Cookbook:Basic Bread Dough

Cookbook | Recipes | Bread

This recipe makes dough for a 2-pound (900g) loaf of bread, or 2 1-pound loaves. It is intended for use in a bread machine

Ingredients

• 1 cup (heated for about 40 seconds in the microwave) water
• 2 teaspoons (30 ml) sugar
• 1 teaspoon (15 ml) salt
• 2 cups high-gluten (strong) flour (bread flour in the U.S.)
• 1-4 teaspoon(approximately 30 ml) active dry yeast/
• 1 spoon full of honey

Procedure

1. Add ingredients to a 2-pound capacity bread machine in the order listed, select dough cycle, and press start.
2. Remove when cycle is complete.
3. Preheat oven to 400 °F (200 °C)
4. When dough is finished, form into desired shape on a floured surface, and place on baking sheet or pizza stone.
5. Bake until lightly brown and firm. Cooking time will vary with altitude (20-40 minutes).
6. Cool and enjoy.

Variations

• To make a twist loaf, roll dough into a cylindrical shape with your hands, but make one end of the cylinder thicker than the other. Then divide the cylinder with a knife down the center of the thicker end, creating a ring with a protruding cylinder. Braid and bake.
• Brush loaf with an eggwash (1 egg + a scant amount of water) or egg white, melted margarine or butter, or olive oil for a crisper crust.
• Sprinkle brushed loaf with minced garlic, chopped herbs, ground spices, grated cheese, ground pepper and/or kosher salt for flavor.
• Toss or roll into a flat disc and top with tomato sauce, olive oil, chopped meat, vegetables and/or grated cheeses to create a pizza (bake until cheese is melted).