My love of baking all began with a simple loaf of bread. Here’s the backstory in a nutshell. I had always wanted to live in New York City, and I finally got my chance and moved in on September 10, 2001. Of course, 24 hours later, like all New Yorkers and the rest of the country, I was in shock, and then deep mourning. It truly was a scary time. I needed comfort and I found it in the kitchen. I bought Nick Malgieri’s book How To Bake on the title alone, and set out to bake a loaf of bread. I remember being scared that the dough would rise so much during baking it would burst out of the oven as I’d seen in an Archie comic once. It didn’t. In fact, the dough was so nice to me as if it knew what was going on in the world. It did everything I told it to do, and more. I loved the way it transformed from sticky to smooth right under my fingertips. When I tucked it in under a cloth to rise it ballooned up and smiled. While it baked in the oven my kitchen was filled with the most wonderful scent made of sweetness, yeast, and comfort. When I finally sat down and ate a slice (spread with salted butter and raspberry jam) I felt completely taken care. This recipe is the one I used on that December day in 2001, and with it I’d love to teach you how to bake a loaf of bread.
Bread baking begins with yeast. Yeast is a living organism that converts the natural sugars in flour into gases, which then will make the bread rise. I have used active dry yeast in this recipe. You can find active dry yeast at most supermarkets. It also has a longer shelf life than fresh yeast and wild yeast starters. To start the yeast growth, active dry yeast must be hydrated in warm water for 5 minutes before mixing with the rest of the ingredients. The water temperature should be between 98.6 F. and 110 degrees F.
When it has been hydrated pour the yeast/water mixture into a large bowl and mix it with flour, salt, sugar, and melted butter. The goal of this step is to get it all combined into a sticky mass before kneading.
I like to withhold a cup of flour from the recipe during the mixing stage to use when flouring my work surface. While kneading, the dough will absorb this flour.
Kneading is an important step to create and strengthen gluten. Gluten traps the gasses and air from the yeast, which enables it to rise during the fermentation, proofing, and baking stages. In order to knead properly take the heel of your hand and push to stretch the dough out from the middle. Fold the dough over, turn, and repeat. Do this for 10 to 15 minutes. You can view my YouTube video on kneading here.
After kneading, place the dough in an oiled bowl, and cover with a damp towel. Set aside anywhere from 1 to 3 hours, or even in the refrigerator overnight. The dough is ready when it has doubled in size. This is called the first rise, or fermentation stage. It is the time that the the yeast (which is still alive, by the way) begins to feed on the sugars in the flour.
After the first rise, punch the dough in the middle to deflate.
The next step is called dividing and shaping. After I deflated the dough I cut it in half. With one half I pressed it out into a rough rectangle, about as long as the loaf pan. I folded in the shorter ends about an inch in. I then folded the longer sides, overlapping a bit, until it resembled a cylinder. Repeat with the other half.
Place each shaped dough into its own oiled loaf pan. Cover with a damp towel and set aside for an hour, or until doubled in size. This is called the “second rise” or “proofing stage”. It is where the texture of the crumb and crust are developed.
Okay, now it’s time to bake! Brush olive oil on top of the bread dough, and bake in a 400 degree F. oven for about 30 minutes. The bread is ready when they are firm and golden brown, but to be absolutely sure use an instant read thermometer. When the internal temperature of the bread is 210 degrees F. then you are good to go. Remove from the oven, brush with more olive oil, and unmold the loaves onto a wire rack to cool.
- 2 and ½ tsp. (1 Envelope) Active Dry Yeast
- 2 cups Warm Water (98.6 degrees F. to 110 degrees F.)
- 5 and ½ cups (687 g) All Purpose Flour
- 1 TBS. Salt
- 1 TBS. Sugar
- 5 TBS. (70 g) Unsalted Butter, melted
- Olive Oil
- Pour the yeast into a small bowl of the warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes.
- While the yeast sits, fill a large bowl with the flour (set aside 1 cup for kneading), salt, and the sugar and whisk together. Whisk the yeast/water mixture to combine and then pour into the flour mixture. Finally, pour in the melted butter. Using a wooden spoon, stir until a rough and sticky dough has formed.
- Sprinkle your workspace with the remaining one cup of flour and begin to knead your dough. Knead until it becomes smooth and elastic. This should take you about 10 to 15 minutes. To see if the dough has been kneaded enough, pull off a small piece and gently stretch it. If it can be stretched very thin where light can get through, but does not break than you are good to go. If it does break then get back to kneading.
- Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Set aside to rise for 1 to 3 hours, or until doubled in size.
- Punch the dough down to deflate, and then knead it a little in the bowl. Oil two loaf pans. Divide the dough evenly in half. To form a loaf, press the dough into a rough rectangle. Fold in the short ends of the dough until it is the length of the pan, then fold the far long edge over to the middle. Fold over the other long side and compress to form a tight cylinder. Place the loaf in the pan, seam side down. Repeat with the other half, and then place a large, damp towel to cover both loaves. Set aside for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Brush the top of each loaf with olive oil and then bake for 30 minutes, or until the breads have an internal temperature of 210 degrees F. Once baked, brush the tops again with olive oil, and immediately unmold onto a wire rack to cool. Enjoy!
- Instant read thermometer
- Pastry brush
- Dough scraper
- Wooden spoon
- 2 loaf pans
- Wire rack
- Kitchen towel
