My Favorite Bread-Making Tip

I haven't bought a loaf of bread in six months. Now I also no longer buy buns, rolls, french bread, pitas, pizza dough, or bagels. Why? Because I can make them!

I've learned a lot in the last year about making bread, but the single greatest trick that turned my bread from hockey puck to a heavenly cloud was: how to get the dough consistently to "double."

You know that little line in all bread recipes that reads: "Let rise in a warm place for about an hour, or until double"? Well... my house is always an ice box and after two or three hours my dough was barely poofing. The poor little baby dough was just too cold.

Yes, I'm sure all of you earthy baking homesteading women know this is the oldest trick in the book, but I didn't know about it until recently and it has given me confidence in my ability to make consistently good bread.

So here it goes.

My Favorite Bread-Making Tip

• Turn the oven to 350 for exactly 1 minute.
• Shut the oven off and turn the "oven light" on.

Congratulations. You've just created a "warm place" to put your bread for one hour. It works like magic every time.

Excuse me while I go be domestic.

Give Us This Day, by the very talented Jeffrey T. Larson