Batter Bread

I love bread. Especially homemade bread. And this bread has the added bonus of being fast and easy in addition to being a crowd pleaser. If you are looking for a tasty and versatile bread with a wonderfully crunchy crust surrounding a soft and chewy interior, then look no further. It took a bit of research sampling a few different no-knead recipes and some tinkering to create this original recipe, and I'm happy to share the love!

Start by combining 4 cups of flour, yeast, sugar, salt, and baking soda in a large bowl. For most batches I use 2 cups white whole wheat and 2 cups all-purpose flour for this step. In a large measuring cup, combine 1 cup of milk (I use rice milk of course) with 1 1/2 cups of hot water - your goal is to have warm liquid to pour into the dry ingredients, and I have found that cold milk from the fridge mixed with hot water from the tap gives me the correct temperature without needing to use the microwave. 

Pour the milk and water mixture into the dry ingredients and use a stiff spatula or your favorite dough blending tool to combine. This should leave you with a moderately thick batter consistency.

At this point you can skip to the final flour addition, or you can take advantage of the blank canvas you have created. I almost always take advantage of the blank canvas. My favorite addition to use for every-day bread is bulgur wheat. When using bulgur, measure 1 cup into a bowl and add 1 cup of hot water before you begin measuring your dry ingredients; this will give the bulgur time to soak up the water so the texture in the finished bread will be chewy rather than full of hard nuggets. Whatever addition you choose, add it to the bowl of batter at this step.

The consistency of the batter at this step allows you to easily stir in your addition to distribute it throughout. 

Add 1 cup of the remaining flour and stir. Now you have a really thick batter consistency, still fills the shape of the bowl without holding any of its own shape.

Now you want to take it slower, add more flour about 1/4 cup at a time and stir. Stop once the consistency reaches a stage that is becoming more of a dough than a batter - that is, it begins to hold its own shape. Another clue that you have added enough flour is that it begins to become more difficult to incorporate with the spatula. The amount of total flour you add will depend on your humidity level as well as what addition or lack thereof you have chosen - I usually need close to the full 2 cups when I add bulgur because of the additional water it soaks up, but less for a drier addition like oats or raisins.

Rub the bottom and sides of your dutch oven with coconut oil (or olive oil or any other cooking oil you prefer) then sprinkle liberally with cornmeal. This will allow the bread to release easily when finished cooking, and also contributes to the crunch of the crust. I recommend a relatively finely ground cornmeal though, as it will not soften at all while the bread bakes. **Do not skip this step, or you will find that your bread becomes thoroughly stuck to the dutch oven while baking, and will be very difficult (pretty much impossible in one piece) to remove**

Then transfer your dough to the prepared dutch oven. This will be easier if you scrape the bowl while holding it over the dutch oven, as it should still be too sticky and unformed to pick up easily. See how it holds itself up from the edges a little, but spreads out more than a formed dough ball would do.

Cover the dutch oven and allow the dough to rise for at least 45 minutes. If you feel like preparing your dough early in the day but are busy and won't be baking until later, it is fine to allow it to sit at room temperature for several hours - you will probably even get a nicer rise the longer it sits.

Preheat your oven to 400* and bake with the cover on for 20 minutes, then remove the cover and bake an additional 15-30 minutes with the cover off until the top crust is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the center of the bread tests clean. The moisture retained with the cover on helps the crust to become nice and crunchy.

When done, immediately turn out onto a cooling rack. I recommend flipping it right side up so the top crust (which is thinner than the bottom and sides) does not soften from the steam it will create.

Try to allow the bread to cool at least a few minutes, so you could comfortably hold it, before slicing to avoid compressing it. See that nice thick crust and the lovely internal texture? Mmmm.

And for my good friends Feliks and Irene, who love it with raisins.

This bread is great when it is fresh, but it also keeps well. The crust will soften when stored in an airtight container, but if you pop it in the oven for a few minutes - right on the rack, don't worry about a pan - it will become nicely crunchy again while the interior remains soft. Or individual slices make amazing toast. If you don't go through a lot of bread, I recommend freezing half of it in a freezer bag as soon as it cools. When you are ready for another fresh loaf of bread, just thaw at room temperature, then pop it in the oven to refresh the crust and warm it up.

Batter Bread
4 cups plus 1 1/2 to 2 cups flour, divided
2 tsp yeast
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk (I use rice milk)
1 1/2 cups hot water
1-2 cups of your favorite addition   *1 cup bulgur soaked in 1 cup hot water; or 2 cups raisins; or get creative and use any combination of grains and/or seeds and/or fruits that you enjoy in your bread*

Combine 4 cups flour and the rest of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the cold milk and hot water to obtain a very warm liquid, pour into dry ingredients and stir to combine. Stir your favorite addition into batter. Stir in 1 1/2 to 2 cups additional flour in small increments until batter just begins to show properties of a dough (holding some shape, difficult to stir flour in with spatula).
Oil large dutch oven and dust liberally with corn meal. Turn/scrape dough into prepared dutch oven, cover and allow to rise for at least 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400*. Bake with cover on for 20 minutes, remove cover and bake an additional 15-30 minutes until crust is golden brown and skewer inserted into center of bread comes out clean.
Turn out onto cooling rack, flip right side up, and allow to cool slightly before slicing.

Enjoy!                                            

Sue