Top 10 bread recipes

by Charlotte Morgan | 11 September 2012 | 0 comments

That freshly baked bread aroma is so worth the effort of making your own loaf. Experiment with our top ten favourite recipes, from focaccia to fougasse.

Mozzarella and tomato

A Paul Hollywood classic (pictured above), made with fresh dough and cherry tomatoes, torn buffalo mozzarella, and dried oregano. These luscious breads are delicious eaten still warm. However, if you can’t serve them straight after baking, they can be reheated in your oven at 220 °C for 5 minutes.

Basic no-knead

bread Bread which doesn’t even need kneading? It’s a miracle! Just stir the flour, salt and yeast together in a bowl, add water, cover with a plate until doubled in size, plop it out onto a tea towel and wrap it up safe, then place in a warm spot. Bake until a deep chestnut colour.

Fougasse

Typically associated with Provence, fougasse bread is a kind of primitive version of pizza and comes with a variety of toppings. It’s the same flour, yeast, salt and oil mix, which is scattered in herbs, black olives and sea salt before baking. Serve in squares.

Maslin

maslin Maslin, a mixed crop of wheat and rye, is a high-fibre, wholesome alternative to flour. It takes a little longer to cook than normal tin loaves due to its high water content, and harks back to a few hundred years ago, when it was the staple crop of peasant farmers.

Gluten-free

bread Peter Sidwell agrees that gluten-free bread is a tough ask, but with the right ingredients and a gentle touch, anyone can master it. Pumpkin, sesame and millet seeds are scattered throughout the dough, as well as chopped walnuts. Beautiful if eaten fresh out of the oven.

Quick rye flatbread

These little beauties are ready in 35 minutes, including cooking time. All the flour used is wholemeal and recipe author Miisa Mink keeps it healthy with rapeseed oil, too. Greek yoghurt, golden syrup, and egg are also essentials for these Scandinavian rye flatbreads.

Ciabatta

bread Good Ciabatta is a traditional Italian hearth bread and a Holy Grail for bread makers. The secret is in the very wet dough and the mix of strong and weak flours. This method uses a starter or 'biga'. Using only a small amount of yeast, it takes up to 24 hours to mature.

Gluten free focaccia

bread Another gluten free option, this time from Phil Vickery. It has a light and spongy texture, and is flavoured with sea salt, olive oil, fresh sprigs of rosemary, halved garlic cloves, and a little sugar. This bread will keep for one day in an airtight container, or longer if frozen.

Simple white sourdough

bread Sourdough makes fantastic bread with good flavour and texture - it keeps well and makes the best toast. You need to start the process of developing your sourdough starter at least three days before you want to bake your bread. All you’ll need is dried yeast, water, salt and flour.

Walnut and rosemary focaccia

bread Peter Sidwell learnt how to make focaccia from a 16-year-old Tuscan boy, and has been using the same methods ever since. He adds mashed potato (no, we’re not joking) to the bread to give it a richness that works really well with the pools of olive oil.