Tuesday, December 03, 2013

HomeMade Oven Baked Bread

At the beginning of this post, I would like to warn you! If you will go through with this recipe there is no way back... your family will ask you to make it fresh daily and you will hardly be able to try any of it ;-) But I will also say that this recipe is so easy and in no way time consuming that you will look like a kitchen hero with hardly any work at all on your part - that's a secret ;-)



You will need:

2 tablespoons of dry yeast
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup of very warm water

------------------------------------------------------

6 cups of sifted BREAD flour
1 cup of light beer (corona or bud light for example)
1 cup of sparkling water (such as Perrier or Pelegrino)
2 tablespoons of vinegar
3 teaspoons of salt

First you need to make the yeast rise. Mix gently the first 3 ingredients and let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes in warm temperature. (Kitchen counter next to the stove does it for me just fine)


Then sift the flour into a very large bowl (I need to get one bigger than this ;-)


Add the beer, sparkling water, vinegar, salt, and risen yeast and mix using your hand. You might need to add some sparkling water if the mixture appears dry. It should look something like this...


Cover with plastic and big towel to keep it warm and let stand in steady warm temperature for up to 12 hours (again, I leave it in the kitchen, next to the stove, chances are my oven is warm or I am cooking something anyway... that is not necessary). I have let it rise for 4 hours and it did the trick. The advantage of this is that if you would like to bake fresh bread for dinner, you could mix it in the morning before work and bake it right when you get home in the evening. Or mix it in the evening and bake that bread for breakfast. that might just make your day ;-)

When it rises, it should look something like this (Now you see why I need a bigger bowl?).


It is time to preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit (230 Celsius) and place the sheet you will be baking the bread on into the oven. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle. Dump the dough on floured surface ... See those nice air bubbles? This one rose well!


... and work it into a round or oval shape. Keep sprinkling it with flour if it's too sticky.


Place it on a hot sheet and put it in the oven for about 35 minutes. I would check it after 25 minutes just in case your oven performs differently.

I tried to make one big loaf or two small loaves and I will have to say the two smaller loaves are way better to handle and easier to slice! So at this point, you would cut your dough in half and shape it into round or oval loaves. Put them in the oven the same way for the same time.

And here you go... you will never stop making this bread!



I am linking this to my friend Jen's blog over at www.jenifferrizzo.com for her Fabulously Creative Friday