Beginners bread recipe

Bread is an ancient craft used throughout essentially all of human civilisation. I've put together a simple beginners recipe for you to begin your bread journey. This loaf is a soft and chewy loaf, Brilliant with soups and dips , or just as toast in the morning.

For your sake, I will leave descriptions and details bellow the recipe so you don't have to scroll for a day and half to find the ingredients.

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Beginners bread / Large loaf / no knead

INGREDIENTS

• 1 & 1/2 cup of warm water

• 2 teaspoons of active yeast

• 1 tea spoon of salt

• 3 cups of flour

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Step one: Activate your yeast

In a large bowl, Add 1 & 1/2 cups of warm water and 2 teaspoons of active yeast. Give it a small stir and leave on the counter for 5 minuets to allow the yeast to become active.

Step two : Create a shaggy dough

Shaggy dough

Add 3 cups of flour to your "Activated yeast water" and 1 teaspoon of salt. Using a fork combine the flour into the water, Insuring that all the flour is absorbed. Place your dough back into a bowl, covered with a tea towel and allow is 30 minuets of rest.

Step three: Stretch and fold

Similar to sourdough, This dough does NOT require any kneading, But will require a couple stretch and folds after its 30 minuet rest period. Simply grab a "corner" of the dough, lift up and fold over the bulk.

Stretch and fold

Step four: The big sleep

After stretching and folding, Your dough should look nice and smooth, you may be tempted to add more flour as the dough is quiet sticky, trust the process. Do not add flour.

To prepare our dough for a good nights rest, its going to need a blanket. Place a tea towel down on the table and sprinkle with flour. set aside.

Step Five : Shape your dough

Sprinkle a small amount of flour on your clean workspace. and shape your dough into a nice tight ball. I highly recommended watching YouTube videos on how to shape dough, or simply wait for my next blog post! But it is similar to rolling a towel up.

Once your dough is nicely shaped, Place your shaped dough onto of your floured tea towel, UPSIDE DOWN... bottom facing up!. Then place your sleepy dough and towel into an appropriate sized bowl. Please keep in mind that your dough will double in size over night.

Step Six: Cold proof

Now it is time to place your dough into the fridge for the night and allow her to rise.

( Cold proofing slows down fermentation, Insuring your dough doesn't 'Over proof' , very similar to sourdough!)

Step Seven: Scoring

Good Morning! Its time to bake our loaf. Set oven temperature to 240c with a water pan at the bottom. Avoid opening the oven as that will release the steam.

Simply take a sharp knife or a razor blade and cut about an inch into your dough, This prevents your dough from exploding out the side when expanding.

Step Eight: Bake!

Once the oven has reached the correct temperature, Place your dough on the rack and leave it alone for 20 minuets. After 20 minuets, Remove the water pan. Leave your bread in the oven for another 20 odd minuets, Allow it to become a dark golden colour.

Step Nine: Let her rest

Once your bread is looking lovely and golden, Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack. You may notice that your bread feels 'Rock solid'... Once again, Trust the process. As your bread cools , You will hear popping and cracking as the steam releases. After 30 minuets your bread is ready to eat!

Enjoy your beautiful loaf, Tell me how it went in the comments!