I have been thinking for some time that I need to write down my current every day bread recipe. When I was getting texted about the the time I was getting ready to go to bed about what the next steps were, that made the decision for me. My everyday bread is based on the Tassajara Bread Book (by Edward Espe Brown) pastry recipe but it is every changing for what I put in it. When Koda Bear is eating jam sandwiches on a regular basis, I put an egg in it. If I have heavy whipping cream that might be turning soon, that is fluid in the recipe.
I started laughing at myself because I was thinking this recipe is very fluid. Right after the last sentence. It truly is but this is current stopping place.
everyday bread
Note: I will put my some of the possibilities in the ingredient list. Depending on what you put in the dough will change the amount of flour you need. My french bread style.
sourdough starter
3/4 cup water
1 cup flour
1 cup milk (this could be water or non-dairy milk or buttermilk or heavy whipping cream)
1 egg
1/4 cup sugar (white or brown)
1/4 cup butter (or another oil, I use olive a lot)
2 teaspoons salt (this can vary but bread tastes very bad without salt unless you were raised that way!)
5 cups flour.
The night before (or morning), mix the starter, 1 cup flour, and 3/4 cup water in a large bowl. Cover. When it is bubbly in the morning, take a couple tablespoons out for next time.
To the starter, add the milk, egg, sugar, and butter. Mix well but do not worry about butter lumps currently. Mix in two cups of flour. Cover and let get bubbly and the dough raises. This may take an hour or two in a warm house.
When bubbly, mix in the salt. The butter should be soft enough to start to break up. Mix in two cups of flour. The batter should be becoming a soft dough. You want a dough that is stiff enough to knead but still very soft. Add a bit more flour possibly. Turn out onto a clean floured counter or in a bread trough and knead until smooth. Place in a large bowl and cover. Let rise until double.
Punch down. At this point you can shape or let the dough rise again. The second rise actually makes the bread keep longer. I normally do and it takes another couple hours (covered).
Butter a loaf pan or two, dependent on the size of the loaves you wish. Shape the dough to fit in the pans. Cover and let rise until puffy.
Once puffy, put the loaves into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 1 hour. I do not preheat which is part of why the length of time for the baking.
Enjoy!