First Jenn over at The Leftover Queen blogged about it.  Then Chelle from Brown-Eyed Baker blogged about it, too.  I’m talking about home-baked bread, and after reading about these two ladies baking their own loaves at home, I felt the urge to overcome my fear of breads and try making my own loaf of white bread at home.

Back in culinary school, I took a breads class.  An entire quarter of a semester devoted to learning and baking all types of breads–and I was terrible at it.  I over-proofed or under-proofed everything.  There were a few breads I was good at, but for the most part, I just didn’t have the knack for breads.  So I’ve pretty much avoided making them over the years and stuck to making quick breads.

The more I read from fellow food bloggers baking their own bread, the more I wanted to delve back in to bread baking again.  I figured I had nothing to lose.  I had all of the ingredients on hand (including a packet of yeast that had been left over from my last Daring Bakers challenge) and the time–so why not?  I used the recipe Chelle posted on her website (which is from Baking Illustrated), which was super easy.  Join me on my bread baking adventure.  Did I fail or succeed?

Clockwise from top left:  The dry ingredients in the mixing bowl;  the finished bread dough after mixing in the liquid ingredients; the round ball of dough sitting in the bowl ready for the first rise; into a warm oven we go–I crossed my fingers and said a prayer that the dough would rise.

Imagine the surprise when after nearly an hour, this is what happened.  The dough rose at least double its original size.  Pardon me while I do a happy dance.

Left:  I’ve placed the dough into my loaf pan–ready for the second rise.  Right:  After 30-40 minutes, the dough has risen and is ready to bake.

Thoughts running through my head during the baking time:  Oh my God…baking bread smells soooo good.  They should really make a “baked bread” scented candle…  …I will not open that oven door until it’s time to open it, even though I really want to… …I will never bake bread ever again if this comes out looking like crap.

So how did it come out?  Judge for yourself:

Beautiful!  The loaf wasn’t as high as I wanted, but after consulting with Chelle, I’ve decided to let the dough rise longer during the second rise.  Still, I forgot how delicious a homemade loaf of bread tastes.  So much yummy bread goodness.  My husband’s review?  “It tastes like fancy bread that you’d find in a bakery.” The picture on the right is my breakfast of bread and chunky peanut butter.

My faith has been renewed in bread baking and I’ve decided that next time I’d like to make a whole wheat bread (since I prefer whole wheat over white bread).  I mostly want to bake bread again just for that wonderful aroma.