Making your own bread by hand is easy!

Making your own bread by hand is easy! Amaze and delight your family and friends with some unique and tasty recipes.
Simply follow Panéo's advice carefully and pay attention to the different steps.

• Add the ingredients to your bowl in the following order: flour, salt, a gently crumbled cube of fresh yeast and water. Mix the ingredients together using a spatula until you obtain a well-blended dough, then shape it into a ball.
• You can also use dried yeast. Remember to dilute the yeast in slightly lukewarm water before incorporating it into the other ingredients.

• Take the ball of dough, place it on a worktop sprinkled lightly with flour and use a rolling pin to knead. Give the dough a ¼ of a turn between each rolling-out.
• Repeat this operation 5 or 6 times until the dough is smooth and well-blended.
• Shape the dough into a ball, then put it back into the bowl and cover it with a cloth. Leave to rest for 30 minutes in a warm place.

• Remove the dough once it has risen. Place it on the worktop and flatten it out.
• Divide it into two, shape into two identical balls and cover with a cloth. Leave to rest for 30 minutes.

 

• Take a ball of dough and flatten it out with the palm of the hand, on a lightly floured surface, to obtain a rectangle.

• Fold over a third of the rectangle and flatten it out at the join. Repeat this operation with the bottom section.
• Fold the dough twice one last time, then seal the join with water.

• Roll out the little dough ball working from the centre towards the outside, and repeat this operation 5 or 6 times in order to obtain a long, regular shaped roll.
• Cover again and leave your dough to rise until it doubles in volume.

 

• Once the dough has risen properly, make a few incisions on top of the loaf using a knife.
• In order to obtain lovely golden loaves, moisten them with a brush.
• Place them on a baking sheet in a pre-heated oven and bake for the time stated in the recipe.

• Mmmm! Your lovely hot crusty loaf is ready.
• And now, it's over to you! Play the ‘Tips and wrinkles’ video to discover all the different shapes and unique ideas for decorating your bread!

 

Cobs, baguettes, plaits, make whatever shape you like by trying out a few original ideas as the fancy takes you!


> A variety of shapes!

• Try making a zig-zag or split loaf out of a long roll. It's so easy!

 

• To make a cob loaf, take a ball of dough and fold it back into itself by tucking the edges underneath.
• You can use the cob as a basis for your creativity, by devising original shapes for your loaves.
• My advice: when you are combining 2 pieces of dough, add a little oil to prevent the 2 pieces sticking together!

• Fancy making a baguette like you get from the baker's? Take a ball of dough and proceed as you would when shaping a bread roll.
• Roll out the baguette working from the centre towards the outside and repeat this operation to obtain an elongated, regular shaped baguette.
• And then why not transform it into a crown or a wheat sheaf?

> Original loaf decoration ideas! 

Personalise your loaves according to taste or mood by incorporating your own choice of seeds or ingredients.

• Prepare you balls of dough in the traditional way, then roll them out on a damp cloth into the seeds of your choice: poppy, linseed, sunflower, or sesame.
• If you are a bread connoisseur, add your own choice of ingredients when kneading the dough, such as vegetables, dried fruit, herbs or lardons. Remember to chop the ingredients finely before incorporating them!

• Play around with shapes by using scissors to slash the top of the dough balls every 2 or 3 cms.. The effect will be guaranteed!

> A lovely golden crust!

In order to obtain a wonderfully crispy golden crust, the air inside your oven must be damp.

Spray the inside of your oven with water or insert a bowl of water at the same time as your loaf. This will give you a fine crust and will allow the loaf to develop properly.

So, you see, making your own bread is easy! If you follow Paneo's advice, you can amaze and delight your family and friends with some unique and tasty recipes! Now, it's over to you!