Sometimes life feels like layers of complications. Like taxes and traffic and cavities and getting laid off are all piled high into one smelly sandwich that you’re supposed to eat for lunch. Really…? Worst sandwich ever. Do not want.
Complicated. Yea. It happens to you. It happens to me.
Luckily there’s… bread. And thank the holy heavens for butter.
Bread and butter. Yes. A post about bread and butter. Perhaps the most beautiful and uncomplicated thing you can put into your face. Don’t fight me on this one. That would only make things more complicated. Go and eat. Bread and butter.
And yes… I burnt the bottom of my bread a bit. These things happen.
This is a pretty foolproof bread recipe. Don’t worry. If you’re intimidated by yeast and bread baking you might consider freeing yourself of that fear with this recipe. Really… all you need is time… sometimes that’s the hardest ingredient to come by. Take a lazy weekend afternoon and give this bread a try. It’s worth the effort just to make your house smell like fresh baked bread. Trust.
Two Crusty Round Loaves
I followed the recipe I found from Jaden of Steamy Kitchen
4 cups bread flour (the higher gluten content in important)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups warm water
Measure out 1/4 cup of bread flour and reserve a the clean counter top. Place the remaining 3 3/4 cup bread flour in the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Measure the salt and place on one side of the flour and add the yeast to the opposite side of the flour. Pour the warm water in the middle and mix on low speed (with the paddle attachment) until the dough just comes together.
When the dough forms a mass, switch to the dough hook and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Dough should clear the sides but may stick to the bottom a bit. If you feel like the dough is too sticky or too dry, feel free to add a touch more water or flour by the tablespoonful. After 2 minutes, let the dough rest for five minutes.
After the five minute rest, mix the dough again for 3 minutes. Place the dough on the counter and, using the 1/4 cup of bread flour we reserved in the beginning, hand knead the dough. You may not need to incorporate the entire 1/4 cup. If the dough feels firm and solid enough, just knead for a few minutes and prepare it to rest. You should have a satiny, smooth compact ball.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and turn the dough over to coat the entire dough lightly in oil. Cover with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and place in a warm spot to rest for 1 1/2 hours. The dough should double in size. Remove from the bowl, punch down and reform into a ball. Return to the bowl, cover and allow to rest for another 30 minutes.
After the second short rest, place the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut into 2 pieces. Form each piece into a smooth, round ball, tucking any haggard edges on the underside of the dough. Leave to rest, covered with a damp cloth, on the lightly floured surface for 45 minutes to a hour.
During the last 20 minutes of the resting period, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Place a baking rack in the lower third of the oven and leave either a baking stone or an upside down baking sheet in the oven to heat as well.
Just before the boules are set to go in the oven, slash the top of the loaves with 2 to 4 slashes, using a sharp knife. This will allow the bread to expand in the oven. Remove the super hot baking sheet from the oven. Carefully transfer the dough onto the baking sheets and return to the oven.
Here’s some fun! Just after you put the bread in the oven, take 1/4 cup of water, open the oven door, quickly poor the water onto the hot oven floor and immediately close the oven door. We’re creating steam here people… it’s exciting. Wait 2 minutes and repeat the process.
Bake loaves for 20-25 minutes. They’ll be golden and gorgeous. Remove from the oven and insert a thermometer. The temperature should be between 190 to 210 degrees F.
Here’s the hard part: let the bread cool completely before slicing.
You did it! Now where’s the butter!?
{ 106 comments… read them below or add one }
There is NOTHING better than bread and butter, especially when it’s freshly homemade! This recipe looks wonderful. I can smell the bread already :)
Mmmmmm. I would gladly pull all of the warm bread out from inside the crust, slather on cinnamon honey butter, and chow down ^-^. Not sure what would happen to the uneaten shell tho!
This will so be in my oven come tomorrow morning…er mid-morning. Either way, at some point bread and butter will be in my mouth. Cute tablecloth, by the way.
Oh yum..
Such great photos too. I can taste the fresh butter on this!
YES!!! loooove Bread and butter home made especially- p.s I liked that you slightly burnt the bottom of your loaf:) makes us all feel better about our selves:P)
hi, 1st time here. I like your blog so much!! I will visit you always! ;-)
Bread and butter sounds like wonderful comfort food to me. I can understand.
I wish I could try this recipe one day. Maybe once I get a new oven, I will christen it with baking this bread recipe. That would make the house smell so good. :)
Currently eating that sandwich for breakfast lunch and dinner, but everything seems okay when I look at that uncooked dough. It’s so smooth it’s a little hypnotizing.
I occasionally make bread at the weekends and I love it, you just can’t beat it, the taste is amazing, and you can add so many different things to it, like olives or seeds, it’s just great! so much better than shop bought bread that’s for sure!
Bread looks great but did you just say you’d been laid off or was that more generalised? So sorry if so!
In my blog i have a post about bread either!
please bread be cool FAST! *___________*
Homemade bread is the best….I love it!
I was never a bread fan until I started blogging….now it is all I want! But I have always been a butter fan. :)
Oh Joy – it is such a pleasure to read your blog! You make everything alright with the world :-) Mary
Certainly nothing better than fresh bread and butter.
