“What??? You made homemade bread?” I know that is certainly the question I would be asking. The task sounds daunting. I have pinned so many homemade bread recipes on Pinterest over the years, but actually making the recipe was too scary, too time consuming, too last century.
After hearing that my mom was going to try it, I thought, “Well, if she can do it then I can too”. So, with the convincing of my sister, Abby, and a tried and true recipe from her mother-in-law, Lizz Jayne. I made my first loaf New Year’s Day, and I’ll have to say it was actually pretty easy. So easy, I am convinced you can make a loaf too. With four simple ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen, you can prepare a loaf of bread that will surely impress your next dinner guest. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients
3 cups flour (bread or all-purpose flour)
1 and 1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. dry yeast
1 and 1/3 cup cool water
Directions
- Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water and mix briefly until combined.
- Put dough in a bowl and cover completely with plastic wrap. Allow dough to sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours (can let sit up to 24 hours). Now wait the yeast will do its magic.
- When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 485 degrees. Remove the dough and place it on a wet cupboard to prevent sticking. Shape the dough into a loaf or round depending on the style you’d like to bake. Coat the bottom with cornmeal to prevent sticking. Again, you will have to wait about a 1/2 hour to let the dough reset, so cover the dough with a damp towel while waiting for the oven to preheat.
- Just before cooking, slash the top of the dough with a knife, dampen hands, and place the dough in a dutch oven to cook.
- Cover and bake for 28-30 minutes. Be sure not to peek. Uncover and cook an additional 5-10 minutes until you have a dark crust.
- Carefully, removed bread to a wire rack and allow to cool before slicing. About an hour.
- Enjoy with butter or your favorite jam.
Variations
Other options include adding seeds to the top of the bread before baking. You can also make this into a flatbread by putting the dough on a cookie sheet, adding your favorite toppings, and baking 20 minutes.
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Credit for recipe: Learning and Retirement Class, Kneadlessly Simple Bread-making presented by Terry Smith and Sue Schuette. 11-2-2015
Click here for more information about Learning and Retirement Classes at UWGB.
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