Simple Bread

[Cowgirl]

I have a standard white bread recipe which I use for bread and rolls, both continental style chewy crusts and soft crusts. It is very versatile, has few ingredients and is easy to make.

 

2 1/2 - 3 cups UNBLEACHED all-purpose flour

1 TBSP yeast

1 TBSP sugar

1/2 tsp salt (you can increase this to taste - I have been doing low-salt cooking for family health reasons)

1 cup warm milk (about 120 F - warm to touch)

 

Put yeast and sugar in bowl and mix with warm milk. Stir and allow to stand until bubbly. Then add balance of ingredients. Add flour until dough forms a ball while stirring in bowl. Then turn out on floured surface and knead until smooth, sprinkling with flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands. Put dough in bowl, cover with a towel and place in a warm spot to rise, about 40 minutes to one hour.

 

When dough has doubled in size, punch it down, remove from bowl onto floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Then form into loaf or rolls.

 

For a loaf of bread with a wonderful crust something like a French bread, I generally roll the dough into a long cylinder and place on a greased cookie sheet. Then I will cut diagonal slashes across the dough, in the style of some continental breads.

 

To make a wonderful chewy crust, place a pan of water on the lowest rack in the oven. Set the oven to 400 degrees and place the bread in the COLD oven. Bake until golden brown. Depending upon loaf shape, whether round or long, and depending upon how true your oven is, it will be done in 30 to 45 minutes. This bread goes fast at dinner, served hot with butter!

 

I also use this for rolls. When I make rolls, I again roll the dough into a cylinder, but cut that cylinder into 12 pieces, which I then roll between my hands to make rolls. Then I place those on a greased cookie sheet and allow to rise while I preheat the oven (again to 400 F). This time, there is no pan of water, usually, as I'm going for a soft crust. I bake in a HOT oven until golden brown, generally about 12 to 15 minutes.

 

This same bread recipe can be baked in a HOT oven with no water for a softer crust. It can be formed into round "cottage style" loaves. And it can be baked in a traditional bread pan. I find it to be versatile.

 

Enjoy!

[GirlNextDoor]

How many loaves does this make?

[Amishway Homesteaders]

How many loaves does this make?

67 loaves!

But they are very, very tiny ones. LOL

 

Sorry - what do you want at 1:30 am

[GirlNextDoor]

LOL! Goofy!

[Cowgirl]

I use this recipe to make ONE loaf of French style/continental style bread (or "regular" loaf pan bread) OR 12 dinner rolls.

 

Hope that helps.

[Stephanie]

Thanks for sharing this and I checked out your new blog too!

[Collette]

Cowgirl, I was looking for a bread recipe, stumbled on this one, and WOW. Easiest one I have ever made. Okay, easiest of all 4 of the recipes I've tried! I love that it is so versatile. My family has enjoyed all of the breads, but they get bored easily so it's a challenge to 1) Keep them satisfied 2) Find things that ARE simple, not just claim it 3) Get new ideas. Thanks for sharing!

[ANewMe]

BUMP!!

 

For those of us wanting to learn to make bread this one does not look so intimidating (atleast to me).

 

QUESTION: I bought a little pkg of yeast. Its three little packs attached together. Its the off brand (Kroger). It says Active Dry Yeast....Traditional Dry Yeast. Is this what I need?

 

Also...do I need a bread machine? I know this recipe doesn't call for one but do I need one for other recipes or can I do just as well with my oven?

 

Should I buy some "bread flour" for my experimenting?

[GirlNextDoor]

If you want to use a bread machine you can buy one from Goodwill for less than $10. I finally learned to rise my dough in the hot water heater closet.

[indy gal preps]

I use a bread machine on just the dough setting-let it rise once then take it out and make into a loaf or rolls,since I have arthritis this works for me and we can still have fresh bread,I let it rise again after shaping it and then bake.

[dogmom4]

Bump!

[sassenach]

thanks for the bump. I like this recipe since it just makes one loaf and for one adult that's plenty for at least a few days.

 

a simple answer to a prayer I have had for a while.

 

appreciate that!

[dogmom4]

Oh my, my! I just made rolls using this recipe. They are good! I used my bread machine on the dough setting, then cut the rolls (made 16), shaped, and let them rise for another 40 minutes on my pizza stone. Hopefully, the bread loaves will be just as good.