He used to make it only when the snow was flying, usually on his days off from his job as an ICU nurse.
My sister and I knew Dad had baked bread as soon as we hit the door, just off the school bus. Our little house would be filled with a welcoming, unmistakable aroma, and big, crusty loaves of his signature whole-wheat bread (“Daddy Bread” to us) would be cooling on dishtowels on the counter. We’d eat some hot right then (if he’d let us), and multiple pieces of “Daddy toast” were often breakfast each morning before school. It was best with just a bit of butter – no jelly to overtake the nice, yeasty flavor, delicious!
Now that I’m a parent with my own little ones to feed, I see how important that bread was to my growing-up years. No matter what else was going on in life, Daddy Bread made me feel safe and cared about. It was almost like an extension of my strong, capable and loving father himself.
My parents are empty nesters now and have more time on their hands, so Dad bakes bread more often and they eat it almost daily. In fact, I’m not sure they even buy bread at the store anymore. (I should note here that my mother is also an excellent baker, lest I stricken from the will for failing to mention it.) My sister and I have also introduced Daddy Bread to our households, and while it’s the best — and easiest — bread recipe I use, she recently lamented to me with a sigh that “it never tastes quite the same as Dad’s.”
Even so, mine’s pretty good, and I hope someday my children will feel the same way I did, growing up and eating this bread: secure in the love of family and well-nourished, body and soul.
PrintDaddy Bread (Easy No-Knead Wheat Bread)
A wonderful supper bread and makes great toast. A little too crumbly for sandwiches.
- Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 3 loaves 1x
Ingredients
- 8–9 c. whole wheat flour
- 1/2 c. sugar
- 2 T. salt
- 3 pkg. dry yeast
- 2 c. water
- 2 c. milk
- 1/2 c. oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
- 2 eggs
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine 3 cups of flour, sugar, salt, and yeast.
- Heat water, milk, and oil in a saucepan until very warm (120-130 degrees).
- Add warmed liquids and eggs to dry ingredients. Blend at low speed (or by hand) until moistened.
- Beat 3 minutes at medium speed (or again, by hand – I never use my mixer for this recipe and the bread turns out splendidly).
- By hand, stir in 5-6 cups of flour. Use enough flour to form a stiff batter (it will be rather sticky).
- Cover and let rise until double.
- Stir down and spoon into 2 greased bread pans. (NOTE: I use 3 pans – unless you have enormous bread pans, they will run over when they bake! Learned from experience.)
- Let rise another 20-30 minutes.
- Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes.
Notes
From the More With Less Cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre. Copyright ©1976, 2000 by Herald Press, Scottdale PA 15683. Used by permission.
- Prep Time: 90 min
- Cook Time: 40 min
Keywords: no-knead wheat bread, wheat bread, no-knead bread, bread, homemade bread, diy bread
[…] I grew up on homemade bread, but somehow working with yeast scared me for years. Until I tried my father’s tried-and-true “no knead” recipe. Voila – I had done it, and it was…easy! From there I moved on to making many different […]