Easy White Bread Recipe

This easy white bread recipe has a soft texture & was great when used a day or two later to make sandwiches

An old friend of mine (aren't old friends always the best type of friends ?!) forwarded me the link to this easy bread recipe the other day, and I decided to try it over the weekend as we were having guests to stay.

It turned out really well and I will definitely be making it again.

The original link for this recipe can be found over here on the BBC Good Food website.

Easy White Bread Recipe

500 gm strong White flour, plus extra for dusting (I used white cake flour)

2 tsp Salt

7 g sachet of fast action Yeast

3 tbsp Olive Oil

300 ml Water

Mix the flour, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, then add the oil and water, and mix well. If the dough seems a little stiff, add 1-2 tbsp water, mix well then tip onto a lightly floured work surface and knead. Once the dough is satin-smooth, place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave to rise for 1 hour until doubled in size or place in the fridge overnight.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment. Knock back the dough, then gently mould the dough into a ball. Place it on the baking parchment to prove for a further hour until doubled in size.

Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Dust the loaf with flour and cut a cross about 6cm long into the top of the loaf with a sharp knife. Bake for 25-30 mins until golden brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped underneath. Cool on a wire rack.

Nothing Beats Hot, Homemade Bread !

Nothing beats a loaf of freshly baked homemade bread ....... straight out of the oven

This recipe freezes well - I like to slice my bread before freezing it in packets of a few slices each

I bake a lot of our own bread, and I usually start preparing it in the morning so that it has time to rise and bake in time for lunch. Nothing quite beats the taste of a crusty loaf served warm out of the oven – yum !

This is my ‘standard’ white bread recipe and if it looks familiar – it is ! It was one of the very first recipes I ever featured on the blog, in February 2008 and in that recipe I used it to make Foccacia bread with fresh Rosemary. This time I’m using the same recipe to make a humble white loaf -:


White Bread (from the South African “Woman’s Value” magazine of August 2000)

680 g White Flour
10 ml (2 tsp) salt
1 sachet (10g/2 tsp) instant dried Yeast
30 ml (2 tbsp) Oil
450 ml lukewarm Water

Place flour, salt & yeast into a bowl. Mix the water & oil together in a jug. Pour water/oil into flour mixture & mix quickly to form a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface & begin kneading. Knead by folding the dough in half towards you, then push down away from you, using the heel of your hand. Give the dough a quarter turn & repeat the process. Knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth & elastic. Place dough in a large greased bowl & cover with a clean, damp dish cloth. Place in a warm spot & allow to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, until doubled in size.

Then knead dough lightly again for 2 minutes. Press dough out to form a flat shape the length of your baking tin/s & 3 times the width. Fold in edges of the long sides to the centre, then carefully place into the greased baking tin with the join underneath.

Cover again & let rise for another hour until doubled in size. Bake in preheated oven at 220’C/400’F/Gas Mark 6 for 30 – 35 minutes.

Tasty Luncheon Rolls

Nothing beats the taste of a homemade, freshly baked bread roll straight out of the oven !

Nothing beats freshly baked bread rolls, straight out of the oven & served piping hot with a little butter. I like to make these fresh for lunch sometimes – it’s so easy to make the dough early in the morning and have a batch in the oven before lunchtime, ready to serve with some soup, cold meats or cheese and salad. Yum !

Luncheon Rolls (taken from “The Complete South African Cook Book” by Magdaleen Van Wyk)

1 tsp active dry Yeast
1 tbsp Sugar
1 cup warm Milk
1 cup cake Flour
4 tbsp Butter melted in another 1 cup of warm Milk
3 Eggs, beaten
1 kg cake Flour (in addition to the 1 cup above)
1 tsp Salt

Mix the yeast & sugar with the 1 cup of warm milk in a large mixing bowl. Add the cake flour (1 cup) to this mixture, & beat well. Cover & leave for around 45 – 60 minutes in a warm place until foamy & light. Then add the butter melted in the cup of lukewarm milk mixture to the yeast mixture. Add the eggs, flour & salt and mix very well. Knead the dough until smooth (4 – 5 minutes). Cover dough & allow to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (+- 1 hour). Then punch the dough down & shape into rolls. Cover & allow to rise again until double in size. Then bake on a greased baking sheet at 200’C/400’F/Gas Mark 6 for 15 – 20 minutes. (I like to dust mine with a little flour before baking).

A Great Recipe For Wholewheat Bread

This Wholewheat bread is great for making sandwiches

I love wholewheat bread & would choose it over refined white bread any day. The problem is that we cannot get the ingredients to make it easily here – things like wholewheat or rye flour, flax seeds and bran. Also, these things can be quite heavy to bring back in your luggage when traveling (and can you imagine me trying to explain to Customs why I was carrying a 5 kg bag of wholewheat flour in my luggage ?!)

