Store bought bread is expensive - especially if you're buying "healthy" bread. Worse, almost all brands are packed with unhealthy ingredients, including high fructose corn syrup, GMO soy or corn, azodicarbonamide (a chemical used in yoga mats and other non-food products), food dyes, sucralose, and more. (Real Food Forager has a good article with more reasons why store bought bread isn't healthy.)

Making bread at home, on the other hand, is much healthier - and typically less expensive. But it does take time and energy to create. So as a busy mom, you might ask yourself: What is the best, fastest way to make my family's bread? Entirely by hand? With the help of a stand mixer? Or with a bread machine? Over the years, I've made our bread all of these ways. Here's what I've discovered.




Making Bread Entirely By Hand

My No Fail Bread

For me, making bread by hand is immensely satisfying. Kneading is relaxing, and the entire baking process,  calming. To make bread my hand, first mix the ingredients together, then knead them with your hands. The kneading creates good texture by adding air bubbles and helping to develop the gluten in the bread. (Assuming you're not making gluten-free bread.) Kneading by hand takes about 7 - 8 minutes. Next, leave the dough  in a warm location to rise - usually a half hour or longer. Then "punch down" the dough (literally punch it with your fist, so it deflates). Depending upon the recipe, you may need to repeat the rising process a few times. Then you shape the dough, allow it to rise for a time, and bake it in the oven.

Recipe Recommendation: Here is the very first bread recipe I ever used. It's very easy, and no fail.

Pros:
* Best texture; with a good recipe, the bread is crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, and not crumbly. This is the standard by which all other breads are compared.
* Many people find the process relaxing.

Cons:
* This is the most time consuming way to make bread.
* If your house is cool, getting the bread to rise without turning on the oven and putting the dough nearby can be difficult.

Making Bread With Stand Mixer

Homemade pita bread.

With this method, you let the mixer do the mixing and kneading: Put the ingredients in the bowl of the mixer, attach a dough hook, and turn the mixer on. Stand mixer kneading takes about as long as hand kneading. The rest of the steps are the same as if you're making the bread entirely by hand.

Pros:
*Similar in texture to hand made bread, unless you overmix the dough.
* Faster than handmade.
* Some people find this method easier than kneading by hand.

Cons:
* It's important not to overmix the dough, or you'll end up with tough bread.
* If your house is cool, getting the bread to rise without turning on the oven and putting the dough nearby can be difficult. 

Making Bread with a Bread Maker Doing the Mixing and Rising

Homemade garlic bread.

With this method, you dump all the ingredients into a bread maker, which mixes and kneads the dough, then let it rise in the machine, which does a great job of keeping the dough warm. Once the dough is done rising, you punch it down, shape, allow to rise again, and bake in the oven.

Pros:
* A very fast method - you just dump the ingredients in and the machine does the mixing, kneading, and rising.
* Perfect rising - even if your house is cool.
* Can walk away and let the dough sit for hours.

Cons:

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Making Bread with a Bread Maker Doing All the Work

Another bread maker bread.

With this method, you dump all the ingredients into the bread maker and the machine does everything else: Mixing, kneading, rising, and baking.

Recipe Recommendation: Here's a wheat bread recipe that works well in the bread machine.

Pros:
* This is the fastest method - just dump in the ingredients and the machine does everything else.
* An ideal method if you'll be away from the house; requires no babysitting of the dough. You can even make bread overnight.

Cons:
* Bread made entirely in a bread maker just doesn't have the same texture as bread made any of the above ways. It tends to be a bit tougher and more crumbly.
* Often, the size of the loaf means you either get huge sandwiches from it (using two slices), or tiny sandwiches (using one slice, cut in half).
* Personally, my entirely bread machine baked bread often ends up with a fallen top - even though I've used many different machines and recipes. I never have this trouble with other methods.

Conclusion

As you can probably tell, my favorite method is to use the bread machine for mixing, kneading, and rising; then I like to take over with the shaping, the final rise, and the oven baking. I've used this method for everything from sandwich bread to cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, and pizza crust. That said, I sometimes make bread entirely by hand. And sometimes I use a stand mixer. And sometimes I even let the bread machine bake the bread. Having all these options available to me really makes a difference when it comes to the temptation of buying store bought bread! But just so you know I'm keeping it real: Yes, when I'm uber busy or overwhelmed...I buy store bought bread, too

Tip: The best way to slice homemade bread.


Recipes:

Easy, No Fail Bread for Beginners 

No Fail Sandwich Bread

Bread Maker Whole Wheat Sandwich bread with honey

Bread Maker Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread with brown sugar 

No Knead Oat Bread

Pita Bread

From Scratch Biscuits (Made Healthier)

The Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe Ever

Tender, Crowd-Pleasing Dinner Rolls