Outrageously Easy BIG Bread
2 (1/4 ounce) packets yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons turbinado
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups + 3 cups flour, divided
1/3 cup vegetable or corn oil
1. To proof yeast, pour warm water into a small ceramic bowl and add the yeast, but do not stir. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, pour hot water over the turbinado and salt; stir with a wooden spoon to completely dissolve. Combine 3 cups flour with the hot water mixture. Pour the oil on top of the dough mixture then add the yeast mixture on top of that, but do not stir.
2. Top with the remaining 3 cups flour and mix well. (I begin mixing with the wooden spoon but I very quickly have to move into squishing the dough with my hands.) At this point, the dough should be pliant and moist, but not gooey. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside to rise for at least 45 minutes. (I've left it for almost two hours.)
3. On a lightly floured cutting board or countertop, divide the dough into half. (This is when I recruit someone to knead the dough, but the recipe actually calls for no kneading; I've done this recipe many times without kneading anything, and it always turns out really good.) Flatten each half into roughly an oval/rounded rectangular shape, about 1/2-3/4" thickness.
4. Roll the dough lengthwise and place on an ungreased, but very BIG, cookie sheet. (If you don't have a very large cookie sheet, use two cookie sheets, one for each half of the dough.) Cover the dough with a moist towel and set aside to rise again for another 45 minutes (or longer).
5. After the dough has risen the second time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for exactly 23 minutes. If you can keep everyone from digging in right away, allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then enjoy. (Also, before the bread bakes, you can slit the top of each lump of dough a couple of times and brush lightly with some kind of egg substitute. The glaze helps the bread come out with a slightly crunchier crust. I don't usually bother.)
Source of recipe: Whenever I go to potlucks, I bake this bread and it disappears within minutes. I've even had special requests for it. At a family Christmas, after I found out that store-bought rolls (ick!) would be served with the Christmas Eve dinner, I announced that I would make homemade bread. Since dinner would be served in a little less than two hours and since my family knows how much I absolutely detest cooking, my mother thought I was lying. She couldn't believe that I could make "respectable" bread without any kneading and in time for dinner. I made this bread and, as usual, it vanished almost instantly. My mother got this bread recipe from me. I think the dogs got the store-bought rolls.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Not to be a Debbie Downer but it's been 2.5 hours and the bread hasn't risen yet. :-\
The problem is probably with the yeast you used. Try again with new yeast and see if that works.
You could also try turning your oven on to the lowest heat setting (mine goes down to 200 F). Once it preheats, turn the oven off, put the bread on the center rack and leave the oven door cracked open. My house is usually a little cold and the bread never wants to rise until I do this.
Not to be a Debbie Downer but it's been 2.5 hours and the bread hasn't risen yet. :-\
What is turbinado? I'm in the UK.
Its raw sugar, looks like big brown granules/crystals. One popular brand (at least in the US) is Stevia Sugar in the Raw.
What is turbinado? I'm in the UK.
This was, as promised, simple and great! I let the dough rise for almost three hours each time (cause I kept leaving the house) and accidentally used only 1/3 the amount of salt called for and it still turned out to be a hit with my picky-eater little brother and sister :) I'll upload a picture of results
this bread is amazingly easy and DELICIOUS! i substituted some wheat flour for about 1/2 cup of the white flour when making half of the recipe. any more wheat flour requires you to use less flour or more water/oil to balance the density of the wheat flour. i have also substituted olive oil and added rosemary and basil. delicious!
i love this recipe I've made it in a variety of ways my favorite was cinnamon swirl
I love this bread!
I made the bread today, and although it didn't rise as much as I wanted (it was rather flat), i made a GREAT seitan/faux chicken/-ey sandwich after cutting it into pieces!
delicious!
This certainly is easy to make. Adding to the praise, this is a fabulous recipe! I made it often when I ate wheat, back in the day. I made it today for my family because they ran out of bread for lunches. I used 100% whole wheat flour, two teaspoons of salt and 4 teaspoons of yeast, that was all that I had left... it rose well, though I would have put in the full 4 1/2 tsp. yeast, had that been possible. I also put some of the sugar, (unrefined), in with the yeast mixture. I left everything else the same.
Next time I will make it with spelt so that I can eat it too. :) The smell was worth it for me today.
This would be a great recipe to make gluten free because it requires no kneading. I was going experiment with that today, then I noticed the lack of yeast, so, next grocery shop.
Pages