So, on a recent cross border road trip to Nairobi, Kenya I stocked up on as many of these ingredients as I could – and proceeded to bake wholewheat bread to my hearts content ! (But not to my husband’s I’m afraid – as he’ll take the refined white stuff over the healthier wholewheat version any day !)

Here’s the tasty, easy recipe which I use for a basic wholewheat loaf. This bread is great as sandwich bread but should be eaten within a couple of days of making it -:


Wholewheat Bread (from “The Cape Malay Cookbook” by Faldela Williams)

500 gm Wholewheat Flour* (I also add ½ cup sunflower seeds)
5 ml Salt
10 ml instant dried Yeast
30 ml sunflower Oil
20 ml Honey (or golden Syrup)
325 ml lukewarm Water

Place flour & salt in a bowl. Add instant dried yeast & stir. Add oil & honey (or syrup), then water. Mix to a soft dough, & knead until elastic. Form into a smooth loaf shape & place in a well-greased loaf tin. Cover with plastic & leave to rise until doubled in bulk (45 minutes to an hour). Bake at 220’C/425’F/Gas mark 7 for 30 minutes, then reduce temperature to 200’C/400’F/Gas Mark 6 and bake for a further 10 – 15 minutes. To test if loaf is baked, tap it on top – it should sound hollow. Cool in tin for a few minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 1 large loaf.

Note:
Active dried yeast may also be used. Dissolve yeast in 150 ml lukewarm water with 2 ml sugar & leave until bubbling, about 15 minutes. Add to dry ingredients, with remaining water, & proceed as above.

Homemade Pita Bread & An Indian Pita Filling

I stuffed these with salad & a little grated cheese, but you could try Jo's Indian Pita filling below ....

Pita bread is such a great alternative to a normal “boring” sandwich, don’t you agree ?

Having said that though, I simply can’t bear those wishy washy just-a-little-bit-thicker-than-a-pancake pita breads that you buy in some shops. (Huh ? What ARE those things ? Wraps masquerading as pita bread, or what ?!) They are usually so skinny that once you’ve sliced them open they break completely and/or won’t hold your filling properly. Which is why I much prefer to make my own fat, fluffy, pillow-like pita’s which satisfy the heartiest appetite and support the sturdiest of fillings ….


Pita Bread

4 cups bread or cake Flour
½ tsp Salt
1 tsp Sugar
10 gm Instant Yeast
2 tbsp Oil
1 ½ cups lukewarm Water

Sift the flour, salt & sugar together. Add the instant yeast to the dry ingredients. Make a hollow in the dry ingredients & add the oil & water. Knead to form a soft, manageable dough. Leave, covered, in a warm spot until double in size then knead it down again & cut the dough into 8 equal pieces.

Roll each piece into a ball & flatten in the palm of your hand until each is the size of a saucer. Place the rounds on a greased baking tray/s and leave, covered, in a warm spot to double in size again. The pita’s are then baked in a very hot oven at 240’C/475’F/Gas Mark 9 for around 1o mins until pale & golden and once cool, can be split open & stuffed with whatever takes your fancy.

Tip – you can place a bowl of water in the oven (if you've got space !) whilst the pita’s are baking if you like. This helps to keeps the atmosphere moist and gives a good crust.

As soon as you remove the pita’s from the oven, place them on a wire rack & cover them with a clean, dry tea towel to let them soften a little as they release their own steam.

My dear friend Jo, in South Africa, gave me this Indian Pita filling recipe to try - it looks delicious & I plan to try it soon -:

Indian Pita Filling

175 ml low fat plain yoghurt
5 ml Olive oil
2ml hot pepper sauce
15ml Mango chutney/pickle
½ Cucumber cubed
1 small green pepper, diced
30ml mixture of fresh dill, parsley & mint, chopped

75g cooked (or tinned) chickpeas
1 pita bread

120 g sliced Tomatoes

Combine yoghurt, oil, and pepper sauce in a bowl. Mash until well mixed. Add the chutney/pickle, cucumber, green pepper, dill, parsley, mint, chickpeas & mix. Slit the pita bread on one side, place tomato slices in one layer. Spoon the remaining ingredients onto the tomato slices and serve.

Thanks, Jo !

Honey & Molasses Loaf

This bread tastes great with cheese, & also makes really nice toast a day or two after baking

This recipe comes out of the August 2008 copy of one of my favourite South African magazines, “Fair Lady”.

As you know, we cannot get ingredients like wholewheat flour or bran easily in Tanzania, so I made this bread when I was in South Africa recently, with ingredients bought at a local supermarket just that morning … oh, the convenience of it all !

