Published: · Updated: by Kevin Williams | 8 Comments
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Few things distinguish an Amish home from others than the smell of freshly baked bread wafting through the air from the ovens. It's a smell I welcome whenever I visit an Amish home.
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Amish bakers shape and create all sorts of breads, from crusty artisan bread loaves to basic white. When the bread is crusty on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside, it's hard to resist. But why pay top dollar for craft bread at the bakery when you can easily bake your own at home? In this post , we'll share a delicious recipe for crusty bread that will leave you craving more. Not only is it simple to make, but it's also incredibly satisfying to watch the dough rise and transform into a golden loaf of bread. Whether you're an experienced baker or a novice in the kitchen, this recipe is sure to impress. So grab your mixing bowl and let's get started on creating a warm and inviting aroma that will have your family and friends gathered around the table in no time.
🍞 An Amish Recipe
For those who care about such things, the sugar's role in any bread recipe is primarily to "feed" the yeast and creates a faster rising. But you wouldn't have to have sugar in the bread at all, the recipe would still work, it might just take longer to rise.
So, I quickly realized that this "maple bread" wasn't really maple-y at all, it is just a basic bread recipe that uses maple syrup in place of sugar for the "yeast feeding." I certainly could not detect even a hint of maple in the final flavor.
Seeing how easy this recipe was and how low on bread we were, though, this seemed like a perfect baking project with my girls (back when they were both so young!). Below are some pictures, with a few more thoughts in the captions.
📜 Step-By-Step Crusty Bread Recipe
This recipe is mostly your basic bread. The maple syrup is the sugar in this recipe, but you can't taste it in the end. But you do get a wonderful crust on this bread. As you can see, I used all-purpose flour and it worked fine for this homemade bread, but you could use bread flour. You could also easily do this same recipe using whole wheat flour. I've done a batch like that before and really like it.
We just let it sit at room temperature until the process was done.
We just used our hands, you could use a wooden spoon also during kneading. My girls love any knead bread recipes. I just let them beat up the dough with their hands, they love it! But you could also use a stand mixer with a dough hook.
See how nice at golden brown it looks at the end? You can line your baking sheet with parchment paper if you want and bake the bread on it. Then no baking sheet to scrub.
This recipe, by the way, comes to us from an Amish woman in Maine where, not surprisingly, maple syrup is used a lot in place to sugar there in almost all recipes. Nothing like a natural sugar straight from the trees! This recipe is so simple, not much prep time needed. We had it mixed and kneaded in what had to have been 15 minutes, allow it to rise for an hour, and then bake it. The bake time was only about 30 minutes.It really is a delightful, simple bread with a great taste. You can do this bread in total time of less than two hours. Just don't expect "maple bread."
I sliced this crusty bread up with a sharp knife and made sandwiches with it and it was great. It is also perfect to enjoy a hunk of with soup, or to put pimento cheese spread on. Kind of resembled a bruschetta. You can stick the loaves in an airtight container in the freezer for future use. Just thaw at room temperature.
The recipe calls for organic Maine maple syrup and in a perfect world, that is what you'd use, but use any syrup you have on hand. I think even pancake syrup would work. Enjoy!
🖨️ Full Recipe - Amish Crusty Bread
Amish Crusty Bread
This is a golden brown amazing loaf of bread that is easy to make but full of flavor!
3 from 4 votes
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Course bread
Cuisine American, Amish
Ingredients
- 1¼ cups very warm water (but not boiling)·
- ¼ cup organic Maine maple syrup
- 1½ tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1¼ teaspoons salt
- ¼ cup vegetable oil·
- 6 cups white flour
Instructions
In a large bowl, mix the maple syrup with the warm water, and then stir in yeast.Allow to proof until yeast resembles a creamy foam.
Mix salt and oil into the yeast. Mix in flour one cup at a time. Knead dough on slightly floured surface until smooth. Place in a well-oiled bowl, and turndough to coat. Cover with a damp cloth. Allow to rise until doubled in bulk,about 1 hour.
Punch dough down. Knead for a few minutes; then divide in half. Shape into loaves,and place into two well-oiled 9 x 5 inch loaf pans. Allow to rise for 30minutes, or until dough has risen 1 inch above pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 30 minutes.
Remove loaves from pans and place on cooling rack. Cool thoroughly before slicing
Keyword Bread, crusty bread
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About Kevin Williams
Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.
Reader Interactions
Comments
Carolyn
I love that your daughters are interested in breadmaking and working with yeast. My Mother tried to get me interested in baking/cooking, but I didn't pay much attention. She made wonderful breads and rolls, and now that she's in Heaven I realize how I took all her wonderful cooking talents so for granted. I also love that you have a jar of yeast, instead of the packets. Mom always said to bring home just the 3-pack was a waste of her time!
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Kevin
They both like to bake, but I think they like to eat what we bake even more!
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Janice K Sosh
If you don't have maple syrup, can you use sugar instead?
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Kevin Williams
Yes, Janice, you can use sugar instead.
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Alison DeVito
If sugar is used, would it be a 1/4 of a cup?
Kevin Williams
Yes, Alison, just swap out the syrup for 1/4 cup sugar.
Colette Empey
That’s not a lot of yeast. Is 1/2 tbsp a misprint?
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Kevin Williams
Thank you, Colette, the 1 somehow got knocked off...good eye, it should 1 1 1/2 tablespoons, I Have corrected it!
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