Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (2024)

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (1)

I seem to be breaking many rules these days. Particularly, when it comes to eating whole wheat bread.“I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.”

There are many reasons that I’ve stopped eating whole wheat bread and I’ll certainly share them with you in the coming weeks. For now, I’ve been doing all of my bread baking with organic, un-enriched, un-bleached white flour. Although soon, I’d like to make the switch to Jovial’sEinkorn, high extraction flour.

I’ve got to admit, after eating whole wheat flour for so long, I had to get accustomed to the flavors in white bread. I also had to make adjustments to all of my standard recipes, particularly my morning pancakes and sandwich bread.However, since I’ve started feeding my children ridiculously good lunches for kids(follow me on instagram), I’ve found that we no longer eat sandwich bread like we used to.

We’re eating more fruits and vegetables and less bread all together.With that in mind, I started tinkering with a European style bread I had learned from my friend Sadagat.

Sadagat is from Azerbaijan, in Northern Europe. She works wonders in her kitchen and she knows I enjoy learning about her cultures food.Every so often, she randomly stops by to bring me over a flat loaf of bread and we end up chatting about family, food, design, and life. She’s a fantastic graphic designer and illustrator. I’ll have to show you her work once her new website is set up.

It’s kind of funny, every time I’d get together with Sadagat, our conversations would somehow circle back to her bread. Yes, I thought about it that often. Perfectly soft, chewy crumb, simple flavor – it reminded me of a perfect everyday bread that my family would eat in Spain.

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (2)

One day over a conversation that, yes, included her bread she finally told me, “I’m coming over to make bread with you.” I jokingly told her, “It’s about time!”

Sadagat came over mid-morning with her children. Since it was already past 10am I started to wonder if we would have time to make the bread. Reflecting on the taste, it must certainly take hours to make. I asked her if we had time, and she said, “of course!”

So, while the kids played outside, chasing chickens, Sadagat made my kitchen her own. She started pulling out bowls, digging through shelves, and lining up ingredients until she found everything she needed.

What surprised me came next. In the matter of a few minutes she added flour, salt, yeast, water, kneaded a bit, added some olive oil, and… done. With wide eyes, I asked, “is that it?” She said, “yes, that’s it.”

Wow! I was stunned. I asked her if she needed to measure or weigh her ingredients. She laughed at me and said, “no, you just add a bit of this and a bit of that – that is all.”

For bread that tastes as fantastic as hers, this was it for me. I’d finally found a simple, everyday bread recipe for my family.

European Style, Everyday Bread

There are many factors that go into baking, which is one of the reasons homemade bread can be one of the most difficult recipes to share. The humidity level, temperature, and elevation in which you live can all factor in as to how much water the flour will absorb and in turn how the final crumb (interior) will turn out. Too dense, too chewy, too crumbly, etc…

This is why I absolutely love this bread recipe. It’s very flexible!

There are no rules to this homemade bread. There’s no need to pull out a scale to measure the flour or to gauge an exact temperature to the water being added. As long as you don’t add too much flour in the beginning, your loaf will turn out perfect.

To give you a rundown of exactly how I make this bread, I’ve created a video demonstrating the process for my everyday bread recipe.

And… check out the crumb.

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (3)

Not too shabby, eh ;D I’m very happy with this delicious and simple everyday bread and I hope you will be to.

Print

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video

Prep Time: 6 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (4)

A simple, European style, everyday bread recipe.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour (you'll add more as you knead)
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 1/2 tsp yeast
  • 1 1/4 cup warm water
  • extra virgin olive oil

Method:

    For detailed instructions please view video

  1. In a large bowl add the flour, salt, and yeast. Mix through.
  2. Add the water and stir into a shaggy dough.
  3. Using your hands, in the bowl, knead the dough; adding a tablespoon of flour more at a time to help you continue to knead. About an extra 3 - 4 tablespoons. Knead for 3-4 minutes. The dough should remain light, and sticky.
  4. Once the dough is holding together well and still feels sticky, tacky, yet firm, add a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to the dough and shape into a tight ball. (The extra virgin olive oil will give flavor and prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.)
  5. Place the dough into a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, then a cloth towel, and allow to rise for one hour.
  6. Once the dough has doubled, carefully, remove the dough from the bowl onto a floured counter making sure to not compress it. You do not want to release all of its gasses. (View the video for a demonstration)
  7. With floured hands, sprinkle a bit of flour onto the dough and shape it as demonstrated in the video into a tight ball.
  8. Place it on top of parchment paper, on a cookie sheet or cutting board, and score the top with a sharp knife or razor blade. With a brush, oil the top and sprinkle additional flour on top to get that nice rustic look.
  9. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel for an additional 20 minutes.
  10. While it's resting, preheat your oven to 500F with a pizza stone inside.
  11. After the 20 minutes transfer the boule with the parchment paper to the pizza stone in the oven. Slide from one surface to the other and bake for 10 minutes at 500F.
  12. After the 10 minutes, lower the oven temperature to 350F and bake an additional 25 minutes.
  13. Once done, remove the bread with the parchment paper to a cooling rack.
  14. Allow the bread to cool completely before slicing. If you slice the bread before it's completely cooled, you will end up with a gummy inside texture.
  15. Enjoy!

https://www.myhumblekitchen.com/2013/03/simple-european-style-everyday-bread-recipe-with-video/

©Copyright, A Little Bit of Spain in Iowa

If you enjoy this recipe and try it out, come back and let me know how it turned out!

