Bread for Beginners...

[Misty]

Could someone please hook me up with a really easy recipe for making my first loaf of bread? The easier the better :)

[Jacqueline Church]

Want to make a simple sandwich loaf?

[Misty]

If that is the easiest place to start then yes. Thanks in advance!

[Andrew]

I was listening to The Splendid Table this afternoon. They did a story 'Five-Minute Artisan Bread.' The recipe looks good to me here it is.

http://splendidtable.publicradio.org/recipes/accompaniments_fivemin...

[Cornelia]

Hi Misty!
Mother Earth News has some great recipes and tips for bread - here

[Calamity Jane]

i think a basic sandwich loaf is a good first. do you like whole wheat? here's my first bread recipe, which made me a convert more than 10 years ago (i've eaten almost all homemade bread since) i still know it by heart, even though i haven't used it in years. this is an ultra basic no-frills technique that bread purist will scoff at, but it's easy! and delicious! especially good to give a beginner the success they need to inspire further bread pursuits!
this recipe makes 2 loaves.

3 cups whole wheat flour
3 cups white flour (preferably bread flour, but all-purpose will work fine)
2 Tablespoons yeast
1 Tablespoon salt
1/4 cup honey
1/2 stick butter, melted
2 1/2 cups warm (not hot!) water

measure all the dry ingredients into a big bowl, stir it up good, then measure the wet stuff right onto the top. with a stout wooden spoon, stir it up until it becomes too hard to stir, then dump the lot out onto a floured countertop. get yer hands in there and work all that messy looking stuff into a nice cohesive dough, adding more flour as necessary to make it workable and keep the sticking to a minimum-- but don't add too much, you want the dough soft. (this is actually one of the only tricky parts, too stiff a dough will make a thick hard loaf, but since different flours in different climates absorb different amounts of water, i can't tell you exactly how much flour you'll need. probably at least another cup, maybe 2, possibly more. just keep chanting 'soft dough, soft dough' and bare in mind that it will be sticky, that's normal, wheat dough is always sticky.)
ideally you would knead the dough for ten minutes, but you'll be tired after five, and really, five is fine. return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic, and let rise for about an hour. checking whether dough is fully risen is the other tricky part, and another thing i can't give you any exact directions for because it will take longer or shorter depending on how warm it is, how wet your dough is, etc. the idea is to poke your finger in to it, if it springs back it's not ready. when it's ready, the dough will just hold the indented shape of your finger. the first few times, check your dough frequently so you can see what it looks like when it's not done, half done, 3/4 done, and done. if you wait too long after it's done, it will fall. but this first rising is not so important to get perfect, it's your practice round.
anyway, whenever you've determined it's done rising, dump it out onto your counter again, cut it into two pieces, and with each piece press into a rough rectangle and roll tightly into a log, the length of your bread pan. it would have been handy to grease up your bread pans before you got your hands doughy. set the logs into those greased pans, cover with plastic and let rise again.
they won't take as long to rise the second time, maybe 40 minutes. keep checking them. after about 20 minutes you'll want to start your oven at 350 so it's good and hot by the time the bread's risen. ideally you put the bread in when it's almost but not quite fully risen.
bake for about 50 minutes, till the top is nicely browned and the loaf sounds hollow when you thump on the bottom.
cool on a wire rack for at least 15 minutes before you try cutting into it. enjoy piping hot with organic butter!

[matt]

I think almost everybody and their mother read about No-Knead Bread online over the last couple years (starting with a NYTimes article), but if you missed out or didn't try it, I suggest you get to the flour shop immediately and stock up. Here's the recipe and instructions I've used from Steamy Kitchen. It's so easy, but produces the tastiest bread.

If whole wheat is more your style, this is a good recipe for 100% whole wheat no-knead bread.

And since I've got a few other recipes that look too good not to share, here you go:

Gruyère-filled bread
No-knead pizza dough
No-time bread
No-knead bread with sun-dried tomatoes and asiago cheese

I could go on, but I'll restrain myself. (OK, maybe one more.)

[Misty]

thanks all! I have a lot of recipes to try out.

However, I do have a beginners question. When you say yeast in these recipes, I see 2 kinds at the grocery store. I kind is granulated and the other is just yeast. Which is better to use?

[Calamity Jane]

there is another kind of yeast- cake yeast, which is live, instead of dried. but i doubt that's what you're seeing at the grocery store. probably it's just another granulated that doesn't say granulated. most grocery stores carry "instant rise" and "active dry". the instant is supposedly stronger and faster, but i usually use plain old active dry and it works just fine.

one important note to beginners tho:
yeast doesn't last forever! once you've got a few loaves under your belt you can "proof" older yeast to see if it's still got the guts, but in the beginning i recommend buying new yeast, or at least not using any that's been sitting around in the back of your cabinet for more than a few months.

this now famous no-knead bread recipe is pretty fantastic, and incredibly easy for someone used to baking bread. i don't know if it would be as easy for a true beginner tho... the dough is so un-doughlike it might throw you off. dunno.

my favorite bread book for further adventures is The Village Baker by Joe Ortiz
have fun!
Misty said:

thanks all! I have a lot of recipes to try out.

However, I do have a beginners question. When you say yeast in these recipes, I see 2 kinds at the grocery store. I kind is granulated and the other is just yeast. Which is better to use?

[michael]

A friend has had great success with this recipe, I am trying it out later today, although we may half it and use agave nectar instead of honey.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Wholesome-Homemade-Honey-Whole-Wheat-Brea...

Also - today is day 1 for my sourdough starter dough. Following per Urban Homestead book - can't wait.

[Bonnie]

For yeast I like to use SAF-instant, it comes in a 16-oz. bag/brick (vacuum packed granules), when I can find it. Otherwise Red Star is your best bet. Fleishman's flavor is a bit overbearing. If you plan on making bread often, buy a jar and keep it in your fridge or freezer. If you're only baking occasionally, buy the packets and keep those in the fridge as well.