Share It!
 |
Our pioneer ancestors had to bake their own bread. Some used sourdough starter and often on the trail, biscuits were baked to save time.
As a mother, writer, and part-time pharmacy technician, I need things that save me time. After looking up all the ingredients on the bread label, I decided I had to get back to baking my own, not to mention it’s sooo much cheaper.
Here’s a great artisan bread recipe I found from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and their website http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ I modified it just a bit for a better tasting bread, in my husband’s opinion.
Due to questions from readers I made this video to help you on your bread making journey.
You need a stretch of a few hours when you first start the dough for rise time, but you make enough to last for two weeks, depending on how much bread your family eats. My directions are slightly different from the websites, due to baking other breads.
Whenever you bake bread or anything with yeast, make sure you only use a glass, wooden, or plastic mixing bowl and utensils. If you use stainless steel, you won’t get a good rise on your dough, so just avoid it. Second, use lukewarm water about 120 degrees, dissolve your yeast, and let it stand about 10 minutes, until it’s nice and foamy.
Mix your dough, adding about a cup of flour at a time. Cover your dough with a tea towel and set it on top of the fridge (usually a draft free warm place) to rise for about 2 to 5 hours, or until the dough has risen and started to collapse. Now pop it in the fridge for either over night or at least 3 hours.
Take a chunk of dough out, it’s very wet, so lightly flour your hands, and pull it into the shape of your loaf. Dust the top with flour and slash it with a sharp knife (flour keeps your blade from sticking) and let it rise for about 40 minutes.
Place a metal broiling pan in the oven on the lowest rack and preheat to 450 degrees. Put your loaf in the oven and then quickly pour a cup of HOT water into the broiler pan and shut your oven. Bake for 45 minutes.
This bread has that awesome crunchy crust with an incredible soft flaky inside. My kids inhale it. The recipe states this makes four 1lb. loaves, but for sandwhich size loaves, it makes two. You can double or triple it and store it in the fridge for 2 weeks.
Here’s the recipe, enjoy!
Fresh Bread in Five Minutes a Day Recipe-This and over 40 other recipes in Pioneering Today.
3 cups lukewarm water or 120 degrees
1 1/2 Tablespoons yeast (store your yeast in the fridge to prolong freshness)
1 1/2 Tablespoons salt (kosher or coarse sea salt is best)
6 1/2 cups unsifted flour (I was out of bread flour and regular works just fine
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
The addition of vinegar should go in when you mix the flour. It helps preserve the shelf life of the bread and adds a more airy, chewy, sourdough texture. I love it!
You’ll never miss the oil or butter, I promise.
UPDATE: I now have a pizza stone that I cook my bread on. I highly recommend one. The texture of the bread is amazing, I bake everything on my stone, cookies, rolls, bread, and of course, my white sauce chicken alfredo pizza.
What’s your favorite bread recipe? Does anyone have a great cinnamon raisin recipe?
Here’s my homemade Turkey and Dumpling Recipe, so yummy and easy. You can substitute chicken if you like.
My recipe is featured on Kelly the Kitchen Kop’s Real Food Blog Hop, and Make Your Own Monday Link Up.
|
Share It!
There’s nothing like home-baked bread. My problem is that it’s so good that my husband and I can’t resist eating almost a whole loaf! I need a little self-control. LOL
Yes, with the two kids and my husband, we went through one in two days. I actually baked two on Sunday to hopefully last us the week. But, there’s no sugar, oils, or fat in this, so if you’re going to eat a whole loaf, it’s by far the best choice. (At least, that’s what I tell myself on the third slice)
I have the same trouble but have found that the more often I make bread, the less quickly we eat it.
Must be that whole thing of we want what we don’t have, so the more often we have it the less we crave. lol
We also know the taste of real food as opposed to the preservative-enhanced variety.
I’ve been getting into making Irish soda bread lately. It’s so good!
Soda bread, that sounds good. Want to share your recipe? I’ve made lots of traditional egg bread, rolls, and such, but not soda bread. Saint Paddy’s Day is coming up.
I used a recipe from an interesting cookbook I read for review: The Bookclub Cookbook. The recipe was good, but I still prefer the loaves I’ve made in the past from recipes at this amazing site: http://www.sodabread.us/Recipes/sodabreadrecipes.htm
Whether or not you use the recipe, the site is worth a visit for its wealth of information (click the ‘History’ tab).
Saint Patrick’s Day had always been a big deal for me since I was raised in the Catholic Church, and our Irish priests taught us how to celebrate it. Perhaps that’s why the historical romance I’m writing features an Irish main character.
Pingback: Pioneering Today-Cooking with Cast Iron | Melissa K. Norris
Pingback: Pioneering Today-Homemade White Sauce Chicken Pizza | Melissa K. Norris
Thank you! Just the other day I told Hubby that I was craving fresh bread.
