Undoubtedly, the best and most delicious bread is homemade. Plus, it's natural and healthy. It lacks various "improvers", emulsifiers, soybean oils, flavorings, and so on. Homemade bread can be stored for a long time - up to a week. At the cost price, bread baked at home is 2-3 times cheaper than store-bought bread. There are a lot of baking recipes and every housewife will be able to choose her own family recipe.
Any bread recipe can be diversified, for example, replacing a small part of the flour with whole grain - it has more dietary fiber and is healthier for the body. You can make sandwiches, toasts, crackers from homemade bread. In addition, homemade bread is much cheaper than purchased bread.
Richard Bertinier's White Bread Recipe
You will need:
- 500 g wheat flour;
- 320-350 g of water;
- 10 g fresh yeast;
- 10 g of salt.
The famous French baker does not dissolve fresh yeast in water, as everyone is used to. He sifts the flour, rubs the yeast into the flour, adds salt, water and kneads the dough. It doesn't add more flour than the recipe says. The technique of kneading sticky dough is important here: stretch it and turn it over, hitting the table. After 15 minutes, the bread dough is elastic and ready for proofing.
Classic white wheat bread
This is a simple recipe for white bread familiar to everyone. You will need 2 bakeware.
Ingredients:
- 6-6.5 cups wheat flour;
- 2, 5 glasses of warm water;
- 1 tbsp active dry yeast;
- 1 tbsp Sahara;
- 2 tsp salt;
- ¼ glasses of soft butter.
Cooking instructions:
Step 1. Pour ½ cup warm water into the bowl of the kitchen machine and dissolve the dry yeast and sugar in it. Leave it on for 5-15 minutes, until a yeast head appears.
Step 2. Add the rest of the water and half of the sifted flour to the bowl. Stir well at minimum speed.
Step 3. Pour in the rest of the flour, salt and softened butter.
Step 4. Knead the dough. The dough can also be kneaded by hand for 8-10 minutes. It should become soft and elastic.
Step 5. Shape the dough into a ball, return to the bowl, cover with a towel or cling film and leave to rest for 1-1.5 hours. During this time, the dough should double in size.
Step 6. Grease two bread tins with butter. Divide the dough in two, roll out.
Step 7. Roll the dough and place in the molds with the "seam" down.
Step 8. Cover again with a towel and let sit for 1 hour.
Step 9. Send the dough to the preheated oven to 200 degrees. The bread is baked for 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Remove hot bread from the mold, let cool on a wire rack. Do not leave the bread in the baking dish or it will get wet from condensation.
According to the above recipe, half of the water can be replaced with warm milk.
Homemade sourdough wheat bread
For this recipe, you must first prepare the starter culture, which, on average, takes 5-7 days. Sourdough baked goods are considered more natural and healthier than baked goods made with purchased yeast.
The following ingredients are required:
- 600 g of wheat flour for sourdough (200 g + "top dressing");
- 300 g wheat flour for dough;
- 350 g wheat flour for dough;
- 200 ml of water for the starter culture + water for "feeding" the starter culture + 300 ml of water for the dough;
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil;
- ½ tsp + 1 tsp salt.
Step 1. Make a leaven. To do this, mix 200 g of flour with 200 ml of warm purified water in a large container of 1 liter or more (not metal). Leave the container in a warm place overnight.
Step 2. The next day, add 100 g flour and 100 ml warm water (not hot) to the container. Stir and leave in a warm place.
Step 3. Repeat the process until a sign of fermentation appears in the leaven. The leaven should bubble and increase in size.
Step 4. Take 100 g of sourdough from the container and use for the bread recipe, adding a fresh portion of 50 g of flour and 50 g of water. Leave the container at room temperature until fermentation begins, then you can put it in the refrigerator. Once a week, remove 100 g of sourdough (use for baking or discard) and add a new portion of 50 g flour and 50 g warm water. To do this, remove the container from the refrigerator again, leave it until it reaches room temperature, "feed" it, leave it in a warm place until the reaction starts and put it back in the refrigerator. Repeat this process constantly.
Step 5. Make a brew. Prepare 100 g of starter culture. In a bowl, combine 300 g of sifted flour and ½ tsp. salt. Then add 300 ml of warm water and starter culture.
Step 6. Cover the bowl with a towel and leave in a warm place for 3-4 hours until the dough rises.
Step 7. When the dough is ready, mix it with 350 g of sifted flour and 1 tsp. salt. Place on a lightly floured work surface and knead the dough for 10 minutes. It should become soft and elastic.
Step 8. Transfer the dough to a bowl greased with sunflower oil and leave in a warm place for 2-3 hours until it doubles in size.
Step 9. Place the dough on a work surface, fold the dough in half to release the carbon dioxide. Shape the dough into a ball and place on a baking sheet greased with sunflower oil. Cover with a towel and let sit again for 1 hour.
Step 10. Preheat the oven to 220 degrees. When the dough comes up, cut in some decorative cuts.
Step 11. Bake for 30-40 minutes until a nice brown crust.
Mustard white bread
Adding a spoonful of mustard powder to the dough makes the baked goods tastier and more flavorful, and the finished product becomes a pleasant golden color. You will need a ceramic round dish with a lid, or a deep cast iron pan with a lid.
You will need:
- 3-3.5 cups wheat flour;
- 1 tsp dry active yeast;
- 1 glass of warm water;
- 1 tsp salt;
- 1 tbsp mustard powder.
Step by step:
Step 1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in a glass of warm water. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Pour the matching yeast into the flour, kneading the sticky dough. You do not need to knead at this stage. Cover the dough and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature.
Step 2. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface. Knead a soft dough.
Step 3. Transfer the dough to a greased mold, cover with a towel, and leave at room temperature for 1 hour.
Step 4. Wrap the risen dough, cover again and refrigerate overnight.
Step 5. The next day, preheat the oven to 220 degrees. Take out the dough, make several cuts with a sharp knife. Bake for 25 minutes, covered. Reduce the baking temperature to 200 degrees, remove the lid and bake for another 25-30 minutes.
Nutritional information for 1 piece of bread: 105 calories, 0 fat, 3 g protein, 22 g carbohydrates.
Wheat-rye bread that does not need to knead for a long time
This recipe should be baked in advance, as it will take almost a day and a half to make. During this time, the dough “ripens” and the baked bread is very aromatic. For crispy bread, bake it in a ceramic pan under the lid, and remove the lid at the end of baking.
Ingredients:
- 350 g wheat flour;
- 150 g rye flour;
- 2 tsp salt;
- ½ tsp fast-acting yeast;
- 380 g cold water;
- 85 g dried cranberries;
- 85 g dried raisins;
- 100 g of chopped walnuts.
Step-by-step instruction:
Step 1. Combine flour, salt, yeast and water in a large bowl. The dough will be sticky.
Step 2. Knead the dough for a short time: just enough for the flour to absorb the water well. Add dried fruits and nuts.
Step 3. Cover the bowl with a bag or cling film and leave at room temperature overnight or at least 8 hours. The dough will increase in size and bubble.
Step 4. Place the dough on a lightly floured work surface and form a ball.
Step 5. Transfer the dough to a baking dish, cover and leave for 2 hours until the bread dough rises again.
Step 6 Use a knife to make decorative cuts. Cover and place in cold oven. Turn on the oven, setting the temperature to 220 degrees.
Step 7. Bake for 45-50 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for another 5-15 minutes, until a nice brown crust forms.
