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A spanking fresh new year, a clean slate, simplicity after a month of indulgence, and real food. That’s what we’re thinking about today as 2013 dawns.
It doesn’t get more real than a fresh, simple loaf of bread, and so today I offer a recipe that even bread baking novices or those with a yeast phobia can accomplish.
Soft, airy, just slightly sweet and comforting, this loaf rises tall and makes a perfect accompaniment to a steaming bowl of soup. I’m making it extra easy by letting the bread maker do the mixing, kneading and first rise (using the dough cycle), and then plopping the dough into a bread pan for the final rise and baking in the oven.
You could do the whole shebang in the bread machine, but I prefer the look of the loaf when it bakes in the oven. Suit yourself.
Joining me in our Clean Slate baking today are the #TwelveLoaves bloggers, a merry band of bread bakers. We’re here to help you conquer your fear, should you need encouragement.
Start here, and Happy New Year!
Recipe: Alabama Light Bread
Summary: Soft, airy, just slightly sweet and comforting, this easy loaf rises tall and makes a great breakfast slathered with marmalade or a perfect accompaniment to a steaming bowl of soup. Use the dough cycle on the bread machine.
Ingredients
- ½ cup milk
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons or half a stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup room temperature water
- 1 egg
- 3 cups bread flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 (1/4-ounce) package active dry yeast (or 2 teaspoons) {I used Platinum Yeast. See note below.}
Instructions
- Pour milk into a 2-cup measuring cup, and heat it for about 70 seconds in the microwave. Remove and add the butter in chunks; stir to melt the butter. When butter is melted, add water and stir. (This will sufficiently cool the milk for the next step.) Add the egg and whisk egg and milk together with a fork. (If you add the egg to the hot milk before cooling it down with the water, you risk cooking the egg. You have been warned.)
- Add buttery milk and all remaining ingredients into the container of the bread maker, following manufacturer’s instructions as to the order. For example, mine calls for all liquids first, followed by the dry ingredients, and finished with the yeast, which is added into a well you make in the flour. Your order may differ.
- Choose the dough cycle and start the machine.
- When dough cycle is complete, mist a 9-inch by 5-inch bread pan with nonstick spray, remove dough from bread machine, shape it to fit your pan, and put the dough into the pan.
- Find a warm spot in the kitchen (could be the oven, could be the top of the refrigerator, could be on the table warmed by the sun?) and allow the loaf to rise for 50-55 minutes. It will get big! Do not become alarmed!
- Heat oven to 400F. Bake risen loaf for 25 minutes.
- Remove bread from oven, allow to cool in the pan on a rack for 20-30 or so minutes, and then remove from pan and allow bread to cool completely on rack.
- Serves 6-8.
Source
Adapted from “Something Warm from the Oven: Baking Memories, Making Memories,” an ebook by Eileen Goudge.
Platinum yeast
Platinum yeast is a new premium instant baking yeast with dough enhancers, made by Red Star. It worked very well in this loaf and made it rise incredibly tall. It is available in the grocery store.
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Bread machine time: 90 minutes + another 55 minutes for 2nd rise
Baking time: 25 minutes
Diet type: Vegetarian
Number of servings (yield): 6
Culinary tradition: USA (Southern)
My rating
Our Twelve Loaves bakers this month are:
- Alabama Light Bread by Dorothy | Shockingly Delicious
- Basic White Bread by Renee | Magnolia Days
- Classic Oatmeal Bread by Liz | That Skinny Chick Can Bake
- Grandmom’s Dinner Rolls by Jennie from The Messy Baker Blog
- Italian Potato Bread by Rosella | Ma Che Ti Sei Mangiato
- Molasses Wheat Quick Bread by Deb | Knitstamatic
- Pandoro by Paula | Vintage Kitchen
- Rosemary Olive Oil Bread by Alice | Hip Foodie Mom
- Whole Wheat Pita Bread by Holly | A Baker’s House
- Whole Wheat Sea Salt Bagel by Lora | Cake Duchess
- Orange Date & Nut Loaf by Katerina / Diethood
Would you like to join us in baking your favorite basic bread recipe for #TwelveLoaves this month? The rules are simple:
1. When you post your Twelve Loaves bread on your blog, make sure you mention the Twelve Loaves challenge in your blog post; this helps us to get more members as well as share everyone’s posts. Please make sure your bread is inspired by the theme – Clean Slate – with a simple, basic yeast or quick bread, either a single loaf or individual breads.
2. Please link your post to the linky tool at the bottom of my blog. It must be a bread baked to the Twelve Loaves theme.
3. Post your Twelve Loaves bread that you baked in January 2013 on your blog by January 31, 2013.
Would you like to bake along with us? The #TwelveLoaves bread baking project was created for the love of bread by Lora at Cake Duchess, as a monthly baking adventure. Drop Lora a line to join in on this monthly bread baking fun! Follow @TwelveLoaves on Twitter to see what’s freshly baked, and follow our Pinterest board.
Happy baking!
Welcome to my kitchen!
At ShockD, you’ll find scrumptious, tried & true, "scary good" recipes, tips and coaching to make YOU a fabulous home cook! Don't blame me if you need a 12-step program to wean yourself away!
E-mail me: Dorothy.Reinhold@gmail.com
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
My first #twelveloaves and I’m loving it. My teens would adore dipping your light airy bread into soup.
I would try it, i usually use fresh yeast, it’s the same? By
Amazing what you can find stumbling around the web… My only new year’s resolution this year was to bake more bread… couldn’t be happier, love this challenge!
Heidi,
So glad you stumbled upon my Alabama Light Bread! You will love this…so soft, so light, so delectable. Easy, too.
Happy new year. What a great way to start it. Your bread looks amazing, soft and airy as you write.
That bread looks really good, Dorothy. Just enough sweetness. This will go on my “must try” list.
I could so eat some of this right now. I love that you used both the bread machine and the oven–excellent multitasking in the New Year!
Dorothy!
Happy New Year! What a beautiful, perfect loaf of bread! I totally agree with you. . I prefer the look of the loaf when it bakes in the oven. I think it’s so beautiful! I could seriously eat bread with butter all day. . this group is going to be dangerous for me! 😛 too many great recipes!
Don’t have a bread maker anymore – is this one that I can make w/o it? Love to make my own bread. Thanks
Nancy,
Sure, you don’t need a breadmaker. I am just using it to mix and knead the dough, which you can do in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the dough hook if you have one, or by hand. By hand you actually burn some calories…not a bad thing since we’re making bread!
Beautiful loaf, Dorothy! I’m going to have to hunt down some Platinum yeast now 🙂
Liz,
I do think Platinum yeast made it rise crazy tall. I liked that!
I nearly forgot that I have a bread maker– we used it all of the time after we received it as a wedding gift…then gained 10 pounds from all the bread we had enjoyed!! This loaf looks wonderful and I like the idea of finishing it in the oven.
Just the perfect bread to have around and use for everything! I love milk breads.
I couldn’t wait to find out what Alabama Light Bread was ever since you posted it in the group. It looks so nice and I have some of the platinum yeast and I think this would be great to use it in.
This bread looks so yummy, the kind you’d want to just keep eating until it’s gone!
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