When I first started making homemade alternatives to grocery store staples, bread was something I REALLY wanted to do. I thought it was pretty fool-proof. I mean…it’s been around since the dawn of time. It was made by people before electric mixers and fancy supplies!
How hard could it be?
Isn’t that what everyone says before it’s a complete DISASTER? All the bread I made was terrible! It was so dense you could use it as a weapon, mushy in the middle, and tasted pretty terrible. I’ll be honest, I didn’t REALLY follow recipes closely and I relied on my “intuition”.
That’s the real joke here – I literally had no bread intuition to listen to!
For Christmas 2019, Mike (my husband) gifted me bread making tools, Paul Hollywood’s book, and a class all about bread at the NY Kitchen. It was perfect! We went together (did a wine tasting mid-class) and learned the right way to to make bread. It was just what I needed: a step by step class from someone who actually knew what they were doing.
If you live in Upstate NY, the NY Kitchen does a lot of great classes that make really fun gifts. They’d even be an amazing first date if you’re looking!
Full disclosure: I am far from an expert at this point in time. BUT I can actually make bread that’s edible, and even Mike loves (and he’s hard to impress)!
So with that rave review, I’m going to share the recipe and process with you. It’s seriously easy and I think everyone should feel the empowerment that comes from making bread!
You can skip to the recipe, or scroll through the next couple photos of process images for those who need some visual references.
Process images
Getting the yeast and warm water whisked and frothy is a big first step. Below is what the froth looks like.
After the initial mixing with hands or a bread hook, you’ll be looking at something like this:
Popped in a greased bowl with an airtight cover and rise for 45 minutes.
Shaped into loaves on a pizza stone, a quick brush of egg wash and topping, and into the oven!
Seriously easy bread
Course: Breakfast, Appetizers, SnacksDifficulty: Easy1
hour30
minutes1
hour30
minutesIngredients
594 grams (3 1/2 cups) flour (I use King Arthur bread flour)
13 grams (1 tablespoon) salt
4 grams (1 1/4 teaspoon) active dry yeast
383 grams (1 3/4 cup) room temperature water
A little bit of egg for brushing on top
A little neutral-tasting oil (olive oil is perfect)
Optional: Topping of salt or trader Joe’s everything bagel seasoning
Directions
- Measure out yeast and water into a large mixing bowl (temperature is important, don’t go too hot!)
- Use a whisk to whisk up the water/yeast. If the yeast is healthy, you should see a lot of frothy bubbles. You want to whisk for a couple minutes to dissolve the yeast completely.
- Measure and add four and salt, then gently mix with hands or your mixer bread hook.
- Set your electric mixer on low with bread hook for 3 minutes.
- Turn up the mixer to a high setting for 4 minutes. This step is tricky. You don’t want to go insane, but you want it to be fast. If you feel the side of the bowl and it’s getting warm, or you start to smell yeast, slow it down. You’re looking for a dough that’s a wet and tacky consistency.
- After 4 minutes check the dough. If you can touch it and it feels tacky and the dough bounces back, you’re doing well. If you notice that the dough isn’t wet or tacky and is just clumping around the hook, add a tiny amount of water. You may have to do this a couple times while mixing. Take a little bit of dough and do a window pane test (see notes if you don’t know what that is).
- Stop and transfer to a lightly greased bowl and cover with an airtight cover and let rise for 45 minutes in a warm spot.
- After 45 minutes tip out of bowl onto a lightly oiled surface and shape into a loaf or cut into 8 rolls.
- Brush a light egg wash onto the top, add toppings, and place on a baking tray or preheated pizza stone (this adds more crisp to the bottom).
- Bake at 325 for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes check to see if they’re lightly browning on top, if not, leave in a little longer but check regularly. When finished, let cool for a good 15-20 minutes.
Notes
- Windowpane test (this video is nothing special, you can google it as well to see other visuals): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgEeHKTyowo. It takes a little practice, so if you don’t get it at first try again!
