One finds oneself, these days, getting rather sick of all the factory produced bread that litters every supermarket and corner shop in this country. Although it is possible to buy good bread from such places, such loaves tend to be a little on the expensive side. In stark contrast, this loaf is exceptionally good, contains no preservatives and costs next to nothing. It merely requires a little time, but even the effect of this can be lessened by making the dough in advance.
The recipe below may look a little long and complex, but I assure you that isn’t the case, so why not give it a go! If you don’t have a few hours to spare in a single day, make the dough the night before and then put in the fridge to rise. This slows the rising process, and means the dough will be ready the next day just in time for baking. Otherwise, this loaf will take roughly three hours to make and bake: one hour is required to let it rise; another to let it prove. You can see the size of it for yourself, suffice to say it’s fairly large.
Ingredients:
- 500g strong white flour, plus extra for dusting
- 7g yeast
- generous amount of salt
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 300ml warm water
26 replies on “Simple White Bread”
A very handy tip for bargain bread baking is that if you ask the bakery staff at Tesco supermarkets for fresh yeast they give it to you for free!
How did you find that out?! Unfortunately I don’t shop at Tesco…
There is something so welcoming about the smell of fresh baked bread…
One of the reasons I love living above a bakery!
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Good fresh bread has to be one of the most wonderful things to eat. I’ve been doing the wet dough that I can keep in the fridge all the time.
I totally agree, it’s so delicious. That’s a good idea!
That’s a beautiful take on simple white bread, prettier than the usual pain de mie baked in a pullman loaf pan. Nice work Frugal!
Thanks! I adore baking bread, but haven’t had much time recently.
I just made this and it has turned out wonderfully! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome. I’m so glad you liked it. I adore a good white bread.
Do you think I could use a standmixer for the mixing and kneading? I have a dicky wrist at the moment, and I really want to try this recipe.
Of course! (love the word dicky)
Just made this bread and for some reason it’s still white on the outside. Not at all like the golden brown crust shown in your pictures. It’s my first time making bread so I was curious if I may have done something wrong or if it’s just because of the flour I used, etc?
I can’t think of any reason, was the oven hot enough? Try adding a little shallow tray of water to the bottom of your oven, the steam helps build a good crust.
The recipe is great, I’m seriously thinking of not buying bread ever again (and also trying more complicated things). 🙂
One piece of advice from my own mistakes: ‘warm water’ means about room temperature warm. Make sure it’s not hotter than body temperature — or the flour will be clumping when you mix it with water, and completely destroy your bread’s texture.
The water actually can be cold — it won’t affect the result, just increase the time it takes for the dough to become warm enough to start rising.
Thank you very much!
How can I turn this recipe into a wholemeal loaf?
Love your website!
I guess, just use wholemeal flour, or half and half. You’ll likely need a little extra water for that and wholemeal can be much harder to work with.
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Great bread recipe.. I am going to try to make this with Einkorn today. I am also trying a no knead with einkorn flower. I am intrigued by this ancient wheat and how it does not see to be problem for most gluten free people. Einkorn is not an inexpensive ingredient but in my family we treat refined wheat like meat as a very small part of our diet.
I’ve never worked with Einkorn – I hope it works out. Let me know what you think!
Hi I’ve just stumbled across your page and love it! Just one question – what size tin do I need for this bread?? Many thank! 🙂
I also have just stumbled across (for want of a better phrase) your website and shall be treating all within as my ‘bible!’ Thank goodness for innovative and creative peeps like yourself! Alison
I am so looking forward to putting your recipes into practice. Many thanks. Alison
I make this bread all the time I have added different ingredients like mixed herbs or just rosemary both came out very well and I have just made a cheese loaf and a fresh orange an chocolate plait using this bread recipe it’s smells delicious not sure how it will taste but I hope it’s as good as it smells.