So Simple, So Good Bread

This is such a simple loaf that turns out so great I almost think I should keep it a secret 😊 

I have been looking to have a quick and easy way to have a high quality loaf of bread in under 3 hours and I think this may be it. The key is to use a few shortcuts without any feelings of guilt, effort isn't the only way to create quality, sometimes just thinking it through and using the right options can work.

Here's how to do it... take all the ingredients listed below (I got them all in a standard grocery store), throw them into your bread maker on the dough setting (in the order recommended by your machine, typically wet to dry).  

When it is completed, take the dough and form two equal sized balls and let them sit for 5 minutes (I don't know why, just every recipe seems to say that, apparently the dough needs to rest ).  Then shape them into two batards (torpedo shaped loaves) and cover them with plastic wrap sprayed with Pam or something similar.  Let them sit for about 45 minutes on parchment paper (they are ready when you poke them with your finger and the dent remains). Being on parchment paper makes it easy to move them into the oven, just keep the loaves on the paper,  In the meantime fire up your over to 450 degrees and have a spray bottle of water on hand. If you have a baking stone (or pizza stone) put that in the oven when you turn it on, if not you can use a baking pan without pre-heating.  When the dough is ready, slash it with a razor blade or very sharp knife (3 diagonal slices are a good way to start, play with that on future loaves), slide the loaves into the oven (a pizza paddle is ideal but you can use any flat pan).  Immediately spray the loaves and the oven with your spray bottle and shut the oven quickly to not lose too much heat. Bake for 25 minutes (internal temperature of the loaves should exceed 200 degrees if you have a thermometer for that, otherwise 25 minutes should do it).  Turn the oven off and crack the door, but don't remove the loaves for another 5 minutes.  Let them cool on a rack for as long as you can endure.  Once totally cooled I usually slice one and put it in the freezer for future
use (great toast right out of the freezer).  ENJOY.

Ingredients

-1 and 2/3 Cups of water

-1 tablespoon of sugar

-2 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt

-4 and 1/2 cups unbleached white flour

-Half a cup of 12-grain cereal (uncooked) (I use Speerville Mills St John Valley Cereal)

-2 tablespoons of gluten (I use Fleishman's Bread Booster) 

-2 and 1/4 teaspoons of dry yeast (I use Platinum Instant Sourdough Yeast)

Indecision Bread

I was looking to bake some bread for toast and sandwiches and couldn't decide between, using oatmeal, bran or 12-grain cereal in the recipe so, in the end I just put them all in, and am I ever glad I did, the result was delicious.  It is really easy to make, I used my bread maker to make the dough then baked it in the oven in a longer loaf pan.  I'm sure it would work equally as well in a mixer or by hand. 

It really is simple.  Load the ingredients in your bread maker in the order below (or as instructor by your machine instructions).  Use the dough cycle, when finished shape the loaf and put it in a greased pan to rise (45 mins to an hour for me).  When you can poke it gently and leave a dent it is ready to go.  Bake in the oven at 375 for about 35 minutes until the internal temperature is 200.  Then turn out onto a rack to cool.  Enjoy 

Ingredients

• 
  1 2/3 cups water
• 3 tbsp powdered milk
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 2 tbsp molasses
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 cups white flour
• 1/4 cup of oats
• 1/4 cup of bran
• 1/4 cup of 12-grain cereal
• 1 1/4 tsp yeast
• 2 tablespoons of Bread Enhancer (gluten) (Optional)  

Faux Sourdough

 The Simplest Sourdough you could ever make!  Is it as good as true sourdough? Not really, but it is very close with only a portion of the time and effort sourdough requires. 

This truly is a very simple just throw all the ingredients in your mixer, with the beater paddle to start, then switch to the dough hook and knead it for 7 minutes. You could likely use a bread machine to mix the dough as well, but I haven't tried it. 

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise for about 90 minutes.  Then turn it out on a lightly floured surface and divide into two equal parts (I always weigh it to get even loaves).  Shape the loaves as you prefer, I tried both boules and batards and they were equally successful.  Let the loaves rise for about an hour or until a finger poke leaves a lasting dent in the bread. I baked these in a very hot oven of 450 for 30 minutes but you need to watch them for burning on the top, it might be wise to go a bit lower and longer.  Providing some steam is a good idea as well, I just spray the hot oven with a mister when I slide the loaves in.  These were baked on a steel slab but a pizza stone would work fine.  The boule was done in a Dutch oven.  

Ingredients

4.5 cups Unbleached Flour

1 tablespoon sugar

2.5 teaspoons salt

1 2/3 cups of lukewarm water

THE SECRET INGREDIENT

1 package (18 gms) Platinum Instant Sourdough (Yeast and Sourdough Culture) If your grocery store doesn't have this you can order it on Amazon. 

