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Outrageously Easy BIG Bread

What you need: 

2 (1/4 ounce) packets yeast
1/4 cup warm water
2 cups hot water
3 tablespoons turbinado
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups + 3 cups flour, divided
1/3 cup vegetable or corn oil

What you do: 

1. To proof yeast, pour warm water into a small ceramic bowl and add the yeast, but do not stir. Set aside. In a large mixing bowl, pour hot water over the turbinado and salt; stir with a wooden spoon to completely dissolve. Combine 3 cups flour with the hot water mixture. Pour the oil on top of the dough mixture then add the yeast mixture on top of that, but do not stir.
2. Top with the remaining 3 cups flour and mix well. (I begin mixing with the wooden spoon but I very quickly have to move into squishing the dough with my hands.) At this point, the dough should be pliant and moist, but not gooey. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and set aside to rise for at least 45 minutes. (I've left it for almost two hours.)
3. On a lightly floured cutting board or countertop, divide the dough into half. (This is when I recruit someone to knead the dough, but the recipe actually calls for no kneading; I've done this recipe many times without kneading anything, and it always turns out really good.) Flatten each half into roughly an oval/rounded rectangular shape, about 1/2-3/4" thickness.
4. Roll the dough lengthwise and place on an ungreased, but very BIG, cookie sheet. (If you don't have a very large cookie sheet, use two cookie sheets, one for each half of the dough.) Cover the dough with a moist towel and set aside to rise again for another 45 minutes (or longer).
5. After the dough has risen the second time, preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake for exactly 23 minutes. If you can keep everyone from digging in right away, allow to cool for about 15 minutes and then enjoy. (Also, before the bread bakes, you can slit the top of each lump of dough a couple of times and brush lightly with some kind of egg substitute. The glaze helps the bread come out with a slightly crunchier crust. I don't usually bother.)
Source of recipe: Whenever I go to potlucks, I bake this bread and it disappears within minutes. I've even had special requests for it. At a family Christmas, after I found out that store-bought rolls (ick!) would be served with the Christmas Eve dinner, I announced that I would make homemade bread. Since dinner would be served in a little less than two hours and since my family knows how much I absolutely detest cooking, my mother thought I was lying. She couldn't believe that I could make "respectable" bread without any kneading and in time for dinner. I made this bread and, as usual, it vanished almost instantly. My mother got this bread recipe from me. I think the dogs got the store-bought rolls.

Preparation Time: 
2 hours, Cooking time: 23 minutes
Cooking Time: 
23 minutes
Servings: 
2
Recipe Category: 

SO HOW'D IT GO?

Did anyone make these in muffin tins as rolls instead of a loaf?
If you did I was wondering how long you cooked them for. I'll look through the recipe again to try and find the answer.

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE this reipe and my omnivorous friends adore my bread.

I've made soso many batches, firsta  gluten wheat free one, odd flour misture though  :-[
then I made a couple loaves with three-five habenero peppers and three jalepenos..this was a HUGE hit
my other set was with two chili peppers, yellow pepper and half of a jalepeno...this was good too but I liked the spicey one most...

def brightened my friend's day when I gave him fresh baked hot spicey bread...can'twait to make tons of loaves come Thanksgiving....sosos good and yummy*!~ :D

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I made this last night with carrot potato soup and it was so good however my dough did not rise very well!! The bread came out flat. It did not however compromise the taste. I wonder if the water I added the yeast to was to warm. Regardless I am so anxiuos to try again!!

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I made this bread two nights ago with 1/2 whole wheat and 1/2 white flour.  My didn't rise that big but my house is really cold.  It did make some really good sandwiches though.  Next time I will add some herbs or garlic or sundried tomatoes for more flavor.

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Okay, I have to give my own amazing review, too.  The first time I tried it out, I used whole-wheat flour and didn't knead it, and it turned out too dense.  Yesterday I tried again with unbleached white flour, and I kneaded it for a couple minutes after the first rise... yummmm....  I baked one loaf on a sheet pan and one in a bread pan, and used it this morning for a veggie burger.  It was great!

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when i saw all the reviews of this recipe i just had to try it. and WOW, i can see why everybody loves it so much. it's incredibly easy and sooo good.  i added fresh rosemary, garlic powder and onion powder to mine.  everyone who tried it was amazed it was homemade.  yum!

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This was wonderful! It makes great toast (with muscadine jelly) and peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches (crunchy peanutbutter and blackberry jam).

I used whole wheat flour instead of white, and it turned out  just fine. I made three loaves: two smaller ones to give away and a huge one to keep at home (which, after three days, I've eaten almost half of).

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I AGREE! I actually halved the recipe.

And i screwed up!

I halved everything except the water, which caused the dough to be extremely goooey, but i added some flour to it... it turned out really dense, and didn't rise as much,  but still... SO GOOD! and even halving it gave me a huge loaf! enough for me and my man for a week! yahhhoooo

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this one of the best recipes i have ever come across for bread--so much can be done to it without negatively effecting the overall quality!! 

i also tend not to flatten it down so much, and it turns out fantastic that way

i have tried several variations, a few of my favorites including:

substitute vegetable oil with olive oil, add fresh pesto to the dough, brush/spray with olive oil just before baking and halfway through, sprinkle with basil before baking

substitute vegetable oil with olive oil (ok, so im an olive oil fan ^^;  i doubt it would matter here), add dried  papaya, mango, pineapple, and guava to the dough, brush/spray with water halfway through baking, sprinkle with a bit of sugar just before baking...

i have yet to find a method of preparing this bread that did not turn out absolutely fantastic

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Anonymous

The bread is easy to make! It is also very easy to modify! I added one cup of oats for half a cup of flour. For half of the dough I added a cup of raisins and a few tablespoons of cinnamon before rolling the dough and on the other half I added garlic, peppers (hot and sweet) and dried basil, oregano and thyme. The recipe is delicious and very easy to make!

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