Beginners Easy Bread Recipe using Instant Yeast
This is a quick and easy bread baking recipe using instant yeast. It is vegetarian and vegan friendly. No prior bread making experience required. Use it to make sandwiches or toast for breakfast , lunch and dinner.
Equipment
- oven
- Mixing bowls
- Dough scrapers
Ingredients
The Day before - Fermented Dough to add in the main ingredients
- 60 grams Bread Flour
- 1 pinch salt
- 1/4 tsp Instant dried yeast
- 40 ml water
The Day of Baking the Bread
- 500 grams Bread flour Additional flour for dusting
- 100 grams fermented dough from the day before
- 10 grams salt
- 10 grams sugar
- 5 grams Instant dried yeast
- 10 grams olive oil
- 350-380 ml water Approx.
Instructions
The Day before - Fermented Dough to add in the main ingredients
- In a mixing bowl, place all the ingredients. Add in the water and mix to form a dough ball.
- Place on a counter top and knead until the dough turns stiff and seems developed.
- Place the ball of dough in a lightly oiled container, cover with cling wrap and leave overnight. (Atleast 12-16 hours)
The Day of Baking the Bread
- Pre-heat oven to 250 deg centigrade.
- Place all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Using a spoon combine all ingredients. The dough will be wet and a wet mess.
- Gently tip it onto a floured counter top and knead for 10-15 minutes( knead 2-3 minutes and rest 1 minute). Be gentle with the dough. Use the tap-pull-fold method of kneading i.e. using one hand tap the dough on the surface, pull one end towards yourself and then fold in the opposite direction.
- The dough will be very sticky initially, but as you continue kneading the gluten and structure will develop. After kneading for app. 15 min, once the dough is smooth and elastic in feel place it in a lightly oiled container and cover with cling wrap. Let it proof for 1 hour in a warm place (23-25 deg centigrade) until it doubles in bulk.
- After an hour , once the dough has doubled gently deflate the dough by folding it back onto itself. This will help the dough develop more strength. Cover again with a cling wrap and proof for another 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, tip the dough on a lightly floured surface and using a dough scraper cut the dough into 2 equal pieces.
- Start shaping the 2 dough pieces. I shaped one into an oblong shape and placed it into a loaf tin. For the second piece, I shaped it oval like a boule bread and placed it on a cast iron pan. Cover both loaves with a kitchen towel and let sit in a warm place for 15 minutes
- In a pre-heated oven place both the loaves of bread at 250 deg centigrade for app. 20-25 minutes. To apply steam in a home oven (steam is required to form a nice crusty bread), I throw ice cubes at the bottom of the oven and immediately shut the oven door.
- After app. 20 min, reduce the oven temperature to 200 deg centigrade and bake for another 6-8 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack before slicing. A good test to ensure the loaves are baked is to tap the bottom of the loaves - they should sound hollow when tapped.