As you can see in another post on this blog, my bread-making journey started at age 57. Sad but true I know. I started with a no-knead recipe because I was just certain if it required kneading, I’d probably ruin it. Turns out I ruined it even without kneading.
As time went on, I practiced and got more confident in my abilities. I’m happy to report I’ve graduated to bread that requires kneading. And damn, it’s the best thing since . . . sliced bread (HA!).
Who knew kneading bread could be so fulfilling?
It’s like playing with play-doh (which happens to be one of my favorite things ever to do) except you get real food to eat when done!
The recipe I’m sharing today originated from Jill Winger-Old Fashioned On Purpose. Go check out her YouTube channel and show her some love. I took her recipe and substituted an ingredient to see what would happen.
And it was magical! The bread was so much more moist with just a touch of sweetness that makes it addictive.
The great news is this revised recipe can be used by vegetarians and vegans!
The Recipe
- 2 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- 1 1/3 C Warm Water (faucet warm, not boiling)
- 2 tsp Sugar, Monk fruit sugar (0 Calories), or honey (Vegetarian)
- 1/4 Cup AppleSauce (I use unsweetened but it doesn’t matter)
- 1 tsp Salt
- 3 1/2 to 4 C flour (White, Bread, Oat, Nut – read more about implications of each below)
Directions
- Warm oven to 200 degrees. While the oven is warming, mix the ingredients below.
- Mix yeast and water
- Add in sugar, applesauce, and salt – continue mixing
- Add 3 C flour in and mix well. Use the rest of the flour to add in slowly until the bread is no longer sticky. You’ll need to be able to work with it in your hands without it sticking to your hands.
- Turn off oven as soon as it reaches 200 degrees and open it just a little to cool it off.
- Sprinkle the counter and your hands with a little flour, put the dough on the counter, and commence to kneading (You might want to watch the video if you’ve never kneaded bread – It’s really easy but difficult for me to explain on paper).
- Place back in bowl, cover with towel, and let rise in the warm oven for 2 hours.
- Grease and flour a 9 X 5 bread pan.
- After 2 hours, punch down (not literally, of course) the bread and form to fit in the bread pan.
- Cover with towel and let rise an additional 25 minutes.
- Set oven to 350 degrees
- Bake for 20-25 minutes on the top rack.
- If you want a nice brown crust, place a pan of water on the second rack.
- Enjoy!
If you’d like to see this created, here’s a video.
The ingredient I substituted that made such a difference was the applesauce for an egg.
Did you know you can take pretty much any recipe and substitue 1/4 C applesauce for an egg? I learned how to do this when I was Vegan and am still surprised at how many people don’t realize you can do this. It’s a game changer regarding what is does for the taste and consistency.
My experience has been this bread does not last long!
I have a tendency to not provide detailed enough instructions so if you have questions, just put them in the comments. I’m on the computer every day so . . . it shouldn’t take long for me to respond.
Try it out and let me know what you think in the comments!