Homemade Bread from Scratch

Gotta love the smell of homemade bread baking!  I decided it would be fun to learn how to bake bread from scratch.  I have a bread machine, which I love, but I wanted to try to make bread that would be good for sandwiches.  Homemade bread is usually denser and crumblier, which isn't always good for a sandwich.  I found this recipe from Moonberry Farm.  I love that Julie titles it Our Daily Bread!  The taste is great, so I've been trying to tweak what I've been doing to make it rise better.  This weekend was my best attempt yet (of 3)! 

I was hoping that it would rise higher to be a taller loaf!  The first time I think my yeast was too old and it didn't rise much at all.  So, the second time I used a new jar of yeast and it rose great in the bowl, but after I punched it down and put it in the pans, it barely rose at all.  Because Julie mentioned in the recipe that she skips that step if she's rushed, I thought I'd skip it too and just put the bread in the pans right away to rise.  The loaves rounded on top, just above the edges of the pans, but somehow shrank some when I baked it...  So, anyone have any tips for me?

Our house temperature is about 65 degrees, but I let the loaves rise on top of the stove while the oven was on, so they were warmer.  Could the temperature be the culprit?

It did make a great pizza crust though!  I let the dough rise for about 20 minutes and then baked it right away.  After it cooled I wrapped it and threw it in the fridge.  Sunday after church it was quick and easy to add our toppings and pop it in the oven until the cheese melted.  Yum, I love pizza!

Linking up with Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple!