Cheater's Bread

Does anything make your house smell better than homemade bread? Seriously, I’ll give you a minute to think about it. Because in my book, it’s definitely in the top 3 amazing smells (the others being fresh cookies and the first time you open the windows in spring).

I’m calling this cheater’s bread because you can casually throw out “Oh, I made bread this morning” when people ask how you’re doing and they’ll think you’re an amazing baker. But really all you did was throw some stuff together into a plastic container, wait for a while, then throw part of it in the oven.

Seriously, it’s like cheating at baking. Bread gets this bad rap as being super difficult. I’ll be honest and say it’s not the easiest thing in the world to bake (I’ve made more than a few clunker loaves) but this recipe is like being asked to sing the ABCs in order to get a doctorate. Yes, it’s that easy.

Throw this together and you can have fresh bread for three weeks. Did I mention the dough lasts  that long? No? Sorry, it totally does.

Are you smiling yet? Seriously, the more I think about this recipe the more I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Throw the dough in the fridge – then do 300 push-ups, right? No? I just go to bed? Ok, but then when it comes to baking it has to be bathed in the tears of virgin goats, right?

No? I just turn the oven on and throw the dough on a pan and then bake?

Best. Recipe. Ever.

Cheater’s Bread

You can make this recipe with entirely all-purpose flour and I promise it will taste just fine. I had bread flour on hand and wanted to use my new whole-wheat flour as well, so I choose about a fifty-fifty mix of the two. I’ve heard that using a fifty-fifty mix of semolina and all-purpose also tastes great if anyone would like to give that a try. Also, this recipe should make about 3 small round loves. Feel free to double, I just don’t have a) the space in my fridge and b) a large enough resealable container to try. 

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 cups warm water

2 and 1/4 teaspoons yeast

2 and 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 and 3/4 cups bread flour

1 and 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

Equipment:

Resealable container, baking sheet or loaf pan

Take warm water (and it should be warm, not hot) and pour into resealable container. Add salt and mix. Add yeast and stir. Wait a few minutes until yeast fully dissolves and starts bubbling. You will start to understand how something can smell “yeasty”. Add flour, no need to add cup by cup, just add in its entirety. Stir the whole mixture together until a loose, very sticky dough forms.

When all of the mixture has been incorporated and there are no more pockets of flour or water left, place lid loosely on top of container and let dough sit at room temperature until it rises, about 1 to 2 hours. Once it has risen to the top, punch it down slightly if necessary to fit the lid on the container. Seal lid and place container in the fridge. Leave container in fridge at minimum three hours, but best if over night. The dough will keep for 3 weeks.

When you are ready to bake, preheat oven to 450. Grease container (loaf pan or baking sheet) with some type of oil (butter, olive oil spray, even leftover bacon fat will work nicely). While hands are oily, pick off a hunk of the dough and gently form it into either a loaf or a round and place into loaf pan or onto baking sheet. Reseal container and return remainder of the dough to the fridge.

Slash the top of the loaf with a sharp knife and place in oven. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. If you kick up the temperature to 500 for the last 5 to 10 minutes, you will get an impressive looking crust.