 12-Grain Bread

This is a variation of a recipe I use often, it starts in the bread maker then comes out to be shaped as a loaf for the oven.  This particular loaf was done in a longer pan to make a nice sandwich/toast size slice. 

I used bread enhancer for this one (basically additional gluten), sold as Fleischman Bread Enhance locally but any gluten should work fine. 

1 2/3 cups water

3 tbsp powdered milk

2 tbsp of olive oil

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp molasses

2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour

2 1/2 cups white flour

3/4 cup 12 grain cereal uncooked

1 1/4 tsp yeast

5 tsp gluten 

After the bread machine complete the dough cycle, shape a loaf and put it in a lightly oiled loaf pan.  Let rise 1-1.5 hours covered with an oiled piece of plastic wrap.

Bake at 375 for 40 minutes, then when you remove the loaf, rub the top with butter to stop it from drying it out (that's from my Mom). 

Quarantine Bread

I am home under self-quarantine for Covid-19 after International travel so had some time on my hands and no groceries in the cupboards.  I threw this in the bread making on dough setting:


1- 2/3 Cups of skim milk
2 tbsp vegetable oil

1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp molasses
2 tsp salt
1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2-1/2 cup unbleached white flour
3/4 cup mix of flax and chia seed
1-1/4 tsp yeast

After the dough cycle is done, either put in in a loaf pan (I used a sandwich length loaf pan, I love those) or shape it into a batard (torpedo shape).  Let it rise for about 90-120 minutes.

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes (internal temperature of 200 degrees is a good sign).

                                                                Cool on a rack as long as you can stand it.

Oatmeal Bread

This is a lovely bread for a hearty toast on a crisp Fall morning.  I started it in the bread maker for convenience but you could also use a stand mixer bread hook or even mix and knead as you please.

Ingredients
1 and 1/3 cup of water
3 Tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of olive oil or vegetable oil
3/4 cup of quick oats
1 and 3/4 teaspoons of salt
3 and 3/4 cups of bread flour (all purpose works as well)
2 tablespoons of oat bran (likely is optional but haven't tested that)
2 tablespoons of dry milk
2 tablespoons of active dry yeast


Add the ingredients to the bread making starting with the liquids. including the water, oil and I add the salt at this stage as well (or as you bread machine advises)  then the dry ingredients starting with the flour, milk powder, then oats, oat bran  and finally yeast.  I'm not sure that order is important to be honest but it seems to work.

Put the Bread machine on the dough setting.  When it is complete, turn the dough out onto the counter (try to avoid using additional flour, this bread can get dry quickly so retain moisture as much as possible).  Knead for a minute or two to be sure the dough is smooth and strong (the internal dough should be around 80 degrees). 

Take a loaf pan, spray lightly with oil.  Shape your loaf and put it into the loaf pan seam side down.  Put the entire pan into a loose grocery bag trying to not let it fall onto the dough.  Leave it in the bag to rise for about an hour. 

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the core temperature is 200 degrees C. 
Remove and turn out onto a rack for cooling.

Let the bread cool before cutting into it (the smell will make that difficult) 

Enjoy this hearty bread as toast or make a sandwich for your lunch and watch your coworkers drool.

Maple Porridge Bread

This is a great multi use bread, great for toast or sandwiches.  I try to build in a little New Brunswick flavour whenever I can and in this case the porridge and Maple syrup are from right here in NB.

The simplest way to do this loaf is to make the dough in the bread maker but then transfer the dough to a long loaf pan and bake in the oven.  But you can do it by hand or mixer if you prefer, you will just need to add about a 90 minute proofing stage before shaping the loaf.

Here is how I did this particular loaf. 


Start with the porridge, I used Saint John Valley cereal and cooked it as directed on the package... with one exception, instead of simmering for 5 minutes I put the cereal in the boiling water, stirred it, covered it and set it aside off the heat for 5 minutes so it wouldn't overcook.  When it is done, strain it and run cold water over it until cool... shake out as much water as possible and dry with paper towel as much as possible... it should be cold and somewhat dry (but it will still be wet)

Meanwhile, in the bread maker combine the following:

1 2/3 cups of water
3 tbsp powdered milk (I have used both skim milk ans soy milk powders with equal success)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups unbleached while flour
3/4 cup of porridge 
1 1/4 tsp yeast

After the dough cycle is complete remove the dough to a floured surface.  It will be sticky and a bit tough to handle, use flour to help with that.  I use a long loaf pan (16 inch) and spray it with Pam (NOTE: in a regular loaf pan it will be a very tall loaf and tricky to manage). 
Shape the loaf and put it in the loaf pan for about an hour.  While that is happening, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  I baked it to an internal temperature of 200 which took about 30 minutes.  Turn it out to a rack and let it cool before cutting... it is worth the wait.