This is the fastest, easiest, and as a bonus, possibly the cheapest bread you can make. My kids have helped me make this and they have the attention span of a gnat. It’s just that fast. And I’m lazy, so you know it has to be easy if I make it. The hardest part is the kneading, but I actually enjoy it. Its therapeutic.
With this recipe you can have two small rustic looking loaves in an hour and 15 minutes. It’s delicious warm with dinner, but also makes excellent sandwiches the next day.
I learned how to make bread when I was 12. My 4-H teachers would probably shake their heads at how easy this bread is to make.
I adapted the recipe slightly from one in The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyzyn. We use less yeast than the original recipe – it tastes better and the bread still rises just as much.
Cuban Bread
- 5-6 cups all purpose flour (you can substitute whole wheat for 1-2 cups)
- 1 tbsp dry yeast
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 cups hot water (120-130 degrees)
- 1 tbsp sesame or poppy seeds (optional)
Mix 4 cups of flour with yeast, sugar and salt. Pour in hot water and beat for ~100 strokes (or 3 minutes with a mixer). Stir in remaining flour until dough is no longer sticky. Knead dough for 8 minutes.
Place dough in greased bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 15 minutes (you might be tempted to let it rise longer, thinking it’ll be even better, but it really makes no difference in the end. 15 minutes or an hour and a half, the dough turns out the same).
Punch down and divide into 2 pieces. Shape into 2 round loaves and place on a baking sheet. Cut an X ½ inch deep on the top with a sharp knife. Brush with water and sprinkle with seeds.
Place on the middle shelf of a COLD oven. Place a cake pan of hot water on the lowest shelf. Heat oven to 400F. Bake 40-50 minutes until golden brown.
Linking to The Delectable Home, This Chick Cooks, Farmgirl Friday, A Pinch of Joy, GNOWFGLINS, Mind Body and Sole
Love this! Will have to give it a try sometime. I used to bake bread all the time when I was in high school, but haven’t in YEARS!
Me too, then I got busy/lazy. But this is maximum gain for minimum effort.
Bookmarked!
And me. I plan on trying to make this in the bread maker. How’s that for lazy? ha! 🙂
Let me know how it works – hadn’t thought of that.
Oh a fellow 4-H-er! Soooo glad my mom made me go to those meetings when I was being an obstinate teenager! I’m passing this recipe onto a friend looking for a good bread recipe. Thank you!
This looks easy and good. I’ll have to try it!
I’m not only lazy, but I’m also a complete failure at any bread that does not involved a bread machine. I’ll have to put this to the ultimate test (or I may try the breadmaker like Jennifer) 🙂 Thanks for linking up!
Thank you for visiting and commenting on my post Images of Ireland. I’m so glad you did because that’s how I found your blog. I can’t wait to try this recipe! I’ve pinned it.
This looks great! I’ve spent the week with a borrowed mixer making my dad’s amazing white bread, French bread (incredibly easy—no kneading! See The Joy of Cooking recipe), and today is wheat bread. Methinks tomorrow will be cuban bread! I don’t like too much yeasty flavor either, so I’ll be giving the reduced yeast trick a try with several recipes. Thanks!
Hi I was gonna try to make this bread, which I haven’t made bread in years. I’m just wondering what kind of sugar does it have to be, could it even be honey?
I haven’t tried it with anything other than sugar, but it’s such a small amount, I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how it goes.
The honey worked (I used raw honey) the bread was delicious. My husband and I demolished one loaf right then and there. Thanks for the recepie.
You’re welcome – I’ll try it next time. Our first loave always gets eaten hot too. Glad you liked it!
Just made the bread to go with some veggies and hummus. Delicious! Why is it called Cuban Bread?
I honestly don’t know. There must be something similar made in Cuba?
I’ve made this bread four times or so now. It’s excellent. I used to make a 1 lb recipe that is almost identical. I love getting two loaves at once! Delicious!
And I wikipedia-ed Cuban bread: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuban_bread
This says there should be a little fat in the recipe, which we don’t have, but it’s still excellent bread.
I’m glad you like it – I love how fast it is to make. Thanks for the link – I might make the next one into a long loaf, like in the picture.
I think the reason fat was originally added to bread was so it sliced better. I don’t think it makes it taste any better.
I’m so looking forward to making this bread tomorrow. Do you knead yours by hand? I am tempted to leave it in my stand mixer…
I do knead it by hand – I like kneading. I have a dough hook on my mixer, but find this doesn’t take much time. I don’t even take my mixer out.
Oh my goodness, this is just lovely. I don’t know if one of these loaves will make it until the end of naptime–it’s the perfect amount of chewy and crunchy with my mug of tea. My girlfriends always ask me to come over and teach them how to bake bread. I am going to send them to your blog. What a great introduction to the basics this will make! Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad you liked it – we usually eat the first loaf right away too. The second loaf makes great sandwich bread the second day. If it lasts that long.
I tweaked it a bit, but still uses your basic method and used it in my post today. I hope this is OK (I’m still new to blogging). http://therowdyhouse.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/oats-peas-beans-and-barley-dinner/
It’s absolutely fine!
[…] 3. Quick Cuban Bread by LightlyCrunchy. “This is the fastest, easiest and as a bonus, possibly the cheapest bread you can make.” […]
[…] you can use for all of your wood kitchen items from wooden spoons to cutting boards.” 3. Quick Cuban Bread by LightlyCrunchy. “This is the fastest, easiest and as a bonus, possibly the cheapest bread […]
[…] “quick” bread is adapted from Lightly Crunchy’s Cuban Bread recipe. I think you’ll find the crunchy crust and chewy center perfect for soaking up any […]