Pull-apart pesto and cheese bread

This is a nice snack-type style bread that would also work along with a soup or a light dish. Made up of many small rolls that connect during rising and baking, it pulls apart into portions easily and is a great addition to the table at a dinner party.

Ingredients:

• 250 g flour (I used spelt wholemeal bread for a more rustic taste, but white flour will do fine)
• 4 g salt
• 4 g dried active yeast (or fresh yeast for 250 g flour)
• 170 ml water
• 150 g pesto
• cheese for topping
• Alternatively, 100 g each of water and flour can be replaced with 200 g sourdough starter discard

Preparation:

• knead flour, salt, yeast and water into a smooth dough
• rise for 30-60 minutes, until doubled in size
• form balls (I made 18 for extra-small snack-sized rolls)
• coat all balls in pesto
• put balls into lined baking tin or on baking tray
• cover and rise for 20-30 min
• sprinke with cheese
• bake at 200C (fan oven) for 20-25 minutes (a bit longer if making fewer, larger rolls)

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Carbohydrates:

• total: 190 g
• around 10 g per bite-sized roll if making into 18, alternatively calculate from total

Preparation time:

• prep: 20 min
• rises: 60-90 min
• baking: approx. 20 min
• total: 2-2.5 hours

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Potato Bread with Sour Cream

Potato bread is one of the things I really miss in the UK. It’s a wonderfully soft, moist bread with wonderful subtle flavour and a thin, comparatively soft crust. In this recipe I used some sour cream to give it a little bit of tang and even more moisture. I also added some wild garlic I’d foraged on the day.

Ingredients for 2 loaves:

• 500 g wholemeal flour
• 200 g white flour
• 400 g potatoes
• 2 tsp salt
• 14 g instant dry yeast (alternatively, fresh yeast for 1 kg flour)
• water as needed

Optional:

• 150 g sour cream (I used half-fat)
• spices, herbs, nuts, cheese etc – for this one I used a handful of finely chopped wild garlic

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Preparation:

• Peel, boil and mash the potatoes – don’t add anything more at this stage
• Mix flour, mashed potatoes, salt, yeast and optional ingredients
• Add water and knead until you have an elastic dough that doesn’t stick to the bowl
• Rise for 60 minutes
• Form two loaves and let rise for another 30 minutes

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• Bake as usual. If you don’t usually bake bread, a good method is:
  • pre-heat oven to maximum temperature, place a shallow, heat-proof tray in the bottom of the oven
  • boil some water
  • add the loaves on a tray lined with baking paper or silicone to the oven, and pour some of the boiled water into the tray at the bottom of the oven (beware the steam cloud!)
  • bake for 20 minutes
  • turn temperature down to 200 degrees (fan oven) and bake for another 20-30 minutes. The bread should sound hollow when knocking on the base
• Spray with water directly after baking

Preparation time:

• 30 min for mashed potatoes
• 30 min for mixing and shaping
• 90 min for 2 rises
• 40-50 min for baking
• total: 3 to 3 1/2 hours

Spiced Bread with Seeds

This one was a bit of an experiment on a whim – I was bored of “normal” tasting bread and wanted to literally spice it up a bit. It worked – it has a subtle flavour that doesn’t get in the way of tasting the toppings.

I used cumin, nutmeg, cayenne and ground pepper, along with linseed (aka flax seed), sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds.

If you want to try this flavour combination, you should definitely give it a go, but more generally I think it’s a +1 for experimentation with spices, different types of flour, seeds and other additions.

Ingredients:

• 200 g white bread flour
• 150 g wholemeal wheat flour
• 150 g wholemeal spelt flour
• 325 g water
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground cayenne
• some freshly ground coarse black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 7 g dried active yeast (or any other yeast according to instructions for 500 g flour)
• 8 g salt
• 1/2 handful linseeds
• 1/2 handful sunflower seeds
• 1/2 handful pumpkin seeds

Preparation:

