Delicious Decadence: Nothing beats fresh bread

I have the Women's institute to thank for my love of bread making. Up until last summer I had never made bread in my life - not kidding! It seemed such a daunting thing to do! But then in August I went to the WI cookery school at Denman College in Oxford, and realised that bread is not a thing to be scared of! Our lovely tutor Sue gave us an amazing recipe for cheese tear and share rolls, and ever since making them, I have been on the look out for bread recipes that are both easy and quick, but also taste gorgeous!

This post contains two different types of bread, both simple and exceptionally tasty!

The first is Pesto and Olive Soda bread. I love soda bread because it is such a cheat bread! No yeast or proving involved! A recommendation for anyone who wants fresh bread without it taking too much time. I love this recipe because it takes a standard soda loaf and gives it some extra pizzazz!

The Ingredients:

White bread flour, Wholemeal bread flour, Bicarbonate of Soda, Salt, Buttermilk, Pesto, and Black olives.

Into a large bowl sieve the white flour, then the wholemeal flour (adding back any bran from the sieve), then add the bicarbonate of soda and the salt.

Measure out the buttermilk and add the pesto to it.

Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients.

Chop the olives into fairly small pieces and add to the rest of the ingredients.

Mix everything into a dough and knead into a round. Cut a fairly deep cross into the top of the loaf and place in the oven to bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

And voila!

The end result is a crusty, sumptuous loaf that you will not be able to resist! Plus it hardly took any time at all!

The second is a White Seeded Loaf. While it does require time it isn't difficult!

The Ingredients:

White bread flour, yeast, salt, sugar, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower oil, and hot water. (Also milk and extra seeds for the top.)

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, yeast and seeds in a large bowl.

Make a well in the centre and add the oil and water.

Mix it to a soft dough - it might be quite sticky so have extra flour on hand. Knead the dough for around 10 minutes, until it is smooth. Place in an oiled bag (e.g. a ziploc) and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size (around an hour).

Once the dough has risen, knead it again to knock out the air, then shape into a round and place on a lined/greased baking sheet. Using a sharp knife cut three deep lines across the top of the dough.

Then cover the dough (a tea towel is a good thing to use) and leave to rise again for about another hour, until it has doubled in size once more.

Brush the top of the dough with milk and scatter the extra seeds over the top, then bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Once out of the oven allow to cool.