It was a tradition in our house when I was a child to eat fresh homemade bread, ham, and hot sauce on Christmas mornings. Now, even though I am older and have a house and family of my own, I still go to my mom’s house on Christmas mornings to continue that tradition and accept my presents.
Making bread gives me great joy and a sense of accomplishment, and I make it frequently for my family. It is a great substitute for the store-bought bread which contains preservatives and additives.
I almost always know when the bread is done baking and is ready to be removed from the oven. The aroma of fresh bread dances its way around my house and up the stairs to entice me in my bedroom. I hypnotically follow the aroma back down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. There I remove it from the oven, brush the top with butter, slice it ever so carefully, smother it some more with a little too much butter, and lift it to my eager mouth(the rest is history)…oblivious to all the commotion being created by two hungry, impatient kids……uuummmmm…the simple pleasures in life.
I love homemade bread so much, I was inspired to write a poem.
Bread is love…
Love is bread…
I knead you….
whenever I am blue……
‘Tis heaven where hot bread meets butter…
After that, not a word can I utter…
Give me my daily bread……
up ’till the day I’m dead….
‘Cause there is nothing better..
than [Ria’s] hot homemade bread and butter!
The end…
I know the thought of making bread can be overwhelming to some, but don’t be intimidated; it is so simple you will wonder why you never tried it before. They say you should try everything at least once, that includes making bread!
Link to Trini Holiday Menu –all recipes
WATCH VIDEO instructions:
RIA’S HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE
Makes 1 large loaf or 2 small loaves of white bread.
Ingredients
4 cups unbleached all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt ( I use Himalayan salt)
1 envelope active dry or instant yeast (about 2 1/4 – 1 tablespoon) (about 8 grams)
1 ½ cups water, lukewarm
4 tablespoons butter, melted or room temperature (56.7 grams or 2 oz)
If the water is too hot during the mixing/kneading process it will kill the yeast.
Preparation
In a small saucepan or microwave, heat water until lukewarm. Mix in 4 tbsps melted butter and set aside. Alternately, you can add the softened butter directly to the flour (after mixing the ingredients in).
Knead for about 7-10 minutes by pressing with your knuckles to smoothen and folding the dough over itself and pushing out with the heel of your hands, not down. Rotate the dough and repeat. [The dough is properly kneaded when it is smooth and you can stretch it without breaking.]
NOTE: Resist the temptation to add too much flour to the dough at this point because you risk dry loaves.
Knead to form a smooth, round ball. Coat lightly with oil and place the dough back into the bowl.
Cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel and set in a warm place until dough doubles, about 1-2 hours, depending on room temperature and type of yeast. [The dough is adequately risen when an indentation remains after the dough is pressed with two fingers.]
To hasten the rising process, heat oven, turn off heat and place dough in warm (but not hot) oven.
Turn out on a lightly floured work surface. Halve dough and press each dough gently into a 12 x9 rectangle about 1 inch thick. Starting with the narrow edge, roll, pinch seams closed and turn ends under to make loaves to fit pans. Alternatively, make only one loaf and use a longer pan 13.5 x 5.5 x 3 inches(Check my shop for the link to these longer pans which I now use).
Place the dough seam side down into the greased loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches. Cover with a barely damp paper towel or kitchen towel. Set pans in a warm place and let dough rise a second time until the top of the dough is nearly level with the top of the loaf pan, about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on room temp and type of yeast.
Bake loaves at 350° for 25-35 minutes, until crust is golden and loaves sound hollow when tapped with fingers. Remove the bread from the pans to racks; brush with butter for a soft, more flavorful crust. Slice and serve.
CAKE RECIPES YOU WILL LOVE:
HOLIDAY RECIPES:
RIA'S HOMEMADE BREAD RECIPE
Equipment
- 1 large bread pan or 2 small
Ingredients
- 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 2 tablespoons sugar 25 grams
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 envelope active dry or instant yeast about 2 1/4 - 1 tablespoon (about 8 grams)
- 1 ½ cups water lukewarm
- 4 tablespoons butter room temperature (56.7 grams or 2 oz)
Instructions
- ADD & COMBINE INGREDIENTS: 1. In a large mixingbowl combine 4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and yeast to evenly distribute all theingredients. Gradually add the water andbutter mixture, grab and squeeze to bring the dough together. Turn dough out onto a lightly flouredsurface.
- KNEAD: Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 8-10 minutes by pressing with your knuckles to smoothen and folding the dough over itself and pushing out with the heel of your hands, not down. Rotate the dough and repeat. The dough is properly kneaded when it is smooth and you can stretch it without breaking.
NOTE: Resist the temptation to add too much flour to the dough at this point because you risk dry loaves. Knead to form a smooth, round ball. Coat with oil or butter (about 1 tbs) and place the dough back into the bowl.
- PROOF: Cover with plastic wrap or wet kitchen towel and set in a warm place until the dough doubles, about 1-2 hours, depending on room temperature and type of yeast. [The dough is adequately risen when an indentation remains after the dough is pressed with two fingers.] To hasten the rising process, heat oven, turn off heat and place dough in warm (but not hot) oven.
- SHAPE: When the dough has fully risen, turn out on a lightly floured work surface. Halve dough and press each dough gently into a 12 x 9 rectangle about 1 inch thick. Starting with the narrow edge, roll, pinch seams closed and turn ends under to make loaves to fit pans. Alternatively, make only one loaf (shape into a 12 x 12 square, roll up to form a log, seal ends and place in a 13.5 x 5.5. x3 inch pan).