• Mix all the ingredients (except the seeds) in a large bowl and knead for a few minutes.
• Cover with a clean cloth.
• After 30 minutes, stretch the dough and fold it, once on all sides.
• Cover again.
• After another 30 minutes, it should have risen to twice the volume.
• Add the seeds and knead until mixed in.
• Shape into a loaf and transfer on a lined baking tray.
• Brush with water, and sprinkle some seeds on.
• Cover with a cloth.
• Proof for approx. 30 minutes, until the loaf has risen again.
• Pre-heat the oven to 220C (fan oven; otherwise 240C). Put an empty tray in the base of the oven. Boil some water.
• Dust the loaf with flour.
• Score with a sharp knife with a flat blade or a razor blade.
• Put the loaf in the oven and pour some of the hot water into the tray placed there earlier. The steam will help the loaf rise better.
• Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 180C (200C if not using a fan oven) and bake for another 20 minutes.
• The loaf will be done if it has a brown crust, and if it sounds hollow when knocking on the bottom of the loaf.
• Enjoy!

Carbs:

• Total: 350 g

Preparation time:

• Mixing and kneading: 10 min
• First rise: 1 hr
• Mixing and second rise: 35 min
• Baking: 40 min
• Total: approx. 2.5 hrs

Breakfast Rolls with Sourdough Discard

Every sourdough baker who doesn’t bake every day or two, or doesn’t follow a strict in-and-out-of-the-fridge regime, is eventually going to have to throw extra starter out, or find other uses for it.

I usually just add it to other breads and leave the appropriate amount of flour and water out – for example, add 150 g starter (1:1 flour:water), and reduce flour and water by 75 g each. Likewise, if you think this sounds like a great recipe but don’t have any discard sourdough starter just replace the starter with 1:1 flour and water.

One simple recipe that’s easy to scale up or down is “breakfast rolls”. If you’re not from the British Isles (or in particular Scotland or Ireland) you might wonder why they’re called that and whether other rolls aren’t suitable for breakfast – which of course they are.

I don’t really know why and have just grown to use the word because everyone seems to know what it means: large, soft, usually white rolls, sometimes with a dark, burnt top (“well-fired rolls”).

Bake them at a higher temperature and shorter time to get a soft crust, or at a slightly lower temperature and a little longer to get crusty rolls.

Personally I find breakfast rolls pretty bland, so the starter, especially if it’s using some varieties of flour other than just plain white bread flour, adds some flavour and colour to them without distorting the original recipe too much!

Mmmhm! Fressh rolls!

Ingredients:

• 400 g white bread flour (wheat)
• 100 ml water
• 100 ml milk
• 8 g salt
• 7 g dried active yeast (or any other type of baking yeast, according to instructions, and for 500 g flour)
• 1 tsp sugar (optional)
• 3 tbsp oil (I use olive oil, but vegetable oil will also work)
• 200 g sourdough starter discard (100% hydration or 1:1 flour:water)

After the rise – rolls should have increased in size and be large and flat-ish

Preparation:

• Mix all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Knead for 10 minutes (5 min with a machine). Use the windowpane test to make sure it’s been kneaded for long enough.
• Rest dough for 5 minutes.
• Grease a baking tray or sheet.
• Knead dough again for a minute or two.
• Divide into 8 or 10 pieces.
• Form rolls from each piece by picking it up with hands dipped in water, then stretching it along one side, folding over, and repeating this from all 4 sides. You’ll end up with a nice small parcel, which you can roll (hence the name!) on the surface. Tuck the sides under repeatedly to firm it up, then transfer it onto the greased tray.
• Brush with water and dust with flour.
• Cover with a clean towel and let the rolls rise for 1 hour. They should spread quite a bit!
• Pre-heat the oven to 210C (fan oven, 230 without the fan).
• Make sure the rolls are still nicely dusted with flour after the rise.
• Bake for 15-20 min.
• If you want them crustier, bake for 20-25 min at 190C (fan oven).
• Enjoy! Note – this is one of the few breads I know that’s rather disappointing warm, so no matter how nice it smells, let it cool down first!

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Carbs:

• total: 385 g
• per roll: 45 g (8 rolls), 39 g (10 rolls)

rolls with a light, soft crust

Prep time:

• Mixing and kneading: 15 min
• Shaping rolls: 10 min
• Rise: 1 hr
• Baking: 20 min
• Total: just under 2 hr

rolls baked a bit longer for a darker crust

Baguettes

Working from home during lockdown gave me the opportunity to work on my breadmaking skills and try more of the recipes that take a little attention every so often over hours or days – much easier when the kitchen is 5 steps rather than 5 km away from your desk!

