This page contains a short, medium and long version of the bread recipe. Use whichever you would like – the only difference between them is the level of explanation.

N.B. this recipe does not make banana bread. Please see this page for a Banana Cake recipe.

Short Version

Ingredients:

500 g bread flour
2 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Sugar
1 sachet Dried yeast
150 ml Water
150 ml Milk
3 tbsp Olive oil

Method

Add flour, salt and 2 tbsp of sugar to a large bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until ingredients are well mixed.
Add water, milk, oil, 1 tbsp sugar and yeast to a jug and stir well.
Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir well with wooden spoon to combine. Scrape sides of bowl with spoon to include all flour, sugar and salt in mix.
Once ingredients combined, mix dough with hands. Dough should feel sticky but not wet. If wet, add 1 handful flour. If dry, add 1 tablespoon water.
Rest. Cover bowl with clean tea towel, and rest dough for 30mins.
Kneed. On a floured surface, Stretch, fold and turn for 5 mins. Be firm and confident, not gentle. Place one hand at the bottom of your dough (closest to your body). Use your free hand to stretch the dough away from your body. Before it breaks, fold the dough towards you. Turn the dough 90 degrees and repeat. Return dough to your mixing bowl, cover with your tea towel, and rest for 5 minutes. Perform this step twice.
First rise. Rest in bowl at room temperature for 90 mins. Dough should roughly double in size.
Second rise. Punch the dough three or four times to knock the air out and reduce it in size before placing dough ball on a greased baking sheet. Cover with towel and rest for 90 mins.
Bake in preheated oven at 180°c for 30mins.
Cool on a wire rack.

Medium Version

You will need the following ingredients:

500 g Strong White bread flour (if you can’t find bread flour, plain flour will work in a pinch)
2 tsp Salt
3 tbsp Sugar
Instant dried yeast (in sachets if possible)
150 ml Water
150 ml Milk
3 tbsp Olive or vegetable oil

And the following equipment:

A large mixing bowl (the biggest bowl you own!)
Accessible weighing scales (If you don’t have scales you will still be able to make bread as long as you know how much flour you’re starting with)
A jug
A glass or cup
A wooden spoon
A tablespoon
A teaspoon
A clean tea towel
A baking sheet
A timer (I use my phone, or you could also use a smart speaker such as Alexa!)
A cooling rack (optional)

Method

Weigh 500 g of flour, and put it in your large mixing bowl.

Next, add two tablespoons of sugar to your flour in the bowl. Add two teaspoons of salt, and stir with your wooden spoon to combine.

Place your jug on the weighing scales. Fill your glass or cup with warm water (it should be around the same temperature as a comfortable bath; you can test this with a finger). Add 150 ml of your water to the jug.

Next, add 150 ml of milk to the jug.

Add three tablespoons of oil, either vegetable or olive, to your milk and water.

Add one tablespoon of sugar to your liquid, followed by one sachet of dried yeast. If your yeast is in a container rather than sachets, add two teaspoons of yeast to your liquid. Use a spoon to stir your liquid, sugar and yeast together.

Add your liquid to your dry ingredients and stir well with your wooden spoon to combine. Scrape down the sides of your bowl with your spoon to include all the flour, sugar and salt. Once your ingredients are combined, start mixing the dough with your hands. It should feel sticky but not wet.

If your dough feels very wet, add a handful more flour. If it doesn’t form into a sticky dough, your mixture is too dry, so add a tablespoon more water.

Cover the bowl with your clean tea towel, and leave the dough to rest for half an hour.

After half an hour has passed, you are ready to knead your dough.

Put a very small amount of flour (around a teaspoon) on your clean kitchen surface. Pick up your dough from your bowl and place it on top of your floured surface. When you are working with your dough, you should be firm and confident, not gentle.

Next, place your left hand (or right hand if left-handed) at the bottom of your dough (closest to your body). Use your right hand (left it right-handed) to stretch the dough away from your body. Before it breaks, fold the dough back towards your body onto itself. Turn the dough 90 degrees (a quarter turn) to the right and repeat. Stretch, fold and turn. Set a timer for 5 minutes, and repeat this process in a steady rhythm for a full 5 minutes. You will gradually feel your dough become less sticky, stretchier and much smoother.

After 5 minutes, place the dough back into your mixing bowl, cover with your tea towel, and leave it to rest for 5 minutes.

After 5 minutes have passed, repeat the process. Start a 5-minute timer, place your dough on your lightly floured kitchen surface and kneed for 5 minutes. Stretch, fold and turn. You will feel your dough continue to become much smoother and stretchier.

Once five minutes have passed, lightly rub the inside of your large mixing bowl with olive or vegetable oil. Place your dough back into your bowl, and cover it with a clean tea towel. Set a timer for an hour and a half. Place the bowl somewhere out of the way, at room temperature (not in the fridge).

Set a timer for an hour and a half. Your bread will rise for the first time. The dough should roughly double in size.

After an hour and a half has passed, punch the dough three or four times to knock the air out and reduce it in size. .

Take your baking sheet and rub it with around a teaspoon of oil. Pick up your dough and form it into a round ball. Place it in the centre of your baking sheet and cover it with your tea towel. Set a timer for an hour and a half.

Your dough will now rise a second time. Rising the dough twice improves the flavour and texture.

