Kneadlessly Simple: Fabulous, Fuss-Free, No-Knead Breads (12 page)
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Authors: Nancy Baggett
Tags: #Cooking
KS Quotient
Easy: Fuss-free, easily mixed ingredients. No hand-shaping.
These rolls are tender, rich, and aromatic, due to an ample addition of butter and a very long first rise that develops a fine yeast flavor and fragrance. They taste like the classic home-style butter rolls my mother sometimes baked, but I've eliminated the hand-shaping, which makes these much easier to prepare. I simply plop portions of dough into muffin tins, butter the tops, then set them aside to rise. Yes, sidestepping the traditional shaping means that the rolls come out looking like plain muffins, but since the dough is moister and is manipulated less, they are even more succulent and tender than hand-shaped ones.
To bake all the rolls at once, you'll need 18 standard-size muffin tin cups (about 2¾ inches across at the top), or 12 jumbo muffin tin cups (3½ to 3¾ inches across at the top). If you don't have enough muffin cups, use what's on hand to bake an initial batch of rolls. Keep the unused dough refrigerated for up to 24 hours, then stir well. Place in the tins and rise and bake as for the first batch.
Yield: 12 large or 18 medium muffin-shaped rolls
2½ cups (12.5 ounces) unbleached all-purpose white flour, plus ½ cup (2.5 ounces), plus more as needed
5 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
1 1/8 teaspoons table salt
½ teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
1½ cups ice water, plus more if needed
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly, plus 1½ tablespoons more for brushing over rolls
1/3 cup top-quality instant nonfat dry milk powder (don't use a generic brand)
First Rise
In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together 2½ cups flour, 3 tablespoons of the sugar, the salt, and yeast. Stir in the water, scraping down the sides just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. The mixture should be the consistency of very thick pancake batter; if necessary, stir in just enough more water, a bit at a time, to thin it, or more flour to thicken it slightly. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then let rise at cool room temperature for 15 to 20 hours.
Second Rise
Vigorously stir ¼ cup butter, the milk powder, and remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar into the dough until very well blended. Stirring vigorously and scraping down the bowl as needed, gradually add ½ cup flour or enough more flour to yield a dough slightly thicker than thick pancake batter.
Generously grease or spray 12 giant-size muffin cups or 18 regular-size muffin cups with nonstick spray. For large muffin cups, use a well-greased ¼-cup measure and scoop up
scant cupfuls
of dough; for small muffin cups, use a 1/8 -cup measure (or coffee scoop) and scoop up
generous cupfuls
of dough. Put the portions in the cups, then divide any leftover dough evenly among them. Drizzle 1½ tablespoons butter over the roll tops, dividing it among them. With fingertips, spread out the butter and smooth each top until the dough surface looks completely smooth. Tent the muffin tins with nonstick spray—coated foil.
Let Rise Using Any of These Methods
For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate, covered, for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough nears the foil. Remove it and continue until the dough doubles from its deflated size. Sift a little flour over the roll tops for garnish.
Baking Preliminaries
15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375°F.
Baking
Bake on the lower rack for 18 to 23 minutes, until the tops are nicely browned. Tent the pans with foil and continue baking for 5 to 10 minutes more, until a skewer inserted in the thickest part of a center roll comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until the center registers 205° to 208°F on an instant-read thermometer), to be sure the centers are done. Cool in the pan on wire racks for 10 minutes. Sift a little more flour over the rolls if desired. Transfer the rolls to a bread basket for serving.
Serving and StoringBest served warm. Reheat, wrapped in foil in a 350°F oven for 5 to 10 minutes, or wrapped in paper towels in a microwave oven on medium power for 15 seconds per roll. Store airtight in plastic at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, or freeze, airtight, for up to 2 months. Thaw before reheating.
Chapter 4: American Favorites
When people think of American breads, they
usually think "comfort food," and with good reason. There could hardly be more comforting fare than well-made loaves of puffy, fragrant, home-style white bread, or cinnamon-raisin pinwheel bread, or ooey-gooey sticky buns. But some of America's best-loved breads have a different character: San Francisco sourdough is as crusty as any of Europe's rustic loaves and gets a kick from a pungent starter. Another popular savory loaf is cheese bread; the one in this chapter is zippy with sharp cheese and green chiles.
