Bread Bakers - need your help

[thewesterberg]

Okay, so this may be a weird question...

I'm working on a deal where we'd like to ask people to put together "bread kits" (have the flour, sugar, yeast etc all measured out and put into a container - realize the yeast should probably be separated in it's own baggie or just throw one of the packets in) so that people would only have to add the wet ingredients.

Would prefer that a bread maker isn't necessary.

And it needs to be a fairly plain bread (so that it can be used for communion - no onion or banana flavors!) We'd like to make it a yeast/leavened bread.

Is this possible? So many recipes say add 5-6 cups of flour... we'd like to be able to just send the kit home with people and give them the directions to add the milk/water/oil/whatever wet ingredients are necessary.

Thanks for your tips/recipes! I'm heading the kitchen now to experiment, but thought I'd throw the question out there in case if anyone has any tips or suggestions.

 

[gina2000]

Yeast is proofed using sugar so it is an important ingredient that needs to be separated out. Also, bread texture depends on the weather....heat and humidity play a huge role in how much flour must be added to form a smooth, not sticky mass.

You may want to include 6 cups of flour with directions to add only as much as the baker needs to form a smooth, elastic dough.

 

[SandrA9810]

You'll probably use about 5 cups while blending the ingredients, and the other cup while kneading the bread. Yeast comes in premeasured packets, I've picked up 3 for under a dollar.

I would also make sure all the dry ingredients should be separate from each other. You'll need flour, sugar, salt, and some recipes call for dry milk powder. Then water and butter are all that's left to add.

 

[Mimi1965]

I thought communion bread was unleavened-is this for a church?

 

[thewesterberg]

Thank you for the tips and suggestions! We're okay with it not being unleavened - our church is good with the bread either way. We're asking people/congregations to making up dry packages and donate them to the youth gathering we're doing. They'll include a signed note. At the youth gathering, the kids will get to pick out a package as a "take home" thing from youth gathering. The kids will bring them home and either with their family or with their youth group they'll make the bread to be used either at communion, to give a friend, a gift for an elderly person from their church, or to bring to a soup kitchen.

I think I found our recipe after spending loads of time combing the web... I'd been looking all afternoon and thought to post here, thinking maybe someone would have an idea as I was getting nowhere. Of course right I posted, I found a recipe! Made some to have with supper tonight and it tasted great! Plus it will work to have people pre-measure the flour, sugar, and salt into baggies/jars and have a pkg of yeast separate. No need to worry about adding things in a certain order or kneading it and adding flour "until it feels right" when we're dealing with non-bakers! Dump it into the bowl, add the water, let it double, bake, and share with someone else!

In case if anyone is wondering what the recipe is:

Easy and Decadent No-Knead Wheat Bread!

Ingredients:

3 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 package dry yeast
1 2/3 cup warm water

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl and add the water last. You can use an electric mixer, but I find a spoon works fine and is much easier to clean ;]

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and smooth out the top. Cover the dough with a towel or greased plastic wrap and let it rise for about and hour (until its doubled in size).

Bake in a 400° oven for about 35 minutes (until a toothpick comes out clean).

This is really a treat with a nice raspberry jam. Such a simple pleasure!