Therapeutic Bread

Wound up? Ready to wallop someone? Take it out on some dough and be rewarded with a yumalicious loaf...

Lovely large white loaf

Home-made Bread

   
Ingredients:

500g white or wholemeal bread flour (gluten free is no problem at all)
7g sachet of 'fast action' or 'easy bake' yeast
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 teaspoons of sugar
1oz butter or 1 tablespoon of oil (Oil for non dairy of course...)
12 fl/oz (350ml) warm water

(Sorry for the mixture of metric and imperial here - it's my age!)

You will need:

A big bowl / a measuring jug / a big (2lb) loaf tin

Method:

1. Put the flour, yeast, salt and sugar into the bowl and mix around with your fingers a bit.

2. Add the butter / oil and rub it in to the flour mix.

3. Add the water, a third at a time, and using your hands, work the flour and water together to form a soft dough ball. You might not need all of the water. I never seem to use it all. Don't worry if the dough seems a bit too sticky.

4. Lightly flour your hands and a clean surface. Place the dough on the surface and look at the clock. Now comes part one of the therapy!

5. Knead the dough for TEN whole minutes. Don't cheat! You're only cheating yourself! ;o)

'Kneading' means you use your hands to work the dough - you're trying to stretch it and get it to a point where it feels elastic. Keep flouring your hands and the surface when you need to. Really give it a good go - don't be shy... put the heel of your hand on it and push then pull it back and repeat. You'll soon find your own style! Really, really - give it the full ten minutes so your bread comes out light and fluffy. You might start to smell the yeast... mmmmm.

6. Lightly grease the loaf tin and then put the dough into it. I push it down at the edges a bit but that's more of a habit than a requirement! Now loosely wrap the tin with a clean tea towel, this keeps the dough moist.

Small wholemeal - before cooking

Go off and do something else for about an hour. Have a nice laze in the bath or something - you deserve it after all that kneading....


7. When you come back you'll find the dough has doubled in size. Pop it in the oven at 230 C for 30 - 35 minutes. Then take it out and rest it for 10 minutes, then tip it out of the tin and onto a wire rack to cool. Once it's cooled down it's time for part two of your therapy - cut yourself a nice slice, put some butter on it, sit down and eat up! Nomnomnom!

Small wholemeal and large white loaves

PS. If you want a soft crust - lightly flour the top of the loaf before you put it into the oven. For a golden crust, brush egg over the top before you cook it. If you want rolls rather than a loaf, just shape them and place on a greased baking tray - reduce your oven timings appropriately...