Food serves as the universal bond that unites humanity. At the table, we are all equals, and it's through the lens of food, recipes, and ingredients that the vibrant tapestry of our cultures is revealed. This recipe book embodies that spirit. Beyond...
I'm a bread girl. I'm obsessed with it. I know, I know, carbs and all that. But at least I know the ingredients going in are whole and healthy! And who doesn't love the smell of fresh baking bread?
This recipe yields two loaves, so I like to freeze one and eat the other... unless my family just digs into the warm loaf, then there's no point in freezing the second!
Ingredients:
-2 1/4 cups warm water
-1 tbsp active dry yeast
-2 tbsp sugar
-3/4 tsp salt
-2 tbsp butter*
-6 cups bread flour*
*I've made this recipe with multiple oils instead of butter with success and used all-purpose flour as well.
1. Combine the warm water, yeast, and sugar in a large bowl. Give it a bit of a whisk and then let it sit for five or so minutes. You want it to get nice and frothy, which means the yeast is activated and ready to use.
2. Whisk in butter and salt, and then add three cups of flour and incorporate well. You can use your hand, a wooden spoon, or if you're lucky enough to have a stand mixer with a dough hook, go for it!
3. You should have a nice sticky dough now. Gradually add two more cups of flour, incorporating it in well.
4. Dust your counter with some flour and then plonk your dough down on top. For the last cup of flour, add it as you knead for 3 mins. You want a nice elastic dough that has a good heft to it.
5. Take a bowl and grease it, and drop your dough ball inside. Cover it with a damp towel and let it rise in a warm spot for one hour. (Make sure the bowl is big because the dough will double in size!)
6. After your hour is up, give your poofy dough a good punch to let the air out. Divide it into two parts.
7. Take one part and flatten it out into a rectangle on a floured surface. About the size of a sheet of paper is perfect. Press out all of the air bubbles, and then start rolling it up along the long edge. You want a really tight log here, so don't be afraid to dig your fingers in. Once it's all rolled up, place it seam side down in a parchment-lined loaf pan or on a baking sheet. Then repeat the process with the other half of the dough. At this point, you're welcome to put pretty slashes in the top of your loaves, if you so wish to do so.
8. Cover with a damp towel and let rise in a warm spot for another hour.
9. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Very carefully remove the towel from your loaves, and be super gentle when moving them to the oven! You don't want them to collapse. Bake for 30 minutes, turning once halfway (unless you have a convection setting, then you're golden!).
10. After they're done baking, transfer the loaves to a wire rack and try not to tear off chunks of delicious bread while you're waiting for it to cool.
This is an example of one loaf in a pan and out of a pan
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
More variations:
1. Add garlic, onion, and cheese to the dough in step 2, and then top with shredded cheese for a nice herb bread.
2. In step 7, spread a thin layer of butter on the flattened dough and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar (add raisins if you fancy!) before rolling it up tight for a loaf of delicious cinnamon bread. You can add two tbsp of sugar in step 2 for a sweeter loaf.
3. For seed lovers, add seeds in step 2 to incorporate well. I've successfully used flax, chia, bulgur wheat, poppy seeds, sunflower, oatmeal, and even walnut chunks! You can sprinkle some on top before baking too.
4. This recipe also makes awesome baguettes and sub buns, just divide into smaller sections before baking. I've also put small balls into a muffin pan to make little buns.NEW 5. If you don't want to use sugar, you can swap out the active dry yeast for bread maker yeast. Whisk it into the warm water and it will proof and froth faster without needing sugar to bloom.
***
If you have more questions about this recipe, you may send ESHurricane a message. Enjoy the easy recipe!
