bread machine

Get the Recipe: find.myrecipes.com Making Yeast Bread Making Yeast Bread/Proofing the Yeast The first step of making yeast bread is to make sure that the yeast is alive. This is called proofing the yeast. This is one of the most crucial steps because, if the yeast is dead, it can't leaven the bread. To proof the yeast, measure out the amount of milk or other liquid that is specified in the recipe, and heat the milk to a temperature of 100° to 110°. You can heat the milk in the microwave if you wish. Microwave at HIGH for about 1 minute or until the milk reaches at least 100°. Add the warm milk to a large bowl, and stir in the yeast and the sugar. Let this mixture stand for about 5 minutes. Live yeast will begin to swell and foam or bubble a few minutes after it's stirred into the warm liquid. Making Yeast Bread/Making the Dough To make the bread dough, add most of the flour to the liquid ingredients all once and stir just until the mixture is combined. (Save some of the flour for kneading.) After the mixture is combined, dump the dough out onto a floured surface, and you're ready to knead. Add enough of the remaining to get the dough to the desired consistency for kneading. It's OK if you don't use all of the remaining flour. Making Yeast Breast/Kneading the Dough Knead the dough with authority. Push is out with the heels of your hands, fold it over, give it a quarter turn, and repeat. Add more flour if you need it. Knead for 8 to 10 minutes or until the dough feels ...