This bread is perfect to enjoy with eggs in the morning, or as a sandwich. I also really love it when I am out of garlic knots for my Italian dinner. I slice it up and then quarter the slices, toast them in the oven for a few minutes, and serve them with a side of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar topped with some salt and freshly cracked pepper. It makes me feel like I am at an elegant restaurant and I absolutely love it. So easy, yet so delicious.
Check out what our friends over at Let The Baking Begin had to say about this:
“Rustic Farmer’s Bread – Golden Crackly Crust with Chewy Crumb, a few basic ingredients is all it takes to make this beauty.”
I mean, this is the perfect bread for any occasion! You are sure to love it!
Ingredients
Make the Sponge:
1 cup all-purpose Gold Medal flour
1/8 teaspoon instant (rapid-rise) yeast
1 cup water, room temperature
Make the Dough:
2 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoons instant (rapid-rise) yeast
2/3-1 cup water, room temperature
1/3 cup McArthur whole or 2% milk, room temperature
Instructions
1 day or night before baking the bread make the sponge:
Toss flour, yeast and water in a bowl of a mixer and stir together until it comes together. Cover the bowl and let sit at room temperature in a draft free place (room temperature) 8 to 24 hours.
Next day, Make the Dough:
Add flour, salt, yeast, water (start with 2/3 cup water and add 1/3 cup more if the dough is not runny) & milk to the risen sponge and fit the mixer with the paddle attachment. Combine everything on low speed, then continue mixing for a minute or two. When he dough has come together nicely, change to the hook attachment and knead the dough for about 20-30 minutes. As soon as the dough looks smooth and doesn’t stick to the sides of the mixer stop (this might take longer or shorter depending on your flour).
Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel or with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 to 2 hours (depends on how warm the room is) until doubled in size.
Spray your working surface with non stick spray or spread 1-2 tablespoons oil.
‘Pour’ the dough out onto working surface, then with a greased spatula fold the right side of the dough onto itself, then the left side, then side closer to your onto itself, then the side away from you onto itself. Repeat the folding 4 sides one more time. Leave the dough on the counter to rise for 30 minutes, covered with paper or cloth towel.
If working with only one batch, then split the dough in two (I tripled the recipe, so I had 6). Spread it out into a 10×6 rectangle, then roll it jelly roll style into a log. Press down with your fingers all over to flatten it.
About 1 hour before baking, turn oven to 450F and set the rack to the lower half of the oven. If you have a pizza stone or something similar set it on the rack and allow to preheat.
Let the dough rise for 30 minutes, covered. Sprinkle the dough with flour (optional).
Sprinkle the loaf with a spray bottle and put it in the oven on the stone.
Bake for 15 minutes, and once the top is somewhat golden, put the bread bottom side up and bake for another 10-15 minutes. Allow the bread to cool completely before cutting, about 1 hour.
This bread can be stored at room temperature, wrapped in plastic or put in a zip-lock bag, for up to 3 days, or refrigerated for up to 1 month if double wrapped in plastic and then 1 layer of foil.
To re-crisp the bread, put it in a 450 oven for 5-7 minutes.
USE RED NEXT PAGE LINK BELOW
Quick Tip: You can easily double or triple this recipe
Thanks again to Let the Baking Begin for this amazing recipe.
Dough was so runny that it never took shape or was workable. Definitely couldn’t make a jelly roll out there of it. Seems like it needed more flour than 2 cups for that amount of water and milk. I only used 2/3 c of water too. Any suggestion?
You no doubt added all the liquid. Depending on the humidity, add liquid a little at a time. You can also simply kneed in more flour until it is a thick, tough dough.
Gurl… I am going to need a video for this one. It sounds wonderful…but I am more of a visual learner. Got a link to a video?
Why do we need to have the oven at 450 degrees for an hour before baking? That seems like an excessive waste of energy.
Jo Green, The stone takes that long to get to the right temp and maintain temp.
It is.
OK the part I am confused with is spreading, then jelly roll, then pressing it down to flatten it??????
I agree with Jackie. Needs a video or at least pictures.
Overall, this is a funky recipe. Using AP Flour is a bread makers faux pas. I use semolina or another really good bread flour. Also, unless your bread stone is 2″ thick (unlikely) and you have the slowest oven in the universe, you can preheat your oven with the stone 30 minutes before baking.
OR, you can go with a much easier bread recipe and use the one on the back of the King Arthur Bread Flour bag. Very good bread, easy and versatile. I use it to make cinnamon buns, garlic rolls, pizza dough, etc.
I agree. Never use all purpose flour for bread baking. Ever!
People, especially newbie bakers should head straight over to King Arthur’s Baking blog.
I tried to e-mail this recipe to someone and it doesn’t seem to work. How do I do it?
Where do I buy King Arthur’s flour 50 lb bag in Los vegas