I’d been wanting to try baguettes for a while. The method described here is largely copied from John Kirkwood’s fantastic “How to make baguettes at home”, so all credit for the recipe goes to him. I’ve reduced the recipe to make 3 shorter baguettes that fit into a UK small kitchen oven, but have otherwise tried to keep to the recipe.

First attempt (needs better scoring!)

Ingredients (for 3 small loaves):

• 450 g white bread flour
• 7 g dried active yeast (or 15 g fresh yeast)
• 2 tsp salt
• 300 ml water

dough after the initial, brief mixing

Preparation:

• Mix all ingredients. They will form a wet and sticky dough, so use something with a small surface area such as a wooden or plastic spoon handle. Don’t knead the dough.
• Rest for 45 min, then stretch and fold the dough. (to stretch and fold: pull on 2 adjacent corners of the dough to stretch it, then folding it over the centre, turning by 90 degrees, and repeating until it’s been done 4 times, once for each side.)
• Repeat this step 3 times, to make a total of 3 hours of rest and 4 stretch and folds. By now you should see bubbles forming.

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Dough after each of the rests, stretches and folds.

• Spread flour on your working area. Turn out the dough and sprinkle with flour, then divide into 3.
• Lightly push on the dough to flatten it. Pre-shape the pieces into rectangles by stretching and folding, then turn them over so the seam points down.
• Dust with flour and cover with a towel. Rest for 15 min.
• Shape into long, thin baguettes, and transfer them onto a floured towel. Pull up the towel in between the baguettes to limit their horizontal spread. Cover.

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Dough with bubbles forming and shaped baguettes on a floured towel

• Rise for 35 min.
• Pre-heat the oven to 200C (180C fan oven) during the second half of the rise and place a shallow heat-proof bowl or tray on the bottom of the oven (if you have a steam oven, you won’t need this bowl or tray, nor the steps describing boiling water and adding it to the bowl or tray.)
• Carefully transfer the baguettes onto lined baking trays, making sure not to stretch the dough when doing that. You can scoop them up with a cutting board, or roll them onto a board / the tray.

• Boil some water.
• Score the bread with a sharp, flat blade or a razor blade (or a lame if you have one of course).
  It helps if you spray the baguettes with water before doing that. Ideally the cuts will overlap at the ends to allow for the best rise.

Second attempt at scoring using a larger, heavier knife – much improved!

• Put the baguettes in the oven and add boiling water to the tray / bowl at the bottom of the oven.
• Bake for 2×10 minutes (turning the tray after 10 minutes to allow for an even bake), or until golden brown.

Carbs:

• total: 340 g
• per baguette: approx. 115 g

Preparation time:

• from start to finish: approx. 4 1/2 hours

Savoury Plaited Yeast Bun

(plaited yeast bun with salami, cheese, spices and crème fraîche)

Plaited yeast buns, somewhat similar to a challah style bread, are known as “Hefezopf” (yeast plait) in German. They are an easy go to recipe and are usually light to medium sweet. They can be eaten on their own, dipped into coffee or tea or smothered in butter, nutella or jam, to name just a few options.

I wanted something a little bit different and had some leftovers to get rid of, so I decided to try a savoury recipe. It turned out really well and was gone much quicker than a sweet version would have been.

Ingredients:

• 215 ml milk
• 75 g butter
• 375 g plain flour
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 8 g active dried yeast (or 15 g fresh yeast)
• 150 g crème fraîche or sour cream
• 100 g grated or crumbled cheese (I recommend taking a mature or strong cheese, the milder ones won’t add much to the recipe)
• 100 g salami (alternatively chorizo, bacon, gammon steak, mushrooms… whatever you have to hand really that you might throw on a pizza or in a toastie!)
• pepper, salt and other spices (to taste)
• 1 egg
• Seeds, spices or more cheese to sprinkle on top (to taste)

Preparation:

• Warm 200 ml of milk with the butter until the butter is melted.
• Transfer milk and butter to a bowl and add flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
• Knead for 5 minutes using a mixer with kneading hooks (or hand knead if no mixer with kneading implements is available).
• Cover bowl with a clean towel and rise for 45 minutes.

