Outrageously Easy BIG Bread
2 (1/4 ounce) packets yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons turbinado
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups + 3 cups flour, divided
1/3 cup vegetable or corn oil
1. To proof yeast, pour warm water into a small ceramic bowl and add the yeast, but do not stir. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, pour hot water over the turbinado and salt; stir with a wooden spoon to completely dissolve. Combine 3 cups flour with the hot water mixture. Pour the oil on top of the dough mixture then add the yeast mixture on top of that, but do not stir.
2. Top with the remaining 3 cups flour and mix well. (I begin mixing with the wooden spoon but I very quickly have to move into squishing the dough with my hands.) At this point, the dough should be pliant and moist, but not gooey. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside to rise for at least 45 minutes. (I've left it for almost two hours.)
3. On a lightly floured cutting board or countertop, divide the dough into half. (This is when I recruit someone to knead the dough, but the recipe actually calls for no kneading; I've done this recipe many times without kneading anything, and it always turns out really good.) Flatten each half into roughly an oval/rounded rectangular shape, about 1/2-3/4" thickness.
4. Roll the dough lengthwise and place on an ungreased, but very BIG, cookie sheet. (If you don't have a very large cookie sheet, use two cookie sheets, one for each half of the dough.) Cover the dough with a moist towel and set aside to rise again for another 45 minutes (or longer).
5. After the dough has risen the second time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for exactly 23 minutes. If you can keep everyone from digging in right away, allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then enjoy. (Also, before the bread bakes, you can slit the top of each lump of dough a couple of times and brush lightly with some kind of egg substitute. The glaze helps the bread come out with a slightly crunchier crust. I don't usually bother.)
Source of recipe: Whenever I go to potlucks, I bake this bread and it disappears within minutes. I've even had special requests for it. At a family Christmas, after I found out that store-bought rolls (ick!) would be served with the Christmas Eve dinner, I announced that I would make homemade bread. Since dinner would be served in a little less than two hours and since my family knows how much I absolutely detest cooking, my mother thought I was lying. She couldn't believe that I could make "respectable" bread without any kneading and in time for dinner. I made this bread and, as usual, it vanished almost instantly. My mother got this bread recipe from me. I think the dogs got the store-bought rolls.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I should also mention that I kneaded this extensively after reading some reviews (and because I enjoy kneading dough by hand) and it is the perfect weight. I let it rise for just over an hour both times and it rose considerably each time. Yum! I was hoping to have homemade bread for french toast tomorrow, but I doubt it'll last long enough to get stale!
Oh my! This bread is amazing! I just want to eat all of it plain!
I used 4 cups ww flour and 2 cups unbleached all-purpose. One half I baked in a loaf pan and am super excited about the soft fluffy sandwich bread I now have. The other half I stuffed with seasoned veggies, brushed with olive oil, and sprinkled with herbs. That one is in the oven right now and it smells delicious. I can't wait to eat it for dinner!
uggh :( I've tried to make this twice and it hasn't worked either time... when i mix the warm water with the yeast my yeast gets all clumpy-like .. it doesn't seem like there's enough water.. and it never bubbles or anything.. does anybody know what I'm doing wrong???
I'm wondering a few things:
How warm is your water? It should feel nicely warm on the inside of your wrist. If it's too hot, it's killing the yeast.
How old is your yeast? maybe it's out of date & no longer any good.
I don't "mix" the yeast & water, per se. I put the yeast in a bowl, then slowly pour the water over it, & swirl the bowl a little. If it doesn't seem to be enough water, try adding a Tbs. more or so. It definitely should bubble.
Good luck!
Liz
uggh :( i've tried to make this twice and it hasn't worked either time... when i mix the warm water with the yeast my yeast gets all clumpy-like .. it doesn't seem like there's enough water.. and it never bubbles or anything.. does anybody know what i'm doing wrong???
When she says "Outrageously easy," she ain't kiddin'. This is coming from someone who is notorious for never measuring anything, and so is generally terrified of baking - and what's more horrifying than baking bread? So I did a little "fudge measuring," mostly eye-balling the dry works ("Yeah, that looks like about 3 cups of flour...") and it still came out as everything good bread should be: Light, airy, springy, crusty on the outside and fluffy on the inside. Dense enough for sandwiches, light enough for dinner rolls. Absolute perfection. And the best part? Not a single specialized ingredient. No egg substitutions, no almond milk, no weird anything. I love this recipe so much, I want to run off into the sunset with it.
This recipe is purely brilliant. Absolutely delicious and my entire family enjoyed it. I'm glad I didn't halve it like I considered!
Definitely making more of this soon.
I made it with half whole-wheat and half white flour, added a bit of wheat gluten flour. I'll probably try it without the wheat next time to see if it makes a difference--that stuff is expensive..
Wow, I don't even have to taste this to say it's an amazing recepie!
My kitchen smells so yummy now!
I followed the recepie exactly.
For a glaze/crust I used 1 tbl soy margarine, 3 tblspn of soymilk, 2 tsp of canola oil, and a dash of salt, it worked really well too! The crust is PERFECT.
It made 2 huggeee loves, I'm going to have to give one to my boyfriend's mom.
This bread is FANTASTIC. Enough for TWO people.
Colleen
you can glaze breads with soy, almond or any other type of "milk" just use a brush :)
I tried baking this again, halfing the recipe, and it still didnt work out. I followed the directions exactly as it says. Neither if my attempts with this bread were sucsessful, they didnt rise. thanks for the pointers, lizbelden. under what conditions dooes yeast rise? Do I need to place it in a well ventilated or warm place? what are the specifics for making yeast baking sucessful? thank you
You know, I used to make wine and I used yeast for that, which I think is very similar to bread yeast. The biggest no-no for wine is letting the fermenting brew be exposed to sunlight, or anyplace where it would be exposed to UVA/B rays because they kill the yeast (florescent light as well maybe?). Yeast does best in sugar water 80 to 100 degrees F (27 to 37 degrees C), and in a dark place, there it will multiply rapidly and become active.
As far as what the person said about too much yeast, yeast multiplies so rapidly that if you use 2 packets and leave the dough set out for a short time, vs using 1 packet and set the dough out for longer, aren't you actually getting about the same amount of yeast? As yeast is just bacteria and one that multiplies very quickly.
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