Basic Bread
Nutritional Info
- Servings Per Recipe: 1
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories: 1,594.7
- Total Fat: 15.2 g
- Cholesterol: 31.0 mg
- Sodium: 2,416.5 mg
- Total Carbs: 320.8 g
- Dietary Fiber: 10.2 g
- Protein: 39.0 g
View full nutritional breakdown of Basic Bread calories by ingredient
Number of Servings: 1
Ingredients
-
1 cup liquid*
1/2 T yeast
2 T oil or softened butter
2 T sugar or honey
1 t salt
3 c flout
optional ingredients**
*You can use water, milk, juice, whey or water in which potatoes were boiled. Miles makes the dough a little heavier and adds protein to the bread . Juice can be added for flavor. Orange juice makes great breakfast bread. Tomato juice makes a tasty bread to serve w/ salad. Whey is a natural dough conditioner & is a great for helping whold grain bread to rise. The starch in potato water also helps to create a lighter loaf of bread.
**Optional ingredients can include 1/2 c of rolled oats, raisins, or chopped nuts or 2 T Flax Seeds. 1 T Dried Basil makes a nice addition when using tomato juice as the liquid. 1/2 c dried cranberries goes well w/ orange juice as liquid.
Directions
1. Start by putting the warm liquid into the bowl. You can use a thermometer to make sure it is 100 degrees F, but basically, the temp needs to be the same as for a nice bath, so usually you have the correct temp if you use tap water this is comfortably warm. Sprinkle the yeast on top of the water.
2. Add all of the other ingredients except the flour.
3. Once everything is in the bowl, add 2/3 of the flour to the bowl & stir until thoroughly mixed. If you are doing this by hand (rather than with a stand mixer & dough hook), you will probably need to toss the spoon & dig in with your hands. Add the remaining flour slowly, a quarter cup at a time, mixing until the dough forms a nice ball that does not stick to the sides of the bowl or to your fingers. It is important that you thoroughly mix the ingredients after each addition of flour before adding more flour. It is quite easy to add more flour, but if you wind up with dough that is too dry, it is a messy proposition to add more liquid. In most cases, you won't use the maximum amount of flour listed, but feel free to add more flour if the dough is still sticky.
4. Although you will have a lighter, airier loaf of bread if you let it rise two or more times, bread can be baked on a single rise. If you are in a hurry, you can pull out a piece of dough, put it into a bread pan, let it rise for 30 min & bake it. You can also make pizza rolls, or flatbread w/ dough on the first rise. If you have time to let the dough rise in the mixing bowl for at least 30 min, you will be rewarded by stretchier dough that is easier to roll out or knead & shape into a loaf or rolls. If you forget about your dough, & it rises in the bowl for several hours, it's not a big deal. Punch it down & put it in the bread pan. Let it rise for about 30 min. If it over-rises in the bread pan & has triped or more in size, you will probably want to punch it down & let it rise again. Although you can bake bread that has risen too high, there will be big bubbles inside the loaf, so the bread won't be as pretty as you might like. The large air bubbles will make it difficult for the bread to hold together, & it will tend to crumble & fall apart. (Crumbly bread can be used for bread pudding or stuffing poultry & can be frozen until needed.) The main thing to remember is that you don't need to stress about following instructions exactly with bread. It's sad that so many people think bread is persnickety because it is actually quite forgiving once you understand it -- kind of like some people.
5. Bake the dough for the 40 to 45 min at 350 degrees for loaf & 25 to 30 min for rolls. Check the loaf by thumping it with your finger. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If you're new to baking bread & the concept of "hollow sounding" is elusive, you can use a thermometer. The loaf is done when it reaches 200 degrees F internally. Color is also a good indicator when making breadd with unbleached flour. When baking the bread at the temp suggested, it is unlikely to be cooked thoroughly if it is not a lovely golden brown. It is a bit more challenging to use color for determining when bread is done when using whole grains.
I prefer stonewear or cast iron to glass, aluminum or stainless steel pans for baking bread & rolls. Stoneware & cast iron create a bottom crust that matches the top & sides in color & level of doneness. If you use glass or lightweight metal bread pans, decrease the temp in the recipes by 25 degrees.
Serving Size: Makes 1 load or 1 dozen rolls
Number of Servings: 1
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LUCYANNE64.
2. Add all of the other ingredients except the flour.
3. Once everything is in the bowl, add 2/3 of the flour to the bowl & stir until thoroughly mixed. If you are doing this by hand (rather than with a stand mixer & dough hook), you will probably need to toss the spoon & dig in with your hands. Add the remaining flour slowly, a quarter cup at a time, mixing until the dough forms a nice ball that does not stick to the sides of the bowl or to your fingers. It is important that you thoroughly mix the ingredients after each addition of flour before adding more flour. It is quite easy to add more flour, but if you wind up with dough that is too dry, it is a messy proposition to add more liquid. In most cases, you won't use the maximum amount of flour listed, but feel free to add more flour if the dough is still sticky.
4. Although you will have a lighter, airier loaf of bread if you let it rise two or more times, bread can be baked on a single rise. If you are in a hurry, you can pull out a piece of dough, put it into a bread pan, let it rise for 30 min & bake it. You can also make pizza rolls, or flatbread w/ dough on the first rise. If you have time to let the dough rise in the mixing bowl for at least 30 min, you will be rewarded by stretchier dough that is easier to roll out or knead & shape into a loaf or rolls. If you forget about your dough, & it rises in the bowl for several hours, it's not a big deal. Punch it down & put it in the bread pan. Let it rise for about 30 min. If it over-rises in the bread pan & has triped or more in size, you will probably want to punch it down & let it rise again. Although you can bake bread that has risen too high, there will be big bubbles inside the loaf, so the bread won't be as pretty as you might like. The large air bubbles will make it difficult for the bread to hold together, & it will tend to crumble & fall apart. (Crumbly bread can be used for bread pudding or stuffing poultry & can be frozen until needed.) The main thing to remember is that you don't need to stress about following instructions exactly with bread. It's sad that so many people think bread is persnickety because it is actually quite forgiving once you understand it -- kind of like some people.
5. Bake the dough for the 40 to 45 min at 350 degrees for loaf & 25 to 30 min for rolls. Check the loaf by thumping it with your finger. If it sounds hollow, it's done. If you're new to baking bread & the concept of "hollow sounding" is elusive, you can use a thermometer. The loaf is done when it reaches 200 degrees F internally. Color is also a good indicator when making breadd with unbleached flour. When baking the bread at the temp suggested, it is unlikely to be cooked thoroughly if it is not a lovely golden brown. It is a bit more challenging to use color for determining when bread is done when using whole grains.
I prefer stonewear or cast iron to glass, aluminum or stainless steel pans for baking bread & rolls. Stoneware & cast iron create a bottom crust that matches the top & sides in color & level of doneness. If you use glass or lightweight metal bread pans, decrease the temp in the recipes by 25 degrees.
Serving Size: Makes 1 load or 1 dozen rolls
Number of Servings: 1
Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user LUCYANNE64.