This recipe is incredibly amazing and both hot and savory. Despite being so delicious, it is not suggested for children. To amaze guests or your family, I suggest trying this recipe. Include Jasmati® rice topped with fresh cilantro.
| Prep Time: | 30 mins |
| Cook Time: | 40 mins |
| Additional Time: | 1 day 1 hr 45 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 day 2 hrs 55 mins |
| Servings: | 30 |
| Yield: | 2 9×5-inch loaves |
Ingredients
- ½ teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 ½ cups bread flour
- 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 4 ½ cups bread flour, divided
- 2 teaspoons salt
Instructions
- The night before, prepare starter: Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast in 1 cup warm water in a medium-sized non-metal mixing bowl. Add 1 1/2 cups bread flour and mix well. Cover and let sit overnight at room temperature.
- The next day: Dissolve 2 teaspoons active dry yeast in 2 cups warm water in a large bowl. Add starter mixture, whole wheat flour, 3 cups bread flour, and salt; stir until well combined. Add remaining bread flour, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. When dough has pulled together, turn it onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes.
- Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Grease two 9×5-inch loaf pans.
- Deflate dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 2 equal pieces and form into loaves. Place loaves into the prepared pans. Cover loaves with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 45 minutes.
- Bake in the preheated oven until top is golden brown and bottom of loaf sounds hollow when tapped, about 30 minutes.
Reviews
It was great!
This bread is delicious! I may never (or at least rarely) purchase bakery bread again. My only adjustment was allowing 2 hours for the dough to rise.
I noted the comments about bland taste when deciding to try this recipe. I have troubles keeping a sourdough starter active due to heavy work travel, so I was intrigued by the overnight proof. Bread baking is more of a process than a recipe in my opinion so I rarely follow a recipe entirely. The first time, I used a 10-grain flour. Lovely dense bread with a crust. I’m about to make again, this time I’m using wheat germ with flour in the overnight proof. I will add some honey and will use walnut oil instead of olive oil.
First time making fresh bread. I am impressed at how simple making bread is and this recipe was easy.
This may be my new favourite recipe! I used multigrain flour because I didn’t have whole wheat. Instead of bread flour I used all purpose flour with 2 tbsp of vital wheat gluten. I added 1 tbsp honey as suggested by one review and I’m glad I did. The honey taste was subtle but I think it really added to the taste. I used sea salt instead of table salt. I made the dough in my bread maker. I would have started with six cups of flour instead of 4 because it took a long time adding 1/4 cup of flour at a time to form a dough. Baked it using the farmhouse bread master chef setting for the Miele combi steam convection oven on the second lowest color. The result was crusty on the outside and very springy and soft on the inside. Delicious!
Recipe as written. Baked in a Dutch oven. 20 min covered and 10 min uncovered. Might be my new go to bread recipe.
Perfect bread!
After transferring to my mixer, I added 1/2 cup additional bread flour at a time until the dough pulled away from the bowl. After reading other reviews, I added 1 tbsp of honey after the salt, then sesame seeds, caraway seeds, and a pinch of kosher salt to the top of each loaf. Tastes great, and is a hit with the family.
I love it. Cooked it @ 415° as 1 round loaf on a pizza stone coated with olive oil. Very moist, great crust. I will cut the top, use an egg wash and increase the salt next time, especially since I use kosher salt.
Great bread! I love how there isn’t any added sugar to this recipe. The flavor is good & this bread very easy to make. I followed the recipe exactly & I am very happy with the results! Definitely a keeper.
LOVE this bread! I only had all-purpose white flour and added some extra salt and a bit of honey. I’ve learned through trial and error that water-to-flour ratios can vary depending on many factors, so I always start with the minimum of flour and add more accordingly to achieve the perfect consistency. Made into a baguette and dinner rolls. Superb! *Update* I also used this dough to make Stromboli and it was SO good. Very versatile dough!
Super. The best bread I made. I did use 3tsp of salt. Let the bread raise..even if it takes a loong time. I kept misti g the bread with water for the first 6 mins. Excellent results.
I have tried this recipe and it is like my recipe for my German Bread i have made for years, there is nothing wrong with this recipe you can add anything you like and it turns out every time, and the taste is very good .MY NEIGHBOR LIKES IT TO
all I can say is OMG this bead is awesome I let the sponge set over night it really makes a difference I will make this bread over and over again I have made it in round loaf and also in reg loafs it is goo anyway you make it. It is a really easy recipe even a beginner can’t mess this up give it a try
didnt have wheat flour so ended up using all purpose for this. i let the starter stay out for 18 hours. turned out great. will make again. i did brush some melted honey over the top before putting it in the oven to give it a sweet crunch on top.
Thank you Stephen for sharing this recipe. I free formed two loaves and baked on bread stone in oven. The best rustic, chewy crusty bread ever.
Love this recipe. I did add 3 T of honey. We love it for toast.
I made this but found that the batter(dough) was way too wet. I had to add several more cups of flour as it was VERY sticky.
This was not just delicious, but very forgiving. I mixed it in the bread machine, realizing halfway through that I’d mismeasured some ingredients, so I stopped it, fixed the ingredients, then mixed. I put it in a bowl to rise. I made loaves, but my daughter child-handled a bunch of the dough and made tiny rolls and “bread worms”. I then forgot to set the timer on the oven. It all turned out wonderful – my husband said it was “outstanding”. It was much softer than I expected – I was expecting more of a crusty, holey French bread, but I’ll make this again and again. YUM!
I have made many, many breads from this site as well as others. This is really one of the best tasting breads you will make. The starter I think is what must helps take this from ordinary to a must have. I did not make any changes to recipe.
I made this because the overnight starter appealed to me. I like the more fermented flavor it gives to a loaf. I didn’t have any whole wheat flour, so I used a combo of bread and all purpose. Based on other reviewers having to add more flour, I decided to decrease the water in the main dough to 1 cup and I added a tsp of honey. I still had to use an additional 1/2 cup of flour. The bread was wonderful and the flavor was certainly better than ones I’ve tried without the overnight starter. It rose beautifully, had a light, soft crumb and a nice crust. If I had used whole wheat flour, I probably would have added a Tbsp of molassas to deepen the color and add another layer of flavor to it. Good bread. I’ll make this again. Thanks Stephen.