The bread Sara (I Like to Cook) chose for the Bread Baking Babes this month set off a collective cheer among us: Easy Little Bread. Mix, pan, rise, bake: an hour and a half, tops. What, it’s that easy, and quick too? Yay!
Sara adapted the recipe from 101 Cookbooks, and it’s just as it says: easy, fast, and, oh yes, it’s tasty too! With only a quick stir — more of a batter than a dough, really — and one 30-minute rise, it behaves and tastes much like a “quick bread,” except that it’s not sweet (well, just a hint of sweetness). A delicious foil for just about anything you’d like to spread, drizzle, dab, or slather.
I followed the recipe faithfully, except I used instant yeast (4.6 grams, or 1.5 teaspoons), and a 4-cup pan (4 x 8 inches) instead of the recommended 8-cup one. It just didn’t seem like enough batter/dough to fill a larger pan. It barely rose at all during the 30-minute rising period, but the oven spring was rather lively. I did turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes at the end of the bake — with a very watchful eye, of course — to brown it up a bit.
As always, we welcome anyone to be a Bread Baking Buddy — that is, to bake this bread and send a photo and a link to Sara by July 29.
And now for something a little different:
The Babes will bake and post on August 15th in honor of Julia Child’s 100th birthday, and we would love for the Buddies (that is, anyone who would like to play), to join us in posting on that day. Big thanks to Elle for creating the invitation. For the recipe we will be baking, please contact me. (NB: This is an invitation for NEXT month, August. THIS month (July), Buddies are still invited to make the Easy Little Bread.)
So yours rose in the oven, mine rose on the counter. Seems crazy that we can get so many different responses with pretty much the same recipe and ingredients.
Your loaf looks sweet Susan.
Great looking loaf…the smaller pan was a great idea, too. It is kind of like a quick bread when done. The invite looks great! I hope we get LOTS of bakers being Buddies for August.
Mine rose on the counter too and not in the oven , like Tanna’s. Looking good!
I’m looking forward to next month baking together!
Beautiful rise! And the crumb looks nice and soft as well.
Mine rose(ish) on the counter. Perhaps I was a little too casual about reducing the amount of yeast. The unknown oven temperature might not have helped either. (heh)
Lovely loaf! Great idea to use a smaller pan.
Very pretty bread. Aug 15 duly marked.
Greetings! I’ve been reading your weblog for some time now and finally got the bravery to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!