Sticky Mifan

A multi purpose bread recipe that is customizable and will have you turning out loaf after loaf, becoming a bread loaf master!

In the mornings, we are a bread family. I have been eating bread for breakfast since I was about 4 years old. Starting with my grandma’s peanut butter and banana sandwich to now, multiple combinations of bread with various spreads, jams, jellies, cheese, meats, or fruits. A perfect bite of sweet or savory, or a bit of both. Currently, one of my favorite combos is toasted bread with melted Port Salut cheese, with a generous drizzle of Sriracha and slices of Prosciutto. The creaminess of the Port Salut balances the spice from the Sriracha and enhances the saltiness of the Prosciutto.

Ingredients

• 2 tbs butter
• 1/2 – 1 tsp yeast
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 4 cups AP flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups oatmeal
• 1/2 cup of seeds of your choice: flaxseed, chia seeds, etc (optional)

Directions

Please allow enough time: 1-2 hours for the butter to soften and yeast to sit in water

12-24 hours (depending on room temperature) for dough to rise

Another 3 hours for a second rise and 1 hour to bake

Due to this, my dad would start the process about 25-30 hours before wanting to eat the bread

1. Put 2 tbs butter into a mixing bowl. Put yeast into 2 1/4 cups water. The original recipe uses about 1/2 tsp of yeast, but my dad uses closer to 1 tsp. If your yeast is in little packets, use half of one. It takes a whole for the yeast to reactivate in the water, maybe an hour so you can soften the butter at the same time.
2. Add 2 tsp salt and 1/3 cup brown sugar to the butter and smush it all together. Then add 4 cups AP flour, 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 cups of oatmeal and about 1/2 cup of seeds (optional). If you don’t have whole wheat flour, it should work fine with all-purpose.
3. Mix the dry ingredients with a fork, mixer or your hand. Then slowly add the yeast/ water. Mix the everything together until it forms a dough and keep mixing for about 2 minutes. Then cover that bowl and put it in a warm spot. You want the dough to roughly double in size, which takes maybe 12 hours at 75 degrees, and 24 hours when it’s in the 60s.
4. When the dough is doubled in size, rub some oil around the inside of your cast iron pot. Spread maybe 1/4 cup of flour on the countertop or dining table, dump the dough on it, and knead the dough for a few minutes until most of the flour is absorbed. Put the dough in the cast iron pot, cover and return to a warm spot.
5. In about 3 hours the dough will have risen again. Make a few slices across the top with a sharp knife; this keeps bubbles from forming, and it’s normal for the dough to drop a bit.
6. Put the covered cast iron pot in a cold oven, set temperature to 450F and start baking. After about 48 minutes remove the lid, re-close oven, and bake for about 10 minutes. The goal is for the top of the bread to look nicely browned but not burnt. Remove from oven and turn it off. After a few minutes upend the pot and put bread on a rack to cool and your done! Happy bread baking!