- SECOND PROOFING: Place the dough seam side down into the greased loaf pans, 9x5x3-inches. Cover with a barely damp paper towel or kitchen towel. Set pans in a warm place and let dough rise a second time until the top of the dough is nearly level with the top of the loaf pan, about 45 minutes to 1 hour depending on room temp and type of yeast.
- BAKE: Bake loaves at 350° for 25 to 35 minutes, until crust is golden and loaves sound hollow when tapped with fingers.
EAT: Remove the bread from the pans to racks; brush with butter for a soft, more flavorful crust. Slice and serve hot with butter!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This bread recipe is great. I used it over the weekend and my wife almost bit her fingers off because the bread was so good!
im a trini cook and i tried your recipe yesterday, it was really great and reminded me of my moms. p.s i split the dough in half and mad 6 buns and 1 loaf
Hi Antonia! Thank you for trying my bread recipe and for taking the time to leave a comment. I am glad you enjoyed it! Hope you will try more of my recipes….keep in touch.. 🙂
thanks my trini sister for sharing i live in the usa and appreciate your sharing …Natty
Hi Natty! You are most welcome! Thanks for stopping by and for the sweet message! 🙂
Woman you have topped another recipe for me…finally moist well done bread…keep it coming…l..my fave chef
Hey Ria, I've been looking for a good trini bread recipe, I'm glad that I have found this, I'm going to try it now, fingers crossed, hope it comes out well.
Amazing recipe1 plan to use this over and over again. Thank you!
Rita — For the same reason, Christmas I was searching for a bread recipe… Thanks.
Thanks Rhonda! I appreciate you trying my recipes!
Hi Avie! Hope you enjoyed making and eating your homemade bread!
Thanks Empressfay! It is really good, if I do say so myself!! 🙂
Hi, you are most welcome. Have fun making the bread.Hope the lucky lady enjoys it.. Let me know how it turns out. Happy holidays!
Ria, Thank you so much. I was in dire need of a taste from home and i found your recipes. I made this bread along with your roast pork recipe and let me tell you IT WAS A HIT. I added my home made peppersauce and I was as close to Trinidad as i could have been. I'm actually in the kitchen making more bread today. THANKS AGAIN
Thank you for your recipe. The bread came out perfect and I am not exaggerating. I tried other recipes and this one was the best. Can't believe how moist the bread came out…..
Hi Ria!!! I just had to comment. I tried youe bread recipe yesterday with good results. Only mistake was using all the butter/watet mixture so dough was really sticky to work with. Then i used too much flour for dusting. Today i made the bread again leaving a lil less water and not too much flour for dusting, end result perfect bread to rival my Grandmothers, dare i say it : )
U are….. A bread making guru. Before i tried,your receipe they weren't as mouth watering, now they dont even last. There are times i had to tripple the receipe.
Thank you.
Thank you all for your wonderful comments!!!!!!! 🙂
Hi Ria, I tried this recipe with slight variation. 2 cups whole meal flour instead of white and made 1 dozen hops bread. I also reduced the cooking time to 20 minutes and they came out perfect. Had them with cheesepaste. The texture of the dough was amazing. I recently started using your recipes and I love them. Love your Trini Fried Bake recipe
Omg ! The bread came out good! I hope it last for a few days!
Ria, can I use the bread hook on my stand mixer for kneading?
Hi Chrissy! Yes you can… But finish kneading it on your lightly floured counter…it 'kneads' your personal touch! l Let me know how it turns out!😊
I used my stand mixer with the dough hook attachment for this recipe. It took maybe 5 minutes on level 3 to get to the correct consistency. I also used disposable foil bread pans for this (they're smaller than standard loaf pans) and they allowed the loaves to form a beautiful high crown.. The bread was perfect. Nice and crusty on the outside and soft and delicious on the inside. Thank you so much 🙂
Just made bread with this recipe. I came out amazing!! Thank you Ria.
Thank you for this detailed recipe i just made it and it really came out perfect and so delicious. Best recipe! Thanks so much
hi Ria great recipe thanks for sharing the bread came out great
hi Tia i tried your recipe and the bread came out great…thanks for sharing
This recipe was perfect. I just had to comment.i tried a few bread recipes but none came out like this one. This way takes more time but its worth it.thanks
Clearly I'm late to this bread recipe, but better late than never. I'm a regular bread baker, and have tried myriad bread recipes. This one is AWESOME! Thank you!! I also want to say thank you for raising my sada roti game, simply by explaining how to knead the flour differently. You rock, Ria!
Oh my goodness! Your recipe was on point! Just finished baking bread and it came out wonderful! Thank you!!!!
Im trini and i tried as well. Fabulous🤤
I tried this recipe…and I used it to make several types of breads one being cinnamon raisin ..I also replaced the water with milk…..
I make this bread and ham every single Christmas. BEST recipes! Thank you so much. So many recipes leave out details; yours are true to process and taste is amazing
Tried ur recipe,came out perfecto
Hi ria
I'm always using your vegetarian recipes to make stuff and just love how everything turns out perfect…..
Thank you for sharing your recipes ��
awesome recipe..tried it Christmas eve and have been making it every since !
di i see you butter the bread pans or soemthing else
Instead of water can i use milk ? If yes can i put the melted butter in the milk ?
Butter the bread pans.
Yes you can.
This recipe is heaven , and easy to add other ingredients and still turn out delicious and fabulously soft . Nom nom in the tum tum
Ria’s homemade bread recipe looks absolutely wonderful, I love how you’ve broken down the steps to make it approachable for any home baker. The golden crust and soft inside make it perfect for any meal. I can’t wait to try this recipe and enjoy the taste of fresh, homemade bread.