Beginning Baker - Grandma’s Bread
I’m a little stalled right now in my pursuit of artisanal breads. The reason isn’t that I’m no longer interested or even that I’m not baking… It’s that the holiday season has started.
Why would the holiday season distract me from trying to make the perfect French country bread? Easy… I’m very much a traditionalist when it comes to the holidays. Thanksgiving isn’t a day to try out some fancy new crusty bread; it’s a day to make good old yeast rolls and bread! So that’s what I did, equipped with my grandmother’s bread recipe. This recipe is so simple, even I got it right the first time.
Grandma’s Bread
- 3 cups of bread flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 package highly active yeast (she used regular and proofed it; I use the other)
- 1 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
- 3 tablspoons sugar
Mix all ingredients in the mixing bowl and mix well. This is where I deviated a bit. the dough seemed too dry, so I added about 1/4 cup of milk, until it looked like it was coming together. Knead the dough after letting it set for a few minutes, then put into a greased container and allow the dough to rise until it’s doubled. Punch down and form into either rolls or loaves. For rolls, make 3/4″ balls, put 3 together, and place in a greased muffin tin. For loaves, divide the dough into 2 halves and form into oblong loaves, placing the dough in greased bread pans. Cover and allow the dough to rise until doubled again. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes, then decrease the temp to 350 F and continue to bake for 30 more minutes.
I deviated a bit here, too; I baked using the convection/bake setting on my oven, and that decreased the time for about 10 minutes total. I just watched until the bread was a good golden-brown color and took it out, letting it cool on a cooling rack.
I’m still anxious to do more artisanal breads, but that will probably have to wait until after Christmas… The holiday season is about tradition, and my next endeavor is to try an old family tradition… Swedish tea rings and cinnamon rolls!
[…] Following my grandma’s recipe, the dough was ready to go after rising for a couple of hours. After getting the regular loaf ready and in the bread pan to rise again, I rolled out the other half of the dough so that it was about 8″ wide by about 24″ long. I then spread the cinnamon filling on the dough, leaving a 1 inche border at one of the short ends. Starting at the other short end, I rolled up the dough as tightly as I could, pinching the dough (with the 1 inch border without filling) so that it the whole thing stayed together well. I then set it in a bread pan to rise the second time, also. […]