This is one of my all-time favorite bread recipes. It's easy, always turns out yummy, and has endless uses. Spencer informed me the other day that it's his "favorite yummy bread ever. Really". So that's sayin' something.
I originally got this recipe from one of my freshmen roommates, Rachel. I don't know where she got it from. But because of this it is now known as "Rachel's Yummy Bread" in my cookbook. (I bet you didn't know you were so famous, huh Rachel?) Now, I have a kinda bad habit of changing recipes over time, so this might not be the exact recipe she gave me. Or it could be. I really don't remember. I just felt the need to put that disclaimer in there.
Click to embiggen and see the entire recipe
We start by putting all of the dry ingredients in a bowl and mixing well.
Then add the water and the oil and mix well until smooth.
Pretty.
Then stir in the rest of the flour, about 1C at a time.
No need to knead the dough, and don't over stir. You want it to be nice and sticky.
Now stick it in a warm spot and cover with a clean dishtowel. (In the winter my warm spot is on top of the stove while the oven is warming up. In the summer my warm spot is the garage.)
Every ten minutes punch down the dough. Do this five times (a 50 minute total rise). I usually use a spatula or wooden spoon to punch it down because I don't like getting my hands all sticky-doughy every ten minutes. I'm weird like that.
Now throw that dough out onto a nicely floured surface. Is there anything as pretty as fresh dough on a floured surface? Knead it just enough to be handled easily, and then divide it in half. This recipe is for two loaves of bread.
Time to roll out the dough. I roll it out just long and wide enough. How's that for unspecific. Sorry, I just never measure. How about long enough to still fit on a jelly roll pan, and about 12-18 inches wide. About 1/2" thick.
Now roll it up nice and tight, and pinch the ends and seams. You don't want any gaps inside, which is why you have to roll it tightly.
Now do the same thing with the other half of the dough. Place both on a greased (or, in this case, Silpat-ed jelly roll.) Yeah, they're not the most perfectly formed loaves. But if you're looking for perfectly formed anything, this is not the blog for you.
Cover and let them raise in a warm spot for 30 minutes.
See? They raised enough to look a little less deformed. Make three small slices at the top of each loaf with a sharp knife. These help in the baking and whatnot. (At this point you could put an egg wash on top of them to make them all shiny and pretty. But I don't like egg washes. They taste all... eggy.)
Now bake at 400 degrees for around 30 minutes. Voila!
You could leave them like this and they will have extra crunchy crust. But I like to melt a little button on top to soften them a little. I likes the soft crust - plus, it's yummy.
Now slice with your Pampered Chef Bread Knife. (Or something similar. But if you're looking for a good bread knife, that there's the one. Not only does it cut bread well, but it cuts through frozen chicken like nobody's business. Love it.)
Mmmmm... Frenchy bready goodness. Seriously, it's all I can do not to eat the whole warm loaf.
*nom*nom*nom*
*Bonus Recipe!!*
Now, the only problem with this bread is that it just doesn't keep well. No matter what you do it dries overnight and just isn't as yummy. So I usually only make one loaf. But if I do make two loaves, then the second night I either toast the second loaf, or I make
Die Young But Happy French Toast.
Again, click to embiggen.
You read that right, my friends.
This is a recipe I have stolen from the great Mr. Alton Brown, of Good Eats fame. It is good. REALLY good. Life changing good.
For reals.
You will die from it because it's all half-and-half and eggs and fried in butter. But it will be worth it because you will be happy.
I will admit: I have been known to make this french bread just so I can have this french toast the next day.
First, gather your simple ingredients. (Disclaimer: I didn't have any half-and-half when I made this, so I used 1% milk. But since we usually drink skim milk, 1% still felt pretty rich!) Also, notice that I have some vanilla out. I decided to add a splash to this batch to see how it tasted. Verdict? Yummmmm...
Now mix it all up really well. I used my handy-dandy hand mixer, which I love. This bad boy gets used on an almost daily basis. You want to mix the custard really well because you don't want any of that white stringy stuff from the eggs. Erlack.
Now let that sit in the fridge overnight. It makes it all the better.
Now you could also slice the bread the night before and let it get all stale and hard. That helps it soak up the custard even better. But I forgot, and things still worked out pretty well. So stick some slices in and let 'em soak for 15-30 seconds per side. (Depending on how much patience you have that day.)
Then set the soggy bread on a cooling rack over a jelly roll pan (to catch any spills). Let it sit for at least 1-2 minutes, although I usually let it sit a lot longer while I'm waiting for my electric skillet to heat up.
Now plop some butter into that skillet and let it melt and sizzle. (Disclaimer: I didn't have any real butter that day. And if it's not real butter, then it's not worth it to me. So I used non-stick cooking spray, which worked just fine.) Then put in some of the slices. Cook for about three minutes per side.
Then stick the cooked slices on a greased (or Silpat-ed) jelly roll pan. Once they're all cooked, bake in a 375 degree oven for at least five minutes. (I usually do somewhere between 5-10 minutes.)
You don't want to skip the baking - it makes the outside of the french toast a little drier and crispy, and the inside nice and custardy moist.
Top with some syrup and you're in heaven. Or peanut butter and syrup, if you're like the men in my family. (BTW, at this point it would be nice to have a few shots of the family eating. But they were too busy snarfing down the french toast and really couldn't be bothered.)
So there you go. Die young. But happy.
You're welcome.
This is a recipe I have stolen from the great Mr. Alton Brown, of Good Eats fame. It is good. REALLY good. Life changing good.
For reals.
You will die from it because it's all half-and-half and eggs and fried in butter. But it will be worth it because you will be happy.
I will admit: I have been known to make this french bread just so I can have this french toast the next day.
First, gather your simple ingredients. (Disclaimer: I didn't have any half-and-half when I made this, so I used 1% milk. But since we usually drink skim milk, 1% still felt pretty rich!) Also, notice that I have some vanilla out. I decided to add a splash to this batch to see how it tasted. Verdict? Yummmmm...
Now mix it all up really well. I used my handy-dandy hand mixer, which I love. This bad boy gets used on an almost daily basis. You want to mix the custard really well because you don't want any of that white stringy stuff from the eggs. Erlack.
Now let that sit in the fridge overnight. It makes it all the better.
Now you could also slice the bread the night before and let it get all stale and hard. That helps it soak up the custard even better. But I forgot, and things still worked out pretty well. So stick some slices in and let 'em soak for 15-30 seconds per side. (Depending on how much patience you have that day.)
Then set the soggy bread on a cooling rack over a jelly roll pan (to catch any spills). Let it sit for at least 1-2 minutes, although I usually let it sit a lot longer while I'm waiting for my electric skillet to heat up.
Now plop some butter into that skillet and let it melt and sizzle. (Disclaimer: I didn't have any real butter that day. And if it's not real butter, then it's not worth it to me. So I used non-stick cooking spray, which worked just fine.) Then put in some of the slices. Cook for about three minutes per side.
Then stick the cooked slices on a greased (or Silpat-ed) jelly roll pan. Once they're all cooked, bake in a 375 degree oven for at least five minutes. (I usually do somewhere between 5-10 minutes.)
You don't want to skip the baking - it makes the outside of the french toast a little drier and crispy, and the inside nice and custardy moist.
Top with some syrup and you're in heaven. Or peanut butter and syrup, if you're like the men in my family. (BTW, at this point it would be nice to have a few shots of the family eating. But they were too busy snarfing down the french toast and really couldn't be bothered.)
So there you go. Die young. But happy.
You're welcome.
