The quick and easy bread recipe
Hi everyone, it’s been way too long! The dad and PhD life have been keeping me busy, but with Christmas just behind us, it was the perfect time to share some tricks we learned while preparing for the holidays.
Oh, and happy (slightly) late holidays to all those of you celebrating!
So, bread. I used to be so scared of making bread, thinking it’s such a big deal. Well, I’m not going to lie, it kind of still is. HOWEVER…
If you’re looking for a quick, soft and fluffy loaf of bread that you can prepare while the rest of your dinner is cooking then this is the recipe for you!
We adapted a recipe that Kokoro had found a while ago, and I’ve been making this at least twice per week recently because our little Yoshi-kun absolutely L O V E S bread.
For the ingredients you’ll need*:
- 175g strong flour
- 75g plain flour
- 5g yeast
- 1tbsp olive oil
- 1tsp sugar
- A pinch of salt
- 130-140ml warm water (or milk if you want the bread extra fluffy or if you need some dairy in your diets)
* One thing I’d say is the quantities of flour and water can differ by a few grams depending on the type of flour you have. Start with these quantities of flour and add only 120-125g of water the first time you make the recipe. Adjust accordingly flour/water quantities while you’re kneading.
As for the cooking steps, not only is it straightforward but you’ll be done in way less than an hour!
- Pour in a large bowl the flour. In the corner of the bowl put the yeast and about ¼ of the warm water/milk so that the yeast activates a bit while you prepare the rest.**
- Add in the olive oil, sugar, salt and when you’re ready to mix and knead add the rest of the water.
- Mix everything and start kneading. We use our hands, but if you have a fancy kitchen mixer, by all means go for it!
- Adjust accordingly the quantities of flour and water until you get a smooth round shape (shouldn’t take more than 3-5min even if you do it by hand). Before the kneading is almost done, add a couple of drops of olive oil on your hand and knead with it. It will give the dough a nice coat/shape, and will also cover your bowl with the olive oil for the rising process.
- Leave the dough next your oven or somewhere warm to rise for about 15-20min. You can of course leave it longer if you have more time, but we found that 15min was more than enough.
- In the meanwhile you can start preheating the oven to about 180 degrees Celsius (again, this can vary based on your oven, and you may choose to preheat it at a later time).
- After 15min, push the air out of the dough with your hand (again covered with a bit of olive oil) and mould it into your desired shape(s). We usually make a bigger round bread for the two of us and a smaller one for Yoshi.
- Once the oven is preheated, put the breads on a baking sheet and spray them with a touch of cold water. Bake for 15min or until it’s brown on the outside and fully cooked on the inside. And voila! You just made bread in under an hour.
**One small note: if you have extra time, you can put the yeast in a separate bowl with your teaspoon of sugar and about ¼ of the water. Mix it all well and let it sit there for 5-10min so that the yeast activates before kneading.
