I have wanted to make this delicious sun dried tomato and parmesan bread from scratch for some time now, because we usually buy the packet mix (which is super tasty). I always thought it would be more complicated to make than it actually is, and it only takes an extra 5-10 minutes to prepare in comparison to the packet mix. So I’ll definitely be doing this again – the extra minutes are more than worth it! Bread-making is such a satisfying thing to do. Why not try it this weekend?

I originally found this recipe on Good To Know.

Ingredients

425g (15oz) wholesome white flour
1tsp salt
40g (1 and 1/2oz) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
50g (2oz) sundried tomatoes, chopped and drained from oil
3tbsp sundried tomato paste
2tbsp finely chopped oregano or rosemary plus a few extra sprigs
7g sachet easy bake yeast
325ml (11fl oz) warm water

Method

1. Put the flour, salt, Parmesan cheese, sundried tomatoes and paste into a large bowl. Add the chopped herbs and yeast, then pour in the warm water.

2. Mix together with your hands until the mixture combines to make a rough dough ball.

3. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and stretch and knead the dough for 10 mins until smooth and elastic.

4. Shape the dough – either into 8 rolls or a loaf. The original recipe says to shape it into a 23cm (9inch) round which can then be put into a greased 23cm (9inch) round tin. Press lots of indentations into the top of the bread with your finger. Scatter over a few extra herbs, drizzle with some of the olive oil from the sundried tomatoes and sprinkle with coarse sea salt.

5. Cover loosely with cling film. Leave in a warm place until doubled in size. (This will take about 30-40 mins.)

6. Preheat the oven to 220°C/ fan 200°C/ gas 7. Bake the bread for 35 mins for a loaf, or 15-20 mins for rolls. When ready the bread should be golden in colour. To test to see if the loaf or roll is ready, upturn and tap the base – it should sound hollow.

7. Leave to cool a little on a wire rack and then enjoy!

Enjoy your sun dried tomato and parmesan bread with some delicious home made soup! Click here for the recipes for spicy parsnip, red lentil and chorizo or roast carrot and butternut squash.

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This recipe is another from Tom’s mum and it is really simple, but as with all hot cross bun recipes it does take a lot of time. But it is well worth it to have freshly made hot cross buns and Easter and they will make your kitchen smell amazing!

Ingredients

340g/12oz strong white bread flour
55g/2oz light muscovado sugar (I used dark because, as usual, I realised I didn’t have any!)
2tsp mixed spice
Half a tsp of grated nutmeg
Half a tsp salt
2 packets easyblend yeast
55g/2oz sultanas
55g/2oz mixed peel
6fl oz warm milk and water mixed (I used about 4 fl oz of milk and topped with boiling water)
1 egg, beaten
55g/2oz melted butter

Method

1. Put all of the dry ingredients and fruit into a bowl and mix well.

2. Add all of the wet ingredients and mix well – the mixture will be sticky! Cover and set to rise for about 2 hours in a warm place (as it rises you’ll hear it sound like Rice Krispies when you’ve just poured the milk on!)

3. Turn out the dough and knead, before dividing into 12 and shaping into buns. Cut crosses in the top and place on a baking sheet and leave to rise again for about 40-50 minutes.

4. Bake in a preheated oven at 425F/220C/Gas mark 7 for 20-25 minutes, but keep an eye on them because mine cooked rather quickly!

5. Whilst still warm, glaze the buns with 1tbsp sugar dissolved in 1tbsp warm milk. Put the kettle on and enjoy whilst they’re warm!

Now, you may be wondering why my buns have weird shapes on…well, I found a really cool thing on pinterest about making bunny bread and I had an idea that I could try it with hot cross buns – to make hot cross bunnies! But it didn’t quite go to plan and I think they look more like hot cross stegosauruses…but they taste good! The bunny bread looks like this:

Mine looked like this when I made the ears:

Maybe it was the fruit in the buns that made it difficult?! I don’t know…will have to try another time! Whether you make hot cross buns or try your own hot cross bunnies, I hope you have a very Happy Easter!

The post Hot Cross Buns appeared first on Hello! Hooray!.

Bake your own bread

Today was the first Saturday that I’ve been at home for a few weeks, so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to bake some bread. I think that some people are put off making it because they think it might take too long or that it might be too difficult to make, but it is much easier than you think (and also very cheap!). My bread usually has a very homemade look, but for me that makes it even better. It’s so lovely to bake your own bread, and it makes your house smell amazing! It also makes an excellent pizza dough.

Ingredients

500g strong white bread flour (I usually avoid supermarket own brands as high quality flour = better bread)

1 sachet quick yeast

1 tsp salt

1 tbsp olive oil

300ml hand hot water (150ml cold topped up with 150ml boiling water)

Method

1. Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Add the oil to the water before pouring over the dry ingredients. Mix together until a dough is formed and then knead for five minutes.

3. Leave the dough in the bowl. Wet a clean tea towel with cold water and wring out so that it isn’t dripping, before placing over the bread. Leave to rise.

4. When the bread has at least doubled in size, ‘knock back’ and knead again for a few minutes.

5. Shape the dough into a loaf (or cut into eight equal parts to make rolls) and place on a greased baking tray. Cover with the teatowel and leave to rise again – you could always place the tray on top of the oven as it heats up to aid rising (oven should be heated to 220°c/425°F/Gas mark 7).

6. Once risen, place to bread in the oven. Rolls will take 15-20 minutes to bake, whilst loaves (depending on size) usually take 30-40 minutes. To see whether or not the bread is done, tap on the bottom and if it sounds hollow it is ready. Leave to cool on a wire rack and then enjoy!

You may also like…

This yummy banana bread recipe:

Banana bread

These rose shortbread hearts:

Rose shortbread hearts

Try this sun dried tomato and parmesan bread:

Sun dried tomato and parmesan bread

Or some soup to go with your yummy bread!

Pumpkin Carrot and Bacon Soup

Post updated 12th March 2021.

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