Simple Bread Dough
This instructable will teach you a simple way to make a bread dough.
The main thing to remember, is that the quality of the bread is proportional to the effort you put in, so we need to simplify it some other way.
I've gotten a recipe that makes it easy to know how much flour to use, while still getting a great bread out of it.
The main thing to remember, is that the quality of the bread is proportional to the effort you put in, so we need to simplify it some other way.
I've gotten a recipe that makes it easy to know how much flour to use, while still getting a great bread out of it.
Ingredients
You'll need:
flour (about a pound)
instant dry yeast (about a tablespoon)
1 cup milk
2 Oz. butter
1 egg
flour (about a pound)
instant dry yeast (about a tablespoon)
1 cup milk
2 Oz. butter
1 egg
Mix First Ingredients
Mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast
Melt butter and add milk
Heat until warm to the touch, but not scalding.
Add milk and butter to flour and yeast.
Mix well
Add egg
Mix well
If you want a sweet bread, add sweetener here too and mix well
Melt butter and add milk
Heat until warm to the touch, but not scalding.
Add milk and butter to flour and yeast.
Mix well
Add egg
Mix well
If you want a sweet bread, add sweetener here too and mix well
Mixing in More Flour
Add flour, about half a cup at a time and mix it into the dough until you can't mix in any more.
The dough should look something like the image below
The dough should look something like the image below
Kneading
Here's the fun part:
Now we need to knead more flour into the dough. Remember, that kneading also develops the gluten, so the more you knead the better the bread.
Continue adding flour half a cup at a time, fold the dough over the flour and start alternating pushing with the heels ov your hands and squeezing with your fingers until it's fully mixed in. Stop adding flour when the dough is no longer sticky, while still moist.
Leave the dough to rise for at least 45 min. (note, if you're in a hurry, you can speed up the rising by using an oven set to 100-150 degrees farenheit, in which case 30 min. would suffice.)
Now we need to knead more flour into the dough. Remember, that kneading also develops the gluten, so the more you knead the better the bread.
Continue adding flour half a cup at a time, fold the dough over the flour and start alternating pushing with the heels ov your hands and squeezing with your fingers until it's fully mixed in. Stop adding flour when the dough is no longer sticky, while still moist.
Leave the dough to rise for at least 45 min. (note, if you're in a hurry, you can speed up the rising by using an oven set to 100-150 degrees farenheit, in which case 30 min. would suffice.)
Shape the Bread
If you want to add anything to the bread, here's when you do it. I added dried tomatoes.
This recipe is for one loaf, you could either use a loaf pan or make a freeform loaf. I made freeform.
The bread needs to rise a second time for around 30 min. (15-20 in a warm oven)
Bake until you hear a hollow sound when knocking on the bottom (it may take you a few tries to get the sound just right, but I prefer this method to buying expensie equipment to tell me if it's done.)
Enjoy.
This recipe is for one loaf, you could either use a loaf pan or make a freeform loaf. I made freeform.
The bread needs to rise a second time for around 30 min. (15-20 in a warm oven)
Bake until you hear a hollow sound when knocking on the bottom (it may take you a few tries to get the sound just right, but I prefer this method to buying expensie equipment to tell me if it's done.)
Enjoy.