Homemade bread is a great alternative to the usual store-bought loaves. There are no unnecessary additives, the quantity and quality of the ingredients can be controlled by baking the product according to your own tastes. It is not necessary to buy a bread maker, delicious bread is obtained even in a regular oven.
Homemade bread: benefits and features
Bread is traditionally considered a necessary addition to a meal. It serves as a base for sandwiches, accompanies soups and main courses, and is used for preparing snacks and desserts. Unfortunately, the quality of industrial baked goods is poor. A lot of not very useful ingredients are added to bread: taste improvers, stabilizers, flavorings. Products with natural ingredients are expensive and not readily available. The best solution is to bake your own bread. The process is easy to master, starting with basic recipes, you can gradually move on to more complex and original ones.
Contrary to popular belief, the calorie content of regular bread is not very high. The most useful product is with the addition of whole grains or unrefined flour. Bread with additives (olives, cheese, nuts, dried fruits) contains more calories, but has an amazing taste. You can pick up and less high-calorie ingredients: herbs, spices, dried vegetables. Such bread is very useful, in addition to B vitamins, it contains a lot of valuable fiber and stimulates good digestion.
To make homemade bread tasty, it is important to use quality products. Fresh or dry yeast will do; some prefer sourdough baked goods. The appearance and taste of bread also depends on the quality of the flour. It is preferable to use a product from durum wheat. Delicious confectionery and airy light bread are obtained from white flour of the highest grade. Loafs with a denser crumb and a beautiful glossy crust are baked from flour of the 1st grade. Loafs of flour of the 2nd grade are distinguished by their density and a pleasant nutty flavor. Rye flour does not contain gluten, it is mixed with wheat flour before baking, the exact proportions depend on the specific recipe.
An important point is the design of the loaf. To make the crust shiny and ruddy, grease it with a beaten egg. The silky hump is provided by the milk coating. Sweet bread can be brushed with sugar syrup, the crust will be glossy and crispy.
Wheat bread: basic recipe
It will take no more than 1, 5 hours to bake beautiful, tasty and healthy loaves. Finished bread can be frozen and reheated before serving in the microwave or oven. According to the basic recipe, bread with additives is also baked. It is recommended to add ground cinnamon, chopped nuts, almond petals, candied fruits, raisins, dried apricots, prunes, dried cherries to sweet loaves. For snack bread, chopped olives or pitted olives, sunflower or pumpkin seeds, cheese, dried herbs, paprika are suitable. All components are added after proofing, thoroughly kneading the dough. The specified amount of food will make 3 standard size loaves.
Ingredients:
- 1, 4 kg of premium wheat flour;
- 2 tbsp. l. refined vegetable oil;
- 25 g fresh yeast;
- 4 tsp salt;
- 1 tbsp. l. Sahara;
- 900 ml of water.
Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, put the mixture in heat for 15 minutes. Pour into a large bowl, add salt, stir in the pre-sifted flour in portions. Knead a smooth, homogeneous dough, put it in a bowl, tighten with cling film and place in a warm place. When the mass doubles, you can start cutting.
Grease the bread tins (rectangular or round) with vegetable oil. Put the dough on a floured board and knead for a few more minutes. Divide into 3 parts, roll each into a bun and place in a mold. Cover the containers with plastic wrap and leave for 30-40 minutes for proofing. When the future loaves fill the molds, make a cut in each and dust the surface with flour.
Place the molds in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 35-40 minutes, check readiness by knocking on the mold. If the bread is not baked, the sound will be muffled, the forms must be returned to the oven for another 5-7 minutes. Remove the finished rolls and cool on a wire rack, covering with a linen towel.
Bread with milk: step-by-step preparation
You can add low-fat milk to the dough by mixing it with water. The bread will turn out to be more pleasant to the taste, so loaves are often baked with sweet additives: dried fruits, nuts, candied fruits. The amount of sugar can be increased, but too sweet bread rises worse.
Ingredients:
- 15 g dry yeast;
- 100 g butter;
- 2 tsp Sahara;
- 1, 4 kg of wheat flour 1 or premium;
- 3 tsp salt;
- 3 eggs;
- 450 ml of milk;
- 450 ml of water.
Sift the flour into a bowl, heat the milk slightly and mix with water. Dissolve dry yeast in half of the milk mixture, add sugar. Leave on for 15 minutes. Mix butter with flour, pour in dissolved yeast and 2 eggs, beaten in a separate container, add salt. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes, distribute it over 3 tins, lightly oiled. Leave to proof for 40 minutes.
Brush the surface of the bread with a beaten egg to form a golden brown crust. Put the molds in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Bake for 50 minutes, put the loaves out of the molds, brush the crust with melted butter. Cool the bread on a wire rack or board, cover with a linen towel.
Gray bread with onions and cheese
To prepare classic gray bread, you need to mix first and highest grade flour. The crumb turns out to be dense, the nutritional value of such bread is high. Additional ingredients can be added to enhance the flavor, such as spicy hard cheese and pre-fried onions. Instead of cumin for sprinkling, you can use poppy or a mixture of dried herbs: parsley, dill, basil, thyme. From the specified amount of products, 1 loaf or loaf is obtained.
Ingredients:
- 300 g of 1st grade wheat flour;
- 150 g of premium wheat flour;
- 300 ml of water;
- 1 tsp salt;
- 0.5 tsp Sahara;
- 10 g fresh yeast;
- 1 tbsp. l. refined vegetable oil;
- 1 medium onion;
- 80 g of cheddar cheese;
- 1 tsp cumin;
- 1 egg.
Sift flour and mix. Dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, salt, vegetable oil. Let the mixture stand for a quarter of an hour. Peel the onion, cut into small cubes and fry in hot vegetable oil until golden brown. Make sure that the onions do not burn. You can add a little sugar to the pan for a nice caramel flavor. Grate the cheese on a fine grater.
Pour the flour mixture into the dissolved yeast in portions. Knead to a homogeneous dough, leave it in a bowl under a proofing towel. The dough should double in 40 minutes. If the dough does not rise, place it in a warm place, such as a bowl of hot water.
Knead the dough on a floured board with grated cheese and onions. Set aside a couple tablespoons of cheese for sprinkling. Put the dough in a greased dish and leave for 20-30 minutes. If it is necessary to bake a loaf, the dough collected in a ball is placed on a baking sheet, 2-3 notches are made on the surface with a knife.
When the future loaf rises, brush it with a beaten egg and sprinkle with a mixture of grated cheese and caraway seeds. Bake in an oven preheated to 200 degrees. Check the bread is done, remove it from the mold and chill on a board or wire rack. Baking can be served completely cooled or warm, it is good as an independent dish or an accompaniment to vegetable salads, fish, fried meat.
