The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (271 page)
Read The Cook's Illustrated Cookbook Online
Authors: The Editors at America's Test Kitchen
Tags: #Cooking
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Many people who might enjoy making terrific sandwich bread at home don’t even try it because they think it takes most of a day. We wanted a good, solid sandwich bread recipe that could be prepared in two hours, start to finish, including baking time. We found that sandwich bread improved markedly when kneaded with a stand mixer. This method helped us resist the temptation to add extra flour in an effort to tame the sticky bread dough, which tends to make the dough denser and less flavorful; it also makes it rise less. We were also surprised to find that we preferred rapid-rise yeast to active dry yeast for our sandwich bread recipe. Not only did it greatly reduce rising times, but it also made for better-tasting bread.
MAKES ONE 9-INCH LOAF
All-purpose flour can be used if bread flour is unavailable. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the dough by hand following the instructions. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack.
1 | cup whole milk, heated to 110 degrees |
¹⁄ | cup water, heated to 110 degrees |
3 | tablespoons honey |
2 | tablespoons unsalted butter, melted |
3¹⁄ | cups (19¹⁄ |
2¹⁄ | teaspoons instant or rapid-rise yeast |
2 | teaspoons salt |
1.
Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 200 degrees. Once oven temperature reaches 200 degrees, maintain heat for 10 minutes, then turn off oven.
2.
Whisk milk, water, honey, and butter together in 4-cup liquid measuring cup. Using stand mixer fitted with dough hook, combine flour, yeast, and salt on low speed. Slowly add milk mixture and let dough come together, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth and satiny, about 10 minutes, scraping down dough from bowl and hook as needed. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 15 seconds. Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl; cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in warm oven until doubled in size, 40 to 50 minutes.
3.
Grease 9 by 5-inch loaf pan. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and press into rectangle about 1 inch thick and no longer than 9 inches, with long side facing you. Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed. Place loaf seam side down in prepared pan, pressing gently into corners. Cover loaf loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 20 to 30 minutes. (Dough should barely spring back when poked with knuckle.)
4.
One hour before baking, place baking stone on lowest rack, place empty loaf pan or other heatproof pan on baking stone, and heat oven to 350 degrees. Bring 2 cups water to boil on stovetop. Working quickly, pour boiling water into empty loaf pan in oven and set loaf in pan on baking stone. Bake until crust is golden brown and loaf registers 195 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer pan to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove loaf from pan, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving. (Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Wrapped with additional layer of aluminum foil, bread can be frozen for up to 1 month.)
Substitute ¹⁄
3
cup buttermilk, heated to 110 degrees, for whole milk. Increase first rise to 50 minutes to 1 hour.
Do not substitute instant oats in this recipe. To turn this loaf into Oatmeal-Raisin Bread, knead ³⁄
4
cup raisins, tossed with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, into the dough after it comes out of the mixer.
Omit warm water from wet ingredients. Bring ³⁄
4
cup water to boil in small saucepan. Stir in ³⁄
4
cup old-fashioned rolled oats or quick oats and cook until softened slightly, about 90 seconds. Decrease flour to 2³⁄
4
cups and combine cooked oatmeal with flour and salt in mixer before adding milk mixture.
To turn this loaf into Anadama Bread, substitute 3 tablespoons molasses for honey.
Decrease milk to ³⁄
4
cup. Bring additional ¹⁄
2
cup water to boil in small saucepan. Slowly whisk in ¹⁄
4
cup cornmeal and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens, about 1 minute. Decrease flour to 3¹⁄
4
cups and combine cornmeal mixture with flour and salt in mixer before incorporating milk mixture.
HAND-MIXING METHOD FOR DOUGH
We prefer to mix dough with a stand mixer because it’s effortless and it produces great bread and pizza dough. However, you can also mix most doughs with your hands, following the instructions below. Note that there are two recipes in this book—
CIABATTA
and
CHICAGO-STYLE DEEP-DISH PIZZA
—for which a stand mixer must be used.
To mix the dough by hand: Stir wet and dry ingredients together along with the sponge (if using) with a stiff rubber spatula until the dough comes together and looks shaggy. Transfer the dough to a clean counter and knead by hand to form a smooth, round ball, 15 to 25 minutes, adding additional flour, if necessary, to prevent the dough from sticking to the counter. Proceed with recipe as directed.