THis is so good and no fat! So even on a diet, my husband and I just started the Insanity program, you can still eat it.
Pingback: Pioneering Today Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls Recipe | Melissa K. Norris
Thank you for your submission on Nourishing Treasures’ Make Your Own! Monday link-up.
Check back later tonight when the new link-up is running to see if you were one of the top 3 featured posts!
Pingback: Pioneering Today-Best Ever Flaky Pie Crust | Melissa K. Norris
Pingback: Pioneering Today-No Rise Dinner Roll Recipe in less than | Melissa K. Norris
When you say in your directions above the recipe take a chunk of dough out, what do you mean by that?
Deb, the above recipe makes two loaves. For the first loaf, I flour my hands and then scoop/rip off half the dough with my hands. I form it into a ball or pull it long ways to fit the pan if I’m not free baking it. Hope that helps. I’m going to make a video this week to show the steps as I’ve discovered it’s sometimes hard to explain.
How did u actually get the ideas to publish ““Pioneering Today-Bake Your Own Bread In Less
than 5 Minutes a Day | Melissa K. Norris”? I appreciate
it -Mattie
Hi, Mattie
I provide the link above in the article, but I found the original recipe and basic premise for the bread in the book
Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and their website http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/ I altered it to the above recipe for better texture and health benefits. Hope you enjoy.
Pingback: Processed Replacements-Make Your Own Cream Soup Substitution | Melissa K. Norris
Pingback: Chicken Artichoke Heart Casserole and The Irresistible Table | Melissa K. Norris
I just attempted this between last night and this morning and found that baking for half an hour left a very raw middle (I made two loaves). So anyone else who tries this, it’s based on each individual oven (and I always have water underneath my bread). Do you have any tips on how to not burn the top of the bread while waiting on the inside to cook? Has anyone tried this at a lower temperature for a longer cooking time?
Also, 1.5 T of salt is a little excessive for me. I am cutting it down in the next batch, but the overall flavor is really delicious. Thank you.
Hi, Kate!
Glad you gave it a try. Oven’s do vary, but it’s really hard to overbake a wet dough like this. My oven cooks on the low side so I bake one loaf for 45 minutes. I’ll edit the post. I haven’t tried a lower temp for longer, but at 45 minutes the top hasn’t burned. You can always put a piece of tin foil over the top to keep it from burning for the last 15 minutes or so.
I’ve noticed if I use sea salt the 1.5 T is perfect, but regular table salt can definitely be reduced. The beauty of this bread is tailoring it for you. I’m planning on adding in some roasted garlic to the next batch.
45 minutes is definitely a little more realistic – I am definitely putting foil on the top for the last 15, though, as 30 minutes seems to get the perfect golden color and crunch. My second batch has fresh rosemary in it. Roasted garlic sounds delicious
Thank you for your quick response!
You’re welcome. And I’m liking the sound of rosemary. Yum!
I absolutely love your site.. Excellent colors & theme.
Did you develop this site yourself? Please reply back as I’m wanting to create my own personal website and would like to find out where you got this from or what the theme is called. Thanks!
This is the twenty eleven theme from wordpress and I customized it with different plugins. Hope that helps you out.
Thank you so much for this recipe! Finances are such that I didn’t want to invest in the book without knowing if we’d like bread this way or not, and we do! So easy. I did with whole wheat entirely, adding 1/4 c. vital wheat gluten and an extra 1/4 c. water. Love the vinegar.
One question tho, I couldn’t get the yeast to foam up without sugar. I even bought new yeast thinking that was my problem. Happen to know anything on this?
Hi, Lynda. I’m not sure on the yeast not foaming. Sugar does provide more foam, but mine foams without it. Are you storing your yeast in the fridge? I always do mine. I tend to mix it pretty good with the water too. As long as it rises, I wouldn’t worry too much.
I’m glad you like. We’re going on over a year using it. I also have a reader who’s son has a kidney problem so she cuts out almost all the salt and says it bakes wonderfully for him.
Thanks.
Hello, I was wondering if you can use whole wheat flour in this recipe?
Hi, Schanna,
Yes, you can absolutely use whole wheat flour in this recipe. If you use all whole wheat, I’d recommend adding a 1/4 cup of vital wheat gluten (it looks like flour and can be purchased in most whole foods sections of any grocery store). The vital wheat gluten helps the texture so it’s not so dense.
But be sure to add extra water tho, I added 1/4 c. extra for 1/4 c. of vital wheat gluten. Was great!
Pingback: 101 Real Food Recipes in 30 Minutes Hands-On or Less | Cooking Traditional Foods