The following is a guest post from my real-life friend and blogger, Rachel of Quirky Momma.
We’re a family of bread snobs. We love whole grain bread. As a mom of four, I also love convenience and hate paying $2.50 or more for a loaf of quality bread. So, here’s the secret: I can eat whole wheat bread fresh out of the oven with 30 min notice for 25 cents a loaf. Yummy and frugal!
I discovered no-knead, slow-rise bread that you can prep in advance to save you time and of course, money. Even preschoolers can learn to help! You’ll need a big food-safe container with a lid. I use a 5-gallon Rubbermaid tub. You want the lid to contain the growing dough, but not explode. To help the dough “breathe” I poke a tiny hole into the lid.
What do you need to create the easiest bread dough?
Ingredients
9 cups of flour – If you use whole wheat use at least 1 cup of white or add gluten. I have used oat, rye, flax seed, whole wheat, Bulgar and even dried potato as my “flour”.
1 Tablespoon of sugar – I use brown sugar or sugar in the raw as they have the best flavor
1 1/2 teaspoon of yeast
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt – I use coarse sea salt as it dissolves slower, allowing the yeast to do its stuff.
4 1/2 cups of room temperature water
5 Quart Tub
1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together, then add the water. Mix until all the ingredients are wet.
2. Put the lid on it and let it sit on a counter for several hours.
*Note: If your house is warm (like our house in the summer) you may only want it to sit for an hour or two. As it is winter our dough tub sits above our fridge for most of the morning. Stick the tub in the fridge after it starts to bubble. The dough needs to sit for roughly 18-24 hours before you can start using it. It should have doubled in size and it keeps in the fridge for more than a week.
3. To cook with the dough, just scoop out what you need and form it into loaves, rolls, etc. We’ve even used the dough as our base to create bagels and soft pretzels.
4. Let the bread sit for a few min before sticking it into the oven. The yeast needs to be reactivated. Then bake as normal.
Typical baking instructions/times are as follows:
Dinner or Sandwich Rolls :: Fold dough over itself a few times, so the bread expands up rather than out. Dust with flour so the lump isn’t sticky. Bake 20-25 min. at 350 degrees.
French Bread :: Loosely fold dough into a log shape. Sprinkle with water. Stick in oven at 375 degrees for 20-30 min.
Pizza Crust :: Sprinkle dough with corn meal. Roll flat. Bake for 5-15 min, depending on how crunchy you like your crusts, at 400 degrees. Add toppings and re-bake.
Bagels :: Form into “O”s. Drop dough into boiling water for a min or so. Drop on baking sheet and bake for 20 min at 350 degrees.
If you have a little bit of dough left in the container, feel free to use it as your “starter” and add the new ingredients to the container. The longer you keep it “alive” the more flavor your bread will have.
As you can see, fresh baked bread does not have to be complicated. Just a little prep time in advance will have you on your way!
About Rachel Miller
Rachel is mommy to three rambunctious preschoolers and a bubbly infant. Their lives are anything but boring! Her website, Quirky Momma, is the brain-child or diary of all their crazy and silly activities, learning adventures, and helpful tips for parenting and/or maintaining your sanity and survival. You can connect with her on Facebook.
Great post! I’m with you, I like bread but do NOT want to pay the high prices! I like that this is a versatile recipe that I can make several things from.
I cook for just me so I think I will try to cut the recipe in half so I don’t waste it. Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to try it!
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Love this! Definitely going to have to try it!
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I have wanted to try this in, like, forever (okay, more like 6 months), but can’t find a food safe container big enough, but that will fit nicely in my refrigerator. That rubbermaid container looks like it might work. Where did you find it?? And hopefully it didn’t cost and arm and a leg? Thanks!! 🙂 I have a copy of “Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day” but haven’t tried any recipes because I got tripped up by the lack of an adequate container…
Wouldn’t that be a 5 quart container- not 5 gallon? Just checking! 🙂 I’ve never seen a 5 gallon rubbermaid that would fit in the fridge! 🙂
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When you do your soft pretzels, do you just boil or do you add something to your water? I made some last night, recipe called for baking soda – they all seem salty to me, even my savory ones.
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Sorry guys, our internet was spotty this morning. Yes, the container is smaller, it’s a typo – it is 5 quarts. I got mine in the rubbermaid section of Walmart for like 5 $ (we got three of them when they were on sale for back-to-school – great for lots of things!) and they fit marvelously in my lower shelf with just enough space to stuff cheese on top. When making soft pretzels I dip them for less than a min in water just below a boil (4 cups of water to 1/4 cup of baking soda). They are a bit salty tasting and they do not keep well – boo – but so. incredibly. yummy! I am still tweaking that recipe.
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love this.. I shared this on my Plaid Punch fan page …
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Plaid-Punch/174522122593178
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Would this work if you halved the recipe? Or is there something important about the quantity?
I make homemade bread often. I haven’t seen this recipe before. Thanks for sharing.
Blessings
Does anyone know how I can use this recipe for a gluten-free dough?
Thanks.
@Debbie, Here you go: http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1396
Hope this helps! 🙂
Didn’t see instructions just for baking a loaf of bread? What would be the time requirements if you were just going to make a typical loaf?
Thanks
ok, so I purchased a 5 gallon container and made room in the fridge for it. My dough barely fills the container even after sitting for 24 hours. I am wondering if I did something wrong, hope it tastes okay.
@jane, Jane, one of the comments showed a correction of a 5 quart container instead of a 5 gallon one, so your bread is probably perfect, your container is just big 🙂 (of course my reply is late, so you probably already know this)
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