Beginner bread recipe and advice?

[wsmoak]

We're almost finished sanding and staining the butcher block center island... so soon, I can [attempt to] make bread!

Does anyone have advice on the best recipe and technique to get started? Preferably a wheat or multi-grain, but if plain white is easier I can start with that.

Thanks,
Wendy

 

[LovinMyPeeps]

Quote:
Ok here's the one I make. I love it, real easy, doesn't require a lot of kneading. Most importantly I encourage you to play! Bread recipes don't have to be set in stone.

1 & 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 cup of spelt flour
1 cup of all purpose whole grain white flour
1/4 cup of 12 grain hot cereal (red mills is good)
1 tbsp of vital wheat gluten
1 cup of warm water
3 tbsp of sugar (I mix and match with honey with this)
1/8 tsp of salt
2 &1/4 tsp of yeast.
1 tbsp of walnut oil if desired.

Put warm water and sugar in a bowl, mix until dissolved. Add yeast and let it set while you gather the flour in a big bowl (add the gluten if your inclined, it does add stability and a softer texture to the dough, if gluten is a problem you can omit it).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and then add the oil if your using it. mix with a spoon until its truly mixed and course. Turn it out onto a floured board and need the rest of the dry ingredients in. Knead for 3-5 minutes adding flour to the board as needed. Grease a bowl and allow it to rise covered. Punch down, knead it another 3-5 minutes and allow it to rise on a baking stone that's been dusted with more of the cereal grains so it doesn't stick. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and wallah! Nice hearty peasant loaf... makes great toast!!

 

[quercus21]

Here's something I have been playing with lately. The ladies seem to like. This recipe is for 2 loaves at one time:

7 teaspoons of yeast
2 1/4 water
1/2 cup oil - we use olive oil

1 teaspoon salt
1/3 multi-grain cereal - it's like a hot cereal, like cream of wheat
2 cups unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat

I toss everything into a bowl at the same time starting with the yeast, then the liquids. After I put in the last liquid, I'll start mixing by hand with a wooden spoon. I keep adding the flour and mixing until you can't, then it's hand work. I throw in the rest of the flour and mix, then knead. The dough should come out stretchy and not really sticky. If I need more water, I'd wet my hands and continue to knead.

Put the dough in a oiled bowl and cover. Let rise, at least double to triple the size. After it has risen, punch down. A quick knead to expel the gasses, then cut in half. Take each half and knead for 3 mins or so and place in a greased bread/loaf pan. Let them rise to your desired size. When ready, bake at 375 deg for 35mins. When done, they should sound hollow when tapped on the top. Remove from the pans and place on cooling racks.

I make 4 at a time and freeze 3 until needed.

Enjoy

 

[maizey]

experiment and get a kitchen aid mixer

 

[Beekissed]

My advice? Making bread is way easier than it looks or sounds! And....don't get your water too hot, it may kill the yeast. Oh! And the more you knead it, the finer the texture!

Well...that's about it. There are a million recipes for bread, so get a good bread book and have some fun!

 

[peeplessinNC]

This English Muffin Bread recipe makes two loaves, is very easy because it is more of a batter yeast bread with only one rising in the pans, and tastes very good - really good toasted for breakfast! I think it is a good recipe for a beginner.

English Muffin Bread

2 cups milk
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons cornmeal
6 cups bread flour

2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
1 tablespoon white sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1. Warm the milk and water in a small saucepan until very warm (125 degrees F/50 degrees C). Lightly grease two 8x4 inch loaf pans; sprinkle cornmeal inside pans.

2. In a large bowl, mix together 3 cups flour, yeast, sugar, salt and soda. Stir milk into the flour mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff batter is formed. Spoon batter into prepared pans. Cover and let rise in a warm place for until nearly doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

3. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Remove from pans immediately and cool.

 

[BettyR]

I make all of our bread and have for years.

White bread is the easiest to start with and the best recipe that I have found for white bread is the Gump bread from this site.

GUMP Bread

2 cups warm water
1 Tbsp. Sugar
2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup oil
5 cups bread flour
4 tsp. yeast
Place ingredients into bread machine in the order listed and select the dough cycle.

When the dough cycle is done…beat dough down and make into loaves (this recipe makes 2 loaves).

Here's the trick to get your bread to come out right. You need to roll out the bread into a rectangle, then roll up into a loaf, like you would when making cinnamon rolls. Lightly slice top of bread to get diagonal cut look when baked.

Let loaves rise for 20-25 minutes. Bake on 350° for 20-25 minutes, until top of loaves are golden brown. Let bread cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

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This bread uses a bread machine but if you don't have a bread machine you can use a stand type mixer like a KitchenAid. If you don't have a stand mixer you will have to do it by hand....this is a very wet dough and will be a little harder to do by hand but if you are patient with it and just keep kneading the gooey mess it will eventually come together and make a nice dough.

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If you do a whole wheat bread, you will get a much nicer loaf if you mix your dough together then just let it sit for an hour before you knead it. This sitting time will hydrate and soften the bran in the whole wheat. The reason whole wheat breads are not usually as soft and fluffy as white bread is the bran particles are tough and have sharp edges. These sharp edges will cut the gluten strands when you are kneading the bread like a bunch of little knives not allowing a good gluten formation. The sitting time will also allow you to start out with a much wetter dough in the beginning and still end up with a nice firm finished dough.

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The whole wheat recipe that I use is measured by weight not volume. If you want it I will type it out for you but most any nice whole wheat recipe will make a good bread if you give it that extra hour to rest in the beginning.

 

[SallyF]

quercus21,

Thanks for that recipe. I have some of that multigrain hot cereal and love it. I'm going to try your recipe tomorrow; it sounds great.

And my advice for anyone attempting to make bread... don't be afraid of it. The dough knows when you approach it with fear and trepidation. Work out all your frustrations on the dough while kneading, and the bread will respect you for it!

 

[al6517]

I gotta tell you this Gumps bread Found here on BYC is a very very good bread recipe for beginers, I have been baking bread for 40 yrs and I really like it and you can really do so much with it. Please give it a try it's wonderful.

AL

 

[wsmoak]

Quote:
I meant to put that in the original post, but I *DO* have a shiny new Kitchenaid stand mixer, bought especially for this purpose. (It's huge. I had no idea it would be that big and heavy.)

That appears to just handle the initial mixing, then it goes into the bowl to rise, and the rest is the same, correct?

I already prefer to weigh rather than measure ingredients, which I understand is a good thing for bread.

Do you like to use glass or metal loaf pans, or does it matter? I only seem to have one clear glass loaf pan (for banana bread!) and most recipes make two loaves, so I'm shopping... suggestions?

Thanks,
Wendy