Bread recipes with no bread maker

[Nightsonthetiles]

I have a KitchenAid stand mixer which I use for baking.

Can make lovely pizza dough which does delicious pizzas but still haven't managed to find a good bread recipe for white bread or sourdough.

I have the Paul Hollywood bread recipe book but the ones I have tried always come out really dense despite following recipe.

Wondered if anyone has some tasty recipes they could share.

I have found that doubling the knead times makes a significant improvement to the texture of a loaf.

If it's just texture which is wrong I would try this.

I use the recipe on the back of Tesco's yeast box! Make sure your water is warm but not too hot* and you really need to knead the dough well - more is better than less. Don't skimp on the sugar either, it's to activate the yeast. It's not a taste thing. (DM was leaving it out in an attempt to cut down sugar. Got really heavy bread).

• I do 1/3 boiling, 2/3 cold tap

I use the BBC Good Food recipe as a base, but add a teaspoon of sugar, which I find makes it softer and rise better. I tend to do the second rise overnight in the fridge, and just bring it to room temperature and bake in the morning. I also use the KitchenAid dough hook on the lowest speed.

Is your yeast pretty old. I made naans a few years ago with an old packet of yeast and they were pretty much flatbreads in the end! If your yeast is old it might be dead so worth tossing it to get something fresher.

Nigella's sandwich loaf has never let me down. I mix/knead by hand. Think the recipe is available online.

Couple of tips,

Tap water temp is fine as long the room temp isn't freezing, if it is the rising and proving stages will take longer.

Mine takes about 6 minutes in a kitchen aid for it to come together.

Throw a small cup of boiling water into a baking tray at the bottom of the over to create steam.

Bread rolls.

You can't beat the BBC good food easy bread roll recipe. I use sub part of the water for 60ml of milk and that works well.

As long as you proof it twice it's brilliant and I've not had any disasters with it - I'm not great at bread - that DHs speciality.

I only use a mixer and don't hand knead. I just shape buns by hand.

Nigella’s no-knead bread is wonderful although not a trad sandwich loaf.

White bread:

500 strong bread flour (or 450 white, 50 rye - makes for tastier loaf)
7g fast action dried yeast
10g salt
Tiny sprinkle sugar - like quarter tsp - helps get a brown crust
Enough water to get it to come together- soft but not sticky dough. Only thing that can kill yeast is too hot water, but hand hot is fine. Can add a knob butter or drizzle oil- helps with keeping it longer.

Follow instructions as per usual bread recipe.

If you allow to rise overnight in the fridge, you'll get a tastier load too. I do the first rise in the fridge, then shape and prove before baking.
I bake in a Dutch oven - big pan with lid. Get browner crust.

Sourdough - often dense, but doesn't need to be. I've been making sourdough for a decade, and still occasionally have failures (usually when I've forgotten about it a bit). Have you got a starter?

loaf

Dense sounds as if it needs more time - does in my kitchen in the winter. Judge my increase in size rather than by timing for rising and proving. And always better to have too much water in the dough than too much, I've found.

Thanks for all the advice, will definitely give it a go. 👍🏻

I make all these in my Kitchenaid and they work really well www.sarahsslice.co.uk/home/categories/bread

I appreciate you were looking for traditional bread but if you’re open to soda bread then these are great

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/c/cheddar_and_mustard_soda_farls.html

I always use the bbc Good Food classic white loaf recipe. It Has come out perfectly every time. Other recipes I’ve tried have been very hit and miss.

www.easypeasyfoodie.com/easy-wholemeal-soda-bread/#recipe

Just 4 ingredients, delicious.

(I just use regular semi skimmed milk with a spoon of lemon juice instead of buttermilk.)

The bread ahead recipes are fab. You don't need to buy the book, although I thoroughly recommend it- have tried various recipes in there and haven't found a dud yet. There's quite a few kicking around the internet- google breadahead white loaf etc. There are also a lot of Instagram videos from lockdown times with recipes and video instructions/cook alongs on their page.