Mock Sourdough Bread

I bet you all thought I was dead and gone.  Not so!  I've just been busier than a one legged man in a butt kicking contest!   (Thank you Dolly Parton, I've wanted to find a way to use that little gem forever!)  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  Mine was full of family, service, gifts and food!  Unfortunately, I never found a spare minute to share my recipes with you.  On the bright side, I'm all prepared for next Christmas.  Anyhoo.....

I have a really great bread recipe for you today.  I don't know about you, but I love sourdough bread.  I just don't love store bought sourdough bread.  And I'm not ambitious enough to try to make it from scratch.  Trying to catch wild yeast spores just intimidates me.  Enter this version of "sourdough" bread.  Instead of fermenting the dough, or whatever it is you do to make sourdough from scratch, this uses plain yogurt to give it flavor.  It has a really nice tang to it just like sourdough should.

Now, I'll be honest, it doesn't taste exactly like real sourdough.  But honestly, I don't really care.  It is close enough in flavor and so much easier to make than the real stuff that I'll deal with the flavor difference, especially since this is delicious.  We use it for sandwiches, eat it with soup and make bread sticks out of it.

Mock Sourdough Bread
Makes 1 large loaf

2 cups plain yogurt
1 T yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1 T honey
2 tsp salt
1 T oil
4 - 5 cups flour, divided

 Heat yogurt just to lukewarm. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in yogurt, honey, salt, oil and 2 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Gradually remaining flour just to make a smooth dough.Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. (If using a heavy duty mixer, let dough knead for 7 minutes.)

Place dough in a greased bowl; turn once and leave greased side up. Cover and let rise until double, about 1.5 hours. Punch down. Divide the dough into 8 equal portions or form one large round loaf on a greased baking sheet. Let rise, covered, for 30 minutes.

Heat oven to 375. Brush loaf (or loaves) with cold water and bake until it sounds hollow when tapped, about 30-35 minutes for small loaves or 45-50 minutes for one large loaf. Brush or mist with water every 10 minutes to get a crisp crust. Cool on a wire rack.

Source:  101 Things to Do With Yogurt