JeT’s bread recipe
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 1 packet active yeast ( approx 2 1/2 tsps)
- 2 Tbs sugar
- 2 tsps salt (or to taste)
- 3 cups flour (white, whole wheat, or a blend)
- 2-3 Tbs oil
In a medium ceramic bowl, mix water, yeast, sugar and salt. Let sit for five minutes. Add half the flour, the oil, then the rest of the flour. Mix well, and start to knead. Add more flour if needed to keep the dough from getting too sticky to work with. I reccommend either flouring or oiling your hands to help handling the dough. Knead for at least three minutes, until the dough is stiff. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and leave in a warm place to rise for 45 minutes.
After the first rise, knead again and form into loaf shape. Place loaf into loaf pan (or on cookie sheet), cover with oiled plastic wrap, and let rise for another 45 minutes. Remove cover and bake at 375 degrees F for 25 minutes. Throw in a few ice cubes when you first put in the bread to bake, and a few more after five minutes and ten minutes.
notes:
- You can mix in the salt after the yeast/sugar/water sits for five minutes, and that should help the yeast get extra active. This might help if you’re baking in a cooler environment.
- I use place the dough in a warm oven to rise. Preheat the oven for 2 minutes at the very beginning, then turn off the heat and put in the dough. For the second rise, you shouldn’t have to reheat the oven, and take the dough out after 30-35 minutes so you can preheat the oven.
- Baking times and temperatures can vary slightly, depending on if you’re making a baguette/loaf on a cookie sheet, or if you’re using a loaf pan. Try one or two extra minutes using a silicone loaf pan, or a little extra heat with a glass loaf pan.
- Exact amounts of flour will vary slightly with the temperature and humidity you’re baking in, and depending on the blend of white/whole wheat flour you’re using. It may take a while to have consistently good bread mojo.