Simple, European Style, Everyday Bread Recipe with Video (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between American bread and European bread? ›

The biggest difference between American breads versus European breads is the quality of the ingredients used in each bread. Standard, store-bought American bread contains many preservatives and fillers that are banned in European countries.

What makes European bread so good? ›

European bread is typically made with a higher protein content flour and may undergo longer fermentation periods, resulting in a chewier texture and more complex flavors. Additionally, European bread often contains fewer additives and preservatives compared to American bread.

What is the chorleywood bread making process? ›

Compared to traditional bread-making processes, CBP uses more yeast, added fats, chemicals, and high-speed mixing to allow the dough to be made with lower-protein wheat, and produces bread in a shorter time.

Why can I eat bread in Europe but not the US? ›

Wheat grown in the U.S. [tends to be] higher in gluten, whereas there are several more varieties of wheat grown in Europe that are lower in gluten.

What type of wheat is used in Europe? ›

Basically in Europe, soft wheat is used to produce flour and bread, whereas durum wheat is used to produce semolina and pasta.

What flour do Europeans use for bread? ›

Bread flour/Type 750 is a dense, white European bread flour. The bran and germ removed while milling hard wheat renders a white flour with a 12-14% gluten content most similar to Bread Flour or High Protein Bread Flour.

Do Europeans put sugar in bread? ›

Each European country has their own bread types usually and they have next to nothing in common. For example, while rye bread might taste sweet, it's not because of added sugar (for example, only certain types of Finnish rye breads have syrup added to them, but most do not).

What ingredient in bread is not allowed in Europe? ›

London — From baguettes to focaccia, Europe is famous for its bread. But there's one ingredient conspicuously missing: Potassium bromate. It's a suspected carcinogen that's banned for human consumption in Europe, China and India, but not in the United States.

Do Europeans eat bread everyday? ›

Most Europeans eat bread on a daily basis (39%), followed by “multiple times a week (27%) and “multiple times a day”, with 22%. Europeans enjoy bread mostly during breakfast and lunch. However, in Italy and France “dinner” is the occasion where bread is consumed most often.

Is European bread healthier than American bread? ›

The primary distinction between American wheat and European wheat lies in their gluten content. American wheat, with its prominent red wheat variety, contains higher levels of gluten, which has been linked to gut-related issues like bloating, and inflammation.

How is bread made in France? ›

French bread is typically made from wheat flour, water, yeast and salt. By law in France, the long loaves and boules (round loaves) cannot have added oil or fat. Brioche, a soft loaf with a high egg and butter content, is considered a pastry.

What are the disadvantages of the chorleywood bread process? ›

The current study shows that commercially milled wheat grain bread (extraction rate of 85%) made via the Chorleywood process is more likely to trigger Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) symptoms than a 30% sourdough with a 4-hour refreshment stage or conventional yeasted bread fermented for 16 hours.

How was bread made in medieval Europe? ›

It was made by grinding cereal grains, such as wheat, millet or barley, into flour, then kneading it with a liquid, perhaps adding yeast to make the dough rise and lighten, and finally baking.

What is the difference between American bread and German bread? ›

Bread in Germany, on the other hand, contains less additives and preservatives due to age-old baking traditions, strict food laws and rigorous quality standards for bakers. The USA has liberal laws for the application of pesticides.

Why does bread taste different in America? ›

Much of the mass produced, supermarket bread and even artisan breads are overly sweet in the United States because apart from flour, yeast and water, many American bakers add sugar or items such as dehydrated cane juice ( yes, that is just a long name for sugar) or they add high Fructose corn syrup ( another name for ...

Why is European bread sweet? ›

For example, while rye bread might taste sweet, it's not because of added sugar (for example, only certain types of Finnish rye breads have syrup added to them, but most do not). The sweetness comes naturally from the rye when it's processed for enough long time.

What is the difference between French bread and American bread? ›

Besides the obvious fact that French bread is typically longer and thinner than regular loaves, it tends to be less sweet and has a crispier crust. French bread is usually also made with very simple ingredients instead of sandwich bread, which can have many different additives.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Article information

Author: Rev. Porsche Oberbrunner

Last Updated:

Views: 6019

Rating: 4.2 / 5 (53 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Rev. Porsche Oberbrunner

Birthday: 1994-06-25

Address: Suite 153 582 Lubowitz Walks, Port Alfredoborough, IN 72879-2838

Phone: +128413562823324

Job: IT Strategist

Hobby: Video gaming, Basketball, Web surfing, Book restoration, Jogging, Shooting, Fishing

Introduction: My name is Rev. Porsche Oberbrunner, I am a zany, graceful, talented, witty, determined, shiny, enchanting person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.