never made bread before....

asparagus1968

I'd like to make bread rolls for our packed lunches.
I have some packets of dried yeast!
Any easy-peasy recipes that don't need loads of ingrediants please?
Do you need strong bread flour or can you use plain flour? (as I already have that in)


thanks in advance

Steve059

Try this ...

BREAD

Makes a 500g loaf, 8 big or 16 little rolls

INGREDIENTS

500g of strong flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons or 1 sachet of yeast
300ml of warm water
A little more flour
A little olive or sunflower oil
A little more olive or sunflower oil
A little more flour

METHOD

If you are using fresh or dried yeast, activate and add it according to the instructions on the packet.

Put the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Make a hole in the middle and add the water. Mix thoroughly, until the dough sticks to itself, instead of sticking to you or the bowl. If the dough seems a little stiff, add another 1 tablespoon of water.

Leave it to prove for 1 hour, or in the fridge overnight, until it has doubled in size.

Sprinkle a little more flour onto a clean, dry work surface. Knead the dough, by using the heel of your hands to push half of the dough away from you. Turn it over, turn it around a bit and repeat the above, for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, silky and elastic. The idea is to stretch the gluten within the dough, not to beat the [CENSORED] out of it.

Wash and dry the bowl, and rub a little oil around it. Put the dough back into it and leave it to prove again for 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.

Hit the top of the dough. It should collapse, as you knock the air out of it.

If you are going to make bread rolls, cut the dough into 8 or 16 bits, and roll each bit into a ball or a sausage shape.

Rub a little more oil over a baking tray or loaf tin. Place the dough on the baking tray or in the loaf tin and leave it to prove yet again for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.

Dust the dough with a little more flour. Cut slits or a cross into the top with a sharp knife.

Cook in a preheated oven at 220°C, 425°F, gas mark 7 for 25 to 30 minutes until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Leave to cool, ideally on a wire rack.

ADDITIONS & ALTERATIONS

Use white flour for white bread, brown flour for brown bread, wholemeal flour for wholemeal bread, etc. Different flours may require slightly different amounts of water.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. It makes the bread slightly softer, like French bread.

TIPS

Doing the first proving in the fridge overnight gives the bread a better flavour.

When you’ve mastered making bread rolls on a baking tray, invest in a loaf tin.

Steve059

I've just noticed that you've only got plain flour, so try this first ...

FOCACCIA BREAD

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

250g of plain white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons or 1 sachet of yeast
1 tablespoon of olive oil
150ml of warm water
A little more flour
A little more olive oil
2 tablespoons of olive oil

METHOD

If you are using fresh or dried yeast, activate it according to the instructions on the packet.
Put the flour, salt and yeast into a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Make a hole in the middle and add the tablespoon of oil and water. Mix thoroughly, until the dough sticks to itself, instead of sticking to you or the bowl.

Sprinkle a little more flour onto a clean, dry work surface. Knead the dough, by using the heel of your hands to push half of the dough away from you. Turn it over, turn it around a bit and repeat the above for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, silky and elastic. The idea is to stretch the gluten within the dough, not to beat the [CENSORED] out of it.

Put the dough back in the bowl. Cover it with a clean, damp tea towel, or cling film. Put the bowl somewhere warm for about 20 minutes until it has doubled in size.

Uncover it and hit the top of the dough. It should collapse, as you knock the air out of it.

Wipe a little more oil over a baking tray. Put the dough on the tray and spread it out until it’s 5mm to 1cm (¼ to ½ an inch) thick. Cover it again with the damp tea towel or cling film. Put it somewhere warm again for about 30 minutes until it has doubled in size again.

Make deep dimples all over the dough with your fingertip. Brush or drizzle the 2 tablespoons of oil over it.

Cook in a preheated oven at 220°C, 425°F, gas mark 7 for 20 to 25 minutes.

Allow to cool and eat warm.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

A few fresh rosemary leaves is the traditional garnish.

Add 4 sun dried tomatoes. Add 8 pitted black and/or green olives.

TIPS

This can be used as a base for pizza and calzone.

FairyPrincessk

Good recipes above.

You can make a loaf from plain flour. However, you're more likely to like your results the first time if you use strong breadflour. It won't be inedible or anything, but strong breadflour has more gluten in it and so the texture is easier to get right.

Bread is very much about the "feel" of it, so it takes a little practice. If you have a friend who bakes, ask to come and watch them and have a go at the kneading. They can show you what it looks like at each stage. Alternatively, watch a few youtube videos. I also find my bread comes out better when I make half batches--I suspect this is first, because I find it easier to manage the kneading on a smaller ball of dough, and second, because my oven runs very hot and in spite of my thermometer my dough often cooks on the outside before it is finished in the inside--a smaller loaf fixes this.

