Bread making isn't hard!
This recipe makes the easiest loaf of bread out there! But it isn't a sourdough loaf. I don't have the energy or patience for that. This is the loaf of bread you make on Sunday morning, so you can eat it for lunch! Equally as brilliant, it can be made into bread rolls as well. One day, I'll give you my best meatball recipe, which uses stale bread. It's a great way to ensure nothing goes to waste, but I can't promise there will be any left to make said meatballs.
Ingrediants
500g strong flour bread (High grade works perfectly)
7g of fast-action yeast (Pam's is fine)
1 teaspoon of salt (iodine-free)
3 teaspoons of sugar
1 egg, beaten
350ml lukewarm water
Add all dry ingredients to a large. Make a well in the centre and add the wet ingredients, and mix well. Using wet hands, stretch and fold each "side". Leave for 30 minutes. I do this two to three times, leaving it for 30 minutes each time. After the last stretch and fold, leave until doubled in size.
Now I have made this using a mixer, and when I do a double batch so I can freeze one loaf, I do. But for a single mix, I love nothing more than doing it by hand. Plus it saves the washing up.
Once it has doubled in size, knock it back and scoop it out of the bowl onto a floured surface. Have your loaf tin, sprayed with oil, ready in the wings.
Roll out the dough on the surface. I fold each side into the centre and then roll up, placing it in the tin. I leave it again for another 30 minutes till it's doubled in size again. For rolls, I divide them into 8 equal portions and roll them similarly to how I do the bread.
Preheat your oven to 170C. You have two options here. You can do the double loaf tin thing, where you cover the loaf with another tin for the first 20 minutes, removing it for the last 25 to make it all golden. OR, you can put a shallow tray in bottom of the oven and add boiling water to it, to make the oven nice a steamy.
Either way bake for around 45 minutes.
Once it's golden, remove from the tin, and cool on a wire rack.
It's suggested that you leave the bread so it's cooled before eating, but I love nothing more than having it warm, lathering it with butter, so the butter melts and dribbles down my hand!
You will love this loaf as much as I do, and it will be forever in your arsenal, and cost you a little less than $3 to make!
