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Single Rise Bread

This recipe makes two loaves. Wrap and keep them in your freezer to store them, or eat them both in one sitting. Up to you.
Author: Chef Julie Yoon

Ingredients

  • 1 ¼ oz packet dry yeast
  • 2 ¼ cups lukewarm water divided
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons honey optional
  • 4 ½ cups all purpose flour divided
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1-2 Tablespoons unsalted butter melted (optional)

Instructions

  • Spray 2 loaf pans with nonstick cooking spray.
  • In a measuring cup, pour in ¼ cup of lukewarm water and yeast. Stir in the sugar and mix until the yeast dissolves. Wait about 5-10 minutes to see if the yeast mixture turns foamy and doubles in volume. If it doesn't, the yeast is bad, so throw it out and start over.
  • Put the yeast mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer and add in 2 cups lukewarm water and the optional honey. Feel free to add more if you want your bread to have a hint of sweetness. Then add in 2 cups of the all purpose flour, along with the wheat flour and salt. With the dough hook, mix everything together on medium-low speed for a couple minutes. Then add in the remaining 2 ½ cups of all purpose flour, a half cup at a time, while continuing to mix.
  • Then turn the mixer to low and mix for 5 minutes (or alternatively, knead by hand if you don't have a mixer). Take it out of the mixer bowl, onto a work surface, sprinkled with a little all purpose flour and knead for about 2-3 minutes, or until the dough springs back when you press it with your fingers.
  • Cut the dough into 2 pieces and plop each piece into a loaf pan. Gently stretch the dough out so it fills the pan. Or you can shape into round balls and make them into rolls. Cover with clean, dry towels and place in the oven with just the oven light on. The heat of the light bulb should be enough to help them rise. Let them rise for about 1 hour. If they are in loaf pans, they should fill the pans about ¾ of the way full. Take them out of the oven.
  • Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Sprinkle the tops of the loaves with a little all purpose flour and bake on the middle rack for 35-40 minutes, or until they're brown and sound hollow when you tap them. The crusts will be hard. At this point, you can either choose to brush them with melted unsalted butter, so that the crusts will get soft and shiny, or skip the butter and keep them hard. Place them on a cooling rack and wait about an hour before cutting into them.
TIP: Since these breads don't have preservatives in them, they will get stale fast. So once they're cool, slice them, then wrap them in aluminum foil, and then in a Ziplock bag. Place them in your freezer. Whenever you want a slice, pull it out and defrost it on the counter. It will only take a few minutes to defrost and turn soft again. Or you can take it from the freezer and place it right in your toaster when you want a slice of toast for breakfast.