Easy homemade bread | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

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Easy homemade bread

Plus a pesto, olive & cheese twister

  • Vegetarianv
  • Veganvg
  • Dairy-freedf

Plus a pesto, olive & cheese twister

  • Vegetarianv
  • Veganvg
  • Dairy-freedf

“Cooking can be good for the soul and making bread is such a rewarding, therapeutic, tactile thing – you’ll be so proud of yourself when you’ve cracked it. From one simple bread recipe like this, there’s a million things you can do – big ones, small ones, in a tin, on a tray, get creative. There are also loads of lovely flours you can experiment with – wholewheat, rye, spelt, using a blend of a couple of different ones. Plus, making bread is a great thing to do with the kids – they'll love it. ”

Makes 2 large loaves

Cooks In45 minutes plus proving time

DifficultyNot too tricky

BreadKeep cooking and carry on

Nutrition per serving
  • Calories 147 7%

  • Fat 0.6g 1%

  • Saturates 0.1g 1%

  • Sugars 0.6g 1%

  • Salt 1.3g 22%

  • Protein 5g 10%

  • Carbs 32.4g 12%

  • Fibre 0.2g -

Of an adult's reference intake

recipe adapted from

Penguin Anniversary Edition: Happy Days With The Naked Chef

By Jamie Oliver

Ingredients

  • 1 x 7 g sachet of dried yeast
  • 1 kg strong bread flour , plus extra for dusting

Tap For Method

The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets. For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

recipe adapted from

Penguin Anniversary Edition: Happy Days With The Naked Chef

By Jamie Oliver

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. Pour 650ml of tepid water into a large bowl. Add the yeast and mix with a fork for a couple of minutes.
  2. Pour in most of the flour and half a teaspoon of sea salt, then use a fork to mix together until you can’t move it anymore.
  3. Now get your clean hands in there and bring it together as a ball of dough, adding more flour as you need to stop your hands and the dough sticking.
  4. Transfer the dough to a flour-dusted surface and keep it moving, kneading, pushing and stretching it for 5 minutes, or until you have a silky and elastic dough.
  5. Use your floured hands to shape the dough into a rough ball, put it in a bowl, flour the top and cover with a clean, damp tea towel. Allow it to prove for about an hour or an hour and 30 minutes, or until doubled in size – ideally in a warm, draught-free place.
  6. Once the dough has doubled in size, knock the air out by punching it with your fist, then kneading for 30 seconds.
  7. You can now shape it or flavour it as required – folded, filled, traybaked, whatever – and leave it to prove for a second time, for 30 minutes to an hour, or until it has doubled in size once more.
  8. Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.
  9. Carefully transfer your bread dough to the oven and gently close the door. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until golden. You can tell if it’s cooked by tapping its bottom – if it sounds hollow it’s done; if it doesn’t then pop it back in for a little longer.
  10. Once cooked, place your loaf on a cooling rack and allow to cool.

Tips

FOR PESTO, OLIVE & CHEDDAR TWISTER BREAD:
1. Taking your dough after Step 6, on a flour-dusted surface, use a rolling pin to roll out half of the dough to about the size of a small tea towel.
2. Spread some pesto – whatever you’ve got – all over the surface.
3. Now squash, destone and tear over the flesh of a few olives.
4. Coarsely grate or break over a few chunks of cheese (see below for swaps).
5. Roll up the dough like a Swiss roll, wrapping all those fillings inside, then with a sharp knife cut into eight chunks. Place the pieces close together, swirl-side up, in an ovenproof pan or on an oiled baking tray, and leave to prove again as per step 7 above, then follow the remaining steps.

SIMPLE SWAPS:
– I would normally use mozzarella for a bread like this, but really it’s worth trying it with other cheeses. Use what you’ve got and see where you end up.
– Feel free to experiment with different combos. How about smoked ham, grated cheese and a little tomato? Spinach, feta and pine nuts? Or jarred peppers blitzed into a paste with garlic and nuts?
– You could easily make a sweet twister bread. Think jam, or honey and raisins, or chocolate spread and mashed bananas. What will you make?

