The Art of Bread Making (without a recipe and in under an hour)

 There is nothing like the smell of hot, fresh bread with salty melted butter on top.  This childhood staple was something I took for granted.  Through college, I missed that quintessential feeling of home and longed to learn how to make it myself.  Marriage and children came and somewhere along the way I started to bake bread.  Then another and another baby came and with my time stretched thin, a miracle was born: the flat bread recipe.  The secret is, there is no recipe!  (At least not what you think)

Here are the essentials of yeast bread ingredients: 1. liquid - water, milk, juice, etc.
2. yeast- I use SAF INSTANT yeast which can be mixed with the dry ingredients
3. flour- hard red whole wheat, white whole wheat, white, rye, etc.
4. salt- not absolutely necessary but does bring out flavor


Preheat oven to 425°F. Get out your mixer.  (You can do it by hand also) Start with a warm liquid.  I usually use water but will add a half cup of milk someone didn't finish at breakfast, the leftover canned milk from a recipe that didn't call for an entire can, juice from canned fruit, etc.  I add about 2 T of yeast for about probably 4 cups of liquid.  Add about 1 t. salt or to taste.  Add enough flour to the liquid to produce a mass that stays together and mix.  It can be much wetter than a dough that you imagine kneading by hand on your counter.  Mix until you see the gluten from the flour start to stretch and become elastic.  Prepare a rimmed cookie sheet with a generous sprinkle of cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking.  Pour dough onto cornmeal.  At this point you can sprinkle some flour on top or a bit of oil.  The purpose of this is to prevent your hands from sticking to the dough while you are spreading it out onto the cookie sheet.  Use your fingers and massage the dough, spreading it out across the pan to the desired thickness.  Toss it in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes.  Watch your bread.  Baking time will depend on thickness and moisture content.  Remove from the oven and butter the top.  The more you practice this "no recipe" method, the more comfortable you will feel.  If you want to try the flat bread recipe and need a recipe, just use a yeast bread dough recipe but don't form it into a loaf or let it rise.  Just prepare the cookie sheet with cornmeal and spread out the dough.
Here is a photo of some bread I made today.  We had oatmeal for breakfast and it didn't all get eaten.  Instead of letting it go to waste, I added it to the bread before mixing.  It produced a softer and more delicate texture, but was all eaten.

Here are a few more notes on experimenting with bread without a recipe.  The following are other ingredients that can be added to bread:

1. sweetener- sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, agave nectar

2. fat- oil, lard, butter, cream etc.
3. egg

A small amount of sweetener can be added with the yeast to enhance proofing.  The more you add, the sweeter your dough will be.  Cinnamon rolls will have more sweetness than the above recipe.  Fat will produce a softer bread. (Think spongy dinner rolls)  An egg will add a flavor and acts as a binder to your ingredients.  This will soften the dough too.

With the same dough recipe, temperature has a dramatic effect.  If I baked the recipe above in a 350°F oven, it would take longer, the bread would be softer, and I wouldn't get that nice browned crust on top.  A cinnamon roll bakes nicely in a 350°F oven.  A crusty bread bakes at a higher temperature.  Try different temperatures and see what results you get.  Bread is very forgiving!

This "recipe" was made and cooked in less than one hour.  Sometimes, I make the dough the night before and let it sit all night to give a sour taste.  You can make extra dough and cook 1/2 tonight and let the other sit up to 12 hours and bake it the next day.

Enjoy!