Honey & Molasses Loaf (from “Fair Lady” magazine, August 2008)

2 cups wholewheat Flour
1 cup cake Flour
1 cup Bran
1 tbsp Sunflower seeds*
1 tbsp Sesame seeds*
1 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Sunflower Oil
1 tbsp Honey
1 tbsp Molasses
20 gm instant Yeast
2 cups lukewarm Water

Mix all ingredients together, put in a loaf tin, let it rise to the top, then bake for 35 minutes at 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4. (This recipe makes one large loaf – I froze half of it after baking)

* I added 3 tbsp of mixed seeds to the dough instead of 2 tbsp – I used a mixture of flax (linseed), pumpkin, sunflower & sesame seeds & I also sprinkled an extra tablespoon of the mixed seeds over the top of the dough before baking.

P.S. My friend Gary over at "Cooking Outdoors" made this bread in a Dutch oven and it turned out beautifully. Have a look at how he did it over here.

Mealie Meal Bread

This Mealie Meal Bread can be enjoyed with either a sweet or a savoury topping

It seems that many people are interested in Mealie Meal recipes whether they be recipes on how to make Mealie Meal pap (porridge) or other variations such as the Mealie Meal Crumble Pap recipe which I posted about last month. There are many South African recipes which include Mealie Meal (which is made from ground corn/maize and is similar in texture to polenta)and I will be posting some of these on my blog in the future. Today I thought I’d post a great bread recipe, which is really quick and easy to make.

This recipe comes from the well known South African cookbook “Cook and Enjoy It’ by S.J.A. de Villiers. The original Afrikaans version of the book “Kook en Geniet” was published in 1951 and both books are among South Africa’s most famous and are considered to be representative of authentic South African heritage and food culture. “Cook and Enjoy It” remains one of my most favourite cook books of all time !

Mealie Meal Bread

1 ½ cups Milk
2 cups Mealie Meal
1 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Butter (or Margarine)
3 Eggs, beaten
2 tsp Baking Powder

Heat 1 cup of the milk and then blend the other ½ cup of milk together with the mealie meal. Then add the mealie meal, salt and butter to the cup of hot milk and mix well. Cool and then add the beaten eggs and baking powder. Blend well and turn in to a greased loaf tin. Bake at 180’C/350’F/Gas Mark 4 for 30 to 40 minutes.

Delicious served hot out of the oven with lashings of butter !

Freshly Baked Foccacia Bread

Delicious served hot out of the oven !

It is really satisfying to make your own bread. If you’ve never tried, I urge you to give it a whirl ! It may seem quite daunting at first .. but what’s the worst thing that could happen ?

I find it therapeutic and rewarding to knead bread dough (granted, I’m sometimes a little bit odd !) … there’s just something about creating a loaf of bread from a few simple ingredients that I can’t quite explain ?

My basic bread dough recipe comes from the South African “Woman’s Value” magazine of August 2000. I first used it when we were living on an even remoter farm than this one (we were there for 3 years before we moved here) where we only got in to town once every 2 months or so – so I had to bake my own bread all the time, else we went without !

This recipe makes 2 small loaves, or 1 small loaf and about 5 rolls and yesterday I made 1 small loaf and used the rest of the dough to make Foccacia bread (pictured) which was delicious ! (For Foccacia instructions, scroll to end of recipe)

Basic White Bread

680 g White Bread Flour (I use whatever flour I can find !)
10 ml salt
1 sachet (10g) instant dried Yeast
30 ml Oil (I use olive, but sunflower is fine)
450 ml lukewarm Water

Place flour, salt & yeast into a bowl. Mix the water & oil together in a jug (Yes, I know they don’t mix … grrrrr … silly recipe writer !). Pour water/oil into flour mixture & mix quickly to form a soft dough.

Turn out onto a floured surface & begin kneading. Knead by folding the dough in half towards you, then push down away from you, using the heel of your hand. Give the dough a quarter turn & repeat the process. Knead for 10 minutes until dough is smooth & elastic. Place dough in a large greased bowl & cover with a clean, damp dish cloth. Place in a warm spot & allow to rise for 1 to 1 ½ hours, until doubled in size.

Then knead dough lightly again for 2 minutes. Press dough out to form a flat shape the length of your baking tin/s & 3 times the width. Fold in edges of the long sides to the centre, then carefully place into the greased baking tin with the join underneath.

Cover again & let rise for another hour until doubled in size. Bake in preheated oven at 220’C/400’F/Gas Mark 6 for 30 – 35 minutes.

For the Foccacia bread I simply spread the dough into a greased baking tray, lightly pressing indentations into it with my fingers as I went along. I then poured some olive oil over it (about 2 tbsps), seasoned it with salt and dried garlic flakes, and poked rosemary into it. This I baked for only 20 – 25 minutes. (It was delicious served with a salad and cold meats for lunch …..)