I've been asked for my bread recipe. Awesome.
Full disclosure: I initially got the recipe from The Simple Dollar. Hers has pictures, and for a baking noob like me, it was invaluable. Now that I know what each step is supposed to look like, I don't need the pictures, so I typed it up. I also made some variations with the ingredients, but not many. It's a great recipe, and please go over to Simple Dollar and tell her so! I did :).
Super Easy
Homemade Bread
Get a big
glass bowl. Fill with hot water, and
then dump it out. Warm bowls make for
good bread.
In warm
bowl:
Dissolve 1
packet of yeast in 1 cup warm water
Soften 5 tsp
of butter in the microwave, add to yeast/water
Add 1-1/2
tbsp cup sugar and
1 tsp salt
Stir that
until it's a nice shade of beige.
Add a cup of
flour, and stir. The dough will be
sticky. Keep stirring. Add another cup of flour. Keep stirring, and pay attention to the
consistency of the bread--it will become stretchy. Keep stirring, have one more cup of flour on
deck, and add it slowly. You may or may
not add that last whole cup. Bread is
fickle.
Generously
sprinkle some flour on the counter.
When the
dough is in a nice ball, and doesn't stick to your hands or the spoon too much
(you'll know), take it out of the bowl.
Put the bowl in the sink, fill with soap & water. You'll need that bowl to be clean in a few
minutes.
Check the clock,
note the time. Beat the crap out of the
bread (classy people call this "kneading") for 10 minutes. If it sticks to itself, the counter, or you,
add more flour. When 10 minutes are up,
it should be a nice, pliable ball.
Wash and dry
the bowl. Spray the inside (duh…) with
some cooking spray. Plop the dough in it
and cover with a nice clean cloth. Let
it rise for an hour.
After an
hour has passed, the dough has possibly doubled or more, or not. Don’t sweat it. It’s fine.
Take it out of the bowl, and put it on your (still floured)
counter. Work it into a rectangle that’s
as wide as your bread pan and about twice as long. Roll it up, put it into your bread pan (did
you spray that will Pam? You should do
that…), tucking the ends under.
Cover it
with your cloth again for another hour.
Go clean up your kitchen and put stuff away.
After the 2nd
rise, put it in a 400* oven for 30 minutes.
When it’s done, take it out of the pan immediately, or it will keep
cooking (trust me).
YUM.
I use Sugar In The Raw, about a 2:1 ratio of Gold Medal Better for Bread Flour and whole wheat flour, and real sweet cream butter. You can also add fresh herbs (dill! chives! rosemary!) to the flour as you stir it in. If you're feeling fancy, sprinkle grated cheese over the rectangle of bread before you roll it up and put it in the pan.
Oh this sounds yummy and super easy!
ReplyDeleteoh man, i can't wait to try this ! i love the smell of fresh baked bread :)
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