Unless there’s the one thing that’s even better: fresh bread sprinkled with salt. Period.
Wow that is the prettiest bread! And look at those too loaves?! They are best friends for sure.
Yup-I’ve been baking around 4 loaves a week all winter, and I gotta agree that fresh bread with butter is one of lifes simple pleasures. As a matter of fact I have to slices in my lunchbag for a mid-morning snack!
you are so right joy…sometimes “life” gets in the way of life!
i only used yeast once… in a baking class but… i will be brave & give it a try.
the lighting on your photos is very beautiful.
Oh, Joy. Your blog gives me so much…joy.
what a beautiful loaf of bread! bread and butter–classic, simple and delicious!
I’m slightly intimidated by bread baking, but i’ll definitely have to give it at try
My mom has a picture of me at 3yrs old making bread and butter for a surprise picnic I was going to have with her. Thought I was sneaky. But its cute and still my favorite comfort during complicated times.
TY for triggering a sweet memory. Life couldn’t be much more complicated than right now.
hm, joy, this looks yummy! funnily enough i made bread myseld yesterday – mainly to use up some left-over buttermilk! irish brown soda bread… so delicious and freshly baked bread with salty butter is the best invention ever! i can only recommend you give the soda brad a try, it literally takes 5 minutes to make! i’ll post it soon =) YUM
That’s fantastic! Simple enough and it looks pretty! I loove bread. Even with my serious sweet tooth, I’d take bread over sweets any day! Haha.
Mmm… bread and butter! Those are probably the two things I could live off of on a deserted island :) You pictures are sooooo awesome – makes me wish I had a “scratch ‘n sniff” computer screen!
Mmmm. I love just plain bread & butter. Every night at the restaurant I help myself to a slice :)
There are few things more beautiful than freshly risen bread dough. The smell, the texture… the sight puts me in my happy place. Thank you for inspiring me to make bread today, it has been a few weeks. I can’t wait to take my first buttery bite!
mmm the only thing better than bread and butter is toast and butter!
Just what we need in our house on this snowy day, thanks!
Mmm…I can smell it already. Thank you Joy.
The simple things tend to be the best, even with food. For me, this is food heaven. As a teenager, the only way my mom got me out of bed early on a Saturday, was to bake bread…who could resist the aroma?! I got a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas, and haven’t tried the dough hook yet…this is just the ticket to break it in. Thanks, Joy. (and Jaden…love her, too.)
Hum, I wonder if this would work in my bread maker. Gonna give it a try. Sounds simply delicious.
In my house we only eat homemade bread now-a-days. And it’s irresistible right out of the oven, warm and lovely.
Sorry you have had a rough day. I love your real-ness in not only posting perfect creations. Your slightly burnt bread and your comfortableness with that makes you all the more real and lovable.
Mmmm fresh homemade bread and butter – you can’t beat that! And so easy if you have a stand mixer with a dough hook.
I made challah bread last week and we gobbled down 2 loaves in no time. Plus, it had Japanese pumpkin in it so it was even better (random I know, but I’m exploring one unusual food a week for my blog).
Sometimes if I’m on the road for the day for meetings, I’ll stop and get a little fresh baguette and some good butter and eat it in the car for lunch. :-) And that’s bliss.
Does anyone have experience baking bread, or anything for the matter, in the tiny ovens that are popular in South America? I’ve recently moved and I love baking, especially bread, but this oven is so tiny and the only settings it has are MAX and MIN. Has anyone ever been in this situation?
–Taylor
funny, just trying to decide on lunch. bread and butter it is. and tea i think. yup.
My last loaf of bread sank like a rock. But I am encouraged. I will try this one. This post made me huuungry!
These are gorgeous – even with a burnt bottom! :-)
you master breadbaker you!
hey kisses to you – will I see you sometime this year? maybe BlogHer Food?
Love bread & butter! Just made a loaf the other day. So good!
Life doesn’t get more simple and comforting than bread and butter.
Homemade bread with butter= pure bliss.
Bread is such a tasty, tasty vehicle for butter. Mmmm…
Question: I, sadly, do not own a Kitchenaid mixer (though it is the desire of my heart). How easy is it to do bread without the big fancy dough hook?
aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh……….. i do love making bread! I miss culinary school baking class where we made all sorts of bread almost every day! i have yet to make challah at home, but i’ve made a decent pumpernickel and have a few more i want to knock out. this one is a great start-up bread, for sure!
Mmmm that looks tasty! Bread has been on my to-do list for weeks… the next time I have a day off, I have to buckle down and do it. I’ve been craving bread for awhile now, it’s time.
YUM we heart bread and butter here also. great post!!
That is one absolutely beautiful dough Joy!! So smooth:D
Bread, butter, and a glass of milk. You’re my hero.
Suggestions if you don’t have a stand mixer with bread hook? Is there anyway around that? I have a hand mixer only…stand mixer is the next big kitchen investment. Keep your chin up…knock knock jokes are a close second to fresh baked bread and butter.
Mmmm looks so good!
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