A slow fermenting and easy bread recipe – ideal for beginners and lazy bakers.
Jump straight to the easy bread recipe
Traditional bread is a wonderful, simple food. Indigestible cereal starches transformed into the staff of life. And all it takes is gentle hands, unhurried fermentation and sudden, fierce heat.
Yet most of the bread sold in the UK is highly processed junk food. It’s made using a high-speed industrial process far removed from traditional bread baking. Ignore the marketing on the pack and read the ingredients label. How many do you recognise?
If you’re lucky you might have a local artisan baker making real bread. (Check for a real bread maker near you at https://www.sustainweb.org )
If not, the answer is to make your own. And it’s really not that hard.
You shouldn’t be intimidated by bread making.
At its simplest, good bread is the combination of five ingredients, flour, water, yeast, salt and time. And even then, salt is negotiable… but time is not.
From start to finish this easy bread recipe takes 15-18 hours to make. But don’t despair. Your contribution is
And this recipe is a simple one. No previous experience required. No special equipment needed. And hardly any kneading. Ideal if you’ve never baked a handmade loaf. Or if you’re a lazy baker like I am.
You could make this bread with a mixer. But I urge you to use your hands. It’s the best way to understand how your dough changes as it develops.
I’m a nutritionist and I’m recommending you make a white loaf?
We all know wholemeal bread is the healthy option. So, why am I suggesting you make a white loaf?
Because I want to encourage you to try making your own bread. And once you’ve tasted it, I know you’ll reject industrial bread for the junk it is.
White wheat flour is very forgiving and the easiest flour to work with. It’s almost impossible to make a bad loaf. The first couple of times you handle and work your dough you’ll learn so much. With a few successful white loaves under your belt, your confidence will skyrocket.
And you’ll want to turn your hand to other types of bread. Wholemeal, seeded, oatmeal or even rye. And when you do, your breads will be true health foods.
If you’re unsure of any of the breadmaking techniques in this recipe there are step by step instructions in this article.
How to make bread at home – an essential guide to baking homemade bread
Enjoy!
An easy bread recipe for beginners and lazy bakers – Rustic handmade white loaf
Ingredients
Starter fermentation
- 500 g strong white flour
- 500 ml warm water
- 1/8 tsp dried yeast
Final dough
- Starter fermentation
- 500 g Strong white flour
- 190 ml warm water
- 1 level tsp dried yeast
- 2 level tsp salt
Instructions
Starter fermentation
- Weigh the flour into a large bowl
- Sprinkle on the yeast
- Make a well in the centre
- Pour the warm water into the well
- Stir with a cutlery knife slowly incorporating the flour into the water
- When the two are mixed cover with cling film
- Leave somewhere warm (around 20-25˚C) to prove for 12-16 hours (the warmer your proving spot the less time required)
Final Dough
- Add only the flour and warm water to the starter fermentation
- Mix together with a cutlery knife
- Don’t over mix – you just want to bring the dough together in a shaggy loose mess
- Return to your proving spot for and leave for 30 minutes
- Sprinkle on the dried yeast and salt
- Mix together with your cutlery knife
- Scrape the dough from the bowl onto your kitchen table
- Knead the dough for 4-5 minutes – Don’t overwork the dough. You’re looking for some stretch in the dough. But your dough won’t be completely smooth.
- Return the dough to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes
- Fold the dough once, return it to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes
- Fold the dough for a second time, return it to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to prove for 30 minutes
- Handle your dough gently. Turn it out onto your table
- Gently cut the dough in two
- either place each piece flour side up in a greased loaf tin
- or flour side down on a baking tray covered with a floured linen cloth
- cover with cling film and leave to prove for 20-25 minutes
Baking
- Preheat your oven to 240˚C /465˚F. In the bottom of the oven preheat a heavy roasting tin
- 5 minutes before your bread goes in the oven moisten your oven with ice cubes
- If your bread is on a floured cloth, carefully roll it onto a greased oven tray.
- Scored your bread.
- Put the bread on the middle shelf of your oven. (Be careful of the steam as you open the door)
- Before closing the oven door, pour a cup of boiling water into the roasting tray(Be careful. This will create a lot of steam. Protect your hands and face from scalding.)
- After 15 minutes your loaf should have started to colour and reached its maximum volume. Carefully remove the roasting tray
- Don’t fully close the oven door for the rest of the bake. Leave it open a tiny crack to lat the remaining steam and moisture escape.
- Bake until for a further 25-30minutes.
- Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Notes
How to make bread at home – an essential guide to baking homemade bread
Hi, I’m Ralph
I’m an Associate Registered Nutritionist with over 25 years’ experience as a professional chef.
My passion is helping individuals gain control of their diet to achieve food freedom and health in today’s broken nutrition environment.
I’m based in Edinburgh and provide 1-2-1 online nutrition coaching and support across the U.K.
Follow Movement & Nutrition
Related Posts
what does strong white flour means? thank you
Hi Ana
Strong flour has a higher gluten content than ordinary plain flour and is the best choice for most bread making. Gluten is the protein in flour that gives your dough its elasticity. During fermentation, gas is trapped in expanding bubbles and your dough rises. That’s only possible because the dough can stretch due to its gluten content.
A dough made with ordinary plain or self-raising flour has less gluten and is less elastic. Fermentation bubbles burst and release their gas before they expand and the dough doesn’t rise.
You should find strong white or wholemeal flour in the home-bakery section of most supermarkets or general stores.
Hope that helps.
Hi Ralph,
Thanks for the rustic bread recipe. It looks yummy and I can’t wait to try and make my own… What does it mean to score the bread?? And if I leave out any ingredients or lessen the amount required, will that affect baking quality???
Thanks much👍
Scoring is intentionally cutting the surface of the loaf with a blade or scissors just before you bake it. The point is to create weak spots in the upper surface of the loaf that will encourage your loaf to expand upwards and evenly during baking. For a more in-depth explanation read the section on scoring in my article How to make bread at home – an essential guide to baking homemade bread.
The reason I recommend the rustic loaf for beginners is that it is a fairly bulletproof recipe. Make a small mistake measuring ingredients or timing fermenting or baking and you should still end up with a decent result. But wholesale changes will not work.
And as there are only four ingredients there isn’t much you can leave out. If you’re following a low sodium diet reducing the salt is an option. The recipe will work with less or even no salt, but you’ll have to accept the flavour and gluten structure will be compromised.
Good luck – I’m sure you’re going to love the bread