Incredible Cuban Bread

"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!"
 
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photo by Zimply add water photo by Zimply add water
photo by Zimply add water
Ready In:
1hr 15mins
Ingredients:
6
Yields:
2 loaves
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ingredients

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directions

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

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Reviews

  1. 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.
     
  2. I used this recipe a lot as a kid when cooking for my family of 11. I lost the recipe and found it again today. I can't believe how quick and easy it is. It's especially perfect to be served with soup or if you just need to fill out a meal.
     
  3. 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.
     
  4. 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.
     
  5. I can't believe how fast this went. I also like the idea of starting it in a cold oven to save electricity. The flavor was good and well rounded. I messed the crust up because I forgot the pan of water. Mine didn't rise as high in the oven, but it was probably because I subbed one cup of white flour with spelt (I'm trying to use it up) and it is lower gluten. The only thing that would make this better is if I could figure out how to make it 100% whole wheat, but I can see myself making it often.
     
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Tweaks

  1. I can't believe how fast this went. I also like the idea of starting it in a cold oven to save electricity. The flavor was good and well rounded. I messed the crust up because I forgot the pan of water. Mine didn't rise as high in the oven, but it was probably because I subbed one cup of white flour with spelt (I'm trying to use it up) and it is lower gluten. The only thing that would make this better is if I could figure out how to make it 100% whole wheat, but I can see myself making it often.
     
  2. As you said in the description, "This is wonderful bread!" It is so easy and fast (for a yeast bread) and produces such a wonderful loaf! I made 2 subs- I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of white and sucanat instead of sugar, but other than that, followed the recipe exactly. I made a half recipe, and found I only needed the lesser ammount of 'white' flour (1 cup for me, but 2 cups for the full recipe). It is wonderfully dense chewy with a wonderful artesian crust. I baked mine on my pizza stone and followed your suggestion of brushing the top with water and sprinkling with sesame seeds. Only 1 thing- My bread hadn't really risen at all after 15 minutes, so next time I might give it a longer rising time, or let it rise in the pan or both. It did make a rather smallish loaf (which is fine by me, since its just BF and myself). This is a wonderful recipe for a simple healthful bread. It worked perfectly (I have had issues with other yeast bread recipes I have tried) and is SO EASY! Thank you, Jen... I will make this often!
     

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Life without change is boring. And my life is never boring!! I don't know what plans have been made for us for the future, but I'm doing my best to enjoy the ride!
 
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