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There's nothing quite like the aroma of freshly baked bread in your
own home, and devouring it while it's still warm and crusty. There are many
varied bread recipes around, but most are based on the same seven
ingredients: flour, yeast, milk (or milk powder), water, oil/butter/margarine,
salt, and sugar. A tried and tested learn2dostuff basic white bread
recipe is given below. Once you've perfected this basic white bread
you can play with the basic ingredients and add other flavours to make your
own breads.
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Basic white bread
recipe
Dough
ingredients
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1
packet dried yeast (7 g) - use a fresh new packet |
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4 cups high grade
bread flour (or plain flour) |
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3 teaspoons sugar |
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2
teaspoons salt |
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1½ Tablespoons
light extra virgin olive oil |
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200
ml milk |
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200
ml lukewarm water |
Dough preparation and
baking
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1. |
Combine the
lukewarm water (around 38°C or 100°F), yeast and sugar in a small bowl and let it stand for
about 10 minutes until the yeast begins to foam. If the yeast does not
foam it is too old. Do not continue making the bread with this yeast.
Start again with a fresh batch. |
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2. |
In a larger
bowl, combine half the flour, milk, oil, salt and yeast mixture,
and stir until well combined. |
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3. |
Gradually
mix in the remainder of the flour to form the dough. You may need to
use your bare hands towards the end. Remember to wash, dry, and flour
your hands first. |
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4. |
Transfer the
dough to a lightly floured surface. Lightly flour your hands and knead
the dough for about 10 minutes. The dough should be smooth and
workable. You may need to continually flour your hands and or surface
as you go. |
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5.
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Transfer the
dough to a large lightly-greased bowl. Cover the bowl with a towel and
stand it in a warm place for one hour to rise (proof) so that
the dough roughly doubles in size. You can make a warm place by briefly
preheating an oven for a couple of minutes then turning it off before placing the dough
in it to rise. (Make sure the inside of the oven is not so hot that
the towel ignites!). Alternatively, or in addition, place a separate
bowl of boiling water in the switched off oven along with the dough. |
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6. |
When the
dough has risen, transfer it to a lightly floured surface, and give it a few light punches
to deflate it. |
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7. |
Form
the dough into two loaves (any shape you like!) and transfer them to
lightly greased loaf tins or an open tray. |
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8. |
Allow
the loaves to rise for a further 45 minutes in a warm place (but do
not deflate them this time!). |
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9. |
Preheat
the oven 220°C (425°F) and bake
the loaves for 20-30 minutes or until they turn golden brown on the
outside and are cooked on the inside. Do not use the top tray of the
oven as this could cause the outside of the bread to burn before it is
cooked through. To test if a loaf is cooked, pierce
it with a skewer. If the skewer comes out damp or doughy, reduce the
heat to around 180°C (350°C) and cook a little longer, then test
again. |
Alternatively, you can use
a bread machine on the basic bread setting, which saves a lot of effort and
produces excellent results. Simply add the ingredients to the machine
in the order listed above (or as stated in your machine's manual), select the correct setting and press start. In
around 3 hours you'll have perfect bread!
Variations Here
are some variations on the basic white bread recipe. The ingredients listed
for each type below are generally added after you've made the basic dough
outlined above (after step 4). Try experimenting with your own combinations!
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Cheese & bacon bread: |
½
cup grated cheese, ½ cup chopped cooked bacon |
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Olive bread: |
3
Tbsp chopped pitted olives, 2 tsp mixed Italian herbs (optional) |
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Onion bread: |
¾
cup chopped onion |
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Tomato & basil bread: |
1-2
Tbsp fresh chopped basil, 1 Tbsp tomato paste. Flatten out the dough
to about 2 cm high. Cover the top in the tomato pate and basil, and
roll the dough into a loaf. |
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