Truly Simple Homemade Bread

I just put dough out up to rise. Yes, you read that right. I’ve never been a baker. Baking requires precise measurements, and usually having the right ingredients on hand…two things which often aren’t the case over here. I much prefer cooking, and relying on my sense of taste, texture as I create a dinner for my family with whatever we have in our fridge, freezer and pantry. But, there was a bread recipe in Mark Bittman’s book “Food Matters” that caught my eye. Maybe it was just the title that wooed me: Almost No-Work Whole Grain Bread. Whole Grain: super. Almost No-Work: I’ll give it a try. I first made this bread last week when I was meeting some friends for coffee. They are good friends, so I didn’t worry that I’d never made bread before. The verdict? Not only is this bread super easy, but it’s delicious. If baking bread is this easy, then I just might say I like baking too.

Because the dough needs to rise for at least 12 hours, this is a perfect recipe to throw together before you go to bed, letting it rise while you sleep. In the morning, add in the extras (raisins, walnuts, etc.) by kneading them into the dough with your hands, and then let it rise again for 1 hour while you workout, read the paper, shower, etc. The first time I made this bread, I added sunflower seeds. This time, I’ll let the kids choose what they want to add from our pantry stash.

Tomorrow I will jot down the recipe and share photos of it after it has risen so you have a visual in case you feel like making your own super easy loaf this weekend.