Sandwich Bread in Four Easy Steps

(Adapted from Bread in Four Easy Steps: BBC Good Food)

Its been some time that I've baked bread. So my bread-baking pangs were starting to kick in! :)

This week I am posting a sandwich bread that I found on BBC Good Food. Apparently, you can use this recipe to make wholewheat as well as white bread. Well I played safe by making white bread. You can find the recipe here.

Sandwich bread is bread where the slices are slightly bigger. Small bread pieces are good for eating toast. But you generally, need a larger slice to make good sandwich.

 The secret to making good bread is good yeast. I use Gloripan Instant yeast that I ordered online! Never failed me even once.

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

All purpose flour/maida: 500 grams

Instant yeast: 1/2 tablespoon

Sugar/honey: 1 tablespoon

Oil (olive oil or any neutral oil): 2 tablespoons

Salt: 1 teaspoon

Lukewarm water: 300 ml

Process:

1. Pour the flour, yeast, salt in a deep bottom bowl. Add warm water, oil, and honey to another bowl and mix the dry ingredients gradually to form a soft dough.

2. Place the ball of dough on a work surface and knead thoroughly for 5-7 minutes. Sprinkle some dry flour on top to prevent stickiness. You will get a smooth dough that springs back if you press it down. Now spread the dough with your hands to a oblong shape. Roll up from one end to form a roll. Seam the edges to make log shape.

3.Grease your loaf tin and place the log-shaped dough in the tin. Cover with a kitchen towel or clingfilm and keep in a warm dry place to rise for an hour. The dough will rise above the rim of the tin. Dont panic if the dough appears to overflow as mine did!

Placed the loaf in the tin

The loaf after rising, with slashes on the top surface

4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C for 10 minutes. Make multiple slashes on the top-surface of the loaf with a sharp knife. Place the loaf tin in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. Once done, remove from oven and carefully de-mold the bread. The underside should be golden-brown and should make a hollow sound when tapped. If the underside appears wet, pop it in the oven for 10 more minutes at the same temperature. Brush with butter/milk. Cool to room temperature. (Always slice the bread only when it has cooled down completely.) Slice the bread. Voila! Your sandwich loaf is ready.

just out of the oven

ready for glorious sandwiches

 Some useful tips:
1. When you put the bread for baking in the oven, also place a small bowl or glass of water along with it. Placing water inside the oven will lead to steam formation, and is needful for baking spongy bread.
2. Cover the bread tin with foil loosely (leaving space for the bread to rise) after about ten minutes of baking. Remove the foil when about 7-10 minutes of the time is left. This will prevent over-hardening of the crust. Removing the foil a short while before the baking time ends, allows the golden-brown crust to form.
3. Don't forget to brush the loaf with milk/butter right after removing from oven. This will prevent drying of the crust.