Crusty European Bread
I was inspired to make crusty European bread from our travels in Italy and Spain. My first attempt didn't have an enjoyable crust because I relied on butter. It turns out the secret ingredient is steam in the oven followed by letting it cool in the oven.
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole whole wheat flour
- 2.33 cups bread flour: In the UK this is called "strong" flour. If necessary one can use all-purpose flour.
- 1 cup powdered milk
- 1.5 teaspoons of sugar: We typically replace the sugar with an equivelent amount of applesauce.
- 1.5 teaspoons of salt
- 0.25 oz yeast
- 1.25 cups water
Instructions
- Activate yeast at 100 to 110 degrees in the water
- Put dry ingredients into bread machine
- Add water into bread machine
- Start dough cycle
- When the dough cycle is complete, shape into 2 loaves
- Let rise for a while (30 minutes to 12 hours)
- For each loaf of bread, put a ramekin of hot water into the oven
- Set oven to 425 degrees for 35 minutes
- When the bread finishes cooking, leave in the oven to cool
Tags: recipe