Most bread is Flour, water, yeast, sugar, oil and salt so if you're first two or three tries go wrong, find another recipe that has slightly different proportions of these ingredients. I'm convinced everyone and every kitchen has its own bread-making quirks. For example, in my last flat, I had a nice warm spot above the boiler cupboard. In this house there isn't anywhere warm enough so I generally warm the oven a bit and stick it in there to rise. Or just leave it all afternoon:rotfl:

Pink.

Steve059 wrote: »

Try this ...

BREAD

Makes a 500g loaf, 8 big or 16 little rolls

INGREDIENTS

500g of strong flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons or 1 sachet of yeast
300ml of warm water
A little more flour
A little olive or sunflower oil
A little more olive or sunflower oil
A little more flour

METHOD

If you are using fresh or dried yeast, activate and add it according to the instructions on the packet.

Put the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Mix thoroughly.

Make a hole in the middle and add the water. Mix thoroughly, until the dough sticks to itself, instead of sticking to you or the bowl. If the dough seems a little stiff, add another 1 tablespoon of water.

Leave it to prove for 1 hour, or in the fridge overnight, until it has doubled in size.

Sprinkle a little more flour onto a clean, dry work surface. Knead the dough, by using the heel of your hands to push half of the dough away from you. Turn it over, turn it around a bit and repeat the above, for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth, silky and elastic. The idea is to stretch the gluten within the dough, not to beat the [CENSORED] out of it.

Wash and dry the bowl, and rub a little oil around it. Put the dough back into it and leave it to prove again for 1 hour, until it has doubled in size.

Hit the top of the dough. It should collapse, as you knock the air out of it.

If you are going to make bread rolls, cut the dough into 8 or 16 bits, and roll each bit into a ball or a sausage shape.

Rub a little more oil over a baking tray or loaf tin. Place the dough on the baking tray or in the loaf tin and leave it to prove yet again for 1 hour until it has doubled in size.

Dust the dough with a little more flour. Cut slits or a cross into the top with a sharp knife.

Cook in a preheated oven at 220°C, 425°F, gas mark 7 for 25 to 30 minutes until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped underneath.

Leave to cool, ideally on a wire rack.

ADDITIONS & ALTERATIONS

Use white flour for white bread, brown flour for brown bread, wholemeal flour for wholemeal bread, etc. Different flours may require slightly different amounts of water.

Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. It makes the bread slightly softer, like French bread.

TIPS

Doing the first proving in the fridge overnight gives the bread a better flavour.

When you’ve mastered making bread rolls on a baking tray, invest in a loaf tin.

Are you also the user Stephen Leak? I'm pretty sure this is one of his recipes?

Steve059

Pink. wrote: »

Are you also the user Stephen Leak? I'm pretty sure this is one of his recipes?

I am he. I've switched usernames to not my real name.

asparagus1968

thank you all very much. i splashed out 99p on some bread flour!
am going to do this at weekend.wish me luck.

Steve059- have loved lots of your posts! nice to hear from you!:)

Honeythief

I hate kneading bread but do want to learn how to make it without using our breadmaker. This week I've been trying no-knead bread and it's working perfectly! You make up a flour and yeast mixture and leave it to rise overnight, then pop it in the fridge the next morning. Take it out after work/around 5pm and lightly shape it into a loaf (it's very wet and sticky so use well-floured hands and do not knead it or punch it down - you want to keep all the air in there), then bake it. Yum and so easy!

Here is the link:
http://jezebel.com/5881847/how-to-make-easy-fast-foolproof-bread-from-scratch

EDIT: this recipe is too salty for my taste so I cut back the salt by at least a third, and also add a teaspoon of sugar to get the yeast going. That seems to work perfectly.

Tonight I'm going to put garlic powder and herbs into the dough before it rises. Already I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's dinner!

FairyPrincessk

I might try this tonight, Honeythief!

FairyPrincessk

Also, I meant to post this link earlier in the week:

http://artisanbreadbaking.com/problems/

It offers a "troubleshooting" page for bread so you can figure out what might have caused a particular result. I won't say problem, because 9 times out of 10 I find that enough butter makes everything better.

Honeythief

Hope it goes well, FairyPrincessk! It's nearly bedtime here and I have just made up my dough mixture. I wasn't sure how much garlic powder to put in, and judging by the smell I may have overdone it a bit! Lots of herbs here, mixed herbs and extra rosemary and parsley. I suppose the baking process may cut down on the garlic taste a bit. I'll find out tomorrow!!