Categories: Food & Drink

Homemade Bread: Quick Basic Bread Dough

The first time when I attempted to bake my first homemade bread, it was tough that I almost wanted to buy myself a bread machine which was not compulsory at all.

Many of my friends admitted that bread machine was an all-in-one easy tool to make a bread dough without kneading with bare hands but it doesn’t prove that this bread machine is able to knead the dough until it passes the stretch level where the bread dough failed to double its size.

In addition, a bread machine isn’t cheap either, whether you buy it online or at the electrical shops.

The basic requirement to produce a spongy and fluffy bread is the right elastic texture and soft content.

In order to produce soft as a cotton bread and crisp crust along the side of the bread, the basic ingredients measurement have to be right and the most important ingredient is the YEAST!

Yes, I did bought several different brands of yeast for my bread baking session.

Then I had realized that loose packet yeast does not help the bread dough to rise at all.

Instead, you have to buy firmed packed yeast where you don’t find any air in the sachet.

However, once you had opened up the sachet, you have to use all the remainder yeast!

Otherwise, if you leave the remainder yeast for your next bread baking session , which might be a month later, the yeast becomes USELESS!

Yes,, the air had puffed up the yeast which was supposed to be firmly packed, made the yeast doesn’t form any function at all to the bread dough.

If the yeast is able to form bubbles after you had mixed it with sugar and warm milk, you had succeeded !

The best thing about basic bread dough is no eggs, no whipping cream, less sugar and less butter, use either fresh milk but I rather use my son’s formula milk powder for more nutrition value, one of the ingredients that never runs out of stock.

Oh yes, remember that you have to double the size of your bread dough TWICE, approximately 40min per time.

Although baking homemade bread is time consuming, it is the results that gave me satisfaction and happiness.

Quick Basic Bread Dough recipe

Ingredients:

1 tsp olive oil
1oz firmly packed yeast , approximately 1 tsp
3lb protein bread flour ( not plain flour)
1 tsp sugar
1pint of warm milk ( heat up fresh milk a short while or mix milk powder with warm water)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp butter
Some milk for glazing

Bread making steps:

Grease a loaf tin with olive oil
In a small bowl, blend the yeast with warm milk and sugar.
Leave aside for the yeast to form bubbles, at least 10min.
Sieve bread protein flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl.
Stir in yeast mixture into the flour.
Add in the butter, stir with a stainless steel fork first before use hand to knead the bread dough
Knead for 10min until the dough turns smooth and elastic.
You can stretch the bread dough and it doesn’t break, that means your dough is ready.
Shape the bread dough into a shape that you desired.
Place the bread dough in the greased bread tin.
Place the tin in a warm area, cover it with a damp cloth to double up the size for 40min.
Best place is on top of the fridge where it is always warm
Once the bread dough had risen, transfer it to a floured surface.
Knead again for 10min and transfer back to the bread tin again.
Repeat the same step for raise the dough size at the same time.
After the dough had risen the 2^ndtime, transfer the bread tin to the oven, glaze the bread dough surface with milk.
Bake for 45min until golden brown. Leave in oven for another 10min before cutting it.