I used Jim Lahey's recipe for
steccas from a previous post to experiment with using milk powder in a bread dough.
- 3 cups white bread flour (hard wheat)
- 1 1/2 cups tepid water
- 1/2 tsp yeast
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 1/4 cup milk powder
I mixed all the ingredients, and let the dough rise in a covered pot inside a pre-warmed oven (less than 170F) for 6 hours. Then I lightly kneaded the dough with some extra flour to dry it out a bit. I put it into a loaf pan, greased with olive oil, and let it rise in the re-warmed oven for 1 hour. Then I baked it for 25 minutes at 450F.
The powdered milk added some richness to the bread's flavor, and olive oil made the crust golden yellow and crunchy (the way that corn bread is crunchy). Meanwhile, the crumb was spongy. It could use a bit more salt. Otherwise, it's the kind of bread that would go well with soup or a dip.