This recipe for home made bread is bread baking in it’s simplest form. Making bread at home is a lot easier than most people realise and also produces bread that can be much healthier than the store bought variety.
You only need a few basic ingredients to produce delicious bread and fill your home with the lovely fresh baked aroma. Once you master this simple home made white bread recipe you can experiment with adding other ingredients to create your own special bread variety.
You don’t need a bread machine or even a mixer to prepare the dough. Just a large bowl and some table space to do a little kneading. The kneading only takes about ten minutes and can be a great stress reliever. That’s just another benefit of making bread at home.
Ingredients
All you really need to produce bread at home is four basic ingredients. This recipe produces enough for two large loaves or you can form into other shapes or even bread rolls if you choose.
1 kilogram White Bread Flour
20 grams Salt
14 grams Dry Activated Yeast (2 sachets)
600 ml Water (slightly warm or “tepid”)
That’s it, that’s all you need. Now grab a large bowl and get ready for the next step.
Method
Place all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl and give them a dry mix with a wooden spoon (it doesn’t have to be wood, I’m just a traditionalist).
Make a well in the center and pour in the water.
Gradually stir the flour into the water until it is all incorporated. Flour can vary or even humidity can make a difference so you might find you need to add a little more flour or water to produce a workable dough. You don’t want it too sticky or to tough to work with.
Now it’s time to get your hands dirty. Turn your dough out onto a floured surface. A board or even just your table top is fine. Start kneading the dough. Feel free to stretch, pull or punch the dough in all directions. Then roll it back up and stretch, pull or punch again. Any technique you choose will be fine, just keep working the dough for about 10 minutes until it is even in texture.
Now roll the dough into a ball and place it into a lightly greased container that can be covered. You can use your mixing bowl if it has enough room for the dough to double in size, or use a large plastic container or even a bucket. Cover with a lid, plastic wrap or a damp towel.
Place the dough in a warm place (not too hot, yeast starts to die above 50 C) until it doubles in size. This will take about 1 hour. Don’t worry if you can’t find a spot warm enough, it will still rise but it will just take a little longer.
Once your dough has doubled, punch it down and take it out of the container. Now divide it into 2 even portions. Press the pieces out flat and then roll into loaf shapes.
Place the dough pieces into large loaf tins and cover again to allow to rise. Plastic wrap or a damp towel will be fine. Sit in a warm place and allow the dough to rise until it reaches the top of the tin.
While the dough is rising, preheat your oven to 230 C (450 F)
Once the dough has reached the top of the tin remove the cover and place in your pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes. You can check if it is baked by knocking on the crust and listening for a hollow sound.
Remove from tins and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Enjoy your fresh bread!
