Friday, June 5, 2009

World's easiest bread

I've stopped buying bread altogether. I've adapted this from Mark Bittman's no knead whole wheat bread recipe; it takes 10-30 hours (timing is very forgiving), but only about 10 minutes of actual involvement. Mostly it just has to sit awhile.

3 c. whole wheat flour (or a mix of whole wheat and white bread flour, or replace up to 1 c. wheat flour with something else, like rye flour or cornmeal.)
1 1/2 t. salt
1/2 - 1 t. instant active dry yeast
1 1/2 c water
1 T. honey or maple syrup (optional)
Olive or other oil (for greasing pan)

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add water; the dough should form into a shaggy ball. If it's too dry, add a couple more tablespoons of water. Cover with plastic wrap; let sit for 8-24 hours at room temperature until flat and bubbly on top.

When ready for second rise, oil a loaf pan, mix in a tablespoon of something sweet into the dough, and dump the dough into the loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap or clean dish towel; let rise until doubled in size, 2-6 hours. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes, until hollow sounding when knocked. Remove from pan; cool on cooling rack, or better yet, eat it fresh out of the oven.

For shorter rise time, use more yeast and warmer room temperature; I find that the top of the fridge tends to work well. A longer rise time will create a more complex tasting bread (kind of sourdough-y and delicious.)

So much yummier than anything you can buy in the baked goods aisle, and total ingredient cost is less than you could find in your couch cushions.

2 comments:

  1. Oooo, cool, food blog! I'll have to add this to my other food blog bookmarks. ;)

    Like the title too!

    ReplyDelete