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?
Converted this to a whole wheat bread with sun-dried tomatoes, olives, pan-fried onions and fresh rosemary. I simply let the ingredients marinate with the olive oil and added when the oil was called in the recipe. I found they soaked up quite a bit of oil, so I added more oil to bring the volume back up. The bread came out perfectly. Yum!
My husband is allergic to wheat & gluten ... but this recipe sounded so interesting I thought I'd give it a try using a gluten-free baking mix (I used Bob's Red Mill brand). I really didn't expect it to rise much - but was very surprised that it actually did rise quite a bit (nothing like it would with regular flour though). It's a little strange, comparing it to regular wheat bread, but definitely edible. I have been buying commercially made gluten free bread - we call it brick-bread because that's what it's like, a brick ... heavy and dense. This is as good as, maybe better and I will definitely give it another shot and experiment a bit with this recipe.
Sooo easy, Sooo good
My first attempt at making bread in a long time, and this recipe works great in my bread machine! Next time, though, I'm baking a few dinner rolls and a few cinnamon/raisin rolls.
8)
I've failed at breads before, but this one came out great! So easy, simple, and tasty. Who needs store bought bread? No kidding about the serving size, though. I somehow didn't associate 6 cups of flour with a bread amount. It's a lot. But it's so tasty and it's so nice to be able to give people fresh, homemade bread. =)
I love this recipe! I've been using it for 3 years now, it's always a big hit. And no one ever believes that such a simple recipe can come out so good! Definitely recommend it.
Colleen -- If you see this, I LOVE YOU. I had never made my own bread before, and it turned out perfectly every time. I made the second batch I allowed to proof into rolls that came out even better than the loaves!
The bread turned out alright, although it was a bit too salty. I think a teaspoon would be more appropriate than the tablespoon that is listed in the ingredient.
This recipe was super easy and turned out great. I halved the recipe and used all purpose flour. I kneaded 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of raisins in before the second rise. I baked it in a 8x4 loafpan, and glazed the top with maple syrup. It "jumped" quite a bit in the oven, resulting in a big, fluffy loaf just like you can get at the bakery.
I will definitely make this again and can't wait to try it with garlic and herbs.
Well, it tastes like bread.. nothing too exciting.
I felt it was rather hyped up, although it was quite easy to make.. and it did make a heck of a lot of bread.
Pages