Jordan is not known for its loaves of bread; pita bread, sure, but loaves of fresh, whole wheat bread, NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. I started experimenting with baking fresh loaves a few months ago after I gave up on trying to locate everyday bread. I can buy beautiful French loaves at Paul’s in Abdoun, but their loaves are expensive and last for a day or two before going stale. (Raj LOVES this bread and ensures that I’m baking it about twice a week, making sure we have fresh bread for his weekend breakfast.)
Here’s the recipe that I’ve perfected through trial and error. It only takes a few minutes to prepare, requires about six hours of sitting on the counter to ‘bloom,’ requires another hour of rising in a loaf pan, and then one more hour in the oven and you’ve got yourself a fresh loaf of heaven.
Make 1 loaf
- 2 cups white flour
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 cups ice water, plus 1 tbl water
- 4 tbl sugar
- 3/4 tsp. yeast
- 1 3/4 tsp salt
- 3 tbl canola oil (or whatever oil you have, I’ve used vegetable oil and corn oil)
- baking spray for the tin and bowl
1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl. Mix and fold all of the ingredients, making sure that all of the flour at the bottom of the bowl is blended. The consistency of the dough is very wet and sticky, no need to fuss over it. Spray the top of the dough with cooking spray. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave on the counter for at least 6 hours or overnight. (I’ve accidentally left it out for more than 18 hours and it still turned out great).
2. After about 6 hours, the dough will be a little bubbly and will have risen close to the bowls upper edge. Spray a rubber scraper with cooking spray, fold the dough in towards the center to release it from the bowl’s edges and scrape the dough into a prepared (with cooking spray) loaf pan. Spray the top of the loaf with cooking spray, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise for about an hour, or until the dough rises over the top of the edge of the loaf pan.
3. Remove the plastic wrap from the risen loaf, preheat the over to 350 degrees for about 15 minutes. With a serrated knife, slash a line down the center of the bread; sprinkle with the top of the loaf with about 1 tablespoon of whole wheat flour. Place the loaf in the oven and bake for approximately 60 minutes until the loaf is golden brown and sounds hollow when you tap it.
4. Allow the loaf to cool for about 10 minutes before removing the loaf pan.
Jen Maan in Amman 
There really isn’t anything like fresh homemade bread! I love making bread, in going to have to try this recipe- I’m on the hunt for the perfect sandwich bread… Any suggestions? I haven’t made one light enough that you dont feel like you’ve just eaten a brick, but strog enough to hold fillings.
Try this recipe, it’s prefect for sandwiches.
Yay! I’ll try it Sunday – today is for running around like a chicken with my head cut off….
Is this from Kneadlessly Simple? I just bought some artisnal whole wheat from of all places, Walmart. It’s from a family farm in Kansas. I also have been looking at whole wheat bread recipes in the new Earthbound Cook book I just got. One of her recipes also calls for bread flour so I picked some of that up. I’ll try yours or her recipe and let you know how it turns out,
He insures or ensures?
Jen, the bread looks delicious. We are really spoiled here in the U.S. as bread is so easy to purchase. Your recipe takes a long time to go through all the steps. I made pizza dough on Friday and it turned out terrific. Could have something to do with the new pizza pan that your sister gave me for Mother’s Day.
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I bet it smells amazing too!
I love the smell of freshly baked bread.
me too. I miss my breadmaker {yes I know, lazy!) but it woke me up most mornings with such a delicious smell. It’s safely boxed up in storage 😦
This bread looks great. I really like flat bread. When I lived in the Netherlands, I missed bagels so much, that I made them.
Bagels wow! That is a little harder make than bread.
Oh, not too bad time wise. A little more labor intensive, maybe. Hard to get those little devils into a nice shape by hand.
I have never tried no knead bread an this could be the time for me to do it. Just one question, 4 tablespoons of sugar??? Did I read right?
Yep, 4 to offset the whole wheat flour. I keep meaning to substitute honey, but I haven’t gotten around to experimenting yet.
I love this, do you mind if I reblog this?
Not at all. Enjoy!
Thank you! 🙂
Wow I didn’t know it’s that hard to find loaves of bread in Jordan… But this homemade one sure looks amazing! Keep up the good work! A real pleasure reading your posts 🙂
Reblogged this on Yummyfoodmadeeasy and commented:
I love this idea, nothing like freshly baked bread!!
Yes, I used to live in Luxor – I know how hard it can be to find certain forms of bread. Fresh bread rolls was always a craving for me. And I would of made them except I’m terrible at making bread, I don’t know why, it just never works for me. But I will give your recipe a try.
This bread looks and sounds so good. And Mason won’t be allergic, so I’m eager to try this one. Thank you for sharing.
I think even I could make that! I’m going to pin this recipe and try it out sometime.
How long have you been living in Jordon? It’s very interesting to read about the different ways of life on your blog, such as the fact that it’s difficult to find loaves of bread and how expensive shopping can be (that must be frustrating!). Do you plan to stay in Amman indefinitely or is it a temporary thing based on yours or Raj’s work? (You don’t have to answer if this is too personal off course, I’m being quite nosy, but I was curious!)
It’s the easiest thing ever. I made a bunch of loaves and froze them too–they freeze exceptionally well.
I’ve been in Jordan 15 months and I’m looking forward to returning to the states soon. It was just a temporary stint for Raj’s job.
Are you heading to the middle east in your travels? I saw that you’re heading back to Australia, but didn’t see the ME on your itinerary. Despite the terrible news that you hear on TV, Jordan is stable and relatively safe.
Happy travels and thanks for visiting my site!
What a fantastic experience to have lived in a country with a completely different culture for a period of time – doing a stint in the UK from Australia isn’t nearly as impressive. 😉
I have to admit we don’t have any immediate plans to visit the ME… I have the (probably unjustified) feeling that it might be like Morocco with regard to the hassling for money/bargaining culture that I just don’t deal with very well. (I struggled in Morocco because of it and didn’t particularly enjoy it as a result.) I need to get over that though… maybe I’ll build up a tolerance in SE Asia first and see how I go. I know there are some amazing sights to see in Jordon!
I totally hear you with the haggling stuff. I have no tolerance for it and end up getting ripped off ALL the time. Raj on the other hand LOVES to haggle and makes a game of it. My problem is that if I want something I cant walk away from it and you have to be willing to do that. Good luck in SE Asia. I can’t wait to see the pictures!
Where did you find whole wheat flour in Amman?
I found it at all of the grocery stores, Spinny’s, Cosmos’s…