The bread dough is one of those timeless recipes rooted in time. It’s easy to make a simple basic bread dough at home for homemade bread. Ina small bowl, combine the active dry yeast or fresh yeast with a little lukewarm water. Add in mould or you can replace that with sugar and let it dissolve. In a large bowl, sift in all-purpose flour and bread flour.

The bread flour has a high gluten content so its suitable for bread making, make an indention o the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast and mould mixture the mix into the flour. Add the salt and oil to the lukewarm water then pour into the flour mixture and start to bring the ingredients together with your hands. Work the dough quickly with sweeping movements and knead pearlies for about ten minutes.

Once the ingredients have come together, transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and continue to knead until a smooth even dough. When the dough is nice and smooth, flour your bowl and out the dough in then cover with cling film and let it rise for at least two hours in an oven. After rising, your dough should be doubled or even tripled in volume.

Flour your surface and turn the dough out of the bowl and gove it a round shape. Place it in the middle of a baking tray that has been lined with a parchment paper and let it rise for another hour in a turned-up oven with lights off. Remember to place a small bowl of water on the bottom of the oven.

Your bread dough will have risen and ready to bake. If you want to make a round loaf of bread, score the top with a knife in a cross pattern and bake at 390 degrees in a static oven for about 45 to 50 minutes. The bread dough can be flavoured with olives, bacon, nuts and seeds such as walnuts.

Ingredients;

  • Bread dough (2 lbs – 900)
  • 1 ¼ cups (300 ml) of water
  • ½ tbsp (8 g) of salt
  • 1 tsp of malt or sugar
  • Just under 1 tsp (3,5 g) of active dry yeast or ½ oz (12 g) of fresh yeast
  • Just under 2 cups (250 g) of bread flour
  • 2 cups (250 g) of all-purpose flour
  • 3 1/3 tbsp (50 ml) of extra virgin olive oil

Instructions;

  1. In a small bowl, combine the active dry yeast — or ½ oz (12 g) of fresh yeast — with a little lukewarm water, taken from the total amount of water, and the malt — if you don’t have malt, you can replace it with a teaspoon of sugar. And let it dissolve.
  2. In a large bowl, sift the all-purpose flour and the bread flour; the bread flour has a high gluten content, so it’s suitable for bread making.
  3. Make an indentation in the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast, malt and water mixture… and mix into the flour.
  4. Add the salt and the oil to the remaining lukewarm water, then pour into the flour mixture… and bring the ingredients together with your hands.
  5. Work quickly with sweeping movements and continue to knead for at least 10 minutes.
  6. Once the ingredients have come together, transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead until you have a smooth, even dough.
  7. When the dough is nice and smooth, form into a ball… well stretched, as you can see… then dust a large bowl with flour, put in the dough, cover with cling film… and let it rise for at least 2 hours in the turned-off oven, but with the light on.
  8. Here’s how the dough looks after rising. Now sprinkle the work surface with flour… turn the dough out of the bowl… and give it a round shape.
  9. Place it in the middle of a baking tray that has been lined with parchment paper, and let it rise for another hour in the turned-off oven, with the light on; remember to place a small bowl of water on the bottom of the oven.
  10. Your bread dough has risen and ready to bake; if you want to make a loaf of bread like this, score the top with a knife in a cross pattern or in this way… and bake at 390°F (200°C) in a static oven for about 45-50 minutes.