I Bake Bread The Super-Easy Way

#340: No More Kneading

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Many years ago I baked so often we didn't buy bread at the store--for at least a year.

Then, recently, when grocery shopping, I noticed packets of "sourdough" yeast, and thought I'd see whether the resulting bread came anywhere near to equalling the deeply sour sourdough that I've long sought and never found.

Since I didn't think I'd be successful, I decided to take a huge shortcut.  Instead of forming a dough to knead, I mixed in the yeast and salt, then enough warm water to make stirring the doughy slurry easy using a spatula that scraped the sides of the mixing bowl.

Really, it took just a few minutes.  The very wet, soupy dough then rose in the oven, was mixed again, then poured into oiled bread pans, and rose once again.

After baking for 30-45 minutes at about 350, the loaves fell out of their pans when held upside down, and were easily sliced, and perfectly moist--but not overly so.

* Upside: taste was nearly right (sour), though I used two packets.

* Downside: the loaves lacked the vaulted dome top of risen dough.

* Verdict: so much easier (total prep time 5-10 minutes, max), and so delicious.  And, yes, whole wheat flour.  Thumbs up.