, covered with a towel, for about two hours, until it doubles in size. Then, remove the dough from the bowl and knead it a few more times. Shape it into a loaf and place it in a greased loaf pan. Allow it to rise for another hour, covered with a towel. At this point, it should look like a loaf of bread.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake the bread for about 35 minutes until it is dark on top. When you remove it from the oven, remove it from the pan and let it cool on a cookie rack.

I hope that you enjoy this recipe! I've been making sandwich bread weekly for years, and this recipe is the one that works best for me. Enjoy. :-)