Homemade Bread

Hey! It’s freestyle Friday!  On Freestyle Friday I break away from 100% home educating and blog about whatever I fancy.  One thing I fancy is my Aunt (in-law) Lucille’s homemade bread.  It is amazing.  Unlike other great recipes, she actually shared hers with me.  I’ll share it with you too, be forewarned it takes about 5 hours to make. You don’t have to be around it the entire time but it does require 3 1.5 hour raising sessions.

I love this bread as bread with butter or peanut butter and or with jelly.  It makes amazing french toast and grilled cheese as well. Say GOURMET.  You can have it a lot of ways cause when you make it, 4 loaves are created.  

AUNT LUCILLE’S HOMEMADE BREAD

2 packets or 5 tsp. active yeast

½ cup warm water

3.5 cups warm water

2 T. salt

½ cup shortening

½ cup sugar

10 to 11 cups flour

add yeast to ½ cup warm water, stir and sit aside for five minutes.

In a small bowl dissolve sugar and salt in 3.5 cups water

In a large bowl place 4 cups flour, shortening, yeast mixture and dissolved water, salt, sugar mix.

Mix with rotary beater.

Add additional flour until non sticky dough forms, remove from bowl and knead for 5 minutes.

Place in greased large bowl, cover with towel, place in warm spot and let raise for 1 to 1.5 hours. Punch it down, raise again for 1 to 1.5 hours.  Divide into 4ths and roll/ form into bread loaf, place in greased bread pan and raise an additional hour or until it is as large as you like.  Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. remove from pan, cool (or not) and enjoy.

You can also make this into rolls by rolling dough balls and placing in a pan, bake about 20 minutes.