Let’s make bread, a nice loaf without stressing over too many steps.
It’s the easiest thing to make but also the hardest, actually!
I’m not very skilled, to be honest, and I use a really easy method (the NO Knead method: without kneading) that I want to share with you.
The bread turns out great and smells wonderful.
Here are some other bread recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 3 Hours
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Cooking methods: Electric oven, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 50 g sourdough starter (or 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast)
- 1 1/4 cups water
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
Tools
- 1 Stand mixer
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Baking tray
- 1 Parchment paper
- 1 Fork
Steps
Dough 1: To knead, add all the ingredients into the stand mixer bowl with the paddle or dough hook, and let it work for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Alternatively:
(Dough 2: But if you’re really lazy: mix all the ingredients in a large enough bowl with a fork and leave the dough for about 20 minutes in the bowl. Then do about 3 folds, each 20 minutes apart, always in the bowl, then let it rise until doubled. Continue with step 3)
At this point, shape the dough on the workbench and place it in a large enough bowl to allow for a small rise (about 10/15 minutes).
Once this first small rise is done, perform 3 folds at intervals of 45 minutes (for this step it’s helpful to watch some videos on YouTube) directly in the bowl.
Now cover the bowl and wait for it to double.
Step 3 – After it doubles, take the dough, form a loaf on the bench, and place it directly on parchment paper on its baking tray.
Place the tray in the oven (with the light on) and let it rise again until doubled.
Take the tray out of the oven and turn it on.
Set the oven temperature to 482°F: set the steam function if available in your oven, otherwise place a small pot of water at the bottom.
Bake the loaf directly on its tray and perform a descending bake:
-20 minutes at 482°F
-10 minutes at 428°F
-10 minutes at 392°F
-10 minutes at 356°F
-10 minutes at 320°F opening the door to release moisture.
Remove the bread from the oven and let it cool on a rack.
The easy bread is ready.
Storage, Tips, and Variations
This easy bread keeps for many days in a plastic bag or frozen.
This easy bread keeps for many days in a plastic bag or frozen.
