French Baguette

When you have finished preparing the bread, preheat the oven with a tin of water at the bottom of the oven - this stops the bread drying out as its baking!

This may not have looked like a Cuisine de France roll but it tasted good, so that's all that matters, right?

Preheat the oven to 230°C and brush a baking sheet with oil. I used a stand mixer and dough hook to make this bread. 

Ingredients 

450g strong white flour

1½ tsp salt

1½ tsp yeast 

325ml lukewarm water

Stage 1 

• sift the flour and salt into a bowl and then stir in the yeast. 
• pour in the lukewarm water and mix until it comes together.
• scrape down the sides of the bowl and add a dusting of flour - mix on a low speed for 10 minutes.
• brush a bowl with oil, add the dough, cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. 

Stage 2

• turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 1-2 minutes.
• cut the dough in half and shape each piece into a ball.
• shape each ball into a rectangle shape (approx - 7.5 x 20 cm).
• fold one-third of the dough down, then fold the remaining third of the dough (see picture), repeat for the second ball of dough.
• place them in a tin, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 10 minutes.
• repeat the folding process twice over, leaving the dough to rest for 10 minutes each time.

Stage 3

• lightly flour and pleat a tea towel, gently roll and stretch each piece of dough until its 30 cm long and an even thickness.
• support each loaf against the pleats of the tea towel, cover with a damp towel and leave to rise for 40 minutes. 
• gently roll the loaves onto the prepared baking sheet and slash the top several times with a knife.
• bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. 
• cool on a wire rack. 

♥ ♥

Wendy

XO

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Hamburger Buns

It may say hamburger buns...but they were more like soft rolls! They were just delicious. Perfect for toasting or as bread for a sandwich :) 

Preheat the oven to 200°C and brush a baking sheet with oil.

Ingredients

450g strong white flour

1½ tsp salt

2 tsp caster sugar

1 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

150ml lukewarm water

150ml lukewarm milk

1-3 tbsp sesame seeds 

• sift the flour and salt into a bowl, stir in the sugar and finally the yeast.
• pour in the lukewarm water and milk, mix the dough on a low speed until it comes together - then lightly dust the dough with flour.
• further knead the dough on a low speed for 10 minutes.
• brush a bowl with oil, add the dough, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 1 hour (or until its doubled in volume)
• turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knock it back with your fist. 
• divide the dough into 8 pieces, shape them into rounds and place them on the prepared baking sheets.
• cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for 30 minutes.
• brush the top of each bun with oil and sprinkle over the sesame seeds.
• bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes and once baked, cool on a wire rack. 

♥ ♥

Wendy

XO

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Flatbread Pizza

So far this has been the easiest 'bread' recipe that I have attempted. It would be a great recipe to try if you have never tried baking bread before! I usually use a stand mixer to make bread :) Preheat the oven to 200^°C and it will take 20 minutes to bake on an oiled baking tray.

Sweet Chili Dip on the side...

Bread

450g strong white bread flour

½ tsp easy-blend yeast

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

300ml lukewarm water

• sift the flour and salt into the mixer, then stir in the yeast.
• add the oil and mix with a paddle until it comes together.
• scrap the mixture away from the bottom of the mixer and sift in some flour (the same as you flour a surface before kneading!) and mix on low for 10 minutes. 
• once smooth and elastic, brush a clean bowl with oil, shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl.
• cover the bowl with cling film and leave to rise in warm place for an hour, or until it doubles in size. 
• turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface , knock back and knead for 1 minute or so.
• roll out the dough, put it on the baking tray, cover as before and leave to rise for 20-30 minutes. 
• before baking, make indentations all over the surface of the dough and drizzle over some sea salt and olive oil.
• after 12 minutes, remove the bread, add your pizza toppings and bake for further 7 minutes. 
• Enjoy!

Wendy 

XO

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