Cuban Bread

ladypit's Note:

This is a slight adaption of a recipe from Amy Dacyczyn's "The Complete Tightwad Gazette." We lived on this bread when my son was little as we could not afford to buy regular sliced bread. We often make 12 rolls instead of the 2 loaves. This is wonderful bread!

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 2 loaves

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 -4 cups white flour
• 2 tablespoons yeast
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 cups hot water (120-130 degrees)

Directions:

1. Mix the 2 cups whole wheat and 2 cups of the white flour together.
2. Add the yeast, the sugar, and the salt.
3. Pour in the hot water and beat for 100 strokes (or 3 minutes with a mixer).
4. Stir in the rest of the flour until it is no longer sticky.
5. Knead it for 8 minutes.
6. Put the dough in a metal bowl that you have sprayed with cooking spray.
7. Cover it with a damp towel.
8. Let it rise for 15 minutes.
9. Punch it down.
10. Divide it into 2 pieces.
11. Shape each piece into a round loaf and put them on a baking sheet that you have sprayed with cooking spray.
12. Cut an x in the top of each loaf.
13. If you want you can brush the top with water and put sesame seeds or poppy seeds on top.
14. Put the pan on the middle rack of a cold oven.
15. Put a pan of boiling water on the bottom shelf.
16. Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
17. Bake the bread for 40-50 minutes or until it is deep golden brown.
18. **Ifyou want to use your food processor, put all the dry into the bowl.
19. Turn it on and slowly add the water until the dough forms a ball.
20. Let it spin 20 times.

Reviews

[Misty Mathews]

I made this bread today and it was very good. The bread is dense and chewy and has a good crust. My husband really liked it also. I did let the dough rise longer (45 min)on the first rise and I also allowed for a second rise of 30 minutes in the pan.

[Chef #725332]

These are ok but not spectacular. I let it rise a lot more than the recipe said, 3 rises (1.5h, 1h, 15min.) but the bread was still very dense. I would have liked a more airy bread considering all the yeast it used. I probably won't make it again.

[Cat Berner]

I really liked how easy this bread was to make, and the dense, chewy texture of it was perfect for sandwiches. I don't think it would be something I'd make regularly since the basic wheat bread recipe I normally make uses less yeast and yields more bread overall(hence more bang for my buck), but it was nice to try something a little different.