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS
Most whole wheat bread recipes turn out either squat bricks or white bread in disguise. We wanted a nutty, hearty, light-textured sandwich loaf that really tasted like wheat. We started with a good white-flour recipe and worked our way backward to “unrefine” it. We made a series of white bread loaves, replacing different amounts of all-purpose flour with whole wheat to find the highest percentage of whole wheat flour that we could use before the texture suffered. To bump the amount of whole wheat up even more, we substituted protein-rich bread flour for the all-purpose flour. Next, we soaked the flour overnight in milk, with some wheat germ for added flavor. This softened the grain’s fiber, kept the dough moist, and coaxed out sweet flavor. Finally, to give our bread well-developed flavor, we turned to a sponge, a mixture of flour, water, and yeast left to sit overnight to develop a full range of unique flavors. Adding honey for better flavor and complexity and swapping some butter for vegetable oil to cut the richness perfected our whole wheat sandwich bread.
MAKES TWO 8-INCH LOAVES
If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mix the dough by hand following the instructions in
“TEST KITCHEN TIP NO. 119 HAND-MIXING METHOD FOR DOUGH”
. If you don’t have a baking stone, bake the bread on an overturned and preheated rimmed baking sheet set on the lowest oven rack.
SPONGE
2 | cups (11 ounces) bread flour |
1 | cup water, heated to 110 degrees |
¹⁄ | teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast |
SOAKER
3 | cups (16¹⁄ |
¹⁄ | cup wheat germ |
2 | cups whole milk |
DOUGH
6 | tablespoons unsalted butter, softened |
¹⁄ | cup honey |
2 | tablespoons instant or rapid-rise yeast |
2 | tablespoons vegetable oil |
4 | teaspoons salt |
1. FOR THE SPONGE:
Combine flour, water, and yeast in large bowl and stir with wooden spoon until uniform mass forms and no dry flour remains, about 1 minute. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
2. FOR THE SOAKER:
Combine flour, wheat germ, and milk in separate large bowl and stir with wooden spoon until shaggy mass forms, about 1 minute. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Return soaker to bowl, cover tightly with plastic, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
3. FOR THE DOUGH:
Tear soaker apart into 1-inch pieces and place in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook. Add sponge, butter, honey, yeast, oil, and salt and mix on low speed until cohesive mass starts to form, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer dough to lightly floured counter and knead by hand to form smooth, round ball, about 1 minute. Place dough in large, lightly greased bowl. Cover tightly with plastic and let rise at room temperature for 45 minutes.
4.
Gently press down on center of dough to deflate. Spray rubber spatula or bowl scraper with vegetable oil spray; fold partially risen dough over itself by gently lifting and folding edge of dough toward middle. Turn bowl 90 degrees; fold again. Turn bowl and fold dough 6 more times (total of 8 folds). Cover tightly with plastic and allow to rise at room temperature until doubled in size, about 45 minutes.
5.
Grease two 8¹⁄
2
by 4¹⁄
2
-inch loaf pans. Transfer dough to well-floured counter and divide in half. Press 1 piece of dough into 17 by 8-inch rectangle, with short side facing you. Roll dough toward you into firm cylinder, keeping roll taut by tucking it under itself as you go. Turn loaf seam side up and pinch it closed. Place loaf seam side down in prepared pan, pressing gently into corners. Repeat with second piece of dough. Cover loaves loosely with greased plastic and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in size, 1 to 1¹⁄
2
hours (top of loaves should rise about 1 inch over lip of pan).
6.
One hour before baking, adjust oven racks to middle and lowest positions, place baking stone on middle rack, place empty loaf pan or other heatproof pan on bottom rack, and heat oven to 400 degrees. Bring 2 cups water to boil on stovetop. Using sharp serrated knife or single-edge razor blade, make one ¹⁄
4
-inch-deep slash lengthwise down center of each loaf. Working quickly, pour boiling water into empty loaf pan in oven and set loaves in pans on baking stone. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until crust is dark brown and loaves register 200 degrees, 40 to 50 minutes, rotating loaves front to back and side to side halfway through baking. Transfer pans to wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Remove loaves from pans, return to rack, and let cool to room temperature, about 2 hours, before slicing and serving. (Bread can be wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days. Wrapped with additional layer of aluminum foil, bread can be frozen for up to 1 month.)