BREAD RECIPE WITHOUT A BREAD MAKER

A good friend of mine was to the rescue once again. She is a very practical person and is quite knowledgeable too. The other week, she told me on the phone that she had found a new bread recipe and after trying it for herself, she shared the recipe with me as well. 

I cannot thank her enough for this recipe as it is such a winner. Easy to make, hard to go wrong with and is delicious. We have been enjoying our homemade bread on a regular basis since trying this recipe for the first time almost a month ago. 

Here is how we make our bread without the use of a bread making machine these days. 

Ingredients: 

4 cups of plain flour (or you can mix it with some wholemeal flour, which is what we have been doing recently)

2 cups of warm water

1 tablespoonful of olive oil

10g of yeast (or one and a half sachets)

1 small teaspoonful of salt

1 large teaspoonful of brown sugar
Seeds (optional) (linseed, pepittas, sunflower seeds etc)

White Bread: Plain flour, warm water, yeast, sugar, salt and oil

Ingredients: Some wholemeal&some plain flour, warm water, sugar, salt, olive oil, yeast, linseed, pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together and make a soft and non-sticky dough. Place it in a bowl or a container, put a clean kitchen towel on it and leave it to rest until the dough doubles the size. Since it is nice and sunny here in Melbourne these days, I just leave it outside in the sun for a few hours and it works really well. 

Once it doubles the size, work it just a little bit once again and put it in a container that you will be baking it in. Don't forget to lay some baking paper under it. I also make some little cuts with a knife at an angle at this stage because it adds to the professional look of it at the end.

Put a cover over it again and leave it to rest once more. Again, I have the luxury to put it in the sun. However, if you don't, you can turn on your oven for a bit, then put it in there leaving its door open. The warmth of the oven will work just fine too.

Once it is ready, which is when it grows as big as you would like it to grow (it generally takes 2-4 hours for me in the sun), bake it in an oven set to high or 180C until the top is nicely pink and then turn down the heat (to low or around 160C) and let it bake until it has a beautiful bread colour.

The smell that it gives away while cooking is priceless. We enjoy every step of it and are definitely happy with the result we have each time. Mr. Junior has been involved in the process as well and for the last three times, he has been the main cook and I have only been helping him with little bits and pieces. Believe it or not, my four year old son, also known as Mr. Junior, now knows how to make bread and does a pretty good job of it even though there is some room for improvement! Here are a few pictures from one of Mr. Junior's bread making experiences.

Lunch with Mr. Junior's bread

Note: Depending on the type of flour you use, the water absorption level may differ. You may have to alter the water amount depending on your needs. Make sure that your dough is soft but not sticky.

Appreciate something homemade/handmade today!