**I've had huge problems with my bread recipes since I started attempting to make it. It always came out soooooo dense. It tasted good, but eating one piece was like eating a rock. I mentioned this on a Facebook post about a week ago and a wonderfully helpful lady suggested I cut back on the flour. Now, my old go to French bread recipe called for six cups of flour and it had you start with just two cups added into the water, yeast and salt. Then you dump the other four cups in all at once. She suggested doing the first two cups as the recipe called for and then adding flour a half cup at a time. She said it should be very sticky and messy and gross when you have enough flour. Ugh!
Well, I tried it a few days ago. I wound up only needing between three and a half and four cups of flour. Bread turned out so light and fluffy!! I had no idea. Recipes may call for way too much flour if you're trying to make bread light and fluffy. A friend that bakes a lot of her own bread also said factors like temperature, humidity, elevation, etc all can affect it and since all of those factors except elevation will change on a day to day basis, making bread truly does become science. She has assured me that once I've made a few good loaves I'll be able to 'feel' when it's right. SO, with that in mind, this is the next bread recipe I"m going to try. I don't remember where I found it - probably on Facebook - but I saved the link, so here is the original link to the recipe:
http://www.goodshomedesign.com/happy-bread/
When you're done, it should look like this. SO pretty, right? I can see this on a table for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner.
Looking for something new to try? Soft pillowy bread all coiled, layered and pretty. It’s a happy time! If you decide to prepare this recipe, below you will find all the instructions you need. All the ingredients and 9 steps are waiting to be used by you. Bon Appetit!
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons dry instant yeast
- 1 tablespoon sugar or honey
- 100ml warm milk
- 500g all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading and flouring
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 150 ml warm milk (extra)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon vinegar or lemon juice
- 100 g butter, melted and cooled
For the Glaze
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tablespoons milk
Follow the steps:
Step 1. Dissolve the yeast and the sugar in 100 ml warm milk, cover and leave the composition in a warm place to rise for 10 minutes.
Step 2. In another bowl, sift the flour and the salt together. Make a well in the middle and add into it the beaten eggs, the remaining warm milk, olive oil, vinegar and the yeast mixture. Knead the dough with your hands or in your mixer until it separates from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough, place it on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes until it becomes a soft, pliable dough. Place it in a greased bowl, covered with a towel and leave it to rise in a warm place until doubled in volume – about an hour.
Step 3. Punch the risen dough and transfer it on a floured surface, then divide the dough into 2 equal parts. Divide each of them again into 4 parts, so to have 8 pieces of dough altogether.
Step 4. Roll each piece of dough out into a roughly rectangular shape with a thickness of 3-5 mm. Brush cooled, melted butter over each piece. Set aside the remaining butter for later use.
Step 5. Place one piece of rectangular dough over another one and start to roll a cylinder. Do the same with the rest of the dough; you will end up with 4 cylindrical rolls altogether.
Step 6. Cut each roll into three pieces this way – slice both the ends of the roll (about 1.5 inch long each end), and put these two pieces aside. Then cut the middle part of the roll into 4 triangles.
Step 7. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease or line a large baking tray. In the middle of the tray, arrange the cut ends of the rolls around each other to form a circle, placing the cut sides down. Arrange the cut triangles to surround completely the middle circle. Cover it with a towel and leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes.
Step 8. Beat the yolk and the milk with a fork to form a glaze and brush the top of the bread with this glaze. (You can sprinkle with sesame seeds or other dry toppings at this point.) Bake the bread for 20-30 minutes, reducing the temperature to 160C after 10 minutes in the oven.
Step 9. Brush the bread with melted butter as soon as it comes out of the oven, cover it with a towel and leave it to cool for 10-15 minutes before eating.
