Bread Recipe
I started making this bread in November 2023. My mom shared with me her personal journey with making healthier food. It started with a rule she gave herself: Don’t buy anything with high fructose corn syrup. She would go through the grocery store and grab all the products she would normally buy, turn them over, and what do you know… high fructose corn syrup. Then she gave herself a goal to start making her own bread, so I decided to do the same. I thought about how many random preservatives were in the bread I bought from the store when all it needs to be is yeast, sugar, water, and flour. SO EASY! Just thinking of taking my bread out of the oven, it still being nice and warm, and then spreading some butter and jam on it sounded so lovely. So I decided to take a stab at sourdough. I tried making the starter with flour and water in the jar, and then letting the natural yeast from the environment do the rest. Then I had to discard half of it everyday and feed it. It was kinda a hassle, and mine didn’t end up working, so I decided to find a different recipe. I came across this one and it has been great! Super easy to make on a Sunday and have it ready for the week. It makes two loaves, so I usually keep one in the fridge while I’m eating it, and then stick the other one in the freezer then thaw it in the fridge the day before I plan to start eating it.
Ingredients
2 1/4 TSP Active Yeast
1 TBSP Sugar (white or brown sugar works)
6 Cups Flour (I use organic flour from Trader Joe’s)
3 Cups Warm Water
Instructions
Mix yeast and sugar in a big bowl, pour in 2 cups of warm water (if it’s HOT water, it will kill the yeast, so when figuring out temp, aim for warm or closer to lukewarm water.) Let this sit for 10 min, you will be able to see the yeast rise to the top.
Add the flour. Start mixing, then add the other cup of warm water. You’ll probably have to add a little bit more flour to get the right consistency (around 1/4 cup.) Once it starts getting thicker, I just use my hand to combine it and form it into a big ball.
Once in a big ball, cover it with a tea towel and set aside. Let it rise for 1-3 hours. I used to wait an hour, but now I wait 2 hours, and it turns out better and bigger.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. (I’m bad at waiting so I usually just stick it in the oven around 380.)
After you’ve waited 1-3 hours, lightly flour a surface and dump the ball out of it. I like to knead it for like a minute, then I cut it in half and knead those balls separately. Lightly cut an “X” into the top of the loaves, dust a pan with flour (I use a big iron skillet,) place loaves on top and stick her in the oven.
At the same time, fill a pan (I use a bread pan, just something that has higher sides) with half an inch of water and stick that on a separate rack in the oven. This helps get the bread nice and crispy on the outside.
Bake for 25-30 min, and take it out. It should be golden on the outside, sometimes mines lighter in the middle though. Let loaves cool for an hour, then enjoy!
* I store one of my loaves in the fridge while I work on eating it throughout the week, and stick the other one in the freezer so it stays fresh.
