Less Than One Hour Bread

Do you ever wake up and remember that you forgot bread at the store the previous night? This happens more often then I would care to admit. The good news is, my sister-in-law is one of the best chefs and bakers I know. Why is this good news? She shared with me her recipe for Less Than One Hour Bread. It takes only five ingredients, is extremely easy to make, and is absolutely fantastic. I have made it for a lot of extended family dinners, and everyone loves it. This recipe also works wonderfully for bread bowls if you are ever in need of a warm feel-good soup meal!

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups warm water
2 Tbsp yeast
2 Tbsp sugar
2 tsp salt
5 1/2 cups flour

Directions:
Preheat the oven at 450 degrees.
Mix yeast and warm water in a mixing bowl. Let them sit for a few minutes in order to activate the yeast properly. Make sure the water is lukewarm, not hot!, or it will kill the yeast.
Mix together the rest of the ingredients with the yeast mixture. To tell that the dough is done mixing, it will ball up, with hardly any dough sticking to the side of the bowl. If you live in a high elevation, I would add an extra half cup of flour.
Place the dough into a glass bowl and let it rise for 15 minutes.
Shape the bread into 2 loaves, and place on a cooking sheet. Let them rise for another 15 minutes. *To make soup bowls, just shape into circles.
Bake the loaves for 10-15 minutes. The outside of the bread will be a very light golden color.

Enjoy!

JR