Ash Wednesday Common Bread

 

Since I cook and bake so often, people will sometimes ask me if I have a favorite thing to bake.  I can answer that question with no hesitation.  

The answer is always bread.  Bread of any kind.  I love the feeling and smell of dough, I love kneading - the whole bread making process is just so relaxing!

Plus, my whole family loves to eat bread so it's a win-win.

Today’s recipe comes from a new book I bought for work (I’m a school librarian).  I really loved this book.  While it’s aimed toward kids, it really is for anyone.

The Catholic Kids' Cookbook: Holy Days and Heavenly Food by Haley Stewart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This beautiful cookbook follows the liturgical year. Each recipe is either inspired by a Catholic feast day or a saint. Most recipes also include sacred artwork (along with the recipe pictures) and a prayer or quotation from a saint. All in all, this book if filled with Catholic content that appeals to children and adults alike.

The recipes range from appetizers to mains to desserts. While the recipes vary in difficulty, they all seem manageable for the average home cook. I made the Ash Wednesday Common Bread, a more challenging recipe, but very delicious (it was like a sourdough, but without 3 days of proofing and shaping and making starters).

I highly recommend this book.

View all my reviews

Since the book follows the liturgical year, I decided to make Ash Wednesday Common Bread and share it today since it’s Ash Wednesday!

This is a simple bread with few ingredients.  With the wetter dough, the mixing, shaping, and baking are reminiscent of sourdough loaf, though sourdough is much more time consuming and has more of a tang to the flavor with the long proof times and starter.

This crusty bread is perfect dipped in a simple bowl of soup, or if the leftover bread begins to get dry, it makes a fabulous French Toast as well.

Ash Wednesday Common Bread

Recipe from The Catholic Kids’ Cookbook: Holy Days and Heavenly Food

4 ¼ - 4 ¾ cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant yeast

2 teaspoons salt

2 ¼ cup warm (110-115 degrees) water

Place 4 ¼ cups flour, yeast, salt and water in the bowl of a stand mixer.  Mix with the dough hook until a sticky ball forms.

The dough will be sticky, but you should be able to pinch off a piece of dough and roll a loose ball between your fingers.  If it only sticks, slowly add more flour.

Leaving the dough in the mixing bowl, cover with a damp, lint-free towel and set aside to rise in a warm, draft-free area for 2 hours. 

After 2 hours, place a dutch oven, with the cover on, in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.

Take the dough and fold the sides and edges over to the bottom to form a smooth ball.  If the dough is too sticky to handle, wet hands first.

Place the dough ball on a piece of parchment paper.  Dust liberally with flour.  Use a sharp knife to score the top.

Carefully transfer the dough to the hot dutch oven and cover.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.  Remove cover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until golden brown.  Remove from dutch oven and cool completely before cutting.