Recipe: The Ball Camp Homemade Bread

As I talk with friends through this pandemic, there seems to be one single thing a lot of us are doing. Baking. And eating. We love to bake, but we’ve found a newfound love for it during this time at home.

We find ourselves baking more, like you, because we have more time on our hands, and baking and eating is just therapeutic. A typical day for us includes work for 2 grown people, school for a middle schooler and 5th grader and our own forest pre-school for the 4 year old. There are 5 people in our house but some days- it feels like so many more. Like a circus. Only, where is the ring master? I’m still waiting for someone to show up and create some sort of order…but it hasn’t happened yet. We dont have extra time during the day- but we make up for it in the evenings or weekends with the lack of sports.

So we bake. Because baking brings some sort of calm. There isn’t much better than a warm slice of fresh from the oven bread with butter, or homemade jam. Yum. This recipe is my favorite for bread. I’ve made it simple to follow. It takes about 1.5 hours total, and you get 2 perfect loaves of bread. You can really use any kind of flower- you don’t need to get fancy. It’s also super versatile. Breakfast, after school snack, grilled cheese….and even french toast! Our neighbor shared she made french toast with it after I gifted her a loaf for Christmas and that it was amazing!

Shout out to my sister who gifted us homemade strawberry jam which goes amazing on this bread.

Just look at that beautiful loaf of bread and crusty toast. Yes, we’ve got peanut butter on the rim of our jam. I live with 4 boys. There is no order here.

THE BALL CAMP HOMEMADE BREAD

1. In a large bowl or stand mixer bowl- dissolve 1/2 cup white sugar in 2 cups of warm water by stirring together. Stir in 1 1/2 tablespoons yeast. Allow to set (proof) until yeast resembles a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk salt and oil into the yeast mixture. Add flour one or two cups at a time. I like to use my stand mixer with paddle attachment for this bread, but if you don’t have one, a wooden spoon works well.
3. Remove mixture from bowl, knead dough for 5 minutes on a well flowered surface. If it is too sticky to kneed, add more flower until it is not sticky.
4. Place in a well oiled bowl, and turn dough to coat. Cover. Allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
   TIP: We like to put our instant pot on the yogurt setting, and put the dough in it, coated with olive oil. Cover with a pan lid. Let it sit for 30 minutes. It will rise faster. If you don’t have an instant pot- put it in the oven on warm in bowl. It will rise much faster than on the counter- cutting the time in half.
5. Remove from bowl after dough has risen. Knead for a couple minutes and divide in half. Place into two greased 9×5 inch bread loaf pans.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.
7. Cool, brush with butter and eat!

I like to freeze one loaf and leave one out for eating, depending on the week and how much bread we will go through! If I do this a few times, I end up with a nice stash of bread in our freezer, and it’s easy to pull one out when we need it, thaw, and eat! I hope this fills your home with that lovely fresh bread scent, and eventually your freezer with homemade goodness for your family. Enjoy!