I love bread and have been experimenting making homemade bread for the past year. But I was discouraged multiple times, when it just seemed inconsistent and some just too dense. So I’m happy to say, I have mastered an easy recipe that has been consistently perfect every time!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tbs salt
3 1/4 cups flour
Directions
First add the water, yeast and salt to a mixing bowl. Mix until the yeast and salt is dissolved.
Once dissolved add the flour and stir until evenly mixed. I use my kitchen aid mixer & a silicone spatchula to help push the floury edges down.
Now cover the bowl with a towel or plastic wrap. Be sure not to put the plastic on tightly. Let the dough sit for 2 hours. It should just about double in size.
Once the dough is just about ready, preheat your oven to 450. Be sure to put your baking pans in the oven to heat up. I have used both a 9X5 inch pan & 1 QT- 950 ML Pyrex glass bowl. They both work great!
Next put two pieces of parchment paper on your workspace and sprinkle a couple spoons of flour. Take a spoon and use the back side to smooth out the flour so it covers the parchment paper. I find by smoothing the flour evenly, it really helps keep the dough from sticking.
Pull the plastic off the bread bowl. Use a silicone spatchula to remove any dough stuck to the plastic. Add the dough to the bowl. Push down the edges with the silicone spatula and cut the dough in half.
Take one half and drop it on one of the parchment papers. Take any extra flour around the edges and sprinkle up the sides of your dough ball. Use the spatchula if needed to help. Once the ball can be held and is covered in a light dough bath, dump the extra flour onto the other parchment paper.
Remove a baking pan from the oven. Place the parchment paper into the pan & drop your dough in, on the paper.
Now score the bread with a sharp knife, cover with foil and place in the oven. Repeat these steps with the second half of dough left. See below for details on adding extra flavors/ingredients to your bread.
Bake for 20 minutes with foil. After 20 minutes remove the foil and bake for 10-15 minutes longer without the foil cover. Once golden brown remove and place on a cooling rack.
Once the bread is completely cooled you can store it in a bread box or bag.
Flavor it up!
If you prefer to add a little flair to your bread, it’s easy & here is how.
Izzy’s favorite is Rosemary bread. For this recipe just add two table spoons of rosemary per mini loaf & fold in with a spatchula. This means each dough ball would get two tbs of rosemary or four tbs for the full bowl. This is done after the dough has risen & before separating it and dropping on the flour covered parchment paper.
Joe and I wanted a little spice so I came up with this fun recipe. Spicy jalapeño, bacon & cheese bread. It tastes just as good without the bacon. We just happened to have some leftover in the fridge, so I figured, why not? For this recipe I used 1/4 cup Mexican cheese, 1-2 tbs jarred jalapeño slices & 1 tbs pre cooked bacon. Chop the jalapeños and bacon & mix all ingredients. Now fold them into the dough. I should note, this is for one of the mini loafs. Double the amount if you want both loafs to be spicy jalapeño & cheese bread, with bacon. I do my best to keep folding so the ingredients are mostly inside the bread & can’t be seen. Now place on the floured parchment paper and continue with the directions above.
I hope you guys love this bread recipe as much as we do! We have used it for sandwiches, dipping in soup and just by itself.
XO Eryka
#JalapeñoBread #Food&Drink #TheBestBread #Fall #Winter
