Lifestyle
How to Make 3 Famous Bread Recipes That Don't Use Oil or Butter
I'm a huge fan of Julia Child. In her books, she goes into such great detail on how to execute proper technique, and in Mastering the Art of French Cooking Volume Two, she spends 20 pages going over every detail of how to make this recipe. True French bread is a challenge, as it only contains four ingredients and requires serious time and skill. But as Julia writes in My Life in France, "no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing."
So find a day where you have around eight hours to dedicate to baking true French bread, and do it! Some are some of the techniques are difficult, so if you need extra clarification, My Life in France describes a "steam-generating contraption" here and here's how to score different bread shapes properly.
Julia Child's French Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 8 hrs
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 8 hrs 25 mins
- Servings: 3
Ingredients
- 1 cake 17 grams fresh yeast or 1 package 7 grams active dry yeast
- 1/3 cup warm water
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 cup tepid water
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
Step 6
Step 7
Step 8
Step 9
Step 10
Step 11
Step 12
Step 13
Step 14
Step 15
Step 16
Step 17
2. Mary Berry's Irish Soda Bread
Ever since I began watching The Great British Bake Off, Mary Berry has been one of my favorite TV judges. Her Baking Bible is my go-to, and her Irish soda bread has become one of my favorite recipes of hers that I’ve made time and time again. There are only 5 ingredients, and it takes under an hour start to finish. My favorite way to enjoy it is warm (but not too fresh out of the oven, as the texture won’t be right) with some salted butter, but it also tastes great on its own!
Mary Berry's Irish Soda Bread Recipe
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Servings: 1
Ingredients
- 450g strong white flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp salt
- 300ml buttermilk or 150ml milk mixed with 150ml plain yogurt
- 6tbsp tepid water
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
3. Cooking Light’s Basic Sponge and Ciabatta Bread
This recipe is a two-parter, with the Basic Sponge made a day in advance. Ciabatta is perfectly light and airy, but it needs to proof at room temperature to get that way. Most ciabatta recipes use oil, but this one doesn’t and contains only .5g fat per slice. Plus, it makes two loaves so you can have one now and save one for later!
Cooking Light's Basic Sponge and Ciabatta
- Prep Time: 45 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Total Time: 1 hr 10 mins
- Servings: 24
Ingredients
- Basic Sponge:
- 2 tsp sugar
- 7g active dry yeast
- 3/4 cup very warm water 120°F to 130°F
- Ciabatta:
- 4 cups bread flour
- Basic Sponge at room temperature
- 1 1/4 cups warm water 100°F to 110°F
- 2 tsp nonfat dry milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 7g active dry yeast
- 2 tbsp cornmeal
- 2 tbsp bread flour
Step 1
Measure out the flour using the spoon and level method. Place the flour, sugar, and yeast in a food processor and pulse 5 times. Add water, process for 1 minute until well blended. Spoon the mixture into a bowl, cover, and chill for 2 to 24 hours. Before using it, bring it to room temperature.
Step 2
Spoon and level the flour and combine it with the Basic Sponge and the warm water, nonfat dry milk, salt, and yeast in a food processor. Process until the dough forms a ball, and process for 1 more minute.