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• While the dough is rising, cut the salami into small cubes or strips and fry. Drain off the fat and set aside to cool.
• Mix crème fraîche, cheese and salami and season to taste.
• On a floured surface, divide the risen dough into three parts and roll each into a long rectangle.
• Spread the filling evenly on the rectangles, leaving a little space without filling along the long edges.

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• Roll up each rectangle to form a long, thin roll.
• Braid the rolled up piece into a plait and transfer it onto a baking tray with parchment.

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• Cover with a clean towel and let rise for 15-20 minutes.
• In the meantime, pre-heat the oven to 160C (fan oven).
• Mix the egg with the remaining milk (approx. 1 tbsp).
• Once risen, brush the plait with the milk-egg mixture.
• If you want to add some herbs, seeds, parmesan etc on top of the plait, now’s the time.

• Bake for 40 minutes in the lower third of the oven.

Preparation time:

• Prep work: 25-40 min
• Rises: 45 min and 15 min
• Baking: 40 min
• Overall: 2 1/2 hours max – a lot of the prep work can be done during the rises.

Carbs:

• Overall: just under 300 g
• per 1/10th: 30 g

Stilton and Walnut Bread

We recently had some stilton that needed to be used up, so we decided to make a stilton bread. I thought that it would make a nice flavour combination with walnuts, and it was. There’s a nice sweetness from the nuts, along with the rich saltiness of the cheese. Yum!

The recipe below is for a wholemeal wheat loaf; feel free to substitute or mix in different types of flour. White bread flour uses less water, and spelt flour even less, but always start with a little less water and add more if required as flours can vary a lot in how much water they absorb.

Ingredients:

• 400 g wholemeal wheat flour
• 300 ml water
• 7 g salt
• 1 pk active dried yeast (7 g)
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 handful of walnut pieces
• 100 g stilton, crumbled

You can vary the amounts of cheese and nuts to taste. I was using up leftovers so that determined the amounts!

For some added flavour, I added 100 g of sourdough starter that was due to be removed from its jar, and left out 50 g each of the flour and water.

Preparation:

• Mix flour, water, salt, yeast and sugar and knead for a few minutes until the dough sticks nicely together and detaches from the bowl during kneading.
• Cover with a towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-60 min, or until doubled in size.
• Add the walnut pieces and crumbled stilton, then knead again.
• Shape into a loaf, dust with flour and rise again (30-45 min), using a banneton or a bowl lined with a floured cloth.

• Pre-heat an oven to 220C (fan oven) or 240C (non-fan), with a bowl or tray on the bottom of the oven.
• Boil some water.
• Transfer the bread onto a lined tray. Score if desired, using a sharp knife, bread scorer or razor blade.
• Put the tray into the oven (middle rack) and pour 1/2 mug full of boiling water into the tray or bowl on the bottom of the oven to cause steam. Close the oven door immediately.
• Bake for 20 min, then dial the temperature down to 180C (fan) or 200C (non-fan).
• When done, the bread should be nicely brown and sound hollow when tapped on the base.

Preparation time:

• Working on the loaf: 20-30 min depending on experience
• Rises: 75-120 min
• Baking: 40 min
• Total: approx. 3 h

Sundried Tomato Bread / Rolls

As breads and rolls go, this one is a quick and simple recipe. The sundried tomatoes make it taste of summer and holidays, and there are plenty of variations possible using, along with the tomatoes, olives, basil, oregano, pine nuts, pesto, parmesan, to name a few.

Ingredients:

• 250 g plain or white bread flour
• yeast (10-15 g fresh or 1/2 sachet / 4 g dried)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 pinch sugar
• 5 sundried tomatoes
• 2 tbsp oil from sundried tomatoes (if using a dry pack, use olive oil or red pesto)
• approx. 250 ml water

Preparation:

• In a bowl, mix flour, yeast, salt, sugar, oil and water.
• The dough should be fairly wet. It’s easier to use a mixer with kneading hook(s) for the initial mix. Then keep kneading for 5 minutes using your hands.
• Cut the sundried tomatoes into small pieces and knead them into the dough. Add any other spices at this stage.
• Cover the bowl with a clean cloth or kitchen foil and rise in a warm place until doubled in size (30-45′).

