Golden Crust Bread
I love bread. Better still, I love baking bread. There are few things that give me as much pleasure as the smell of yeast and watching bread rise during the proofing period. This bread is rich with a soft and slightly sweet interior and a crust that glows. It is easy to make and can be used for a lot of things from toast to making sandwiches. The best way I enjoy this bread is with some creamy homemade butter and a hot cup of espresso. Let’s bake some bread!
INGREDIENTS:
(1) 293 Grams Bread Flour (2-1/4 Cups)
(2) 25 Grams Granulated White Sugar (2 Tablespoons)
(3) 1 Egg plus 1 Egg Yolk (Save White for Egg Wash)
(4) 1/2 Cup Warm Milk or Buttermilk
(5) 28 Grams Melted Unsalted Butter
(6) 1 Teaspoon Active Dry Yeast
(7) 1 Teaspoon Salt
(8) 1/2 Teaspoon Grated Nutmeg
(9) Sesame Seeds for Topping (Optional)
PROCEDURE:
(1) Activate yeast by mixing it with the warm milk and a teaspoon of sugar. Allow to stand for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, you will notice that the yeast will begin to foam and grow. If this does not happen, your yeast is most likely dead. Try the process again or get some new yeast.
(2) Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of your stand mixer attached with the paddle attachment.
(3) With the mixer on low speed, add the egg, egg yolk, yeast mixture and melted butter.
(4) When the mixture comes together,switch to dough hook and knead dough till smooth and stretchy. About 7 minutes.
(5) If using your hands, mix dry ingredients in bowl. Make a well in the middle of dry ingredients and pour in all the wet ingredients. Mix well in bowl till the dough comes together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and continue kneading for about 10 minutes or till dough is soft and stretchy.
(6) Transfer dough to greased bowl. cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof in a warm place for 2 hours or until doubled in size. I place mine in my oven with the light switched on.
(7) After 2 hours, turn dough unto work surface, deflate and shape loaf. Place shaped loaf in greased 8 by 4 inch loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap and allow to proof again for 1 hour. Second rising. This develops flavor and structure in the bread.
(8) After 1 hour, the bread would have risen, not quite doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. brush bread with leftover egg white and sprinkle some sesame seeds on bread. Make 3 slashes on bread.
(9) Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. If bread starts becoming too dark, cover with foil paper after 20 minutes of baking.
(10) Allow bread to cool down in pan for 10 minutes before removing out of pan.
NOTE: This recipe can be doubled to make a bigger loaf. If doubling, use 2 eggs and 1 egg yolk. The loaf can also be braided and shaped into various shapes. Click here to see how to shape a free form bread loaf. Have fun. Enjoy!
Terry Adido is passionate about showing people how easy it is to recreate restaurant quality meals in the comfort of their kitchens. With a style of cooking he refers to as Afro-European Fusion, his meals are influenced greatly by French and Italian Cuisine with a West African twist. If you love good food, you are in for the ride of your life.
Lovely Terry bread. Your wife don’t have to cook, there is no competition because you won.
🙂
Thanx for this Terry! Pls when can we get a recipe for the Nigerian Agege Bread?
I do not have one. Sorry
Thank you so much Terrific Terry. I will definitely do this and send you pics. Is this brioche??
Thanks. No this is not brioche.
Dear Terry,
Congratulations. you have awakened my zeal for cooking and baking. I’d bake this bread next weekend.
Thanks.
Terry, I started out with this bread yesternight but i was too tired to continue. About 1 hour 45mins after leaving it to rise, I wrapped it and placed it in the fridge. Although it hasn’t doubled in size at this stage but beginning to rise.
Now, I can’t continue until I get back home after work.
Will the dough still rise after staying that long in the fridge?
Yes it will still rise. Next time don’t wrap. Just leave it in the proofing bowl and place in the fridge. Better still, allow it to finish the 1st rise, shape in loaf pan and place loaf pan in fridge. The nest day, remove from fridge and allow if to come to room temperature for a couple of hours before baking. Good luck with your loaf.
Hi Terry, I don’t eat white bread. Do have recipe for brown bread?
Not yet. Will work on one.
Hi Terry please can I use all purpose flour
Yes you can. But the crumb structure will not be as perfect as when made with bread flour.
Hi terry, pls I have instant yeast instead of active dry yeast, how much of it do I use?
They are both the same.
How do I use it then?
The same way as directed in the recipe.
Thank you very much, I will be making this bread by next weekend. Pls wat is an alternative for the sesame seeds. Can’t get it where I live in lagos.
You can leave out the seeds or sprinkle the bread with any seeds or nuts you love.
Hii Mr Terry, I absolutely love your recipes as they are so simple and easy to follow, but please can I use all-purpose flour in place of bread flour?
Thanks Peace. Yes you can.
Wow Terry am so excited tried out this recipe and I got it perfect so so happy wish I can share the pics with you. Doubled the recipe. Used bread flour and noticed the difference. I feel on top of the world thanks so much Terry
Thats some great feedback. Good job. You should feel proud of your efforts.
hi Terry, good work here. please, can I use a cake pan to bake bread since I don’t have a bread pan presently?
Yes you can. You can also bake it free form without a pan.
Hi what’s the difference between bread flour and all purpose flour. TIA
Bread flour has a higher gluten content than APF, making the dough stretch better.
Hi Terry. Thank you so much for this recipe. I can’t wait to try it. Please any plans of posting a bread flour recipe soon? I would appreciate it.
Most of the bread recipes here can be made with bread flour.
How can I make my bread stretchy and chewy. I don’t like crust in my bread. How do I achieve this. Again, how can I make a homemade bread flour. Thanks in anticipation.
The less time your bread bakes, the more chewy it will be. All breads have crusts. If you dont want a hard crust, bake the bread in a pullman bread pan (Can be found online). I have no recipe for bread flour.