White Bread

Course: Sides Servings: 4/5

Prep time: 10 min

Cook time: 20 minutes PLUS time to prove

Difficulty level: Easy but takes time (worth the effort)

Author: Jennifer Sargison

You can’t beat the smell of freshly baked bread wafting throughout the house and the taste of warm, homemade bread is just the best.

If you’ve ever thought that you’d love to try and bake bread but are worried that it’s going to be really tricky then I’m happy to say that it’s really simple. It does take a bit of time to prepare as you need to wait for the dough to rise for at least an hour, twice. You may wish to do the first preparation in the evening and let the bread rise overnight but it is also doable to make the loaf and just leave it to do it’s thing whilst you get on with another job.

Ingredients

500g strong white flour

2 tsp salt

7g yeast

3 tbsp olive oil

300 ml warm water (boiled and cooled to a warm/room temperature)

Method

  • Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a bowl

  • Make a well in the centre of the flour, add the olive oil and water and mix until a ball is formed.

  • Flour a clean work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes. You will know when the dough has been kneaded for long enough as is goes smooth and silky (10 minutes is usually enough when I knead the dough, a little longer if children are kneading)

  • Place the dough in a bowl and cover with a clean tea-towel and leave to rise/prove for at least an hour or overnight. (the dough will rise better overnight but still works well after an hour)

  • After the dough has had enough time to rise you’ll need to punch the air out of the dough. It will seem to deflate but this is what should happen

  • Shape the dough into whatever bread shape you’d like - bread rolls, a round artisan shaped dough or place in a lined bread tin for a classic loaf tin shape. Leave for an additional hour to rise again.

  • Pre-heat the oven whist the bread is having it’s final time to rise and bake for 20-25 minutes for a loaf or a little less for bread rolls.

  • Keep an eye on the bread as you can often see when it’s ready, as it goes golden on top. The best way to test if it’s ready is to turn over the bread and tap on the base, if it has a hollow sound when tapped then it’s ready.

If you do make this then I hope you love it

Any thoughts or comments?

Leave a message below and I will get back to you

Big love, Jen x

All Recipes, Sides DipsJennifer SargisonLove Vegan by JenniferThe easiest white bread recipe, Bake your own bread, Fresh from the kitchenComment