After an hour and a half, pre-heat your oven to 180°c, and place your baking sheet on the centre shelf. Set a timer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, your bread has finished baking! Using oven gloves, take your baking sheet out of the oven. If you have a cooling rack, transfer your bread onto the rack. If you don’t have a cooling rack, leave the bread on the baking sheet.

Once your bread has cooled, it is ready to cut into and enjoy!

Long Version

Begin by cleaning an area around a metre square on your kitchen worktop. You will be working with your dough on this surface, so it needs to be spotless. It will be easier to make this recipe if you have weighing scales, but bread doesn’t need to be precise, so don’t worry if you don’t. This recipe is long because I have explained every step in great detail, but don’t worry – bread making is very easy! It will take you around half an hour to mix and knead your dough, then around three hours to proof (rise) your dough and bake. Measurements for this recipe are in grams, using tablespoons and teaspoons for smaller measures.

You will need the following ingredients:

Strong White bread flour (if you can’t find bread flour, plain flour will work in a pinch)
Salt
Sugar
Instant dried yeast (in sachets if possible)
Water
Milk
Olive or vegetable oil

And the following equipment:

A large mixing bowl (the biggest bowl you own!)
Accessible weighing scales (If you don’t have scales you will still be able to make bread as long as you know how much flour you’re starting with)
A jug
A glass or cup
A wooden spoon
A tablespoon
A teaspoon
A clean tea towel
A baking sheet
A timer (I use my phone, or you could use a smart speaker such as Alexa!)
A cooling rack (optional)

First, measure out your dry ingredients

Weigh 500 g of your flour, and put it in your large mixing bowl.

If you don’t have scales, flour typically comes in either 1 kg or 1.5 kg bags. To find out the size of your bag of flour, you could use an app like seeing AI, or ask a friend or partner with some sight to tell you. If you’ve not used your bag of four before, you can approximate the measurements by emptying half of a 1 kg bag or a third of a 1.5 kg bag into your bowl.

Next, add two tablespoons of sugar to your flour in the bowl. Add two teaspoons of salt, and stir with your wooden spoon to combine.

Next, add 150 ml of milk to the jug.

If you don’t have weighing scales, you could use a pint glass. You need 300 ml of liquid for this recipe, which is just over half a pint. Add a quarter of a pint of warm (the temperature of a comfortable bath) water to your glass. Next, add milk to your glass until you have a little more than a half-pint of liquid.

Add three tablespoons of oil, either vegetable or olive, to your milk and water.

Add your liquid to your dry ingredients and stir well with your wooden spoon to combine. Your wooden spoon should feel heavy as it drags against the dough. Make sure to scrape down the sides of your bowl with your spoon to include all the flour, sugar and salt. Once your ingredients are combined, start mixing the dough with your hands. It should feel sticky but not wet.

If your dough feels very wet, add a handful more flour. If it doesn’t form into a sticky dough, your mixture is too dry, so add a tablespoon more water. Bread making isn’t an exact science, and it’s best to go by feel.

Once you are sure your ingredients are combined, cover the bowl with your clean tea towel, and leave the dough to rest for half an hour.

After half an hour has passed, you are ready to knead your dough. Kneading puts some people off making bread, but it is much easier than most people think. When we knead bread, we stretch the dough to form gluten, which will give your bread a full and chewy texture.

After 5 minutes, you will start to feel tired. Fortunately, your dough also needs a rest. Place the dough back into your mixing bowl, cover with your tea towel, and leave it for 5 minutes (I find this is a great time to make a cup of tea).

Once five minutes have passed, lightly rub the inside of your large mixing bowl with olive or vegetable oil (pour a small amount onto your fingers and rub it all around the bowl. Place your dough back into your bowl, and cover it with a clean tea towel. Set a timer for an hour and a half. Place the bowl somewhere out of the way, at room temperature (not in the fridge).

Your bread will now proof (rise). You’ll need to leave it alone for an hour and a half. During this time, the yeast is feeding on the sugar you added to the flour in the first step. The yeast eats the sugar and excretes carbon dioxide (terrible for the environment but great for bread!) and a tiny amount of alcohol. During this time your dough will roughly double in size. Hooray for science!

After an hour and a half has passed, punch the dough three or four times to knock the air out and reduce it in size. I know this seems counter-intuitive, but it will improve the texture of your bread and get rid of any large bubbles.

Your dough will now rise a second time. Rising the dough twice improves the texture, and will give your bread what bakers like to call a fine crumb. This means the bread will have a consistent texture, with no large air gaps, and a better flavour.

After an hour and a half, your dough is ready to bake! Heat your oven to 180°c, and place your baking sheet on the centre shelf. Set a timer for 30 minutes. After around 10 minutes you should start to smell the bread baking, and after 20 minutes, your house will smell amazing!

You’ll need to leave your bread to cool completely before you cut into it. If I’m completely honest, I don’t know the exact reason why, but most recipes will tell you to cool the bread. I’ve heard it stops the bread going stale, but I’m unsure exactly how. In any case, as hard as it may be, leave your bread to cool for two hours before you cut into it, if only to appease the baking gods!

Once your bread has completely cooled, you have finished! You can use it as you would any loaf of bread, for sandwiches, toast or alongside a meal. You should keep your bread wrapped in plastic to stop it going stale.

Finally, if you have any questions, if you’ve found any steps in this recipe difficult, or you want to send me any pictures of your bread, you can email me at [email protected].

I hope you enjoy your bread!