My first post has got to be about homemade bread. And by the way I cannot say got to without thinking of this scene in Shrek. I realize I may be alone in this.
But who's with me here: supermarket sandwich bread that tears at the slightest attempt to spread butter on it is the worst! And it gets stuck to the roof of your mouth, not in a good way.
Yeah, I hear you.
So, I wanted a basic bread recipe without ingredients like sugar, potato flakes, lard, lots of butter, or anything else that makes it super soft. Happily, there are lots of these recipes out there. Here's one from Williams-Sonoma I make every couple of days, and oh is it good fresh out of the oven with butter and sea salt.
Or toasted and topped with peanut butter that goes all oozy and delicious from the warmth of the bread.
Or slabbed with sharply flavored cheese and delicate slices of prosciutto.
Or... sorry, I'm getting distracted. Anyway, here we go:
I make the sponge right before bed and it takes all of about 30 seconds. Put 1/4 teaspoon of active dry yeast in a medium-sized mixing bowl and add 3/4 cup warm (not hot - it will kill the yeast) water. Add 1 1/4 cups bread flour and stir to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 8-10 hours.
Here it is after an overnight rest, all bubbly and shiny:
To the sponge, add 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water and stir to loosen it up (it's very sticky!). To make the dough, put one packet of active dry yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer and add 1/2 cup of water (again, I use warm water). To this, add 2 1/2 cups of bread flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and the sponge.
Knead this mixture on low speed for 4 minutes then increase the speed to medium and knead for 4 more minutes. (The recipe says go from medium to high but my mixer doesn't handle that very well.)
Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. Then, gently fold and re-shape the dough, cover again and let rise another 45 minutes. Here it is after almost an hour into the first rise:
But let me tell you, I can never seem to follow the timing of these directions. My kids had soccer games and birthday parties today and I couldn't worry about the timing of the dough. And so this is what happens when you let it rise for several hours in a warm kitchen:
No big deal! It's still going to be delicious.
Separate the dough into lumps that you think will fit your baker, loaf tin, whatever you are using to bake your bread in. This is what I've got: two different sized loaf tins. Flour the tins generously or spray with cooking spray or grease them however you like. Put the lumps of dough into your tins, cover with a tea towel, and let rise for another hour while, theoretically at least, your oven preheats to 500.
When you are ready to bake your bread, lower the oven to 450 and bake for 35 minutes (you may need up to 45 minutes if you are baking the entire lump of dough as one single lump). It's done when the crust is brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped and your house smells completely amazing. Enjoy!
