Easy, no-rise bread dough

Happy Monday friends! I had a lovely weekend, unplugged – avoiding the noise and business of this online world – it was bliss :) Back to work mode today, and more rain outside too! Autumn is truly here now

I love baking bread. For one, it fills the house with a delicious aroma, and nothing beats the taste of freshly baked bread. Most days, I remember to start the dough mid-morning, so it will be ready for the evening meal. Counting back the hours it needs to rise and bake, so I can start it at just the right time. Other days, I forget. Or I have no dinner plans and an hour before dinner find myself with a meal in mind that would be perfect with a fresh loaf of bread. That’s where this recipe comes in… 15 minutes prep time, 15 minutes bake time, great for those days I’m not quite so organised!

We made this last night, a lazy, rainy Sunday called for fresh bread and sausage and pasta bake for dinner! Yum.

You’ll Need:

2 ½ cups warm water
6 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp yeast
2 tbsp oil
6 cups bread flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

Stir the water, yeast, sugar and oil together and leave for 5 minutes until it becomes frothy on top. Mix in the flour, salt and baking powder. Knead for 10 minutes. Bake at 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6 for 10-15 minutes. I throw in a cup of water into a roasting pan at the bottom of the oven as I put the bread in to bake, the steam creates a lovely soft crust.

You can roll this dough out if you want to use it as a pizza base, shape it into buns, or a loaf. This recipe makes us two loafs, one for today and one for tomorrow!