The most delicious thing in the world, in my opinion, is a generous glob of butter spread on fresh-out-of-the-oven bread. Sprinkle on some sea salt, and life just got even better!
So due to popular demand ;-) here is my favorite
Quick and Easy Bread Recipe (that you can even make by hand!)
Ingredients:
4-6 cups flour (any type, I use 100% Whole Wheat and it comes out awesome!)
2 Tbs yeast
2 Tbs brown sugar or honey
1 Tbs kosher salt
3 cups warm water
(for crusty bread: a cake pan of hot water)
Directions:
proof yeast w/ water and sugar
In a large bowl combine 3 cups flour with the salt
Add the bubbly yeast mixture a little at a time while stirring (I like to use the "Well" method, if you're not familiar, leave a comment!)
cover and let stand for about 20 minutes
Add enough flour to make a soft but sturdy dough
Form into 2 round loaves, or 10-12 rolls, whatever suits your needs
cover and let rise 30 minutes
run a knife over the top of each loaf to allow air to escape during baking (make a very shallow cut)
Put the bread in a cold oven and turn on to 400F/205C
place a cake pan of hot water on the bottom rack of the oven for crusty bread!
Bake for 40 min for loaves, 1/2 hour for rolls
As soon as it's cool enough to handle, cut yourself a slice and spread some butter on it, your tastebuds will love you forever!!
Enjoy!
How much water do I make the yeast mixture with?
ReplyDeleteAnd what type of yeast do you recommend?
I love fresh-baked bread, but it always seems so daunting, and my house is often too cold for it to rise properly so I've given up on it. I'm looking forward to trying this! I like that this is so quick & simple. Is the 40 minutes from the time you put it in the oven, or from when the oven reaches 400?
ReplyDeleteYael - you'd use the 2 cups of warm water from the recipe to proof the yeast. Sorry I should have been clearer!
ReplyDeleteStacey - tips if your house is too cold, you can turn on your oven to 350F/190C and when it reaches the temp, turn it off. Put your bowl of dough on the open door of the oven and cover with a warm wet towel.
The 40 min is from the time you put it in the oven! How awesome is that?!
Enjoy!
Just came out of the oven - DELICIOUS. Almost all eaten by everyone.
ReplyDeleteI used 70% whole wheat and needed almost 8 cups of flour for the dough to not be sticky.
Now I will try it with 100% whole wheat.
Thank you so much Ayelet for this delicious healthy recipe.
No problem yael! Glad you enjoyed it! One key to needing less flour for the whole wheat is letting the dough sit and absorb the water.
ReplyDeleteAfter the initial stand time, try adding another cup or two, knead for ~8 minutes and then give the dough another 15-20 minutes to rest before working with it again. You might find that you don't need to add more flour after the second stand time.
GL!