The key to making flavorful homemade bread is using high quality, fresh ingredients and allowing enough time for the dough to rise and develop flavor. For the best results, use bread flour or all-purpose flour, active dry yeast, salt, sugar, and warm water. Bread flour has a higher gluten content than all-purpose flour, which helps create a chewy texture. Yeast feeds on the sugar and converts it to carbon dioxide, which makes the dough rise. Salt enhances the flavor of the yeast and helps control the rising process.

Combine the dry ingredients – 4 cups of bread flour, 1 1⁄4 cups of warm water, 1 tablespoon of yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 1⁄2 teaspoons of salt. Mix with a wooden spoon and then knead with your hands for about 10 minutes until the dough comes together and becomes elastic. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about an hour until doubled in size. Punch down the dough.

Knead the dough again briefly then shape it into a loaf. Place in a greased loaf pan. Cover and let rise again for 45 minutes until doubled in size. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 F. Once bread has risen, uncover and bake for 30 minutes. Then tent with foil and bake 15 more minutes.

For extra flavor, add ingredients to the dough like rosemary, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, or Gruyere cheese. You can also brush the loaf with an egg wash or melted butter before baking and sprinkle with seeds like sesame or poppy. Bake until the internal temperature reaches 210 F. Let cool completely on a wire rack before slicing and enjoying!

Homemade bread is best eaten within 3 to 5 days. For longer storage, wrap tightly in plastic wrap or foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Refresh in a 300 F oven for 10 minutes before eating. Homemade bread also makes wonderful croutons, bread crumbs, or French toast. Enjoy!