Basic Bread Dough

Summary

Yield1
Source

wikibooks

Prep Time1 hour
Recipe Indexdough

Description

This recipe makes dough for a 2-pound loaf of bread, or 2 1-pound loaves. It is intended for use in a bread machine. If you haven't baked bread before, this is a simple recipe to start with. Once you've made it a few times, you can start experimenting with adding other ingredients.

Ingredients

  • 1 c warm water
  • 2 t sugar
  • 1 t salt
  • 2 c bread flour
  • 3 t active dry Yeast
  • 1 T honey

Instructions

Add ingredients to a 2-pound capacity bread machine in the order listed, select dough cycle, and press start. Remove when cycle is complete. Preheat oven to 400 °F. When dough is finished, form into desired shape on a floured surface, and place on baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake until lightly brown and firm. Cooking time will vary with altitude (20-40 minutes). Cool and enjoy.

Notes

  • To make a twist loaf, roll dough into a cylindrical shape with your hands, but make one end of the cylinder thicker than the other. Then divide the cylinder with a knife down the center of the thicker end, creating a ring with a protruding cylinder. Braid and bake.
  • Brush loaf with an eggwash (1 egg + a scant amount of water) or eggwhite, melted margarine or butter, or olive oil for a crisper crust.
  • Sprinkle brushed loaf with minced garlic, chopped herbs, ground spices, grated cheese, ground pepper and/or kosher salt for flavor.
  • Toss or roll into a flat disc and top with tomato sauce, olive oil, chopped meat, vegetables and/or grated cheeses to create a pizza (bake until cheese is melted).