As many of you know I am a big fan of the Five Minute a Day Artisan Bread books. I especially like the recipes for breads like focaccia, pizza crust, bread sticks, flat breads, and stuffed calzones. Out of all the bread recipes in the books this is by far my most used.
It is so simple and I have a bucket of this dough in my frig at all times.
This is my slightly modified version of the recipe found in the original book.
Mix in lidded bucket or bowl…
2 3/4 Cups warm water
1 1/2 TBSP yeast
1 1/2 TBSP Salt (I use sea salt so only use 1 TBSP)
1 TBSP organic sugar
1/4 organic extra virgin Olive Oil
Into this add…
4 Cups Whole grain flour mix (I use a flour mix that I grind that is 40% regular whole wheat, 40% white whole wheat, 5% barley, 5% oat, 5% rye, 5% whole wheat pastry flour)
2 1/2 Cups Organic White Flour
Mix with a large spoon until all the flour is mixed in, this is a very moist dough
Cover and allow to rise until it doubles in size or flattens on top.
Put in the frig for use later. The longer it stays in the frig the more sourdough flavor it develops. We only like it until about day 4. If you like your bread really sour then leave it in longer. Since it has whole wheat I wouldn’t let it go past a week.
You can also use it right after the first rising but it is really sticky…just use enough flour to keep it from sticking.
For foccacia bread preheat over with a pizza stone to 425 degrees. Take out a grapefruit size handful of dough work it into a circular shape about 3/4 ” tall. I usually top mine with roasted peppers and tomatoes. Let rest 20 minutes (sometimes I am in too much of a hurry to do this step)
Bake until the edges are golden brown about 20 minutes
The book calls for baking with steam (broiler pan with water in over) but my family prefers a softer bread. If you use steam you get a great crust.
I love this recipe…seriously simple, seriously good!
Come back Monday and I’ll cover grinding whole grain flours and my sandwich bread recipe. Also make sure to let us know how you’re doing on the challenge in the comment section of yesterday’s wrap up post so you will be entered into our first giveaway!
Kim can also be found at the inadvertent farmer where she raises organic fruits, veggies, critters, kids, and…a camel!
This looks yummy. Bread baking was a 2009 goal for me that a realy strougled with. Bread baking is now a 2010 goal.
I am working on the challenge and learning I am more of a semi homemade cook. I real had no idea how dependant I am on my spice rack and coffee.
Oh I don’t think many of us have given up the spice rack or the coffee. I know I haven’t. I am working on more local/sustainable options for some of these things, but life without coffee is unthinkable in my house. ; -)
… and chocolate. =)
I just started making the olive oil bread dough too…and it has been a total hit! Yum!
I’ve been making ABin5 for a while (and got my mom hooked on it, too!), but I read on another blog the other day the smartest idea. She takes the dough out of the fridge, flattens it, and cooks it in a cast iron skillet without a second rise to make flatbread (or mini pizzas). How quick, simple, and smart!
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I love the idea of a real food challenge. My family has been doing something similar for about a month (sparked by my breastfeeding infant’s intolerance to food I was eating). It’s been hard but definitely worth it. This recipe looks great, I’m pretty good at making pizza dough but need to try on the bread side… it’s so hard to find bread without preservatives/additives. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I agree about the dough advice. The wetter the better, though this can lead to some sticky situations. For an interesting adventure in variety, I sometimes put two pizza stones in the oven and slide the bread onto the lower stone. This gives the bread a brick oven effect.