Beginner All Purpose Yeast Bread
Here's a recipe for fresh baked bread using simple ingredients and gear that you probably already have in your kitchen. The time commitment is minimal and a shaping video and before-and-after dough photos will guide you through the parts of the process that are tricky for beginners.
Ingredients
Instructions
- 1
Check ("bloom") the Yeast
- 2
In a small bowl, mix 1/4 cup lukewarm water with a teaspoon of sugar. If you have a thermometer, aim for under 110F. Pour the instant yeast onto the water-sugar mix and let everything sit for 5 minutes. The yeast should get foamy as in the photo above captioned "Five-minute yeast test". If your yeast does not bloom (foam up) in 5 minutes, then you may have some dead yeast which you will want to replace before you continue with the recipe.
Timer: 5m - 3
Mix and First Rise
- 4
Combine bloomed yeast with the rest of the ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Cover and let sit 1-2 hours until roughly doubled in size. See photo above for target dough expansion. For the shorter end of the time range, use warm water to mix the dough (1 cup cold mixed with 1/4 cup boiling) and place the dough somewhere warm but under 85F to rise (e.g. the inside of your oven with the light on).
Timer: 2h - 5
Shape and Second Rise (aka Final Proof)
- 6
Lightly grease your bread pan. With damp fingers, scoop the dough away from the edges of the bowl until it is a smaller ball. After re-wetting your fingers, lift the dough out of the bowl and place it into the loaf pan. Spread it out in the pan and smooth the top of the dough with a little more water.
- 7
Cover the dough and let it rise for 30-60 minutes or until it just barely crests over the top of the loaf pan. Don’t put it in the lit oven to rise because the oven will be preheating during this time. See the photos above for target dough expansion in the pan.
Timer: 1h - 8
About 20 minutes before the second rise is complete, begin preheating the oven to 425F with a rack one position up from the lowest.
Timer: 20m - 9
When the dough has finished the second rise, you can score it if you want. Dust the dough surface with flour so the blade of your lame or knife doesn't catch.
- 10
Bake
- 11
Put the loaf pan in the preheated oven on the second-to-lowest rack and bake for:
- 12
15 minutes at 425F
Timer: 15m - 13
15 minutes at 375F
Timer: 15m - 14
5 minutes out of the pan, directly on the rack, at 375F
Timer: 5m - 15
The internal temperature of the bread should be at least 190F when it is done.
- 16
The bread might be irresistible, in which case feel free to cut it after about 15 minutes, though the inside will likely still be a little moist and shaggy at this point. The more “proper” thing to do is to let the bread cool for a couple of hours.
Timer: 15m - 17
After the bread is completely cool, store it covered or wrapped at room temperature for about 3 days; then slice, double bag, and freeze for optimal freshness.