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recipe adapted from

Penguin Anniversary Edition: Happy Days With The Naked Chef

By Jamie Oliver

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Easy homemade bread: Jamie Oliver

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Easy homemade bread | Jamie Oliver recipes (2024)

FAQs

How can I make my bread lighter and fluffy? ›

Add Sugar

Adding sugar weakens the gluten structure, absorbs water, and eventually makes the bread lighter and softer. As a result, sugar improves the bread's taste, structure and texture. Yeast also eats up sugar to produce carbon dioxide, which raises the dough and makes bread fluffy.

What does adding milk instead of water do bread? ›

It adds nutritional value to baked goods. Mainly protein, calcium, and vitamin B12 which are all necessary for a heathy diet. But we don't only look for the nutritional benefits when using milk in our bread dough. The fat and lactose in milk help with tenderizing the crumb of the bread making it softer and sweeter.

How to make homemade bread more flavorful? ›

If you're looking to ramp up the taste of your favorite bread recipe, we recommend adding a bit of fat. A fat like butter, olive oil or coconut oil in small quantities will help your bread achieve a higher rise and it will also boost its flavor by tenfold.

What makes store bread soft and fluffy? ›

Many of these breads, especially packaged ones, are made with a ton of chemical additives such as calcium propionate, amylase, and chlorine dioxide which help keep them soft, light, and fluffy for days.

What is the secret to a soft and fluffy bread? ›

You want to rise the dough so that the yeast still has enough energy in it to work in the oven to give you a nice, light, fluffy loaf of white bread. Lightly cover the loaf pans with plastic wrap - do not make it too tight as you don't want the dough to rise up and get trapped in the plastic wrap.

What ingredient makes bread fluffier? ›

Milk powder.

Instant milk powder makes bread dough super soft and fluffy and also helps to give it a good rise. It also contributes to the dough staying nice and soft after baking for a little longer than a recipe that does not use milk powder.

Is homemade bread better with butter or oil? ›

As fat inhibits starch recrystallization, bread that includes butter will stay soft longer, increasing the loaf's shelf life. Consider adding butter to bread dough when: Craving a richer bread. You want a dough with a shreddy, plush crumb.

What does adding egg to bread dough do? ›

besides the nutritional benefits there are a few other good reasons to use egg in breadmaking. It makes the bread lighter and fluffier. The reason for that is the fat in the yolk that inhibits gluten formation just as any other fat would. This results in a looser dough that can expand and puff up more.

What does adding butter to bread dough do? ›

Butter is an amazing ingredient. It makes bread soft, and it gives it a wonderful flavour and aroma. The mouthfeel of bread made with butter is smooth and pleasant. But what is the best way to incorporate butter into bread dough?

What is the secret to making good bread? ›

12 tips for making perfect bread
  • Use the right yeast. ...
  • Store your yeast properly. ...
  • Treat salt with care. ...
  • Take your time. ...
  • Try different flours. ...
  • Consider vitamin C. ...
  • Practice makes perfect. ...
  • Don't prove for too long.

What makes the tastiest bread? ›

Sweeteners such as malt and honey are used to add flavor to bread dough. Malt, which is available in powder and liquid form, can be added to almost any bread. It's important to use a nondiastatic version, though, as diastatic malt has active enzymes, which, in excess, will make dough extremely sticky.

Why is my homemade bread so bland? ›

Salt adds flavor to bread. If none or too little is used in a recipe, the bread will lack the right flavor and taste "bland." If you reduce the amount of salt, try adding some dried herbs to increase the flavor. Too much yeast in bread will give bread an off-taste.

How do you make bread less heavy? ›

Adding dry milk powder to your bread dough will help your loaf rise higher. In addition, the loaf will stay soft and hold moisture longer which again means it will last longer. It also helps brown the crust. If you want a lighter fluffier bread loaf just add 2 Tbsp of dry milk to the flour per loaf of your bread.

How do foods like bread become light and fluffy? ›

The baking process produces a number of different gases, such as carbon dioxide, water in the form of steam, ethanol vapors and nitrogen. The gluten network traps these gases and the dough expands like a balloon. If the gluten network is too strong, the gases will not produce enough pressure to make the dough rise.

Why is my bread dense instead of fluffy? ›

The usual reason why bread becomes too dense is due to using flour with low protein content. When your loaf is spongy and heavy, you might have also put too much flour into it or made the dough in a cooler or too warm setting.

Does letting bread rise longer make it fluffier? ›

Does Rising Bread Affect Its Texture? For a fluffy bread texture, the key is to let the bread rise long enough.

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