BROA (PORTUGUESE CORNBREAD)

Broa (Portuguese Cornbread) image

This Portuguese cornbread is amazing with soup. Deserves to be more popular than it is.

Provided by Brian Genest

Categories Bread Yeast Bread Recipes White Bread Recipes

Time 4h20m

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 10

Ingredients

1 ½ cups milk, or as needed
4 pats unsalted butter
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 ½ cups cornmeal, or as needed
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 pinch white sugar
¼ cup warm water
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, or to taste

Steps:

Heat milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it begins to bubble. Whisk in butter and 2 teaspoons sugar. Add cornmeal and whisk until mixture reaches a thick, sauce-like consistency. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
In the meantime, sprinkle yeast and a pinch of sugar over warm water. Stir and let stand until yeast softens and begins to form a creamy foam, about 5 minutes.
Combine flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixture fitted with the dough hook. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed. Slowly pour in the milk mixture. Knead into a slightly dense dough. Remove from the bowl and roll into a ball.
Grease the sides of a bowl or pot with olive oil and add the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
Punch dough down and roll into 2 boules, or flat-bottomed balls. Place boules on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat. Sprinkle tops with flour and cover with plastic wrap again. Let rise until puffy, about 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Fill an oven-proof pot with 4 to 5 cups water and place on the bottom rack of the preheating oven.
Cut 4 shallow slits into the tops of the puffed bread boules in a cross pattern, 2 parallel lines up and 2 across.
Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Spritz tops with water from a spray bottle. Reduce oven temperature to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and continue baking until crusts are a deep brown, about 20 minutes. Remove breads from the pan and let cool for 20 minutes.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 257 calories, Carbohydrate 47.3 g, Cholesterol 6.3 mg, Fat 4.2 g, Fiber 2 g, Protein 6.5 g, SaturatedFat 1.6 g, Sodium 189 mg, Sugar 2.5 g