KS Quotient
Super Easy: A minimum of fuss-free, easily mixed ingredients. No hand-shaping.
If you love fresh, homemade yeast bread, but think of it as complicated or labor-intensive to prepare, please go to your kitchen and try this recipe! You'll create light, attractive, traditional-style white bread with excellent flavor, while skipping all the traditional usual work—no yeast proofing, kneading, hand-shaping, or muss and fuss. And, like all the other recipes in Kneadlessly Simple, this one requires no bread machine, heavy-duty mixer, food processor, or other special equipment.
Simply stir the ingredients together in a big bowl and slip it into the refrigerator to chill for a couple hours. Then, leave it on the counter to rise all day or all night. This long, slow rise is key: It develops superior flavor and "micro-kneads" the dough so you can skip this formerly essential step. Last, simply stir the dough again; turn it out into two loaf pans; let rise, and bake.
Your reward? Two large, fine-textured loaves perfect for sandwiches, toast, or eating plain. Or, if you prefer, use half of this versatile dough for an everyday white loaf, and quickly turn the second half into a dozen large, lusciously decadent yet easy sticky buns (see Easy Cinnamon Sticky Buns and Good and Easy Pecan Sticky Buns (or Saucy Maple-Butter Sticky Buns)).
Yield: 2 medium loaves, 12 to 14 slices each
6½ cups (32.5 ounces) unbleached white bread flour, plus more as needed
3½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon table salt
1 teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
1/3 cup corn oil, canola oil, or other flavorless vegetable oil, plus extra for coating dough tops and baking pans
2¾ cups ice water, plus more if needed
First Rise In a very large bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, sugar, salt, and yeast. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, whisk the oil into the water. Thoroughly stir the mixture into the bowl with the flour, scraping down the sides until thoroughly blended. If the mixture is too dry to incorporate all the flour, a bit at a time, stir in just enough more water to blend the ingredients; don't over-moisten, as the dough should be stiff. If necessary, stir in enough more flour to stiffen it. Brush or spray the top with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature (about 70°F) for 15 to 20 hours. If convenient, stir the dough about halfway through the rise.
Second Rise Vigorously stir the dough, adding more flour if necessary to yield very stiff consistency. Using well-oiled kitchen shears or a serrated knife, cut it in half, placing the portions in 2 well-greased 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pans. Smooth and press the dough into the pans using a well-oiled rubber spatula or your fingertips. Evenly brush or spray the dough tops with oil. Make a ½-inch deep slash lengthwise down the center of each loaf. Tightly cover the pans with nonstick spray—coated plastic wrap.
Let Rise Using Any of These Methods For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate, covered, for 4 to 24 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough nears the plastic. Remove the plastic and continue until the dough reaches ½ inch above the pan rims. Dust each loaf evenly with 1 tablespoon flour.
Baking Preliminaries 15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425°F.
Baking Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned. If necessary to prevent over-browning, cover the tops with foil. Bake for 15 to 25 minutes longer, until the tops are well browned and a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few crumbs on the tip (or until the center registers 208° to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer). Then bake for 5 to 10 minutes longer to ensure the centers are baked through. Cool in the pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then turn out the loaves onto racks and cool thoroughly.
Serving and StoringCool thoroughly before slicing or storing. Store airtight in plastic bags or wrapped in aluminum foil. The bread will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, and may be frozen, airtight, for up to 2 months.