The Easiest Bread You'll Ever Make!

Part-Whole Wheat Chia Bread

When I first arrived in Korea, I may or may not have had a little break down over the lack of edible bread. I knew it was coming, as I’d read many threads about expats in Korea scouting for bread. They all said the same thing: the bread here sucks. And they were right. Once I got over my pouting stage and moved on to solving my bread problem, I felt like super woman. Those of you who read Mj and a Sea of Stories may recall the night I brought an oven home on the subway, all by myself. That very night I was busy baking.

Since coming to Korea, I’ve only purchased bread once—some “rye” bread from Costco that turned out to be not so rye-y—total disappointment. The rest of our bread consumption has been different variations of this VERY simple recipe. I was first introduced to the recipe by the mother of one of the children I nannied for last year. She got it from the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day. Of course, I modified it to add some extra goodness (taste and health).

This recipe makes about 4 loaves of bread. The idea is that you make the dough, store it inthe fridge, and then rip off a chunk when you want to bake it. The book claims it saves for up to 2 weeks but I say more like 10 days. Again, this is the easiest thing in the world and your friends will think you’re AMAZING.

The Basic Recipe:

6 ½ cups flour (I go for half whole wheat, half unbleached white flour. Sometimes I use all whole wheat or mix it up with some rye flour)

3 cups luke warm water

1 ½ Tbls yeast

1 ½ Tbls kosher salt (or whatever is available)

Cornmeal—to keep the dough from sticking to the board and pizza stone/pan

Procedure:

1. Stir yeast and salt into water

2. Pour in flour and mix well with a wooden spoon—no need to kneed (pun intended)

3. Cover mixing container with a towel or a lid—not air tight and let rise for about 2 hours.

4. Once dough has doubled in size, dust with flour and cut off a chuck (about grapefruit size isusually good).

5. Form into a ball and place it on a cornmeal covered surface (pizza peal is you have one)

6. Let sit for about 40-60 minutes. During this time preheat the oven to 450 degrees. If youhave a pizza stone, it should be in the oven preheating as well. This will ensure that the bread is getting heat from all directions.

7. When your ready to bake it, dust the loaf with flour and cut slashes into the bread using a serrated knife.

8. Pop that sucker in the oven along with a small oven safe dish containing water (this will make the crust nice and crispy).

9. Bake for 30-35 minutes

10. Remove from oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before cutting.

11. Store the extra dough in the refrigerator for in a covered food safe container.

12. Make sure to share!

Variations

There are a million different variations so don’t limit yourself! Here are some of our favorites:

-chia seeds, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds

-olives

-sun dried tomatoes

-rosemary and olive oil

When I’m ready to bake a loaf of bread, I simply cut off the size I want, flatten it a bit on a floured surface and add in the desired goodies. Then I fold the dough over itself and work it with my hands until the add-ins are spread somewhat evenly throughout the dough. Then start from step 6 and proceed as normal.

Layering on some chia seeds for lots of healthy omega-3s and fiber!

mush it all in there

If you have a dog that can reach the counter, make sure its out of reach while its setting--learned the hard way, involved lots of puppy vomit.

We love dipping it in olive oil and balsamic vinegar or smothering it with sunbutter or almond butter.

Happy Eating!