Food for Health: Honey No-Knead Peasant Bread

Ok... so bread can be one of those somewhat controversial topics... I take a simple view... and that is "all things in moderation, including moderation." I make 2-4 loaves each weekend, and though that doesn't sound like moderation... well... Griff can eat a loaf in a day. He doesn't see bread moderation in the same light as I do.

As humans, we have literally been eating bread as a food staple for thousands of years. In fact, flatbreads have been around for about 12,000 years as water and flour were mixed together and baked in the sun. And there is some research showing that the Egyptians may have made a starter from wild yeast. Would you really surprised? I mean... we still haven't figured out the pyramids. But back to bread...

This recipe is my absolute favorite, I actually call this my "set it and forget it" bread. I literally mix this up, toss a clean towel over it, when I remember I knead it with forks a few times, toss it in different bowls, cover it, and then when I remember, I toss it in the oven. Yes seriously. I never even actually touch the dough. Wait... what? Yeah... it's true.

Does bread need sugar?

I admit I thought that yeast needed sugar as food, and while this is true, we don't have to actually add sugar. You can make bread without any added sugar, or honey. It just takes a bit longer as the yeast breaks down the starches and sugars in the flour. So sugar was added to speed up the process and yes, add a little sweetness to the bread.

But isn't bread bad for you?

There are definitely some pretty divided camps on this question. Of course, the more processed anything is, the more the nutrients are reduced and of course, we start to enter the realm of stabilizers. But we are talking delicious homemade bread with quality ingredients here? Factory-baked loaves may contain additional ingredients such as extra added sugars, oil, vinegar, preservatives, and flour treatment agents.

But wait... let's talk about honey!

I love honey in this recipe, to be honest, it is such a small amount that the nutritional benefits of adding the honey will be minimal. That being said, the fragrance of this bread will fill the house with happiness and the delicate honey taste is simple and pure perfection. Oh, and my Honey Sweetened Wild Black Raspberry Jam recipe is the absolute perfect compliment.

Wishing you much happy healthy cooking!

Honey Sweetened No-Knead Peasant Bread

We will bake this bread in oven-safe pyrex bowls. I find the perfect size to be the Pyrex 2.5-quart bowls. You will need two of them.

Ingredients:

4 cups Organic Flour
2 tsp Alessi Fine Mediterranean Sea Salt
2 tsp SAF Instant Yeast
2 Tbsp Pure Organic Honey
1.5 cups cold water
.5 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp room temperature butter

Directions Part 1:

Turn oven to 350' for 1-minute (only one minute then shut it off!!!)
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, and yeast
Turn on tea-kettle to heat water
In large (2-cup) measuring cup mix together honey and cold water until honey is dissolved
Add .5 cup hot water to the honey cold water mixture
Add water to dry ingredients, mix until flour is absorbed
Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and set aside in the warmed oven to let rise until double

Directions Part 2:

Grease your two Pyrex bowls with generously with butter
Using two forks, punch down your dough, scraping it from the sides of the bowl, turning the dough onto itself 6-8 times until smooth and loosened entirely from the sides of the bowl
Then, take forks and divide the dough into two equal portions, using the forks to pull the dough apart (this is a wet dough so this takes a quick work)
Then scoop up each half with your two forks and place it into your prepared bowl (this part can be a little tricky as the wet dough and will try and slip all over the place)
Let bread rise again (but to NOT use the oven trick a second time) - just let the dough do its work
After 20-40 minutes preheat oven to 425'
Place bread in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven heat to 375' and bake for 15-17 minutes longer
Remove from the oven and turn the loaves onto cooling racks (if bowls are greased well, the loaves will fall right out onto the cooling racks)
Try to let cool for 10 minutes or longer before cutting