If you need bread for Sunday's Eucharist...

Hi everyone!

If you saw Father Channing's email this week you will know that we are having an at home Eucharist this Sunday! If you don't happen to have a loaf of bread lying around, ready to be broken up and shared here is an easy, no-knead recipe you can make as a family. Making bread isn't nearly as scary as most people make it sound, and this recipe is especially easy and produces a very rewarding result.  I think this is the perfect Saturday afternoon (small, manageable) project and the perfect first-time bread baker's recipe!  It is a half recipe of Alexandra Stafford's mother's "Peasant Bread" from her book Bread Toast Crumbs.

To make it with me, you will need:

• a mixing bowl to make the dough
• an oven safe bowl that holds about 4 cups to bake the bread in (see note, below)* 
• 1 tablespoon butter to grease the baking bowl
• 2 cups flour (or for a gluten free variation, make a half batch of this recipe from the same author!)
• 1 cup of lukewarm water
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast (This is less than an envelope of yeast so you do need to measure it. If you only have active dry yeast, use the same amount but mix the yeast and sugar into the water instead of the dry ingredients, then leave it for 5-10 minutes until it gets frothy before adding to the dry ingredients. If you don't have yeast at home but are interested in making bread for Eucharist, I use this even quicker and equally easy recipe for traditional Irish Soda Bread a lot and it would be a great choice! I never have buttermilk on hand so I use regular milk curdled with about a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice.)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 hours (the vast majority of this is hands-off time so you can be doing other things!)

To make the bread:

1. Whisk together the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. 
2. Stir in the water until you have a soft, wet dough. 
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F for one minute then turn the oven off (it should be around a hundred degrees). Cover the bowl of dough with a cloth and place it in the warm, turned off oven to rest for an hour.
4. While the dough rests, use the butter to grease your baking bowl as thoroughly as possible. 
5. Take the dough out and preheat the oven to 425 F. 
6. Use two forks to punch down the dough and scrape it away from the sides of the bowl onto itself. Then use the forks to quickly and decisively transfer the dough to the (well-greased!) baking bowl. 
7. Leave the dough uncovered to prove for about 20-30 minutes or until it reaches the top of the bowl or slightly above. The original recipe recommends setting it on top of the oven if your kitchen is cold.  
8. Bake the bread for 15 minutes then turn the oven down to 375 and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden.  When you take it out again the loaf should fall easily out onto the cooling rack. 
9. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.  To prepare the bread for Eucharist, flip it over and score a deep X in the bottom.  

Happy baking!

Taylor

*a note about bowls: you can test the bowl size by filling a bowl with water using a regular measuring cup!) A oven safe bowl of similar size will work, or two bowls (perhaps from your dishes if they are oven safe!) that hold about two cups each would work too! The recipe was designed for Pyrex "Cinderella Bowls"  so if you have any of the old Pyrex bowls with the wide spout on one side and the narrow spout on the other, use the one marked #441 on the bottom! If you only have a partial set and bowl  441 is missing, double this recipe and use bowl #443.  If you don't have any oven safe bowls near that size, multiply the recipe by 1.5 and use a loaf pan (the bread won't rise quite as high but will still be delicious!).