Ingredients

300g strong white bread flour

100g emmer bread flour – if you can’t find this try an organic wholemeal bread flour or wholemeal spelt

8g table salt or flaked salt

7g sachet instant yeast

25g unsalted butter or vegan block butter, room temp

265ml lukewarm water

sunflower or plant oil for loaf tin greasing

Utensils & equipment

clean tea towel

oven

2lb cake or bread loaf tin

mixing bowl x2 (or use 1 and wash in between)

measuring jug

kitchen scales

wooden spoon

large clean plastic bag or tea towel

Kettle boiled with a little water

Method

• Measure your flours and tip them into a large or medium mixing bowl. Put the yeast on one side of the flour. Put the salt away from the yeast on the other side of the bowl. This is so it doesn’t kill the yeast.
• Put the soft butter in the bowl and add the lukewarm water. Mix it all together with your hands or spoon – it’s ok to get messy! When it is a rough looking dough, tip it onto a lightly greased work surface (use your sunflower or plant oil sparingly here).
• Knead for 5 to 10 minutes – stretch it out and push it together basically. If you have a mixer you can use this with the dough hook for 5-10 mins. It will be wet at first and then get smoother. Have fun with it. Sometimes its fun to stretch it out and then slap it on the counter!
• Then put your dough into a lightly greased, clean mixing bowl. Cover the top with a clean tea towel and leave it to rise for 2 hours. On a hot day it may take 1 hour. It should be doubled in size. If it isn’t then just give it a bit longer.
• Grease your tin sides and edges with sunflower or plant oil. You can use a loaf tin liner if you like.
• When ready, lightly flour the work surface and tip your dough out. Shape it gently into a ball. Then make it into a long shape by pulling each side outwards, folding into the middle and gently rolling it into a large sausage shape. Put the dough into the loaf tin with the join underneath.
• The dough needs to prove before baking, for roughly 1 hour. Place a tea towel over the top or put the tin inside a large clean plastic bag. When it’s ready the dough will spring back when prodded, instead of keeping the finger mark there.
• Preheat your oven to 220C or 200 Fan, Gas 7 with a high sided oven tray on the bottom shelf. Boil the kettle.
• After the proving time, remove the tea towel or bag and put the dough filled tin in the oven. Carefully put boiled water into the roasting tin – to make steam and then shut the door. Bake for about 30 minutes. When you tap the base of the loaf it will sound hollow – that’s cooked. Let it cool out of the tin on a cooling rack. Enjoy it fresh in any way you choose. Wrap it tightly when first sliced, for freshness.
• Let me know if you give this a try. Send a picture by email to me or post on Instagram or Facebook and use the hashtag #thedoorstepbakerbread. If you enjoy making it, you can use the recipe to try out different flour types.