Savoury Bread Base

This bread is really simple and makes a great base for rolls, loaves or even pizza! Bread can always feel like a bit of a faff but make sure you take the time to make it and do the full prove times to get the ultimate fluffy bread.

Ingredients:

400g Strong white bread flour

1/2 tbsp dried yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

350 ml warm water

1 tbsp semolina (this isn't necessary but helps make the bread fluffier)

Salted water for glaze

EXTRAS

Garlic

Mixed herbs

Pizza toppings

Cheese

Sun-dried tomatoes

Rosemary

Fresh, halved tomatoes
Olives

Method:

- Mix dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl
- Add the water and mix to form the dough. The dough should be sticky and will stick to your fingers.
- Turn onto a floured work top and knead for 10 minutes adding more flour if necessary (the key with kneading is just to keep it moving, everyone's kneading technique is slightly different!)
- Place in a lightly oiled bowl and place a damp tea towel or greased cling film over the top
- Leave to prove in a warm place until doubled in size (usually about an hour)
- Shape dough into desired tin (this is when you add any extras!) and leave to prove in the same way as before for half an hour. (Miss this prove for pizzas and just go straight onto baking, dough balls still need to be proved but do so whilst decorating pizza so they all bake together)
- Preheat oven to 200'C
- Glaze dough with salted water and place in the oven for 15 minutes
- Turn oven down to 180'C and bake for 15 minutes longer or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom
- Leave bread to cool

Comments

Welcome!

Welcome to Ellen Bakes! My name is Ellen and I love to bake! I will be posting on this blog about once a week with a new recipe, you can subscribe to see when I upload by pressing the subscribe button on the home page or at the top of your screen. Please feel free to send me anything you make and any recipes you would be happy for me to post. There is also a comment section on each post where you can share any tips and tricks for the recipe and ask any questions! Most of my recipes will just say 'sugar', 'butter', or 'flour' and, unless I state otherwise, you can swap these ingredients for any variants you have in your cupboard (although please use self raising/plain/bread flour when needed, we don't want any flat cakes!), and generally any allergy-specific alternatives can also be swapped in. I will also avoid using measurements for extras, such as chocolate or dried fruit, as I know a perfect amount for me might be too little for someone else!...

Shortcrust Pastry

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