Bread Making for Dummies – Perfect Recipe

THE EASIEST BREAD RECIPE EVER

Do you envy your friends who can produce a fresh loaf before breakfast or think bread is well beyond your baking skills? Get ready to impress everyone around you with this simple 5 step recipe and never visit a bakery again!

You’ll need:

4 cups flour

1 sachet (7g) dried yeast

1 tsp salt

1 ¼ cups of hand hot water

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp clear honey

Instructions:

1. Grab a large bowl. Tip in the flour (you can sift it if you like, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t or won’t!) Add the yeast and salt and give it a mix with your hands so everything is combined. Spoon in your Olive Oil and honey to the water. To check if it is the right temperature, put your hand in it. If you can keep your hand in comfortably then it’s hand hot. If not you’ve probably got a 3rd degree burn and may want to see a doctor before carrying on. Pour wet ingredients into the dry and stir until it forms a nice soft dough.
2. Lightly sprinkle some flour on a flat surface and be prepared for the flour to get everywhere!  Tip out the dough and kneed for 5 minutes. How you need it up to you – popular methods include stretching the dough, hitting the dough and the ‘pizza’ spinning method. It really doesn’t matter how you do it, just get the dough to the point where is stretchy and no longer tacky.
3. Rub a little oil around the inside of your loaf tin and place the dough in, pressing it into all the corners – gently please!  Cover with a plastic bag and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until the dough fills the tin.  Suggestions for warm places include an airing cupboard, sun-drenched window ledge or take it to the beach with you – pretty much anywhere but the fridge.
4. To make your loaf look like it’s come from the local bakery you can make a couple of cuts across the top of the dough and sprinkle a little flour over the top. Place in an oven that been heated to 400 F and bake for 30-35 mins.
5. When done, tip it out of the tin and, so you look like a pro, tap the bottom of the loaf. It should sound hollow. If not, you might like to put it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Place on a rack and leave it to cool. Obviously this will be difficult – the house smells of fresh bread, your loaf is just sat there tempting you – but resist. Leave for as long as you can (ideally about 20 mins) before you cut yourself a slice to enjoy.

Recipe shared by Susie.