Cheese and Bacon Oval Loaves

Bread is one of my favourite types of baking, in fact any yeast based bake is. Slightly inspired by the Great British Bake Off's bread week I turned to Paul Hollywood's 'How to Bake' book. With the weather being slightly grim a good comforting loaf was in order and there aren't many things more comforting than warm cheesey, bacon bread. Definitely best eaten when warm.

Ingredients:

• 400g strong white bread flour
• 100g rye bread (the original calls for strong wholemeal flour)
• 10g salt
• 10g instant yeast
• 30g unsalted butter
• 330ml water
• 8 rashers of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 150g cheddar cheese

1. Put the flour, salt, yeast and butter in a bowl. Make sure the salt and yeast are at opposite sides of the bowl. Mix the butter in with your fingers.
   
2. Put the bowl on the stand mixer and begin to add the water, keep adding until a rough dough is formed. Knead for another 5-10 minutes.
   
3. When the ball forms a smooth skin pop it into a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with cling film and leave to raise for around an hour until it doubles.
   
4. Once the dough has risen begin to knead in the cheddar and bacon. Don't knead for too long.
   
   
   
5. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and form oval loaves and place onto two baking sheets. Cover with more cling film and leave to rise again. Pre heat the oven to 200c.
   
6. Once risen and the oven is up to temperature sprinkle the loaves with olive oil and bake for around 20 minutes. Tap on the bottom to ensure a hollow a sound.
   
   

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Sunday Seeded Bread

Every Sunday, without fail, I bake a loaf of seeded bread. Sometimes I bake two. It all depends on whether we can resist wolfing down the freshly baked loaf as soon as it comes out of the oven.

Our favourite loaf of bread, without doubt, is made with Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Wholegrain Seeded Flour. Although it's slightly pricier than your average bread flour (£1.10 bag makes 2 loaves) it's much more filling and satisfying to eat as it contains sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and linseeds.

This is a really basic recipe but it makes for such a tasty loaf and it never fails to impress me that a handful of such simple ingredients can create such a wonderful smell throughout the entire house. Bread making is certainly a type of magic in my eyes!

Ingredients:
500g seeded flour
1 tablespoon dried yeast
1 teaspoon salt
25g butter
300ml tepid water
Small amount of olive oil for greasing bowl

1. Put the flour, yeast, salt and butter into a bowl. Ensure that the yeast and salt are at opposite ends of the bowl. Using your fingertips rub the butter into the mixture until it is all rubbed in.

2. Place your bowl on the KitchenAid fitted with a dough hook. Turn it onto a low speed and slowly add the water. Continue until the bowl is clean of flour and you have a rough looking dough.

OR

Slowly add the water and begin to bring the dough together with your hands. Continue to add the water until the sides of the bowl are clean and you have a rough dough.

3. Turn the speed up to medium for about 7 minutes. Keep an eye on it though as the dough will 'creep' up the sides of the bowl and not be kneaded by the dough hook - just stop for a second and push it back down. After 7 minutes check that you have a soft and elastic dough.

OR

Turn out your dough onto a clean surface that you have lightly covered in olive oil, this prevents you adding more flour to the mix and drying out the dough. Knead for around 10 minutes until you have a soft and elastic dough. 

4. Form into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp tea towel or a piece of cling film that you have oiled. Leave it to prove somewhere warm for at least an hour, until it has doubled in size.

5. Tip your dough out and knock the air out of it by pushing down. Knead for about 30 seconds and then form a rough oblong and place it in a loaf tin.

6. Again, cover and leave to rise for approximately 30 minutes. Meanwhile preheat your oven up to 220c.

 7. Finally place your beautiful loaf of bread in the oven for 30 minutes. You want a nice deep coloured crust on your loaf. Remove from the oven and tip it out of its tin. Tap the bottom of the loaf, you want to hear a hollow sound, to check that the loaf is cooked. Leave to cool for as long as you can resist!

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