Get that Freshly Baked Bread scent at home with these simple instructions

With our fast-paced lives, baking home-made bread is a dying culinary art today. But with this easy to make recipe, kneading dough is maybe just what you need. It is a wonderful anti-stress therapy. The aroma of the baking loaf is greatly comforting. The freshly baked bread tastes so much better than the shop bought bread.

I use chilli and coriander to boost the flavour of this loaf, but you can get creative by including chopped nuts, roast garlic, rosemary, cheese or toasted seeds, all work well.

If wrapped well, the freshly baked bread loaf will last in a cool, dry place for a few days, or it can be frozen for a couple of months.

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Freshly Baked Home-made Bread

5 from 1 vote

Recipe by Petrus Madutlela Course: SidesCuisine: GlobalDifficulty: Easy

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total time

1

hour 

5

minutes

Fresh bread just smells and tastes like nothing else and when spread with fresh butter it can make you over indulge.

Ingredients

• 500 g white bread flour

• 7 g dried, fast-action yeast

• 50 g butter, softened

• 2 teaspoon salt

• 350 ml milk, lukewarm

• 50 g sugar

• 1 chilli, finely chopped

• Handful of finely chopped coriander

Method

• Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast, salt, sugar and butter. Mix together and stir in the dried yeast.
• Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture, pour in three quarters of the milk and use your fingers to mix it all together. Add more milk, a little at a time, until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. The dough should be soft, but not soggy, so be careful when adding the milk. The mix is very sticky, but it will become smoother after kneading.
• Tip the dough onto a floured work-surface and knead for about 10 minutes.  Take the edge of the dough and turn it over with your fingers, push it out with the heal of your hand, turn it a quarter and repeat entire procedure. Knead it until it’s smooth and springy.
• Coat the inside of a mixing bowl with a thin layer of oil. Shape the dough into a round shape and put it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or cling film, and leave for 45 minutes in a warm place to rise.
• When the dough has risen – it should be about twice the size – heat your oven to 160°C – 180°C (gas mark 4).
• Now you need to “knock down” the dough and add the flavour. Flour a work surface and pop the dough on top, then sprinkle coriander and chilli. Knead until the air is knocked out, and the dough is smooth. Shape into an oblong form.
• Place the dough into a lined loaf tin, put it in a large plastic bag and leave to prove until the dough has doubled in size. This will take about an hour. The dough should spring back quickly when you prod it with your finger.
• Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until fully baked. To check, tip over the loaf out onto a wire rack. It should sound hollow if you tap the base.
• Allow to cool on a wire rack.

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