A simple, quick yeast bread you can make at home
- Michelle Wood: SWCD
- October 12, 2017
- 869
Bread, bread, bread. It seems like that’s all I talk to you about lately. Tortillas, pita, what else? Bear with me because today I want to share something about … bread.
And I fear all this talk of bread is falling on deaf ears. Who on earth is going to take the time to make bread at home? It’s one of the things at the top of every grocery list on every trip along with eggs, butter and milk. You aren’t going to attempt any of the other staples at home. Why bread? (If you can make eggs or milk at home, hats off to you my friend.)
Making bread at home need not be the laborious, fussy process you’re imagining. Yes, some kinds of bread require considerable, tedious work and fooling around with rising times, temperatures, baking stones and other specialized equipment.
I once took a couple of weeks nudging a sourdough starter into life, only to find I was a slave of the stuff. You had to keep making bread or at least replenishing the supply of starter or all was a bust. There are some things that spoil enjoyment in the kitchen, and feeling like you must do something, like it or not, is a surefire buzzkill.
Just as there are complex recipes for the serious artisanal baker, so there are simple, quick yeast breads you can make at home without a bread machine. And I’m not talking about any slow cooker nonsense.
This recipe yields three compact, dense loaves in an hour, rising time included, using ordinary yeast and plain flour. It has become my go-to when I need to make bread and have zero time to mess with it.
FAST BREAD LOAVES
1 cup water, boiling
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/3 cup warm water
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shortening
1 cup cold water
5-6 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
I used a stand mixer. You also can do this by hand.
Heat oven to 160 F. Mix the 1/3 cup warm water together with the yeast in a small bowl and set aside.
Mash the shortening, (I have used lard, vegetable shortening or butter, whatever is on hand), brown sugar and salt together in a large bowl or the bowl of your mixer until well combined. Add the boiling water, stir a moment to dissolve the shortening and then add the cold water. Finally, after a moment, add the yeast mixture.
Gradually add the flour until you have a workable dough. Either allow the mixer to knead the dough for about eight minutes or knead by hand for 10-15 minutes. You want a soft, slightly sticky dough. Always resist the urge to add too much flour to just about any bread dough.
Let the dough rest five minutes. Grease a large cookie sheet or line one with parchment paper. Turn the dough out onto a plain (no added flour) surface and divide into thirds. Let rest again five minutes.
Press each into a rectangle and then fold one long side into the middle. Fold the other side over that. Then do the same the other direction: the short end into the middle, the remaining bit over that. Pinch the seams together. You should end up with three chubby loaves. Cut three slashes in the top of each and brush liberally with the egg.
Put them into the 160 F oven for 15 minutes. Without opening the door, raise the heat to 400 F and bake another 20 minutes. Lower the heat to 350 F and bake 10 minutes more. Remove and cool.