What’s better on a cool fall afternoon than the scent of baking bread, am I right? Baking bread has always been one of my favorite things to do — there’s nothing better than warm loaves of bread, fresh from the oven, resting under white flour sack towels on the counter!
This is one of my favorite recipes for a basic, go-to bread that is great for sandwiches and perfect for toast and grilled cheese sammies. There’s a bit more sugar in the dough, but not too much for every day use. This has been a favorite of guests on mornings when we toast it up and slather with butter!
I’ve included a few hints below, but my two absolute requirements are good yeast and good flour. For whatever reason, I’m always unhappy with the dough when I use the yeast from the envelope — the jars of yeast yield a better dough. If you have a hard time finding the jars at the market, check the refrigerated section. The other trick I’ve learned is that spending a bit more on bread flour will yield a better loaf of bread. My favorite is King Arthur for a really nice, light, squashy texture!
Since this dough doesn’t have dairy in it it also keeps very well. We keep our bread in large zip plastic bags and it is great for sandwiches for a few days, and still good for toasting and grilling for a few more days after that
Enjoy!
- 2 Cups all-purpose flower
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons cream
- Set oven to 450 degrees.
- Combine flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper in large bowl.
- Cut butter into 1/2" chunks and sprinkle over the flour.
- Cut butter into flour mixture with pastry blender until it resembles cornmeal.
- Stir in parmesan.
- Add cream and stir until combined.
- Crumble mixture in chunks over parchment lined baking sheet. Aim for 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks.
- Sprinkle with ground pepper.
- Bake until starting to brown, 10-13 minutes.
- Serve with: Serve with hearty soups and stews as a 'crouton'
