The Easiest No-Yeast Bread Dough

Submitted by Eric M.

"This is a simple recipe with most items available in pantry, or easily acquired at a market."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 10mins
• Ingredients: 10
• Yields: 1 Loaf
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 3 cups self rising flour, Sifted
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 (12 ounce) can sparkling water (Club, Seltzer, Soda Stream, Perrier, San Pellegrino, etc.)
• 4 tablespoons butter, or
• 1⁄2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds (optional)
• 1 tablespoon poppy seed (optional)
• 1 tablespoon dried herbs (optional)
• 1 tablespoon caraway seed (optional)
• 1 teaspoon spices (optional)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. For Bread, grease a loaf pan with 2 tablespoons softened butter, melt remaining butter. If using Olive Oil, then use it to coat pan and then brush additional over finished dough in pan. Any extra can be replaced to bottle. For Focaccia or Pizza, only use Olive Oil. The directions follow below.
3. Place mesh colander over large bowl and add flour and sugar. Sift into large bowl. Once in bowl, use this time to also add any flavoring such as herbs, spices, caraway seeds, etc,, if using, to flour. Make a well in flour and pour carbonated water into well and around flour. It will foam. Mix thoroughly with a plastic or silicone spoon until all liquid has coated all flour. Be sure to turn, and poke through, and check bottom for any dry flour and incorporate. The dough will be extremely sticky, and should be free of any dry flour.
4. Once done, If using butter, turn into buttered bread pan. Pour the melted butter over dough to completely cover then add optional sesame or poppy seeds, herbs or spices, if using.
5. If you prefer not to use butter, use Olive Oil (don't use your fancy, expensive stuff, just a regular olive oil or EVOO). Coat your pan, and the top of bread with it as you would have done with butter. This adds more flavor than a neutral oil.
6. If you would rather use the dough for Focaccia or Pizza Dough. then take a 9 X 13 rimmed baking sheet and pour most of the oil into pan (it should completely cover bottom of pan), It is recommended that you use Olive oil for this method rather than butter. Plop in dough and with oiled fingers press it and do simple finger poking movements to get it towards all ends of the pan. It should look like it is 'swimming' in oil, but that is okay, the excess oil will be absorbed into the dough. Cover and brush with any extra Olive Oil. You may not need whole half cup, so pour extra back in bottle.
7. If making Focaccia, cover with your favorite sliced veggies and sprinkle with some salt and pepper and place in over for 40 MINUTES. If making Pizza, place dough in oven and bake for 30 minutes, remove from oven, add sauce and cheese and whatever you like, put back in oven and cook additional 10-15 minutes.
8. For the bread loaves, cook for ONE HOUR. When you remove BREAD, let cool in pan for 15 minutes, then remove from pan, and place bread on rack.
9. For pizza/focaccia. let pan rest a few minutes, then with aid of large spatula which should be pushed under all sides to loosen dough, put on butcher block and slice and serve. (Pizza may be removed from pan sooner than 15 minutes, so you can slice and serve hot).
10. NOTE: Depending on the size of your bread pan, you may need a little more or less butter or Olive oil. Replace excess oil to bottle.
11. If you cannot obtain Self-rising flour, make a substitute using 3 cups Pastry Flour (Cake Flour is ok if free of other ingredients except just flour) or most AP flour (except King Arthur which is too high in gluten and too heavy). For the 3 cups, remove 2 Tablespoons of flour, and replace with 4 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoons fine salt.
12. ADDITIONAL NOTE: If you find it is not sweet enough you may try adding 1 tablespoon first and retry. It does serve a purpose, besides counteracting some of the bitterness of the baking powder, it helps keep the bread moist.
13. Using substitutes will either effect bake negatively or should NOT be used, such as honey, maple syrup or molasses. They contain acids which will interfere with the baking powder rising and throw off the liquid content. Even attempts with baking sweeteners like Splenda cause a weird clumping of the dough.
14. IF you cannot have sugar or gluten, this recipe is NOT for you.
15. Also, It will NOT work with Gluten-Free flour as there isn't enough structural support in GF flour for the baking powder to rise. It will just collapse.
16. DO NOT attempt to cook at higher temperature, it will cause the baking powder to reach its maximum lift too fast, while dough is still not fully baked, so when removed from oven it will collapse.
17. For weight purposes, my SR flour weighed 140 grams per cup, and 1 TB sugar was 12.5 grams, my Carbonated water was a 12 oz can, or 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) if using from bottle, If making Self-rising flour, remove 14 grams from 420 grams Pastry Flour and replace with 12 grams of baking powder, and 3 grams fine salt (rounded up).