They say the third time’s the charm, for me it must be four. That’s how many times it took me to make this it’s-so-easy-anyone-can-do-it Pinterest bread recipe right.
It looked too good to be true – Simple One Hour Homemade Bread. But I just had to pin it.
It was simple, just six ingredients. I put them all in the Kitchenaid, mixed them for five minutes, let the two loafs rise 25 minutes, sliced the top with a knife and tossed them in the oven. Twenty-five minutes later my house smelled wonderful!
But I cracked the oven door only to find two giant bread-like pancakes.
Dang.
Somehow they didn’t look like the plump, round picture online. So I tried again.
Right away. I whipped up the dough, let it rise even longer this time and this time … I had two more bread pancakes.
I took a loaf to my brother and he affectionately named it the cow-pie loaf. It tasted great, but he’s right, it looked like a giant pile of cow dung.
Lame.
I waited a couple of weeks before trying again. Then last Friday I was brave enough, or bored enough, to give it another go. But as you could have guessed, it was another failure.
What was wrong with me?
I had to try again. I wasn’t going to let this pin get the best of me. I was determined to get it right.
I had flashbacks to last summer when I made my 6-year-old son a volcano cake for his birthday and it ended up melting right before my eyes. Literally.
Luckily that night I had some more marshmallows and google. I found a recipe online and sealed the crumbling volcano inside a thick layer of marshmallow fondant. It was a midnight miracle the night before his big birthday bash.
But what was I going to do about the bread? Inspiration struck and I pulled out two bread pans from my bottom cupboard. The bread tasted great, but it just wasn’t rising right. It was shapeless and flat.
I mixed up all the ingredients for a fourth time and put them into pans. It was like magic. The loaves rose beautifully.
Why didn’t I think of this earlier?
The bread tasted AND looked great! We’ve been enjoying it all week.
Some of you may be thinking: big deal, she made bread. But seriously, this is a big deal. I’ve never been able to successfully make rolls, bread, or anything else with yeast.
I was so happy I had to share. It’s all about the little victories around here.
Here’s a link to the recipe I made. But be warned, I don’t know how she does it without bread pans. Maybe I’m using the wrong type of yeast. Maybe I’m not forming my dough balls into the right shape. Maybe my kitchen is too cold.
Who know and who cares. From this time forward I’m sticking to my pans.
Because I did it and I couldn’t be happier.
Here’s to sticking with it and testing out more pins. Even if it takes me four times to get them right!
Boogers on the Wall 