Bread Flour Recipes

BASIC HOMEMADE BREAD

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon sugar in warm water; let stand until bubbles form on surface. Whisk together remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, salt and 3 cups flour. Stir oil into yeast mixture; pour into flour mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 8-10 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, 1-1/2 to 2 hours., Punch dough down. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; divide dough in half. Shape each into a loaf. Place in 2 greased 9x5-in. loaf pans. Cover and let rise until doubled, 1 to 1-1/2 hours., Bake at 375° until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped or has reached an internal temperature of 200°, 30-35 minutes. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool.

NO KNEAD ARTISAN BREAD

Steps:

• Combine flour, sugar, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add water and oil, mixing to incorporate all of the ingredients together. Dough will be wet, sticky and shaggy.
• Lightly spray the top with cooking oil spray. Cover with plastic wrap and place a dry tea towel over the top.
• Leave in a warm, draft-free place for 2-3 hours, until doubled in size. Dough will have a lot of little holes or bubbles and be wobbly like jelly.
• Place a large (10-inch or 26cm) dutch oven or heavy based pot in the oven with a lid. Preheat oven to 450°F (230°C) 30 minutes before baking.
• Lightly flour work surface and plastic spatula with up to 1 tablespoon flour. Scrape dough out of bowl onto work surface with spatula. Sprinkle the top of dough with a large pinch of flour and fold it over on itself with the spatula (about 5-6 folds). Roughly form a round shape.
• Measure out a large piece of parchment paper, large enough to transfer the dough into the pot. Place paper next to the dough and roll dough onto the paper, smooth side up. Carefully move it to the centre of the paper and reshape if needed, or shake pan a couple of times to evenly distribute dough. (It will even out while baking.)
• Loosely cover with plastic wrap and let rest while oven is preheating.
• Use oven mitts to carefully remove hot dutch oven from oven. Grab the parchment paper from each end to pick up the dough and transfer it into the pot.
• Cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, until loaf is beautifully golden browned.
• Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

HOMEMADE ARTISAN BREAD (WITH OR WITHOUT DUTCH OVEN)

Steps:

• In a large un-greased mixing bowl, whisk the flour, yeast, and salt together. Pour in the cool water and gently mix together with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon. The dough will seem dry and shaggy, but keep working it until all the flour is moistened. If needed, use your hands (as I do in the video tutorial above) to work the dough ingredients together. The dough will be sticky. Shape into a ball in the bowl as best you can.
• Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and set on the counter at room temperature (honestly any normal room temperature is fine!). Allow to rise for 2-3 hours. The dough will just about double in size, stick to the sides of the bowl, and have a lot of air bubbles.
• You can continue with step 4 immediately, but for absolute best flavor and texture, I strongly recommend letting this risen dough rest in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours and up to 3 days. Place covered dough in the refrigerator for 12 hours - 3 days. I usually let it rest in the refrigerator for about 18 hours. The dough will puff up during this time, but may begin to deflate after 2 days. That's fine and normal- nothing to worry about.
• Lightly dust a large nonstick baking sheet (with or without rims and make sure it's nonstick) with flour and/or cornmeal. Turn the cold dough out onto a floured work surface. Using a sharp knife or bench scraper, cut dough in half. Some air bubbles will deflate as you work with it. Place dough halves on prepared baking sheet. Using floured hands, shape into 2 long loaves about 9×3 inches each (doesn't have to be exact) about 3 inches apart. Loosely cover and allow to rest for 45 minutes. You will bake the dough on this prepared baking sheet. See recipe note if you want to use a pizza stone.
• During this 45 minutes, preheat the oven to 475°F (246°C).
• When ready to bake, using a very sharp knife or bread lame (some even use kitchen shears), score the bread loaves with 3 slashes, about 1/2 inch deep. ("Score" = shallow cut.) If the shaped loaves flattened out during the 45 minutes, use floured hands to narrow them out along the sides again.
• Optional for a slightly crispier crust: After the oven is preheated and bread is scored, place a shallow metal or cast iron baking pan or skillet (I usually use a metal 9×13 baking pan) on the bottom oven rack. Carefully and quickly pour 3-4 cups of boiling water into it. Place the scored dough/baking pan on a higher rack and quickly shut the oven, trapping the steam inside. The steam helps create a crispier crust.
• Place the shaped and scored dough (on the flour/cornmeal dusted pan) in the preheated oven on the center rack. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Gently tap the loaves- if they sound hollow, the bread is done.
• Remove the bread from the oven and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving. Store leftovers loosely covered at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the refrigerator for up to 10 days.

GERMAN POTATO BREAD (KARTOFFELBROT)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Peel potatoes and cut into 6 pieces each. Cook in unsalted water until tender. Drain, reserving the water. Place the potatoes back over low heat for several minutes, shaking the pan to steam dry, or ausdampfen . Cool and mash or rice the potatoes.
• Dissolve the yeast in 1/4 cup (60 milliliters) of lukewarm potato water and proof for 10 minutes in a warm spot, or until bubbles form.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine mashed or riced potatoes , oil, and proofed yeast until smooth. Add the flour and salt and mix with the paddle attachment for 3 minutes on low. Switch to the dough hook and knead for 11 minutes. It will look like it is not going to become bread dough at first; just be patient.
• Knead for a minute on a floured work surface, until dough is smooth and just slightly tacky. Place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 30 minutes.
• Heat oven to 450 F with a baking stone on the middle rack for 30 minutes to 1 hour before baking. Place an old baking pan on the bottom rack, ready for water to create steam.
• Shape dough into a boule, or round loaf, by flattening slightly, then pulling the edges together and pinching closed. Place the loaf, seam-side down, on a floured, cloth-lined bowl. Fold the edges of the cloth over the loaf and let rise for 20 to 30 more minutes.
• Unmold the bread onto a peel or the back of a cookie sheet dusted with cornmeal , seam-side up (seam-side down produces a smooth-topped loaf). Shove the loaf onto the baking stone in the oven and close the door, quickly.
• Bake for a total of 45 to 50 minutes, or until internal temperature is 190 F. Use steam in the first 5 minutes. Cool bread for 20 minutes or more before slicing.
• Enjoy!