Not much compares to the aroma and the taste of
freshly-baked homemade bread, warm out of the oven...
We found a bread recipe many years ago (long before
bread machines became available items for the home kitchen) to make a single
loaf in a couple of hours. It does use a bit of elbow-grease to stir the thick,
heavy batter, but no kneading is required & your hands stay clean!
Over the years, we've adapted the original recipe to
create a fabulously tasty loaf every time... its versatility is endless when
it comes to adding different ingredients to vary the flavors, too! The best
part of this recipe ~ it’s dairy-free and preservative-free!! (No worries about
it going bad ~ it’ll get eaten before that happens!) This bread produces a nice
airy, coarse texture... wonderful for toast and for sandwiches or as a side
with soups & stews...
In future blog posts, we'll be sharing some of our
favorite variations with you as well, so be sure to bookmark this page, or copy
& paste the recipe into Word and save it to a folder in your computer. You
can also print this page from your browser settings. If you have any questions
or comments, please leave a comment below, or contact us by email at the
address on the right sidebar...
So, now that you are drooling... here’s a basic
recipe for BASIC BATTER BREAD. Enjoy!!
BASIC BATTER BREAD
1½ cups White
Unbleached Flour
½ cup + 1
cup Whole Wheat Flour
2¼
teaspoons (1 envelope) Quick-Rise Yeast
1½
teaspoons Salt
2
tablespoons Sugar
2
tablespoons Sunflower Oil
1¾ cups
Warm Water
Generously
grease a large loaf pan. Preheat oven on lowest bake setting (about 80°F) and
turn off when temperature is reached.
In a
large bowl, stir white flour, ½ cup wheat flour, sugar, salt and yeast together
with a whisk to mix well. Using a mixing spoon, add oil and warm water; mix
well until smooth and flour is mixed in. Add remaining 1 cup of wheat
flour, mix very well ~ dough will be quite stiff & very elastic. When mixed, scrape into greased loaf pan, smooth top with warm water, if you wish.
Place in warmed oven to rise for 20 to 25 minutes, or until dough is ½” from top of pan. Remove from oven. Heat oven to 375°. Bake loaf for 45 minutes.
Cool pan on its side, on a rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges to
loosen. Remove loaf from pan, finish cooling on rack.
*Notes: You can use a stand mixer with dough hooks to mix the batter, if you have one ~ they work great! Be sure to wash your dishes right away too, as the batter hardens to a cement-like finish. Not fun to clean when that happens!!
Keep well & we'll see you next week, here in The Parlour!
Coming up next week: stop & smell the flowers...
