Cooking Bread-Easy Peasy..

Who doesn’t like GREAT bread??

I do, that is why I try and cook it nearly every day… No matter if it is sourdough or crusty white bread, it all goes down nicely…

This bread recipe is super simple and out of it I made a “COB loaf”, Plaited loaf, and some “NOT cross buns”.

All are made out of the same recipe just let them rise and cook differently…

Okay, so the dough mix is …..

I will throw the additives for the NOT cross buns last… This is per loaf not for all these and it is a large loaf…

1.5-2 tsp Yeast- is very important to this little guy.
600g cups Plain flour – get the best you can it really makes a difference in the end.
360 ml Water – make sure you measure REALLY well for this dude otherwise you could get gluggy or dry bread.

That’s it…. simple, I am sure you have all these in the kitchen.

Now to the mixing together thing…..

Grab the warm water 360ml, everyone says baby bottle, I go a little warmer – it works for me. I boil my jug and throw a pile of hot water in a heat-proof glass jug and then add the cold to get the temp I like..
Dissolve 1 tsp of sugar in the water before anything else – I got told this by a bread maker in my youth and hey it works…
Toss the 1.5 tsp of fresh yeast – the fresh is because you don’t want two-year-old, fresh just means the dry stuff from the supermarket…
Mix and set aside to “ACTIVATE”…
Now grab your flour and sift into a bowl – I do this through either my multi 3x sifter or 3x through a sieve…
- If you are making the NOT cross buns add… 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp mixed spice, and 1/3 cup sultanas, I also used 1/4 cup dried apricot… toss them in before the yeast.
Chuck your dough hook on your mixer if you’re using one and turn it on to slowly start to mix the flour…. sounds weird, I know, but trust it will make sense.
While that little fella is going round and round, slowly add your activated yeast and watch the dough form.
Once you have mixed your dough in the mixer for, say 5 minutes, grab your dough out of the bowl and put it on a floured bench..
I like to add the heat from the body by kneading it for another 5 minutes before putting it in a warm sunny position to rise…
Give it about 40 minutes to rise (proof, tech term), and give it a quick punch and gentle knead before shaping it…
For the plaited bread, just roll out a BIG sausage, and from about 1cm at the top cut down two lines and plait away, tucking the ends nicely…
The Cob, just get your big ball and toss it in the middle of a baking tray… that’s it ( if you want a crunchy top we spritz it with a little water before going in the love).
Preheat the oven to 200degrees (Aussie style)
Once whatever your shape has risen again pop in the oven for 25-30 minutes –