Approx cost: €2
Approx calories (per serving): ~140
Approx preparation and baking time: 2 hours
Continuing on from my earlier post for Granary Bread, we were out of white bread this week and I thought what better time to make a batch of white bread?! As there are no preservatives, you’ll want to make it in roll/loaf shapes which can be consumed easily with 2-3 days, tops. Any excess and you can sling it in the freezer for eating later.
I love bread, all bread, and there are few things more satisfying than getting stuck in and doing it yourself, so give it a try and tell me what you think!
White Bread
Ingredients
- – 1.5 kilos Strong White Bread Flour – normal plain flour can be used in a pinch but results won’t be quite so good
- 3tsps Caster Sugar (optional – provides a slightly thicker crust)
- 4 – 5 tsps Salt
- 20g Instant Dried Yeast
- ~4 decilitres Olive Oil
- ~ 0.8 litres Water
Instructions
- Start by emptying the flour, sugar, salt and yeast into a large bowl and blending. Pour in the oil and stir well.
- Heat the water so it’s slightly warm to the touch – too hot and you’ll kill the yeast. Finger-warm is sufficient, and pour into the flour, while stirring well. Feel free to add more (or less) if the flour mix starts to stick well and form a good dough. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface.
- Knead the dough with your fists for about 15 minutes, ensuring you fold it over regularly to trap air, and flouring the dough whenit starts to stick. Divide the dough up into appropriately sized pieces and press into tins, or set onto a tray. To make a bread roll make a lump a little smaller than a fist and place on a tray.
- Place in a warm area, covered with a clean cloth, for about an hour – by which time the dough will have doubled in size.
- Bake in a very hot oven, around 190 degrees Celsius, for about 15 minutes, before lowering the temperature to about 160 degrees and continuing to bake for another 15 minutes, to crisp up the crust. The bread will be ready after this time, but you can check it by tapping the bottom of the loaf – it should sound hollow when tapped. Allow to cool in the tin for a few minutes before turning out and enjoying!
[…] bread is best in my opinion, and if you’re after a recipe, I’d recommend this one or this one. Enjoy the bread folks – I’ll be back in a few days with something else and maybe some […]