Of course, due to the artisan bread movement in this country, interesting new breads more in the style of those in Europe are coming on the scene here all the time: The Sonoma-Style Multigrain Crunch Bread is an adaptation of a terrific crackly-crusted boule from northern California's Artisan Bakers. My Crunchy Yeasted Cornbread with Coarse Salt and my updated Easy Buttermilk Pot Bread with Coarse Salt are also simple crispy-topped peasant-style boules.
KS Quotient
Fairly Easy: Easily assembled ingredients; two-stage mixing. No hand-shaping required.
Unlike the fluffy-stuff loaves lining supermarket shelves, this traditional enriched white bread has substance and texture and a buttery, yeasty smell. A bit more voluptuous, softer, and more fine-grained than the
Easy White Bread Loaves
, this is reminiscent of the loaves that often won the white bread category at the local county fairs when I was a child. True, it's not the sort of loaf that cutting-edge shops are selling these days, but when you want comfort food, or maybe a taste of home, this is it.
This same dough can easily be turned into
Pull-Apart Butter-Top Rolls
and
Cinnamon Pinwheel Raisin Bread
.
Yield: 1 large loaf, 12 to 14 slices
3 cups (15 ounces) unbleached white bread flour, plus 2/3 cup (3.33 ounces) or as needed
2½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1½ teaspoons table salt
¾ teaspoon instant, fast-rising, or bread machine yeast
1¾ cups ice water, plus more if needed
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled, plus extra for coating dough top and baking pan
¼ cup good-quality instant nonfat dry milk (don't use a generic brand)
1 large egg, at room temperature and beaten with a fork
First Rise
In a large bowl, thoroughly stir together 3 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast. Thoroughly stir the water into the bowl, scraping down the sides and mixing just until the ingredients are thoroughly blended. If the mixture is too dry to incorporate all the flour, a bit at a time, stir in enough more water to blend the ingredients and produce a fairly soft dough. Brush the top with butter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. If desired, for best flavor or for convenience, you can refrigerate the dough for 3 to 10 hours. Then, let rise at cool room temperature for 16 to 20 hours; if convenient, vigorously stir the dough about halfway through the rise.
Second Rise
In a medium bowl, stir together the butter, milk powder, and 2 tablespoons of the beaten egg until thoroughly blended; reserve the remaining egg for glazing the loaf top. Vigorously stir (or beat on low speed with a heavy-duty mixer with a dough hook) the butter mixture into the dough until smoothly and evenly incorporated; this may take several minutes. Gradually mix in 2/3 cup or enough more flour to yield a very hard-to-stir dough. Using a well-oiled rubber spatula, fold the dough in towards the center, working all the way around the bowl; this helps organize the gluten for shaping into a loaf.
Invert the dough into a well-greased 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Smooth out the top and press evenly into the pan using a well-buttered rubber spatula or fingertips. Evenly brush the loaf top with the reserved beaten egg; don't allow the egg to pool around the pan edges, as it will cause sticking. Using well-buttered kitchen shears or a serrated knife, make a ½-inch-deep slash lengthwise down the center of the loaf. Cover the pan with nonstick spray—coated plastic wrap.
Let Rise Using Any of These Methods
For a 1½- to 2½-hour regular rise, let stand at warm room temperature; for a 1- to 2-hour accelerated rise, let stand in a turned-off microwave along with 1 cup of boiling-hot water; or for an extended rise, refrigerate for 4 to 48 hours, then set out at room temperature. Continue the rise until the dough nears the plastic. Remove it and continue until the dough extends slightly above the pan rim.
Baking Preliminaries
15 minutes before baking time, place a rack in the lower third of the oven; preheat to 375°F.
Baking
Bake on the lower rack for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Cover the top with foil and continue baking for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until a skewer inserted in the thickest part comes out with just a few particles clinging to the bottom (or until the center registers 208° to 210°F on an instant-read thermometer). Then bake for 5 to 10 minutes more to be sure the center is done. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Turn out the loaf onto the rack; cool thoroughly.
Serving and StoringCool thoroughly before slicing or storing. Store airtight in plastic or aluminum foil. The bread will keep at room temperature for 2 to 3 days, and may be frozen, airtight, for up to 2 months.