• Let the dough slide out of the bowl onto a surface well dusted with flour, and add some more flour on top.
• For rolls, roll the dough around finger-thick, then divide into rectangles. For bread, form a thin oval loaf.
• Transfer the rolls or bread onto a lined baking tray or sheet, cover and let rise again (20-30 min).
• Pre-heat the oven to 200C (or 180C fan oven).
• Dust the bread with flour.
• Bake for 15-20 min (rolls) or 20-25 min (loaf), until gold brown. Bread should sound hollow when tapping the underside of the loaf.

Carbs:

• Total: 375 g
• Rolls: approx. 62 g for 6 large rolls, 47 g for 8 small rolls

Prep time:

• Prep: 20-30 min
• Rise 1: 30-45 min
• Rise 2: 20-30 min
• Baking: 15-25 min
• Total: 90-120 min

Inspired by https://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/623671162653132/Schnelles-Tomaten-Ciabatta.html

Wholemeal Wheat Bread with Black Sesame and Poppy Seed

This wholemeal bread has a fine grain and crunchy crust. The black sesame and poppy seeds give it some colour and flavour.

Ingredients:

• 500 g wholemeal wheat flour
• 25 g fresh yeast (or amount of dry yeast needed for 500g of flour)
• 400 ml water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• A little white flour to rub

Preparation:

• Add the yeast and sugar to half the water.
  If you’re using dry yeast, wait for 10 minutes now for the yeast to activate.
• Add flour and salt and start kneading; add as much water as needed, bit by bit.
  The 400 ml is a good first guess, but your flour may absorb more or less water, so start with a less and keep adding.
• Add seeds, nuts, dried fruit etc to taste. For this recipe I used around 50 g of black sesame seeds and 35 g of poppy seeds.
• Cover dough and let rise until doubled in volume.

• Knock the dough down and knead a little longer, then form a loaf.
• Place the loaf on a lined baking tray and rub it with a little flour.
• Cover the loaf and let it rise until doubled in volume.
• During the second rise, pre-heat the oven to 250C (or 220C in the fan oven)
• Score the loaf with a sharp knife.
• Put the tray into the oven at medium height and set the temperature to 200C (175C fan oven).
• Bake for 40-45 minutes. When done, the bread should make a hollow sound if you knock on the bottom.

Carbs:

• 380 g total

Time:

• 15-20 min for prep (mixing and kneading)
• 1-2 h minimum for rises
• 40 min for baking
• 2-3 h total

Cheesy Snack Sized Pretzel Rolls

These mini rolls are a great snack for parties or a lunch box. Once baked, they can be frozen and taken out when needed, just quickly heat them in the oven after de-frosting.

Ingredients (for 15):

• 300 g white bread flour
• 20 g fresh yeast (or equivalent activated dried yeast for 500 g flour)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• up to 200 ml water
• for a richer, smoother dough, add 30 g melted butter (unsalted)
• Grated cheese (the type and amount are up to your taste buds – the pretzel flavour is quite strong, so choose something that can compete with it or blends nicely, whatever you prefer; just make sure it melts easily!)

Preparation:

Knead flour, yeast, salt, sugar and, if desired, melted butter into a smooth dough. Add as much water as needed – depending on the flour and whether or not you add the melted butter, you could need between 100 and 200 ml.

Cover the dough and let it rise in a warm location for 30-60 min until it has risen to about twice the original size.

Knock the dough down and portion it into 15 pieces of roughly the same size. Roll the dough pieces into little balls, and let them rise for another 10-15 min.

Next, treat the rolls if you want a pretzel / lye effect. A simple and a more involved “original” way are described here. If it seems like too much work, don’t worry, it’ll taste perfectly fine as just a white roll, too, especially once the cheese has been added!

Place the rolls on a lined baking tray and sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 15-20 min at 180C (fan oven), checking every now and then to make sure they’re browning nicely but not burning. The dough will split open a little bit to give a nice pattern with the brown lye surface, white inside and the cheese sprinkles.

Carbs:

• 225 g total
• 15 g per roll

Time:

• Around 1 1/2 hours, including 2 rises and baking time.