First of the Foundation Series
Want to bake your first loaf of bread? Make this soda bread just before supper for a toasty accompaniment that features a soft, chewy crumb and crunchy crust. Bake a loaf in under an hour with a bowl, measuring spoons and cups, and a baking sheet or pie pan. No mixer needed – the only tool is your hands. This recipe can be made with buttermilk, regular, or even almond milk to create a vegan loaf. Enhance this recipe by adding seeds or dried fruit for interest.
Once you make dinner roll dough and ferment it, you have many choices in how to make your rolls. You can divide and put the dough balls in a muffin tin. I also like to then cover in a cinnamon sugar to make a sweeter variation. I love this recipe as it is easy to make and so yummy. The total time from start to rolls out of the oven is only 2 hours 20 minutes.
In this recipe I form the dough into 8 boules, then place in an 8×3 round pan. After proofing an egg wash and cover in grated cheddar cheese and bake.
My First Challah is a great first bread to make. One, it is not complicated and two, it looks amazing. Fleischmann’s Bread World – Easy Challah was one of the very first bread recipes I made. Using a 9×5 loaf pan is easier than braiding the dough and once you make a loaf you can always do a proper braid. There is nothing pan unique about the recipe. The pan is just an nice step for the first timer.
FYI – The picture above is of my first challah. The structure is far from perfect but it tasted wonderful and amazed people. I moved quickly to braiding the dough to make a traditional Challah with the same recipe.
This is a luxurious white bread. It has a soft crumb and a wonderful crisp crust created by an olive oil wash. It is quickly becoming a favourite in my house. This recipe comes with a variety of choices. For the fat, you may use vegetable oil, olive oil, butter or vegetable shortening. For sweetness, try honey, sugar or maple syrup. Side note, I live on a working maple syrup farm in Canada so syrup is a way of life with us. And last, for milk, use whole or evaporated.
This is not a complicated recipe and the steps are not time consuming. Most of the timeline is waiting for fermenting, proofing and baking. Your choice of fat and sweetener will impact how much flour you need. If the dough does not form a ball on the mixer hook then add some flour. Not too much. I do it a heaping tablespoon at a time. This dough can easily get too firm.