Basic Bread Dough

It is no secret that I love making and eating bread.  I find it comforting and if I am stressed you’ll find me in the kitchen making bread.  The following recipe is for a basic dough and you can use it for sweet or savory.  I love just making one batch of dough and being able to make cinnamon scrolls, bread twists and garlic bread.  As an added bonus this recipe can be made in your mix master with a dough hook.  I have used a mixture of white and wholemeal flour with this recipe but I usually just use Jimmy’s Atta Flour which is a smooth wholemeal flour.  If you are not a fan of wholemeal flour just use 4 cups of white plain flour 🙂

The secret to a successful loaf of bread is allowing the yeast to become active again.  The trick is to add the yeast and your liquid ingredients to your mixing bowl, give a good stir and then allow to rest for 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes frothy.

In the mixing bowl combine

• 1 1/2  cups of warm water (not too hot or it will kill the yeast)
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 1 tablespoon of yeast
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

Once the mixture has become frothy add 4 cups of flour whilst the mix master is mixing on a medium speed.  Continue to mix until the dough forms a ball and comes away from the edge of the bowl.  Allow dough to rest in a warm place (inside your oven with a bowl of hot water is perfect) for an hour or until doubled in size.  Remove the dough from the bowl and cut into your desired shapes.  My kids love rolls, scrolls, twists and knot rolls so we make whatever we fancy on the day.  Allow the dough to rest again for about 30 minutes and then bake in a hot oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.  Brush with melted butter when warm.  For our garlic bread we combine 1 tablespoon of garlic powder with the melted butter and brush over the warm bread.  We then sprinkle with sesame and poppy seeds.

Making your own bread does take time but I can honestly say nothing tastes better 🙂 Enjoy.